So is the first week of the new and improved Gnomes ACC and SEC helmet schedule!!

Hats off to the SEC who won every one but Miss States opener. As for the ACC, we suck….period. If Clemson ends up being the best of that bunch, they should go play the AA’s not the BCS.

Get you some!

Auburn….check
Alabama…..check

I would like to thank CJ Spiller for at least doing something. And Brandon Maye for giving it his best, I saw #20 all over the place last night.

As for the “veteran” secondary…..you don’t get to use that anymore. You looked freakin clueless all night as JPW dismantled you. Oh yeah, and the Tight End is an eligible receiver.

And the question marks at the beginning of the season, well they are now blatantly obvious Hello McFly type of realities. Clemson’s O line had no chance against the surge that Bama continued to bring. Their only hope was when they spread the D in the 5 wide formation and even then had to dink and dunk. The linebackers didn’t have much of a chance either as Bama’s O-Line went through our D line every play and left the soft underbelly that is the LB’s open to spinning their heads in wonder. DaQuan…..Ricky….what happened.

I feel like Ewan McGregor in trainspotting when he went into withdrawal and saw dead babies on the ceiling.

And ESPN-U has officially declared Clemson to be pretenders. Awesome, national media bashing after game 1.

THAT IS ALL…..

Now go enjoy your first Saturday of College Football.

Former Clemson Tiger Julie Coin knocked off #1 Ana Ivanovic in the second round of the US Open today. It was a 3 set match in which Coin had a huge momentum shift in the 5th game after being down 40-0.

Congrats Julie and GOOD LUCK!!

We’re taking a page out of last year’s playbook and answering a whole bunch of questions about the upcoming season. You might notice that the questions haven’t changed very much, but why mess with a good thing?

1. At this point, if you were coaching who do you start as your top three receivers? Who would you start as quarterback? Linebackers?

Clem: As with last years prediction, get Kelly, Grisham and Ford out there. Unlike last year, Harper is the go to man. Linebackers is the one question mark I have.

Bowman: Well, the QB answer is dull and boring only as it is not a question. Pretty safe bet Mr. Korn is the # 2 guy.
LBs are a different story all together. Can I take a DE and move them to OLB? It would make my job easier. Kavell Conner comes off the Peach, hmmm, Chick-Fil-A Bowl with 15 tackles. Look for him to start on the weak side. Sounds like Frosh Brandon Maye will step up in the middle. He may get platooned early with senior Josh Miller until he get more used to the speed of the game and more familiarity with the schemes. Scotty Cooper who also had a fair amount of snaps in ’07 including 10 in the bowl game will start the season at the strong side. A few others are listed as potential contributors in the media guide but I couldn’t have told you half the projected starters so I’m not going to pretend to know their names. My biggest concern on D, and possibly the team, is this group. I have full faith in Koenning and company for scheming and getting them ready but the lack of experience overall bothers me. A little dink and dunk to soften the group then the power push up the middle by any team with a strong O-line could really be devastating. I hate being wrong but this would be one time I don’t mind.
WR, Kelly for the deep ball, Grisham for possession and a toss up between Dye and Ford depending on situation. I’m big on Dye and think he is/will be the more consistent performer.

Walker: Seriously, who would I start? If I put anyone on the field other than Harper at QB, Jacoby, Tyler, and Aaron at WR slots I’d get fired. As far as LB goes, Antonio Clay I miss thee. Thank you DeAndre McDaniel for not harming that girl…in the eyes of the law. I guess start DeAndre.

Broken: I’ll take Kelly, Grisham, and Ford as the top 3 receivers. I am, however, completely clueless about the linebacking corps.

2. 2) Game-by-game season outlook, already published, links below.

Clem’s preseason predictions

Bowman’s preseason predictions

Walker’s preseason predictions

Broken’s preseason predictions

2a) What’s our one dumb loss of the year?
Read the rest of this entry »

College football has finally graced us with it’s presence and joy has returned to our lives. Tonight, The Wolfpack of North Carolina State take on the Gamecocks of South Carolina in a fitting game to start the gnomes helmet schedules up. I hope to have these updated by or on Mondays throughout the season so check back weekly for updates. Suggestions for improvements are always welcome, just remember that the size of the schedule changes every time we try to cram something else on it (divisional records etc..).

Alabama – Win this game big and we roll forward until October. Lose it, and we go into MD with a lot of question marks. Saban’s D catches the line on their heels quite a bit. We win late. Biggest concern in this game is the potential of injury of an offensive “star.” Tigers win 20-17 but get a scare on a late Bama drive.

The Citadel – I guess we are doing this due to the Southern Conference tie in we have had for years. O gets nothing more than practice reps. We see what the offense may look like next year with Korn, Dye, and Harper on the field most of the second half. 48-9

N.C. State – They don’t have talent but I like O’Brien and his disciplinary style. They won’t upset us but we are fortunate to not face them later after the QB situation is straightened out. We commit many more mistakes but have much more talent to compensate. Hopefully the team learns from this and corrects the mistake before October. State ends up being the conference dark-horse. 35-10

S.C. State – First time the Bulldogs come to Death Valley. Big game and they surprise some folks with some athleticism in the first half but don’t capitalize by having a worse special teams performance than out last trip to BC. Tigers begin pulling away just before the half. Why can’t we get it all on track for a full game? 33-3

Maryland – The Fridge comes to town and shocks the Tiger’s. BCS hopes go down the drain. O-Line pushes around our young guys and takes advantage of the lack of experience in the LB core. Comes down to a late FG by the bad guys. 17-20

Wake Forest – Everyone is looking for a defensive stalemate but this ends up being a shootout under the lights in Winston. Riley Skinner dinks and dunks the Deacs down the field to go along with a little option running game. We keep it interesting with big plays but no sustained drives. Tiger’s pull off another late victory in Winston. 42-35 in one of the most entertaining ESPN Thursday games in sometime.

Georgia Tech – What the hell is this offense we are playing against? D stays confused and the offense watches in wonder instead of getting their crap together. Tigers win only because of the home field advantage. Tigers prevail 24-17 but the media starts questioning the Top 15 ranking.

Boston College – It’s cold but won’t matter. Tiger’s exact revenge in front of a crowd that is nearly 25% Orange on the road. I’ll be there to observe. We show the running game everyone expected as the Line has finally gelled a bit and a few nagging, stupid injuries from the I-AA games have healed. BC is young and inexperienced and the Tigers come in looking to prove their worth. 38-10

Florida State – The streak in Doak Campbell ends for the Tigers. Daddy wins one after the ‘Noles have had the chance to get their offense truly together under Fischer’s reign. Different story if this game is played in September instead of SC State. Tigers come home with their heads down. 17-27

Duke – Cutcliffe does wonders with QBs and they have had a few decent recruits, all things considered. Doesn’t matter as the Tiger’s are dominant, and should be. At least it doesn’t look like a lopsided high school game like it was in Durham. 38-12

Virginia – I hate UVA, I hate UVA, I hate UVA. Their D isn’t as stout but we never handle teams with good TEs on the other side of the ball. This is much closer than it’s supposed to be, going into OT for no good reason. Tigers suffer a critical injury that hurts going into USCe and the post season. Tigers escape: 20-17

South Carolina – Stevie boy wins three quarters of this game with an astounding D performance then the Visor throwing begins. Tiger fans snap out of the post Thanksgiving snooze to energize the O to put up 21 in the 4th (starting with a drive late in the 3rd). Spurrier almost refuses to walk to midfield to shake hands as the loss puts the Cocks on the fence of a bowl bid after going through two quarterbacks in the 4th quarter following a Hamlin interception. Tiger W 28-24.

FSU takes the division title by way of a tie-breaker over us in Tallahassee. Tigers go to the Gator as the third team in the conference by way of the Championship game being moved to Tampa.
Final Record 10-2 (8-2 against Bowl Division teams) and play South Florida in the bowl.

With all the hype on the Clemson Alabama building to unmanageable proportions, fans across the Southeast are foaming at the mouth. I for one have to say no one is talking a bigger game than Bama fans. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, team pride is a wonderful thing. One individual keeps coming up in conversation on the blogosphere over and over, Julio Jones. Apparently this guy is the savior of the Crimson Tide. Who is this 18 year old which apparently doesn’t have to walk on water because he can simply leap over it? Let’s find out shall we. If you have not already heard, Julio Jones is a freshman WR which is fresh off the recruiting bus and is certain to be a starter in Saturday’s game. According to Alabama fans Julio will be well on his way to scoring 9 touchdowns by the end of the first quarter. Let’s look at what this kid is capable of against a few of Clemson’s defensivefinest one-on-one, by the numbers.

40 yard Dash
Julio (Bama) 4.69sec
Hamlin (CU) 4.48sec – Advantage
Clemons (CU) 4.4sec - Advantage
Spencer Adams (CU) 4.4sec - Advantage

Height
Julio (Bama) 6ft-4in - Advantage
Hamlin (CU) 6ft-2in
Clemons (CU) 6ft-1in
Adams (CU) 6ft-2in

Vertical
Julio (Bama) 39in – Slight Advantage
Hamlin (CU) 31in
Clemons (CU) 38in
Adams (CU) 35in

Bench (Max)/Body Weight
Julio (Bama) 305lbs/215lbs - Advantage
Hamlin (CU) 240lbs/206lbs
Clemons (CU) 250lbs/210lbs
Adams (CU) 210lbs/180lbs

There it is. I think it is safe to say Chris Clemons will be Julio’s coverage all night long in the Georgia Dome. There is one more major factor here that has to be observed. A wide receiver will only ever be as good as the QB passing the ball. John Parker Wilson, Bama’s QB, will be scrambling all night long due to the fact he will be going up against one of, if not the best overall, defense in the nation. If the throws from Wilson to Julio are not accurate within a 4 inch window, by the numbers, Julio will not be a very BIG factor in an Alabama lock of a win. Jones will no doubt be a factor in Saturday’s game and he will be sure to keep the defense on their toes. In addition, there have been rumors of this amazing youtube video of Julio making unbelievable grab during an Alabama Practice. This thing has over 30,000 views. I’ve watched the video and I can’t really see what the big deal is, whatever.