Let me state that I emphatically hate idiot callers on radio talk shows. Let me add that I am one of those idiots and I will gladly participate if anyone even so much as pretends that they think I have something valuable to say. And the fine folks at CFB Weekly allowed me to have a return appearance to the show, so go ahead and give it a listen.

From what I recall, I was asked if we could win against BC if Matt Ryan was able to shred our defense. I like our offense, but I don’t think the team can win without a fine effort from the defense (and special teams).

Asked about the status of Bowden, I can say that his position is still up in the air and dependent on how the season ends. It’s great to be 8-2 and on a 4-game winning streak, but the happiness can easily be shattered by 3 straight losses. Additionally, I have the fear that once Tommy really achieves success, he may just up and leave. He certainly has a lot invested in the program, but at some point it just might not be worth dealing with Clemson fans anymore.

Lastly, there was a question about the ACCCG and who I would rather see Clemson play (based on the huge IF about beating BC). I choose Virginia Tech. Sure they’ve got a better defense. And special teams that destroy us. And the momentum in the series recently. However, I think UVA can play with more focus and is more able to will a victory. The destruction of Miami at their hands reminds me too much of Wake’s thrashing of FSU around this time last year. That said, I fucking hate UVA and while I would love to bury the bastards, I have a gut feeling that reason will go out the window and some stupid shit will happen and lead to their victory and I absolutely cannot deal with that.

• The men’s basketball team came within 1 point of doubling up Furman. Unfortunately, in a stat that I hope to monitor closely this year, the team shot just just 57% from the free throw line.

  They also forced 37 turnovers.

• Ticket sales for the BC game have picked up, but the game isn’t sold out yet. So if you’re in the market, you can get gouged for the top-deck north seats, or just buy illegally from a scalper at a reasonable price.
• Finally, it has been announced that the Clemson-USCe game will be played under the lights of the dead cockroach. Game time is 7 PM and ESPN2 will have the coverage.

Somewhere back in the preseason, I predicted that BC fans would be upset that their previous coach left. While that may still prove to be the case, the odds aren’t working in favor of that prediction. Especially after tonight. BC broke the #2 ranking curse and pulled out an amazing victory at Virginia Tech.

For 56 minutes, there were shades of the Clemson-VT game of last year; a highly touted team visits Blacksburg, goes nowhere on offense, and leaves with only the the faintest memory of pride. But those last 4 minutes mattered a lot. From the 10-0 deficit, VT accumulated, per the ESPN stats, 168 yards and 14 pts on the back of Matt Ryan on two drives, the latter drive coming after recovering an onside kick. Prior to those drives, the Eagles had only amassed 149 yards of total offense (Clemson managed just 172 total yards last year)

In other words, life sucks for Hokies right now.

There are two other things I saw during the game that are worth noting:
1 - After leading the two successful drives, Matt Ryan threw up all over the BC sidelines.
2 - The demeanor of head coaches means jack. Two weeks ago USF got beat on Thursday night and I literally feared their head coach’s head was going to pop like “a zit. Get it?” Tonight Jags seemed very calm even when things weren’t going well. Actually, when things were going well he was all smiles. And after BC scored the winning touchdown he was practically prancing around on the sideline.
ADDENDUM
3 - I forgot to add this last night, but one of the things that BC did really well last night was falling on loose footballs. There were a number of times when the ball was squirming around and up for grabs and BC did a really excellent job of gaining or regaining possession.

Like last year, I have done my best to roundup all the competing post-spring/pre-season rankings.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blow a lead - check
Shoot 50% from the line - check
Go on late game drought - check

Yup. Everything checks out. The 20-win barrier remains unpenetrated as the Eagles rallied from a 5-point halftime deficit to win 59-54.

Look at it this way: the Tigers won the 2nd half against Duke, and and 1st half against BC. That’s 2 halves in a row. Maybe, just maybe, the team will win two halves in a row in the same game some time before the season ends!

The men’s basketball team returned to its winning ways by dispatching the recent league-leaders, Boston College. The final tally was Clemson 74, BC 54.

I didn’t watch the game, but I already checked the box score. Clemson was 3-9 from the charity stripe but 9-18 from three point land.

So I think I’ve solved the team’s free throw problems. They’re too easy. Once there’s a challenge, the shooting will improve. Or, at least, the shooting is unlikely to get worse.

EDIT: I guess BC still leads the league with their 5-1 conference mark. I was looking at the number of losses.

The line for Saturday’s game is set at Clemson -6.

Clemson is 9-9 against the spread (there was no spread in the Charleston Southern game). The longest streak for Clemson against the spread this season is only 2 games. They’ve lost ATS the last two games.

Clemson is also favored as judged by the Sagarin predictor, while Clemson is also ranked higher in the Sportsline RPI by 31 spots.

Clemson’s future out-of-conference opponents are always up in the air, but at least we know which ACC teams we’ll play through 2015 (assuming the conference stays together).

2007 Clemson Football Scheduled Opponents (in no particular order)::
@Maryland
Wake
@ NC State
FSU
BC
@ Ga. Tech
@ Duke
Va. Tech
(OOC: Furman, UL-Monroe, some MAC team, SC)

Read the rest of this entry »