Sunday, September 30, 2007
Another highlight for Carolina..
We blocked a punt! Our special teams is coming along. We also ran a kick back for a TD but it was called back.
Didn't quite make the top 10 this week..
Right on the edge at 11th. If we can pull the win off against Kentucky this week we should bust the top 10 wide open. Kentucky is ranked 8th! Notice anything else different about the poll?? LSU is ranked #1! I'm glad it happened, I think LSU is the best team in the nation and I'm glad the pollsters agree with me. We also moved ahead of UGA and rightfully so. Man, a win over Kentucky has never been this important..
Clemson is hanging strong at #22. Like you said bro, forget about the last game and focus on the rest of the season. There is a lot of football left to be played and Clemson is still very much in the ACC race. You guys also have a very important game against my Hokies this weekend. A must win for Clemson IMO. VT is going to try the samething as GT. They will be heavy blitzing. That is obviously Clemson's weak-point and for any team to beat Clemson this season thats what they are going to have to do. Harper is going to have his work cut out for him the rest of the season if the O-line doesn't improve..
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/appoll.htm
Clemson is hanging strong at #22. Like you said bro, forget about the last game and focus on the rest of the season. There is a lot of football left to be played and Clemson is still very much in the ACC race. You guys also have a very important game against my Hokies this weekend. A must win for Clemson IMO. VT is going to try the samething as GT. They will be heavy blitzing. That is obviously Clemson's weak-point and for any team to beat Clemson this season thats what they are going to have to do. Harper is going to have his work cut out for him the rest of the season if the O-line doesn't improve..
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/appoll.htm
Shocker..
I don't know what to tell you guys. Clemson just didn't have it yesterday. Harper did what he could but he just couldn't handle the pressure. He also didn't have his RBs to fall back on. GT just took the running game completely out of the equation. Clemson had 34 yards on 32 rushes. The Clemson D also couldn't stop the run. GT ran for almost 200 yards. It almost looked like our game against LSU. You said that Clemson's D was on the field almost the whole game but they barely lost the time of possession battle. GT had the ball for 32:32 and Clemson had the ball for 27:28 so it was pretty even. Clemson's pass D looked ok but they weren't really challenged to much. Clemson's main problem was tackling. Overall, Clemson had their chances but the obstacle that I said they had to overcome to win the game, they couldn't overcome; the GT blitzing game. If Clemson's offense is set up for a blitzing defense, it didn't show yesterday. Spence has got to make some changes if he thought that was the case.
Carolina's offense looked pretty good yesterday against a pretty good defense. We had over 400 yds total offense. Smelley is shaping up to be the real deal. Our offense just seems to flow under him. He has done really well for a RS freshman QB and I'm excited about his future. We had over 100 yds rushing and probably would have had a lot more but Cory had a little knee injury. He is expected to be back for the Thursday night game next week. Mike Davis picked up the slack pretty well. Man, Mike is starting to show his potential. He is really turning out to be a great RB. Of course none of this could have been possible without a good O-line and our o-line played really well. Overall, good win for the Gamecocks..
There were a lot of teams in the top 20 to get beat yesterday. I'm not complaining one bit. The Gamecocks could move into the top 10 this week! I love it!
Carolina's offense looked pretty good yesterday against a pretty good defense. We had over 400 yds total offense. Smelley is shaping up to be the real deal. Our offense just seems to flow under him. He has done really well for a RS freshman QB and I'm excited about his future. We had over 100 yds rushing and probably would have had a lot more but Cory had a little knee injury. He is expected to be back for the Thursday night game next week. Mike Davis picked up the slack pretty well. Man, Mike is starting to show his potential. He is really turning out to be a great RB. Of course none of this could have been possible without a good O-line and our o-line played really well. Overall, good win for the Gamecocks..
There were a lot of teams in the top 20 to get beat yesterday. I'm not complaining one bit. The Gamecocks could move into the top 10 this week! I love it!
Hard not to think about what could have been.....
ACC did good for itself this weekend. With big wins over the SEC and Big East. Hell, most of the top 20 seemed to have lost.
Tigers would have certainly climbed into the top 10.
Whats so bad is not that they lost, its how they lost. Don't get me wrong, Ga Tech played good, Choice was certainly on his game. But thats not the story. They story is that a totally different Tiger football team showed up. Couldn't run block, couldn't catch a football. I knew that they would have to beat themselves this year and they did. Special teams, pathetic.
I feel the worst for Harper. I think he did what he had to do, but you can't do much if your recievers won't catch the ball.
I also feel bad for the Defense, they stayed on the field most of the night and still managed to hold them to 13 points. If you can't outscore a team with 13 points you are not going to win very often.
We should beat everyone on our schedule. If we play like that, we will lose most of the rest of our games.
Tigers would have certainly climbed into the top 10.
Whats so bad is not that they lost, its how they lost. Don't get me wrong, Ga Tech played good, Choice was certainly on his game. But thats not the story. They story is that a totally different Tiger football team showed up. Couldn't run block, couldn't catch a football. I knew that they would have to beat themselves this year and they did. Special teams, pathetic.
I feel the worst for Harper. I think he did what he had to do, but you can't do much if your recievers won't catch the ball.
I also feel bad for the Defense, they stayed on the field most of the night and still managed to hold them to 13 points. If you can't outscore a team with 13 points you are not going to win very often.
We should beat everyone on our schedule. If we play like that, we will lose most of the rest of our games.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Yes, but unfortunately calls that don't go your way (bad calls)...
Are a part of college football. It really sux when you are playing a team that you are not supposed to beat. Clemson has probably lost quite a few games dwelling on the last play instead of the next play.
It could be argued that the infamous 4th and 1 in our game last year was not a first down. I think it is safe to say that call won the game for you. But I won't take away from your win because of it. Clemson lost the game because the Cocks were able to run the ball over them. The Gamecocks played very well and the Tigers didn't. Thats what lost us the game.
The Cocks need to concentrate on what went wrong and not the refs. LSU was able to get almost 300 yds rushing. If a good team is able to run the ball on you like that you are probably not going to win. Its not the first time a team has been able to run the ball good on you. LSU is definitely the best all around team in the sec right now. But I would dare say there are other teams in the SEC that has better or as good running games. They need to concentrate on correcting that.
I dunno about Kentucky. Right now, in my opinion, Kentucky is the second best team in the SEC. They don't get to win alot and every game is going to be like the National Championship for them. Bad defenses or not, they have gained alot of confidence in their wins.
Talking about GT, oddly enough, the Tigers offense is set up for a blitzing defense. I think we would prefer that they do alot of blitzing. Certainly does fall in Harper's hands if they do, but so far that has been a good thing. Oh, he will get sacked a couple of times, but he hasn't been throwing interceptions (none so far) and its like Scott said, the offense is set up for big plays quick down the field. Blockers down the field instead of on the line. If he plays as he has so far, could get ugly early if they blitz like that. I think thats in fact what Spence is hoping for at this point.
I dunno, if Harper plays well, its a no win situation for opposing defenses. If you don't stack the box we will certainly run the ball over a team. If you do, Harper has been burning defenses down the field. Its all about how we execute on offense this year vs how opposing defenses try and stop it. Good situation so far and all in Harper's hand as expected, just not expected he would be playing this well so early.
It could be argued that the infamous 4th and 1 in our game last year was not a first down. I think it is safe to say that call won the game for you. But I won't take away from your win because of it. Clemson lost the game because the Cocks were able to run the ball over them. The Gamecocks played very well and the Tigers didn't. Thats what lost us the game.
The Cocks need to concentrate on what went wrong and not the refs. LSU was able to get almost 300 yds rushing. If a good team is able to run the ball on you like that you are probably not going to win. Its not the first time a team has been able to run the ball good on you. LSU is definitely the best all around team in the sec right now. But I would dare say there are other teams in the SEC that has better or as good running games. They need to concentrate on correcting that.
I dunno about Kentucky. Right now, in my opinion, Kentucky is the second best team in the SEC. They don't get to win alot and every game is going to be like the National Championship for them. Bad defenses or not, they have gained alot of confidence in their wins.
Talking about GT, oddly enough, the Tigers offense is set up for a blitzing defense. I think we would prefer that they do alot of blitzing. Certainly does fall in Harper's hands if they do, but so far that has been a good thing. Oh, he will get sacked a couple of times, but he hasn't been throwing interceptions (none so far) and its like Scott said, the offense is set up for big plays quick down the field. Blockers down the field instead of on the line. If he plays as he has so far, could get ugly early if they blitz like that. I think thats in fact what Spence is hoping for at this point.
I dunno, if Harper plays well, its a no win situation for opposing defenses. If you don't stack the box we will certainly run the ball over a team. If you do, Harper has been burning defenses down the field. Its all about how we execute on offense this year vs how opposing defenses try and stop it. Good situation so far and all in Harper's hand as expected, just not expected he would be playing this well so early.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Finally get to post..
Yea, the LSU game wasn't pretty. We did hold them to less points than anyone expected and scored more than anyone expected. We beat the spread by 4. None of it matters much because we still lost. I guess it mattered to the pollsters a little because we didn't drop much. We had opportunities to make it a game but didn't capitalize. We also gave LSU to many opportunities. The game was called pretty dirty and it shouldn't have effected the game much. Where it did effect us was in the mindset of our players. I think after a while the players were thinking that the officials were gonna give LSU everything they could and not give us anything. Could be wrong there but if I would have been a player for Carolina in that game thats what I woulda been thinking. Like you said though bro, you gotta move on and look towards the rest of the season..
Jasper is out for the season and that is a big blow because he is our best player and leader. I still think our defense will be fine but not quite as good. We are 2nd in the nation in pass D and that's all because of our secondary. Jasper says that he's gonna take the medical redshirt and come back next season rather than going pro. Who knows though, Rice said the same thing. I wouldn't blame Jasper if he went pro though. He is a senior and he deserves his shot at the big time. With Rice that wasn't really the case.
Our run D has really got to step up this Sat. MSU is a run first team and they are pretty good at it. They have a pretty good RB that can make things happen. A big win Sat. will give a lot of confidence to our D minus Jasper. I found out today that I may be going to the game. Ross asked me to go and I told him I didn't have the money. He said he would buy my ticket and he would drive if I went. Hard to pass that up. Dunno, we'll see.
Smelley is our new starter. I like the move. Our offense looked pretty durn good against the best D in the nation when Smelley was in there last week. Who knows though, Blake could get another shot like he did last season and look good in the last few games. You never know about our offense. That isn't necessarily good but it isn't bad either. It throws defenses off when they don't know what to expect from your offense. We gotta get better though and I think we will. A lot of young talent on offense right now..
Clemson should win big this Sat. The only obstacle they will have is GT's pass rush. I read somewhere that GT blitzes 88% of the time. That is unbelievable. I think Clemson should win in a rout as long as Harper plays like he's been playing.
Looking at the schedule, Carolina should be 7-1 going into the Tenn. game. We gotta beat Kentucky but I think we can. Kentucky hasn't faced a good defense yet. Hopefully our #2 ranked pass D will prevail against their passing attack. I think if we are not 7-1 going into the Tenn. game, we have lost one that we shouldn't have. Speaking of that, doesn't look like Clemson is going to lose one they shouldn't this season. If Clemson wins the ones that they are supposed to and lose the 3 toss-ups on their schedule, they can do no worse than 9-3.. Not to shabby..
Oh yea, we picked up a commit today. The 10th ranked player in the state of NC. He is a OLB named Reggie Bowens. He's 6-foot-2, 210 lbs. and runs a 4.5 forty. That's pretty quick for a LB. He's a 3 star right now but he could easily be a 4 star when the next rankings come out from what I hear. Good pickup in a position of need for Carolina.
Personal note: I joined an honor society fraternity today called Phi Theta Kappa. They may kick me out after this semester though.. lol.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Interesting video....
Alot of dirty stuff going on obviously....
But, you guys hung in there fairly well with quite possibly the best team in the nation and the pollsters didn't punish you too bad. You should be ranked ahead of Georgia obviously.
Best thing for fans and players to do is move on and think about next week as there is alot of football to be played. In my opinion, last year and the year before BC held on almost every play. They don't need to get caught up and move on.
But, you guys hung in there fairly well with quite possibly the best team in the nation and the pollsters didn't punish you too bad. You should be ranked ahead of Georgia obviously.
Best thing for fans and players to do is move on and think about next week as there is alot of football to be played. In my opinion, last year and the year before BC held on almost every play. They don't need to get caught up and move on.
I'm gonna make a post soon..
Until then.. Watch this video and tell me what you think..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2k0FLerfDg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcoolchicken2006%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F2007%2F09%2Fcollege%2Dfootball%2D101%2Ddirty%2Dboxing%2Ehtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2k0FLerfDg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcoolchicken2006%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F2007%2F09%2Fcollege%2Dfootball%2D101%2Ddirty%2Dboxing%2Ehtml
Sunday, September 23, 2007
I have been saying it all along.....
I will continue to look at the Tigers cautiously but.....
I think this is the year where everyone thinks the Tigers are not that good. Not worthy of a 15 ranking. Only a matter of time until things fall apart...... and these were Clemson fans.
And me? I think this is the year in fact where the Tigers are very good. I think they are getting better every week. I don't see anybody on our schedule they shouldn't beat. I think the doubtfull doubters may just be in for a surprise this year...
I think this is the year where everyone thinks the Tigers are not that good. Not worthy of a 15 ranking. Only a matter of time until things fall apart...... and these were Clemson fans.
And me? I think this is the year in fact where the Tigers are very good. I think they are getting better every week. I don't see anybody on our schedule they shouldn't beat. I think the doubtfull doubters may just be in for a surprise this year...
Good weekend for the Tigers afterall!!!!
Tigers rack up over 600 yards and Harper has him a couple more TD's with no interceptions this year. Wonder if he will move up in the ratings this week. Could be the #1 rated QB in the nation if he keeps it up.
James Davis and CJ were back in form this week. No surprise there.
Defense was back on this week allowing only 200 yds total and only 60 on the ground. For a long time NC State had negative total yards, the made up a little at the end.
The only dark spot was a kick return for a TD. But other than that the coverage was good and that guy is supposedly one of the best in the nation.
We should move up a couple of spots this week.
SC has to be able to stop the run and run the ball too. I think they allowed almost 300 yds rushing and got about 17 yds rushing. Not good. Looks like old Blake Mitchell finally might have sowed his royal oats on the bench, lol. Anyway, LSU is a good team, they just simply dominated the Gamecocks on both sides of the ball.
James Davis and CJ were back in form this week. No surprise there.
Defense was back on this week allowing only 200 yds total and only 60 on the ground. For a long time NC State had negative total yards, the made up a little at the end.
The only dark spot was a kick return for a TD. But other than that the coverage was good and that guy is supposedly one of the best in the nation.
We should move up a couple of spots this week.
SC has to be able to stop the run and run the ball too. I think they allowed almost 300 yds rushing and got about 17 yds rushing. Not good. Looks like old Blake Mitchell finally might have sowed his royal oats on the bench, lol. Anyway, LSU is a good team, they just simply dominated the Gamecocks on both sides of the ball.
Friday, September 21, 2007
I don't think so this weekend....
If we lose and I know all too well we can, it will be because we play bad. Not because NC State is better than advertised. Their new QB has not faired well, it completion rate is below 50% and he is averaging 5-6 interceptions a game. The wolfpack is also averaging allowing 250 yards rushing per game. I think UCF has a good program and so does BC, but I am willing to bet they caught BC on an off week. Those numbers are somewhat self inflicted.
Clemson also has NC States number, much in the same way BC and Va Tech has Clemson's. It will likely be the JD and CJ show this weekend. But even without that, Harper has confidence and it seems every reciever we have is a weapon this year.
I think when we lose this year it will be because of overconfidence in not taking some team seriously. I don't think we are that confident yet and the Tigers will take this game very seriously and come out like they know they can lose if they don't play well.
Having said all that, I am glad we are playing NC State early, Obrien will likely have them ready to play be the end of the season.
I don't have to tell you that you are playing a good football team this week. It will be an uphill battle but if the Cocks can keep it close untill the 4th you will probably win. If its close, I think the Cocks take it.
Clemson also has NC States number, much in the same way BC and Va Tech has Clemson's. It will likely be the JD and CJ show this weekend. But even without that, Harper has confidence and it seems every reciever we have is a weapon this year.
I think when we lose this year it will be because of overconfidence in not taking some team seriously. I don't think we are that confident yet and the Tigers will take this game very seriously and come out like they know they can lose if they don't play well.
Having said all that, I am glad we are playing NC State early, Obrien will likely have them ready to play be the end of the season.
I don't have to tell you that you are playing a good football team this week. It will be an uphill battle but if the Cocks can keep it close untill the 4th you will probably win. If its close, I think the Cocks take it.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Just a quick little post..
I've been busy this week. I had tests in all 4 of my classes so I haven't had a chance to post anything. Who's ready for this weekend? I am, I'm ready to get this one out of the way and see how we fair against the #2 team in the nation.
I don't make predictions for Carolina games anymore and I'm not about to start now. I however do not mind making predictions about the ole Tigers.. lol. I think if Clemson is going to lose a game that they shouldn't this season, it will come this weekend. Just a gut feeling. Don't get me wrong, Clemson is the far better team and they should win this Saturday. I just have a little gut feeling that Clemson is going to lose a close one to NC St.. State is better team than many think. The UCF team that they lost to almost beat Texas this past weekend. State also hung in there with BC until a couple of last minute scores..
With that out of the way, do you guys really think Carolina has a chance this weekend? No one else does, none of the papers, analysts, ect.. Well, wait a minute there is one guy. Get this, Micky Plyler thinks Carolina will upset LSU this Saturday. What a shocker! I still think he is a tard though.. lol. Like I said, I don't make predictions on Carolina games anymore but I can say that I think we have a chance. That's it, just a chance. Nothing against you guys or Clemson but I think NC St has a chance this Saturday as well.. A bigger one than many may think. Please don't take this as a flame; just stating whats on my mind. You guys can give any prediction for this weekend for Carolina and I won't be offended at all. As a matter of fact, Brent already did: Clemson 34-21, LSU 27-13. Neither are bad predictions at all. My prediction for Clemson this Saturday: Clemson-21 NC St-24.
Also, Carolina picked up the 11th nationally ranked dual-threat QB in Aramis Hillary today. Don't know much about him except a lot of people had said we would be kicking ourselves in the future if we didn't offer him. We offered him and he committed on the spot. It's always good to pick up a player that just simply wants to play for your school. Hillary wanted to be a Gamecock bad and he stated that today was the best day of his life..
I don't make predictions for Carolina games anymore and I'm not about to start now. I however do not mind making predictions about the ole Tigers.. lol. I think if Clemson is going to lose a game that they shouldn't this season, it will come this weekend. Just a gut feeling. Don't get me wrong, Clemson is the far better team and they should win this Saturday. I just have a little gut feeling that Clemson is going to lose a close one to NC St.. State is better team than many think. The UCF team that they lost to almost beat Texas this past weekend. State also hung in there with BC until a couple of last minute scores..
With that out of the way, do you guys really think Carolina has a chance this weekend? No one else does, none of the papers, analysts, ect.. Well, wait a minute there is one guy. Get this, Micky Plyler thinks Carolina will upset LSU this Saturday. What a shocker! I still think he is a tard though.. lol. Like I said, I don't make predictions on Carolina games anymore but I can say that I think we have a chance. That's it, just a chance. Nothing against you guys or Clemson but I think NC St has a chance this Saturday as well.. A bigger one than many may think. Please don't take this as a flame; just stating whats on my mind. You guys can give any prediction for this weekend for Carolina and I won't be offended at all. As a matter of fact, Brent already did: Clemson 34-21, LSU 27-13. Neither are bad predictions at all. My prediction for Clemson this Saturday: Clemson-21 NC St-24.
Also, Carolina picked up the 11th nationally ranked dual-threat QB in Aramis Hillary today. Don't know much about him except a lot of people had said we would be kicking ourselves in the future if we didn't offer him. We offered him and he committed on the spot. It's always good to pick up a player that just simply wants to play for your school. Hillary wanted to be a Gamecock bad and he stated that today was the best day of his life..
Monday, September 17, 2007
I hear you, don't agree entirely.....
But first lets talk about our schedule. Right now, I think we should beat every team on it. I am not saying we will because to do that you can't have even one down week and we usually have about four. It it is very likely in my mind that we will get a 10 win season this year and a shot at the ACC title. Which we should have a real good chance in this year. The teams that worry me the most are BC obviously and yep still Va Tech. We will be up for the Ga Tech game and hopefully still doing good on injuries. Can't forget about the all out brawl that will be in Columbia, anybody's guess on that one.
Brent, this team is better by a long shot than last year. That should give us 2 more wins. We are good right now with the potential to be great. Not great right now, but key areas are looking great. One of the biggest being Harper, you got to be happy with that guy right now. Korn is looking good too. I forsee him being used in a two QB system like Florida did last year later. I think surprisingly this will be a good thing.
I didn't hear alot of excuses. Brad Scott simply said what happened. You want big pass plays? You gonna get some sacks because a big pass play system is not conservative. Nine men in the box is going to leave someone uncovered and the passes have to be quick. A completion equals a big play with blockers and recievers down the field. Otherwise its a sack, period. For some teams its an interception. I'll take the sacks. Yeah we got 5 sacks, we have 10 TD's and the number 4 rated QB in the nation right now, I'll take the sacks.
But I do agree Bowdens one mistake this year is the Michigan comments. However, I understand he is happy someone else other than him is in the news on the hot seat this year. If I were him, I would have been saying how about Weis's fat ass at 0 and 3, but that's just me.
I have a good feeling about this year, I do however have common sense and know its not a sure thing. But I like what I see so far.
Brent, this team is better by a long shot than last year. That should give us 2 more wins. We are good right now with the potential to be great. Not great right now, but key areas are looking great. One of the biggest being Harper, you got to be happy with that guy right now. Korn is looking good too. I forsee him being used in a two QB system like Florida did last year later. I think surprisingly this will be a good thing.
I didn't hear alot of excuses. Brad Scott simply said what happened. You want big pass plays? You gonna get some sacks because a big pass play system is not conservative. Nine men in the box is going to leave someone uncovered and the passes have to be quick. A completion equals a big play with blockers and recievers down the field. Otherwise its a sack, period. For some teams its an interception. I'll take the sacks. Yeah we got 5 sacks, we have 10 TD's and the number 4 rated QB in the nation right now, I'll take the sacks.
But I do agree Bowdens one mistake this year is the Michigan comments. However, I understand he is happy someone else other than him is in the news on the hot seat this year. If I were him, I would have been saying how about Weis's fat ass at 0 and 3, but that's just me.
I have a good feeling about this year, I do however have common sense and know its not a sure thing. But I like what I see so far.
Still On the Fence.
I am not quite sure about Clemson right now. They are winning big, but they have sounded (haven't seen them play on TV since FSU) inconsistent. I'm not necessarily worried about our defense, but we do need leaders to hold people accountable. My main concern right now is the offensive line play. I know all about 8 0r 9 guys in the box, but they shouldn't be making excuses for Furman getinng 5 sacks. We'll see what Clemson has Saturday. By the way, Tommy Bowden's an asshole for calling out Lloyd Carr.
Its looking good at the moment for both of us...
They may or may not move you up in the top five, certainly the top ten and close to it. I would put you in the top five if you win. Doesn't really matter anyway, you win out and you will be in the National Championship. The only other thing is an SEC title and if you win your conference who cares where you end up. Even with a loss this weekend you still are not out of the race. I think LSU is the best team in the top ten right now.
Texas has held on by the hair of their chinny chin chin against cupcake teams all season. I can't see how they should be ranked so high.
I love the fact Kentucky beat Louisville. They were real jerks last year including the coach. Thats what happens when you act like that. The fact it moved us up doesn't hurt either.
With Ga Tech losing, right now, I think we should beat everyone on our schedule. Not that we will, just that we should. Harper has gone beyond all expectations and our recievers are finally playing to their potential this year. I don't think you want to line 8 or 9 men up in the box this year, lol, just ask Furman.
I am seeing alot of critisism from everyone, I understand what happens when you get your hopes up. I'm just not buying into the we are not that good crap. Pretty obvious VK has ran a very conservative and vanilla defense just working on fundamentals the past 2 games and rightfully so.
Not a whole lot of blitzing or anything special. Very smart, if the offense takes care of bussiness and NC State gets handled as they should I think you will see more of the same this week. Hes not giving up what the defense is really capable of until Ga Tech. Our defense is quite capable of blitzing the crap out of everyone this year. Not gonna be a whole lots save the FSU game for opponents to look at.
If it all comes together and it looks like it could this year, the possibilities are endless. I think we lacked a QB last year. We have one maybe two this year. Gonna be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Texas has held on by the hair of their chinny chin chin against cupcake teams all season. I can't see how they should be ranked so high.
I love the fact Kentucky beat Louisville. They were real jerks last year including the coach. Thats what happens when you act like that. The fact it moved us up doesn't hurt either.
With Ga Tech losing, right now, I think we should beat everyone on our schedule. Not that we will, just that we should. Harper has gone beyond all expectations and our recievers are finally playing to their potential this year. I don't think you want to line 8 or 9 men up in the box this year, lol, just ask Furman.
I am seeing alot of critisism from everyone, I understand what happens when you get your hopes up. I'm just not buying into the we are not that good crap. Pretty obvious VK has ran a very conservative and vanilla defense just working on fundamentals the past 2 games and rightfully so.
Not a whole lot of blitzing or anything special. Very smart, if the offense takes care of bussiness and NC State gets handled as they should I think you will see more of the same this week. Hes not giving up what the defense is really capable of until Ga Tech. Our defense is quite capable of blitzing the crap out of everyone this year. Not gonna be a whole lots save the FSU game for opponents to look at.
If it all comes together and it looks like it could this year, the possibilities are endless. I think we lacked a QB last year. We have one maybe two this year. Gonna be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
LSU game will be televised on CBS at 3:30..
CBS had first dibs on our game. They chose our game over UGA Vs. Bama. This is good for Carolina because we didn't want to face the Tigers at night. Imagine the possibilities if we were able to pull off a win this Saturday.. It would be absolutely crazy! It doesn't hurt anything with us being ranked 12th. We could bump into the top 5 if we win Saturday.
Oh and how about Kentucky beating Louisville! Man the SEC is deep this year..
Oh and how about Kentucky beating Louisville! Man the SEC is deep this year..
Climing the polls!
AP Top 25
1. Southern Cal (46)
2. LSU (19)
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. West Virginia
6. California
7. Texas
8. Ohio St.
9. Wisconsin
10. Penn St.
11. Rutgers
12. South Carolina
13. Oregon
14. Boston College
15. Clemson
16. Alabama
17. Virginia Tech
18. Louisville
19. Hawaii
20. Texas A&M
21. Kentucky
22. Georgia
23. South Florida
24. Nebraska
25. Missouri
USA Today
1. Southern California (44)
2. LSU (8)
3. Florida (7)
4. Oklahoma (1)
5. West Virginia
6. Texas
7. Wisconsin
8. California
9. Ohio State
10. Penn State
11. Rutgers
12. Boston College
13. Oregon
14. (tie) South Carolina
14. (tie) Clemson
16. Texas A&M
17. Virginia Tech
18. Hawaii
19. Louisville
20. Alabama
21. Georgia
22. Nebraska
23. Kentucky
24. South Florida
25. Missouri
1. Southern Cal (46)
2. LSU (19)
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. West Virginia
6. California
7. Texas
8. Ohio St.
9. Wisconsin
10. Penn St.
11. Rutgers
12. South Carolina
13. Oregon
14. Boston College
15. Clemson
16. Alabama
17. Virginia Tech
18. Louisville
19. Hawaii
20. Texas A&M
21. Kentucky
22. Georgia
23. South Florida
24. Nebraska
25. Missouri
USA Today
1. Southern California (44)
2. LSU (8)
3. Florida (7)
4. Oklahoma (1)
5. West Virginia
6. Texas
7. Wisconsin
8. California
9. Ohio State
10. Penn State
11. Rutgers
12. Boston College
13. Oregon
14. (tie) South Carolina
14. (tie) Clemson
16. Texas A&M
17. Virginia Tech
18. Hawaii
19. Louisville
20. Alabama
21. Georgia
22. Nebraska
23. Kentucky
24. South Florida
25. Missouri
Friday, September 14, 2007
Ok, cleared up, I have no problems with this. Out of context as usual....
Some blamed me and our morning radio show. Some blamed the media. Some are still looking to point the finger somewhere but the target keeps moving.
For those that did not hear the entire last two days of the morning show allow me to express what exactly what was said to clear up any misunderstanding. On the show we presented every possible situation including Harper�s continued success and/or failure and Korn�s future success and/or failure. I was very comfortable how we have handled the situation over the course of the last two shows. I thought we have been very fair to Harper, Korn, Bowden and Spence. We laid out every possible scenario.
The subject came up Wednesday morning because in his Tuesday press conference Bowden was asked, �Can you see a situation where Korn and Harper become part of a two-quarterback system this season?�
Bowden answers, �I don�t know if we are ready for that yet but I think he has potential. I remember Charlie Whitehurst against Virginia and he went for 7-and-7 and that caught your eye. It�s a similar situation. Willy had a very similar performance. It gets your attention. That�s something that could possibly happen as we go through the year.
Next question: �Could you see a scenario where Korn plays a lot this week?�
Bowden response, �No. How am I supposed to answer that? You are insinuating we are going to blow Furman out. Cullen is doing pretty good. At a later date? Yes.
The head coach was asked about the situation after Wednesday�s practice and added, �If he continues to do what he is doing, then there is an opportunity that I will play him in a more critical situation other than the end of the game. Guys were covered and he scrambled and made plays with his legs and his arms,� Bowden said. �We are a multiple formation team and he managed the team good, so there were several things that happened good.�
When asked if he had ever had a true freshman quarterback play like that Bowden answered, �That was the first time I�ve seen that,� the head coach said. �I have seen guys go out there that first time as a veteran � and he is a true freshman � and have seen them line up under center and they�re supposed to be in shotgun or open up the wrong way. I�ve seen that. I�ve seen that happen, and that didn�t happen with him.�
How does this affect Harper, �(Cullen) is our first-team quarterback,� Bowden said. �We have a first team and a second team. I don�t how I really can explain it other than that� He is our first-team quarterback.�
�I haven�t thought that far ahead yet,� Bowden said when asked how much we will see of Korn in the future. �I want to see if he can go in there and perform like he did Saturday. Charlie (Whitehurst) did it a couple of times. The first time he did it we just didn�t move him in and demote Willie (Simmons). There was another game he did it in and I said, �this guy looks like he can be pretty consistent. Now if (Korn) goes 6-of-8 again, I don�t care who you are going against, that�s pretty good.�
If the head coach makes comments like that then this is a story at almost any program in the country. So here is what is clear to me:
1. Cullen Harper is the starting quarterback.
2. Harper set the school record for touchdown passes in a game.
3. Korn played well in his first outing.
4. Korn will see more playing time as the gap continues to close.
So where is the controversy?
For those that did not hear the entire last two days of the morning show allow me to express what exactly what was said to clear up any misunderstanding. On the show we presented every possible situation including Harper�s continued success and/or failure and Korn�s future success and/or failure. I was very comfortable how we have handled the situation over the course of the last two shows. I thought we have been very fair to Harper, Korn, Bowden and Spence. We laid out every possible scenario.
The subject came up Wednesday morning because in his Tuesday press conference Bowden was asked, �Can you see a situation where Korn and Harper become part of a two-quarterback system this season?�
Bowden answers, �I don�t know if we are ready for that yet but I think he has potential. I remember Charlie Whitehurst against Virginia and he went for 7-and-7 and that caught your eye. It�s a similar situation. Willy had a very similar performance. It gets your attention. That�s something that could possibly happen as we go through the year.
Next question: �Could you see a scenario where Korn plays a lot this week?�
Bowden response, �No. How am I supposed to answer that? You are insinuating we are going to blow Furman out. Cullen is doing pretty good. At a later date? Yes.
The head coach was asked about the situation after Wednesday�s practice and added, �If he continues to do what he is doing, then there is an opportunity that I will play him in a more critical situation other than the end of the game. Guys were covered and he scrambled and made plays with his legs and his arms,� Bowden said. �We are a multiple formation team and he managed the team good, so there were several things that happened good.�
When asked if he had ever had a true freshman quarterback play like that Bowden answered, �That was the first time I�ve seen that,� the head coach said. �I have seen guys go out there that first time as a veteran � and he is a true freshman � and have seen them line up under center and they�re supposed to be in shotgun or open up the wrong way. I�ve seen that. I�ve seen that happen, and that didn�t happen with him.�
How does this affect Harper, �(Cullen) is our first-team quarterback,� Bowden said. �We have a first team and a second team. I don�t how I really can explain it other than that� He is our first-team quarterback.�
�I haven�t thought that far ahead yet,� Bowden said when asked how much we will see of Korn in the future. �I want to see if he can go in there and perform like he did Saturday. Charlie (Whitehurst) did it a couple of times. The first time he did it we just didn�t move him in and demote Willie (Simmons). There was another game he did it in and I said, �this guy looks like he can be pretty consistent. Now if (Korn) goes 6-of-8 again, I don�t care who you are going against, that�s pretty good.�
If the head coach makes comments like that then this is a story at almost any program in the country. So here is what is clear to me:
1. Cullen Harper is the starting quarterback.
2. Harper set the school record for touchdown passes in a game.
3. Korn played well in his first outing.
4. Korn will see more playing time as the gap continues to close.
So where is the controversy?
First big mistake by Bowden this year...
However, taken out of context I'm sure. He was doing good with his comments and if he made this one its a mistake.
I do however like the concept. Korn's redshirt is blown now. I think bringing him in as a major dual threat could be a good change up from time to time. Florida did it and you can argue with the results that they got. Again I have no problem with that, its a good idea in fact.
Annoucing it to the media, Harper and our future opponents to appease the fans. Mistake.
I do however like the concept. Korn's redshirt is blown now. I think bringing him in as a major dual threat could be a good change up from time to time. Florida did it and you can argue with the results that they got. Again I have no problem with that, its a good idea in fact.
Annoucing it to the media, Harper and our future opponents to appease the fans. Mistake.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
QB Controversy?
Tommy Bowden has made some comments in the Greenville News that Willie Korn will get some playing time in critical situations. The radio (Walt Deptula) and media is making this into a QB controversy. Frankly, I think Tommy Bowden is making a mistake in announcing and/or doing this. This could really affect Cullen Harper's confidence right now. I don't understand the motivations behind this, but Cullen hasn't thrown a pick in two games. Get ready for one this week, guys. This is not the thing you do to a first time starter. Remember the Arizona State incident last year with Rudy Carpenter and Sam Keller. Remember Dick Koetter? He isn't coaching the Sun Devils anymore, I can tell you that.Willie Korn is the real deal, but Cullen Harper needs to be the starter, period. Now that he has lost his redshirt, let him play in scrap time this year I say. I really can't see what he adds right now. Comments guys? Sorry I haven't been posting lately
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Ex Clemson player ready for Carolina game..
This is an example of one of the talented transfers that SC St has from the big SC schools. I know you guys remember "X" Littleberry. He was a DE at Clemson that got kicked off of the team. He beat up his girlfriend in 2004. Tommy gave him another chance and he exposed himself to a hotel maid before the Champs Sports Bowl in 2005.
Anyway, he had a lot of trash to talk about the Gamecocks. He said that he is going to "Beat Blake Mitchell up" in the game this weekend.. lol. He also threw a few jabs at Clemson saying that him being kicked off the team was a "fluke." In a nutshell, he is a punk.Here's the article.
SCSU 'X' Factor
Xavier Littleberry does. In 2004, he was on Clemson’s sidelines when the Gamecocks and Tigers butted heads in a brawl that made national headlines. It was an ugly chapter in a rivalry that Littleberry was thrown into the middle of the second he signed on the dotted line to become a Tiger. It was a rivalry he counted on, and a rivalry that was taken away the day he was dismissed from Clemson’s team ... or so he thought.
Saturday, Littleberry, who had 1.5 sacks in last week’s 24-13 win over Bethune-Cookman, will take his first snaps against South Carolina when his South Carolina State Bulldogs take the short trip up I-26 to face the Gamecocks. If it was ever a secret that he’s not a Carolina fan, well, it isn’t anymore.
"I will tell coach (Buddy) Pough, he should know how I feel about this game," the Bulldogs’ defensive end said. "I told my position coach (David Blanchard) yesterday and my defensive coordinator (John Hendrick) ... I am ready.
"The brawl itself is a real good reason that I can’t wait for this weekend," he added. "When I first got here, I started figuring out there was a rivalry between them and South Carolina State too."
It doesn’t matter that this will be the first time the two schools have met on the football field, Littleberry said the close proximity makes it a rivalry nonetheless.
"I think (the distance) is why," he said. "And, then it’s a real big game for us. Nobody on our team likes South Carolina.
"Before I got here, they were telling me they were going to try to schedule South Carolina for this year, and I was happy about that," he continued. "I was transferring, and I had other (Division I) offers, but two of my coaches that coached me at Clemson wanted me to come here so I felt comfortable because they were here. They were telling me about South Carolina being on the schedule, and I felt real good about that because I was like, ‘Oh, I’m at Clemson now, and we don’t like them. If I go to South Carolina State, I’ll still have a chance to play them.’"
So, Saturday Littleberry will take his first snaps against South Carolina (he didn’t play in the brawl game, and sat out the 05 season), and he will take them with bad intentions.
"Saturday, I set a goal for at least four sacks," he said. "If I can go out there and get two or three sacks and maybe three tackles, that is a good game for me. I am 100 percent the whole game. I am a little messed up in my wrist, but I don’t care. As long as I beat up Blake Mitchell that is a perfect game for me. I want to shine and just put on a show.
"My true pass-rush skill is going to shine this game," he continued. "If (Mitchell) wants to have a big game, I don’t think he should hold the ball for more than three or four seconds because I am most definitely coming. I watched film on both of their tackles, I play right end, but their left tackle -- he looked athletic -- but he is still, my speed -- I am 260 pounds and I run a low 4.6 40. He is 300-something pounds, and I am going to try to make him work this game."
Bulletin board material, but Littleberry said he didn’t care about that. Everything that has happened over the past three years has built up into the perfect storm of emotion inside the former recruit from Camden Military. This was a game he was supposed to play in four times, not once. And, while he said he still has some Clemson blood running through his veins, he isn’t shy when it comes to talking about the sour taste his dismissal from the Tigers has left in his mouth.
"I am doing real good (at SC State)," he said. "I still think about what happened ... my last days at Clemson, and I don’t want to get into too much detail. But, the whole thing was a fluke. My thing was, if coach (Tommy) Bowden didn’t want me there all he had to do was tell me. I got into an incident in 04, and that kind of had some lean into him releasing me from the team, but the other incident was ‘BS’. People can think what they want and say what they want. But, unless they were actually there ... and, then all they have to do is read about what happened and pay attention."
Thankfully, that’s all behind him now and Saturday -- if things go the way he wants them to -- he could put a whole lot of "what might have beens" to rest.
"First of all, that feeling, I came from that environment," he said. "The feeling of going back to that environment ... it’s going to feel like I never left. We don’t have to worry about the options and the quarterback scrambling and all that stuff. I think my game is really going to come out.
"Everybody has been saying we could be the next App State," he added. "I really agree. I really feel like we can beat these cats."
http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2007/09/12/sports/scsu/doc46e761fceaf1b230574652.txt
Anyway, he had a lot of trash to talk about the Gamecocks. He said that he is going to "Beat Blake Mitchell up" in the game this weekend.. lol. He also threw a few jabs at Clemson saying that him being kicked off the team was a "fluke." In a nutshell, he is a punk.Here's the article.
SCSU 'X' Factor
Xavier Littleberry does. In 2004, he was on Clemson’s sidelines when the Gamecocks and Tigers butted heads in a brawl that made national headlines. It was an ugly chapter in a rivalry that Littleberry was thrown into the middle of the second he signed on the dotted line to become a Tiger. It was a rivalry he counted on, and a rivalry that was taken away the day he was dismissed from Clemson’s team ... or so he thought.
Saturday, Littleberry, who had 1.5 sacks in last week’s 24-13 win over Bethune-Cookman, will take his first snaps against South Carolina when his South Carolina State Bulldogs take the short trip up I-26 to face the Gamecocks. If it was ever a secret that he’s not a Carolina fan, well, it isn’t anymore.
"I will tell coach (Buddy) Pough, he should know how I feel about this game," the Bulldogs’ defensive end said. "I told my position coach (David Blanchard) yesterday and my defensive coordinator (John Hendrick) ... I am ready.
"The brawl itself is a real good reason that I can’t wait for this weekend," he added. "When I first got here, I started figuring out there was a rivalry between them and South Carolina State too."
It doesn’t matter that this will be the first time the two schools have met on the football field, Littleberry said the close proximity makes it a rivalry nonetheless.
"I think (the distance) is why," he said. "And, then it’s a real big game for us. Nobody on our team likes South Carolina.
"Before I got here, they were telling me they were going to try to schedule South Carolina for this year, and I was happy about that," he continued. "I was transferring, and I had other (Division I) offers, but two of my coaches that coached me at Clemson wanted me to come here so I felt comfortable because they were here. They were telling me about South Carolina being on the schedule, and I felt real good about that because I was like, ‘Oh, I’m at Clemson now, and we don’t like them. If I go to South Carolina State, I’ll still have a chance to play them.’"
So, Saturday Littleberry will take his first snaps against South Carolina (he didn’t play in the brawl game, and sat out the 05 season), and he will take them with bad intentions.
"Saturday, I set a goal for at least four sacks," he said. "If I can go out there and get two or three sacks and maybe three tackles, that is a good game for me. I am 100 percent the whole game. I am a little messed up in my wrist, but I don’t care. As long as I beat up Blake Mitchell that is a perfect game for me. I want to shine and just put on a show.
"My true pass-rush skill is going to shine this game," he continued. "If (Mitchell) wants to have a big game, I don’t think he should hold the ball for more than three or four seconds because I am most definitely coming. I watched film on both of their tackles, I play right end, but their left tackle -- he looked athletic -- but he is still, my speed -- I am 260 pounds and I run a low 4.6 40. He is 300-something pounds, and I am going to try to make him work this game."
Bulletin board material, but Littleberry said he didn’t care about that. Everything that has happened over the past three years has built up into the perfect storm of emotion inside the former recruit from Camden Military. This was a game he was supposed to play in four times, not once. And, while he said he still has some Clemson blood running through his veins, he isn’t shy when it comes to talking about the sour taste his dismissal from the Tigers has left in his mouth.
"I am doing real good (at SC State)," he said. "I still think about what happened ... my last days at Clemson, and I don’t want to get into too much detail. But, the whole thing was a fluke. My thing was, if coach (Tommy) Bowden didn’t want me there all he had to do was tell me. I got into an incident in 04, and that kind of had some lean into him releasing me from the team, but the other incident was ‘BS’. People can think what they want and say what they want. But, unless they were actually there ... and, then all they have to do is read about what happened and pay attention."
Thankfully, that’s all behind him now and Saturday -- if things go the way he wants them to -- he could put a whole lot of "what might have beens" to rest.
"First of all, that feeling, I came from that environment," he said. "The feeling of going back to that environment ... it’s going to feel like I never left. We don’t have to worry about the options and the quarterback scrambling and all that stuff. I think my game is really going to come out.
"Everybody has been saying we could be the next App State," he added. "I really agree. I really feel like we can beat these cats."
http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2007/09/12/sports/scsu/doc46e761fceaf1b230574652.txt
Good article on Tigernet, I havn't mentioned it. I was very pissed off when after Harper had a record perfomance Korn gets cheered on as the....
second coming. No doubt making Harper feel like crap. All of their bullshit on the call ins is pretty obnoxious. Harper is getting it done at the moment and they need to shut the hell up...
by Roy Martin
I could break down last week’s game and bore the four people that actually read this column. I am not that good to begin with, and the fact that it was a ho-hum win because Clemson did what they were supposed to, except for giving up a couple of late touchdowns, does not make it any easier.
Sure, there were a number of bright spots worth mentioning. Cullen Harper’s school record five touchdown passes, all of which were to different receivers, or the number of young guys that picked up significant reps are examples. And though not a surprise, it was nice to see Mark Buchholz have another stellar performance on kickoffs.
However, a more important topic needs to be addressed and it is one that will not sit well with many. Clemson has some very ignorant fans.
Now before you all get bent out of shape, realize two things. First, the key word in that sentence is “some.” Secondly, you should at least read all that I have to say before jumping to conclusions.
All schools have ignorant fans, so there is no reason for anyone to think Clemson is immune to them. Why, then, does it deserve mentioning?
Because the level of ignorance seems to be growing and growing like a tumor. At first it was a just a spot worth getting checked out at some point, but now it has become a reason to worry.
The reason for this concern involves the sheer lunacy of some fans in regards to Clemson’s quarterback situation. The second-string quarterback will always be pretty popular, especially when things are not going well, but the infatuation with Clemson’s quarterbacks is downright ridiculous.
Fact: Cullen Harper is the starter, he deserves to be the starter, and so far he has done a very good job as the starter.
Fiction: Willy Korn can sling it like Dan Marino, runs like a cheetah, and he could part the waters of Lake Hartwell with a simple touch of his finger. His sweat cures cancer and a portion of the ozone layer is restored every time he passes gas.
There is no denying Korn was a great talent in high school. He may well be the best high school quarterback to ever hail from the state of South Carolina, but that alone does not make him the best candidate for the job.
It takes more than an impressive resume to be a starter.
Remember Michael Carr, the top ranked quarterback coming out of high school who signed with Clemson? How about Kelvin Grant, the highly sought after receiver from Camden?
Both were players who dominated on the high school level but could not get it together in college. And those are just a couple of names on a long list of “can’t miss” prospects who did not produce, a list which every school has.
Naturally, expectations for Korn are going to be high because of his accomplishments, his commitment to Clemson before his junior year, and the way he carries himself. He is a natural leader who always seems to say the right thing.
But the expectations need to be tempered by the realization that he is just a true freshman and not Superman.
Anyone who thinks he deserves to be the starter at this point in his career is making a declaration based on, at best, high school broadcasts, the writings of the so-called recruiting gurus, and the spring game.
Outside of the staff, very few people have access to Clemson practices, and only a few of them attend on a fairly regular basis. Yet, many have been clamoring for him to start as if they have seen enough practices to know he is far and away the best quarterback on campus.
The sad thing is many would make that claim even if they had access to practice simply because they are so jaded by all the press, and they do not know how to assess a quarterback anymore than they know how to land the space shuttle.
A perfect example is the gentleman sitting near me for the Florida State game. After the third play he stated that Korn should be in there because he’s the “best quarterback in the conference.” When asked why by another fan he responded, “Because he grew up near me.”
Of course, this is the same guy that was calling for Harper last year, for Proctor when Whitehurst was still around, Whitehurst when Willie Simmons was starting, and Simmons when Woody Dantzler was setting records.
I realize that people like him are a minority, but it is a growing minority. And because of the outspokenness of this minority, it is as if they have become the vocal majority.
Being a first-year starting quarterback is hard enough as it is regardless of how many years one has been in the program. Having to deal with a large portion of the fan base cheering your backup like he is the second coming of Joe Montana, they way they did Saturday, only makes it harder.
What many have failed to realize in their support of Korn is they are backhanding Harper, the same Harper many of them wanted to see on the field last year.
It is time everyone looks at the bigger picture and support Cullen Harper. The coaches are not playing him because of loyalty or because they are scared to throw Korn into the fire. He is ahead of Korn right now because he is a better quarterback for this team.
Harper has done nothing to lead anyone to believe he does not deserve to be the starter. Through two games he has seven touchdowns and no interceptions. He has done a very good job guiding the team and protecting the football.
He has not made every read or hit the bull’s-eye with every pass. But guess what, Korn has not either.
Harper looks to be a tremendous upgrade over Will Proctor. Not only does he seem to be better from a production standpoint, he is tremendous upgrade as a leader and a guy for whom the team has the utmost respect.
If he is as good as everyone seems to think, Korn’s time will come soon enough. Be it next week or next year, he will see the field. Either way, it is a positive.
If Harper is able to hold him off for an entire season and possibly two, then Clemson apparently found a diamond in the rough when they signed him. If Korn takes over this year, it is because he was all he was made out to be coming out of high school…and possibly more.
With an offensive line that is still very much a work in progress, fans need to realize that there are going to be some bumps along the way and this year’s quarterback needs the benefit of the doubt.
Regardless of whom the starter is, the fervent adulation for Korn needs to be dialed back because he does not need the pressure and Harper could use the support.
by Roy Martin
I could break down last week’s game and bore the four people that actually read this column. I am not that good to begin with, and the fact that it was a ho-hum win because Clemson did what they were supposed to, except for giving up a couple of late touchdowns, does not make it any easier.
Sure, there were a number of bright spots worth mentioning. Cullen Harper’s school record five touchdown passes, all of which were to different receivers, or the number of young guys that picked up significant reps are examples. And though not a surprise, it was nice to see Mark Buchholz have another stellar performance on kickoffs.
However, a more important topic needs to be addressed and it is one that will not sit well with many. Clemson has some very ignorant fans.
Now before you all get bent out of shape, realize two things. First, the key word in that sentence is “some.” Secondly, you should at least read all that I have to say before jumping to conclusions.
All schools have ignorant fans, so there is no reason for anyone to think Clemson is immune to them. Why, then, does it deserve mentioning?
Because the level of ignorance seems to be growing and growing like a tumor. At first it was a just a spot worth getting checked out at some point, but now it has become a reason to worry.
The reason for this concern involves the sheer lunacy of some fans in regards to Clemson’s quarterback situation. The second-string quarterback will always be pretty popular, especially when things are not going well, but the infatuation with Clemson’s quarterbacks is downright ridiculous.
Fact: Cullen Harper is the starter, he deserves to be the starter, and so far he has done a very good job as the starter.
Fiction: Willy Korn can sling it like Dan Marino, runs like a cheetah, and he could part the waters of Lake Hartwell with a simple touch of his finger. His sweat cures cancer and a portion of the ozone layer is restored every time he passes gas.
There is no denying Korn was a great talent in high school. He may well be the best high school quarterback to ever hail from the state of South Carolina, but that alone does not make him the best candidate for the job.
It takes more than an impressive resume to be a starter.
Remember Michael Carr, the top ranked quarterback coming out of high school who signed with Clemson? How about Kelvin Grant, the highly sought after receiver from Camden?
Both were players who dominated on the high school level but could not get it together in college. And those are just a couple of names on a long list of “can’t miss” prospects who did not produce, a list which every school has.
Naturally, expectations for Korn are going to be high because of his accomplishments, his commitment to Clemson before his junior year, and the way he carries himself. He is a natural leader who always seems to say the right thing.
But the expectations need to be tempered by the realization that he is just a true freshman and not Superman.
Anyone who thinks he deserves to be the starter at this point in his career is making a declaration based on, at best, high school broadcasts, the writings of the so-called recruiting gurus, and the spring game.
Outside of the staff, very few people have access to Clemson practices, and only a few of them attend on a fairly regular basis. Yet, many have been clamoring for him to start as if they have seen enough practices to know he is far and away the best quarterback on campus.
The sad thing is many would make that claim even if they had access to practice simply because they are so jaded by all the press, and they do not know how to assess a quarterback anymore than they know how to land the space shuttle.
A perfect example is the gentleman sitting near me for the Florida State game. After the third play he stated that Korn should be in there because he’s the “best quarterback in the conference.” When asked why by another fan he responded, “Because he grew up near me.”
Of course, this is the same guy that was calling for Harper last year, for Proctor when Whitehurst was still around, Whitehurst when Willie Simmons was starting, and Simmons when Woody Dantzler was setting records.
I realize that people like him are a minority, but it is a growing minority. And because of the outspokenness of this minority, it is as if they have become the vocal majority.
Being a first-year starting quarterback is hard enough as it is regardless of how many years one has been in the program. Having to deal with a large portion of the fan base cheering your backup like he is the second coming of Joe Montana, they way they did Saturday, only makes it harder.
What many have failed to realize in their support of Korn is they are backhanding Harper, the same Harper many of them wanted to see on the field last year.
It is time everyone looks at the bigger picture and support Cullen Harper. The coaches are not playing him because of loyalty or because they are scared to throw Korn into the fire. He is ahead of Korn right now because he is a better quarterback for this team.
Harper has done nothing to lead anyone to believe he does not deserve to be the starter. Through two games he has seven touchdowns and no interceptions. He has done a very good job guiding the team and protecting the football.
He has not made every read or hit the bull’s-eye with every pass. But guess what, Korn has not either.
Harper looks to be a tremendous upgrade over Will Proctor. Not only does he seem to be better from a production standpoint, he is tremendous upgrade as a leader and a guy for whom the team has the utmost respect.
If he is as good as everyone seems to think, Korn’s time will come soon enough. Be it next week or next year, he will see the field. Either way, it is a positive.
If Harper is able to hold him off for an entire season and possibly two, then Clemson apparently found a diamond in the rough when they signed him. If Korn takes over this year, it is because he was all he was made out to be coming out of high school…and possibly more.
With an offensive line that is still very much a work in progress, fans need to realize that there are going to be some bumps along the way and this year’s quarterback needs the benefit of the doubt.
Regardless of whom the starter is, the fervent adulation for Korn needs to be dialed back because he does not need the pressure and Harper could use the support.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
I will tell you guys this right now..
Carolina nor Clemson better take this weeks games lightly. We saw what can happen with those Div II schools in App St.. Both Furman and SC St. are coming to play and they are going to do every wacky, unorthodox thing that they can do to beat our teams this week. Both the Furman and SC St. teams have players that both Carolina and Clemson recruited. They both have players that transferred to these two teams. Spurrier said in his presser today that both schools are loaded with talent. He said that just because Carolina and Clemson pick a certain player over the players that ended up at these schools, doesn't mean that they are better. Carolina and Clemson miss on some. There is no doubt that the Carolina and Clemson squads are more talented but as I've heard Spurrier say before, "You don't have to have the better talent to win the ballgame."
This is the first match up ever between SC St. and Carolina in football. That is amazing to me that we have never played them before, as old as both schools are.
Spurrier is taking the right preparations in getting our special teams on track. He said that Mike Davis, Cory Boyd, and both the Brinkleys will all play on the special teams now. He said that the best players will be on the field. He said he is tired of watching our special teams struggle.
Tommy is also fired up about Clemson's trouble to tackle against ULM. I heard his presser today on the radio and he was not very happy. He said that the Clemson squad will have a very physical, hard hitting practice tonight with a bunch of tackling drills to ensure that the defense doesn't have the same showing this week as they had against ULM. Sounds like he is getting his boys on track. Spurrier did the same thing after the LA LA game and it certainly seemed to have worked for us.
We better watch it this week. Both of our teams are sitting high right now and we don't want to be sitting like Michigan. The key to both games will be tackling. If both teams tackle well, they will not have any trouble putting up the points. Both teams just have to very careful this weekend..
This is the first match up ever between SC St. and Carolina in football. That is amazing to me that we have never played them before, as old as both schools are.
Spurrier is taking the right preparations in getting our special teams on track. He said that Mike Davis, Cory Boyd, and both the Brinkleys will all play on the special teams now. He said that the best players will be on the field. He said he is tired of watching our special teams struggle.
Tommy is also fired up about Clemson's trouble to tackle against ULM. I heard his presser today on the radio and he was not very happy. He said that the Clemson squad will have a very physical, hard hitting practice tonight with a bunch of tackling drills to ensure that the defense doesn't have the same showing this week as they had against ULM. Sounds like he is getting his boys on track. Spurrier did the same thing after the LA LA game and it certainly seemed to have worked for us.
We better watch it this week. Both of our teams are sitting high right now and we don't want to be sitting like Michigan. The key to both games will be tackling. If both teams tackle well, they will not have any trouble putting up the points. Both teams just have to very careful this weekend..
Great Article..
Rich get richer
South Carolina's rise gives SEC yet another top team
When Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks went into Sanford Stadium last Saturday and took down Georgia, it further confirmed just how tough the Southeastern Conference is this season. And by tough I mean ridiculously deep.
Coming into the season, there were six consensus teams that appeared in nearly every preseason top 25 poll -- Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn and Arkansas. It says something about your league when two coaches with national-title rings, Spurrier and Alabama's Nick Saban, happen to be coaching what are considered the seventh- and eighth-best teams in the conference.
Of course, conference predictions rarely shake out as predicted, and it was only inevitable that at least one of the predicted outsiders (in this case, South Carolina) would prove to be better than expected and at least one of the touted teams would tank. We don't know yet which team(s) that will be, but Tennessee, Georgia and Auburn all have a loss already.
Saban's Crimson Tide -- which put together an impressive defensive performance in last week's 24-10 win over Vanderbilt -- have a chance to make their own statement on Saturday against Arkansas. Throw in high-powered Kentucky, which will do its best to outscore in-state rival (and equally defensively challenged) Louisville this weekend, and you've got as many as nine teams that could make an appearance in the rankings at some point.
Now, at least a couple of these teams will turn out to be frauds (with Auburn and Arkansas my current leaders in the clubhouse), but I'm guessing South Carolina won't be one of them. Most of us assumed that by this, the third year of Spurrier's tenure in Columbia, that the Gamecocks would have morphed into a high-flying passing team as is Spurrier's forte. But to the Ball Coach's credit, he's recognized his team's true strength rests with its defense and is game-planning accordingly. Against the Bulldogs, South Carolina jumped to an early lead, then kept Georgia's defense on its toes throughout with an efficient mix of runs and high-percentage passes (QB Blake Mitchell finished 20-of-31 for 174 yards). It was Spurrier doing what he does best: calling the right plays.
Spurrier's team debuts at No. 18 in this week's Power Rankings, while Georgia -- which, in retrospect, I prematurely bumped to the top 10 last week following an impressive opener against Oklahoma State -- falls to 20th. Expect both to remain part of the mix the rest of the season, though with no shortage of jostling as they take turns both knocking off and getting knocked off by their comparable SEC peers.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/stewart_mandel/09/11/power.rankings3/
South Carolina's rise gives SEC yet another top team
When Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks went into Sanford Stadium last Saturday and took down Georgia, it further confirmed just how tough the Southeastern Conference is this season. And by tough I mean ridiculously deep.
Coming into the season, there were six consensus teams that appeared in nearly every preseason top 25 poll -- Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn and Arkansas. It says something about your league when two coaches with national-title rings, Spurrier and Alabama's Nick Saban, happen to be coaching what are considered the seventh- and eighth-best teams in the conference.
Of course, conference predictions rarely shake out as predicted, and it was only inevitable that at least one of the predicted outsiders (in this case, South Carolina) would prove to be better than expected and at least one of the touted teams would tank. We don't know yet which team(s) that will be, but Tennessee, Georgia and Auburn all have a loss already.
Saban's Crimson Tide -- which put together an impressive defensive performance in last week's 24-10 win over Vanderbilt -- have a chance to make their own statement on Saturday against Arkansas. Throw in high-powered Kentucky, which will do its best to outscore in-state rival (and equally defensively challenged) Louisville this weekend, and you've got as many as nine teams that could make an appearance in the rankings at some point.
Now, at least a couple of these teams will turn out to be frauds (with Auburn and Arkansas my current leaders in the clubhouse), but I'm guessing South Carolina won't be one of them. Most of us assumed that by this, the third year of Spurrier's tenure in Columbia, that the Gamecocks would have morphed into a high-flying passing team as is Spurrier's forte. But to the Ball Coach's credit, he's recognized his team's true strength rests with its defense and is game-planning accordingly. Against the Bulldogs, South Carolina jumped to an early lead, then kept Georgia's defense on its toes throughout with an efficient mix of runs and high-percentage passes (QB Blake Mitchell finished 20-of-31 for 174 yards). It was Spurrier doing what he does best: calling the right plays.
Spurrier's team debuts at No. 18 in this week's Power Rankings, while Georgia -- which, in retrospect, I prematurely bumped to the top 10 last week following an impressive opener against Oklahoma State -- falls to 20th. Expect both to remain part of the mix the rest of the season, though with no shortage of jostling as they take turns both knocking off and getting knocked off by their comparable SEC peers.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/stewart_mandel/09/11/power.rankings3/
Neither team is overrated...
Why? Because they both have had top 10 recruiting classes for the past 50 years. FSU is well coached, even old Chucky the Chest Amato is a good assistant coach. So why in the world would they be overrated.
I'll tell you why people say that. Both Carolina and Clemson fans alike need to stop being so darn gullable. People say they are overrated because they lost to us. In other words, we are not crap. I know its easy for a rilvary to do, but other fan bases do it too. Bad for us bro.
Think about it like this, would you rather be playing a top 10 Tiger team or one that is deamed crappy. Its a win win situation for both our teams being top ten. If you win you move up in the polls. If you lose you lost to a good football team and not one that is crappy. You end up losing to a team that is not supposed to be good and you will feel much worse about it and get punished in the polls at the end of the year and more importantly at the beginning of next year.
Don't buy into it this year, I'm not going too. Be ok with me if Georgia and FSU win out. With us being conference champs. I'd love to beat the SEC champions and wouldn't mind as bad losing to them either.
Right now at least I agree about Ga Tech. The others seem very beatable. I have a good feeling about this year and I like what Bowden is saying and doing this year. Different from the past. However, I still havn't forgot what can and certainly has happened to us in the past. Not writing off anyone. Included La Monroe and certainly Furman. Nobody, so far things have unfolded well for both of us including injuries. Just gonna keep on pulling for them and hoping they keep up what they are doing.
I'll tell you why people say that. Both Carolina and Clemson fans alike need to stop being so darn gullable. People say they are overrated because they lost to us. In other words, we are not crap. I know its easy for a rilvary to do, but other fan bases do it too. Bad for us bro.
Think about it like this, would you rather be playing a top 10 Tiger team or one that is deamed crappy. Its a win win situation for both our teams being top ten. If you win you move up in the polls. If you lose you lost to a good football team and not one that is crappy. You end up losing to a team that is not supposed to be good and you will feel much worse about it and get punished in the polls at the end of the year and more importantly at the beginning of next year.
Don't buy into it this year, I'm not going too. Be ok with me if Georgia and FSU win out. With us being conference champs. I'd love to beat the SEC champions and wouldn't mind as bad losing to them either.
Right now at least I agree about Ga Tech. The others seem very beatable. I have a good feeling about this year and I like what Bowden is saying and doing this year. Different from the past. However, I still havn't forgot what can and certainly has happened to us in the past. Not writing off anyone. Included La Monroe and certainly Furman. Nobody, so far things have unfolded well for both of us including injuries. Just gonna keep on pulling for them and hoping they keep up what they are doing.
Monday, September 10, 2007
I'm going to give FSU the benefit of the doubt..
Many people think that they are overrated but I'll save my opinion until after they play a few more games. I don't think that UGA is overrated at all. I think they handily beat a decent OK State team and lost a close one to a good Carolina team. They should be fine after Stafford gets things going. As I said, that kid is amazing. He just had a bad game against Carolina.
Auburn got beat but USF is one of those programs that is on the rise. Auburn is another team that I will just wait and see after they play a few more games. We don't play them this season. It always seems like we play those Bama schools when they are on top of the world. We don't play either one this year.
I agree with you about GA Tech being the only team that Clemson should worry about right now. That's not to say that they won't beat them but it should be a really good game. VT got drilled by LSU. I was kind of expecting it though. VT has a lot of unwanted pressure this year. As of right now, I don't see Clemson having much trouble against NC St, Wake, or even VT. BC may give them a good game but I think Clemson has too much speed on offense for BC's slower defense. I think Clemson's ACC hopes rest on that GT game. Who ever wins that game wins the ACC this year IMO. What you think?
Auburn got beat but USF is one of those programs that is on the rise. Auburn is another team that I will just wait and see after they play a few more games. We don't play them this season. It always seems like we play those Bama schools when they are on top of the world. We don't play either one this year.
I agree with you about GA Tech being the only team that Clemson should worry about right now. That's not to say that they won't beat them but it should be a really good game. VT got drilled by LSU. I was kind of expecting it though. VT has a lot of unwanted pressure this year. As of right now, I don't see Clemson having much trouble against NC St, Wake, or even VT. BC may give them a good game but I think Clemson has too much speed on offense for BC's slower defense. I think Clemson's ACC hopes rest on that GT game. Who ever wins that game wins the ACC this year IMO. What you think?
I don't agree at all about FSU being overated....
It was only a 10 point win over UAB this weekend, however. They were coming off a short week and with no time to prepare for specifically for them. Having said that they still made a few statements. 332 yards passing and 2 TD's for Weatherford and 188 rushing yards. Unfortunately, I think they are well on their way to getting back to the old FSU and this year to boot. I saw the old refuse to lose in them in the second half this year. With Colorodo, Alabama and NC State coming up they could easily be 4 and 1 with a couple of confidence building wins to boot. I am glad we played them early, not because they are overated but because they are gonna be good this year eventually.
The same could be said for Georgia being overrated. But I won't because its a good win and does alot for both our teams and that is what is important. I do however wish we both had played Auburn and Va Tech early. At the moment they both do indeed seem to be overrated. But I certainly wouldn't chalk them up as a win later on in the season for either one of us.
As for the La Monroe, totally different take as I did get to listen to the game. First off, I told you, I think Spurrier played down his first game on purpose which obviously if he did worked. As for us, short week with no time to prepare for an option team. Very important in that most of those rushing yards were on the QB draw. The defense did miss a couple of tackles but it is also misleading in that Bowden cleared the bench in the second half. La Monroe then tacked on two more TD's I think and probably about 150 yards rushing.
Having said all that, I could not be more pleased with that game. Our goal was to establish Harper and a passing threat. Breaking the school record for TD's in one game with 5 and only playing 2 and a half quarters, no interceptions through 2 games, seven passing TD's, I think he has done that. He has alot of confidence now. Again, no disappointments at all except for Korn coming in. Harper could get alot more confidence throwing the football this week. NC State is not looking so hot either. If we can win those 2 that we should he could be a damn good Qb when everything is said and done and all he has to do is keep doing what he is doing.
I said it from the word get. If Clemson can establish themselves as a passing threat backing opponents off the line, whew!! Gonna be a good year.
The same could be said for Georgia being overrated. But I won't because its a good win and does alot for both our teams and that is what is important. I do however wish we both had played Auburn and Va Tech early. At the moment they both do indeed seem to be overrated. But I certainly wouldn't chalk them up as a win later on in the season for either one of us.
As for the La Monroe, totally different take as I did get to listen to the game. First off, I told you, I think Spurrier played down his first game on purpose which obviously if he did worked. As for us, short week with no time to prepare for an option team. Very important in that most of those rushing yards were on the QB draw. The defense did miss a couple of tackles but it is also misleading in that Bowden cleared the bench in the second half. La Monroe then tacked on two more TD's I think and probably about 150 yards rushing.
Having said all that, I could not be more pleased with that game. Our goal was to establish Harper and a passing threat. Breaking the school record for TD's in one game with 5 and only playing 2 and a half quarters, no interceptions through 2 games, seven passing TD's, I think he has done that. He has alot of confidence now. Again, no disappointments at all except for Korn coming in. Harper could get alot more confidence throwing the football this week. NC State is not looking so hot either. If we can win those 2 that we should he could be a damn good Qb when everything is said and done and all he has to do is keep doing what he is doing.
I said it from the word get. If Clemson can establish themselves as a passing threat backing opponents off the line, whew!! Gonna be a good year.
LOL! The polls are out....
USA Today Top 25
1. USC (42) 1-0 1,476
2. LSU (11) 2-0 1,437
3. Florida (7) 2-0 1,353
4. West Virginia 2-0 1,269
5. Oklahoma 2-0 1,264
6. Texas 2-0 1,156
7. Wisconsin 2-0 1,141
8. California 2-0 1,038
9. Louisville 2-0 1,020
10. Ohio State 2-0 972
11. UCLA 2-0 837
12. Penn State 2-0 804
13. Rutgers 2-0 699
14. Nebraska 2-0 677
15. Georgia Tech 2-0 582
16. Arkansas 1-0 493
17. Virginia Tech 1-1 371
18. Texas A&M 2-0 325
19. Boston College 2-0 315
20. Clemson 2-0 311
21. Oregon 2-0 309
22. Hawaii 2-0 308
23. South Carolina 2-0 294
24. Tennessee 1-1 237
25. Georgia 1-1 199
You know, if you average the two polls together as they will later on for the BCS we are both tied for the 20th spot. Just an interesting observation. I can't believe we have both moved up into the top 20 this quick. That is very important. The quicker you get to the top ten the better. We could do it this year.
Lets just get crazy for a second and say both of us went into our game undefeated. We would both likely be either in the top 5 or close to it. We would still have a quality opponent left to play likely another top 10 or certainly a top 20 opponent in our respective conference championship. I was thinking about it yesterday. Blake this could the winner a shot at the National Championship. LOL, just thought I would mention it while its still a possibility. Lots of football left to play.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
OMG! Lee Corso.. LMAO!
I have stumbled upon a gold mine tonight with this Lee Corso thing! This was an interview with Lee on a sports radio show. This is really good stuff fellas. You guys have got to give me props on my findings tonight! Check this out, Corso is insane!
http://sportsbybrooks.com/leecorso.mp3
http://sportsbybrooks.com/leecorso.mp3
Here we go baby.. Best post of the night!
I found the video I was looking for on Corso and Herbie before the game. They based their predictions off of our game against LA LA.
The reason Corso was so worked up before his prediction Saturday is because ESPN aired this video right before the next video I give. Watch this first: http://www.gamecockclub.org/TGIO.html
Now, this is hilarious. Watch how pissed Corso is when he gives his prediction of the game. That video made him mad.. lol!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6WSuw1a7wg&NR=1
Now this relates to my former post about premature predictions. I bet Corso feels incredibly stupid.. lol. I love it!
The reason Corso was so worked up before his prediction Saturday is because ESPN aired this video right before the next video I give. Watch this first: http://www.gamecockclub.org/TGIO.html
Now, this is hilarious. Watch how pissed Corso is when he gives his prediction of the game. That video made him mad.. lol!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6WSuw1a7wg&NR=1
Now this relates to my former post about premature predictions. I bet Corso feels incredibly stupid.. lol. I love it!
LMAO..
I was searching around on YouTube to see if I could find what Lee Corso had to say about the Gamecocks before the UGA game. Well, I didn't have any luck finding that but I did find something much better! I think Corso has tourettes syndrome.. lol. This is great! Click the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDkeeX52kYg&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDkeeX52kYg&mode=related&search=
I was thinking..
Gameday may be in Baton Rouge for our match up. We should bump up to 15th or 16th after next week and LSU is ranked 2nd.
Then again, CBS gets first choice and they could pick us up. That would make it a 3:30 day game. That would definately be an advantage to Carolina. The other Death Valley is arguably the hardest place to play at night. Does Gameday attend a game that is on CBS? Not sure, just food for thought..
Then again, CBS gets first choice and they could pick us up. That would make it a 3:30 day game. That would definately be an advantage to Carolina. The other Death Valley is arguably the hardest place to play at night. Does Gameday attend a game that is on CBS? Not sure, just food for thought..
Here's a treat for you bro!
Here is a link to the condensed version of the UGA game. I think it's roughly 16 minutes long. Check it out and tell me what you think!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=272510061
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=272510061
Grading the Gamecocks..
This may seem very Garnet colored but I feel that I deserve it! :)
Offense
QB- B+: Blake Mitchell had a very good game. He finished the day with 20-31 (65%) and 174 yds. He showed that he can get the job done if has time to throw the ball and receivers to catch it. He also showed that he can take off and run with the ball if he has to. The reason he was not ranked higher is because he didn't throw a TD. He threw no picks and very few arrant passes (I only remember one.) Overall, very good game for Blake, a GA native, to lead his team to a victory over UGA in his senior year.
RB- A: Cory Boyd and Mike Davis may be the 2nd best duo of RBs in the SEC behind only Arky. While their stats were not earth shattering, they got the job done when they had to. Very tough, smart, hard-nosed backs. Cory finished with 5.4 yds per carry and Mike with 6.2. Mike is really starting to get it. He has come a long way. Chris Culliver also had a couple of reverses which combined for 21 yds (10.5 yds per carry.) Brent and I decided that he somewhere between Jacoby Ford and CJ Spiller talent wise. That is a huge compliment!
WR and TE- B+: Kenny is the man! He finished the day with 102 yds on 7 catches. He is also a GA native and it has to feel good for him to beat his home state Bulldogs. Jarod Cook, Moe Brown, and Freddie Brown showed good things. The B+ ranking is because of 2 passes that may could have been caught but weren't. They showed the ability to not let that get them down and made up for the drops with the catches they did have. Cory and Mike also contributed well in the passing game.
Offensive line- A: WOW, those guys came to play! I was so proud of how well our O-line did. They gave Blake plenty of time to throw the ball and opened good holes for Cory and Mike. They also didn't give up one sack. It was unbelievable bro, I wish you coulda seen it. Brent said on a couple of occasions "The O-line is standing Blake!" He was impressed with them as well. The reason I didn't give them A+ was because of a one or two penalties, which are going to happen to every team. Our only ? has been the O-line and if they play like they did yesterday in every game, look out!
Defense
I'm just going to give an overall defensive ranking of A. The D-line played well and although they didn't log a sack, they were in Stafford's face after every pass or during every pass. I think they got him rattled. Stafford finished the game with a choking 42% completion percentage. Part of that also had to do with no one being open most of the time. There were a couple of case where he had a guy open but he couldn't throw a good pass because he had a defender in his face. Carolina did a great job at stuffing the run up the middle but had a little trouble stopping Moreno when he ran to the outside. Moreno by the way is awesome. Casper and Jasper had huge games as well as Eric Norwood. He was the main one that was drilling Stafford as he let go of the ball. Emanuel Cook played some and his presence was felt. He saved a TD as he drilled a UGA defender as he was catching the ball to cause a drop. It was a huge hit and it put the WR on the sidelines. I'm glad Cook is back! Tackling overall was majorly improved.
The most impressive thing about the Defense is this.. THEY DID NOT GIVE UP ONE TD! That is unbelievable against a team as talented as UGA especially with a guy like Stafford leading them. That kid could play in the NFL right now! Ask Brent, he has a freaking cannon and that may have been some of his trouble. He may have been getting the ball to the WR to quickly, he needs to show more touch. You could hardly see the ball as it streaked through the air.
What a freaking game though. We come out 1-0 in the conference for the first time since I can remember. We are ranked #17 and it is only the 3rd week of the season. I see great things on the horizon! Thoughts?
Hard to go by those little teams..
The events this past weekend are perfect examples of why you can't judge a team by looking at their play against one of those little schools..
The Gamecocks struggled to stop the run last week against LA LA. They ended up letting Lafayette run for 252 yds. Very embarrassing.. This week they do a great job at stopping the run against the 11th ranked team in the nation. UGA wouln't have broke 100 yds rushing if it wouldn't have been for one missed assignment that gave up a huge amount of yards. The Gamecocks ended up allowing 128 total yds rushing against UGA. Then you look at Clemson last week against FSU. They dominated 19th ranked FSU the whole game in every aspect. One of the aspects was rushing defense. They only allowed FSU 114 yds rushing. Then you look at how they faired against ULM this week. The Tigers surrendered a whopping 272 total rushing yds to ULM. Unheard of..
My point is this, you can't judge a team by looking at the stats of one of those pancake teams. Carolina and Clemson both have very speedy, very good defenses. None of us here have really judged our or the other team based off of the little LA games but I hate seeing this premature judgment on message boards, by the publications, and by fans around here(Calhoun Falls, Abbeville, ect.) Just wanted to get that off of my chest.
Talking about FSU, looks like another down year for them. That shouldn't take anything away from Clemson though. I told Brent yesterday that it was good that Clemson played FSU early in the season to take advantage of their 19th ranking. If FSU was overrated or not, it still got Clemson into the top 25.
More to come on the Carolina/UGA game later. Our defense is shaping up to be awesome! Great game for coach Nix!
The Gamecocks struggled to stop the run last week against LA LA. They ended up letting Lafayette run for 252 yds. Very embarrassing.. This week they do a great job at stopping the run against the 11th ranked team in the nation. UGA wouln't have broke 100 yds rushing if it wouldn't have been for one missed assignment that gave up a huge amount of yards. The Gamecocks ended up allowing 128 total yds rushing against UGA. Then you look at Clemson last week against FSU. They dominated 19th ranked FSU the whole game in every aspect. One of the aspects was rushing defense. They only allowed FSU 114 yds rushing. Then you look at how they faired against ULM this week. The Tigers surrendered a whopping 272 total rushing yds to ULM. Unheard of..
My point is this, you can't judge a team by looking at the stats of one of those pancake teams. Carolina and Clemson both have very speedy, very good defenses. None of us here have really judged our or the other team based off of the little LA games but I hate seeing this premature judgment on message boards, by the publications, and by fans around here(Calhoun Falls, Abbeville, ect.) Just wanted to get that off of my chest.
Talking about FSU, looks like another down year for them. That shouldn't take anything away from Clemson though. I told Brent yesterday that it was good that Clemson played FSU early in the season to take advantage of their 19th ranking. If FSU was overrated or not, it still got Clemson into the top 25.
More to come on the Carolina/UGA game later. Our defense is shaping up to be awesome! Great game for coach Nix!
The AP poll is out!!!!!!!!!!!
AP Top 25
1. USC (40) 1-0 1,594
2. LSU (25) 2-0 1,582
3. Oklahoma 2-0 1,418
4. West Virginia 2-0 1,408
5. Florida 2-0 1,370
6. Texas 2-0 1,290
7. Wisconsin 2-0 1,171
8. California 2-0 1,126
9. Louisville 2-0 1,097
10. Ohio State 2-0 962
11. UCLA 2-0 910
12. Penn State 2-0 896
13. Rutgers 2-0 820
14. Nebraska 2-0 693
15. Georgia Tech 2-0 590
16. Arkansas 1-0 537
17. South Carolina 2-0 477
18. Virginia Tech 1-1 382
19. Oregon 2-0 367
20. Clemson 2-0 349
21. Boston College 2-0 323
22. Tennessee 1-1 284
23. Georgia 1-1 261
24. Hawaii 2-0 247
25. Texas A&M 2-0 243
Others Receiving Votes
South Florida 220, Missouri 144, Alabama 116, Washington 95, TCU 66, Arizona State 28, Auburn 23, Appalachian State 19, Cincinnati 12, Florida State 2, Iowa 1, Kansas 1, Purdue 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Auburn 17, TCU 19, Boise State
1. USC (40) 1-0 1,594
2. LSU (25) 2-0 1,582
3. Oklahoma 2-0 1,418
4. West Virginia 2-0 1,408
5. Florida 2-0 1,370
6. Texas 2-0 1,290
7. Wisconsin 2-0 1,171
8. California 2-0 1,126
9. Louisville 2-0 1,097
10. Ohio State 2-0 962
11. UCLA 2-0 910
12. Penn State 2-0 896
13. Rutgers 2-0 820
14. Nebraska 2-0 693
15. Georgia Tech 2-0 590
16. Arkansas 1-0 537
17. South Carolina 2-0 477
18. Virginia Tech 1-1 382
19. Oregon 2-0 367
20. Clemson 2-0 349
21. Boston College 2-0 323
22. Tennessee 1-1 284
23. Georgia 1-1 261
24. Hawaii 2-0 247
25. Texas A&M 2-0 243
Others Receiving Votes
South Florida 220, Missouri 144, Alabama 116, Washington 95, TCU 66, Arizona State 28, Auburn 23, Appalachian State 19, Cincinnati 12, Florida State 2, Iowa 1, Kansas 1, Purdue 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Auburn 17, TCU 19, Boise State
Can I pick them or what?
I do believe I picked that one to happen before the season. The Gamecocks did a good job. Auburn doesn't lool too good. LSU does, but I think this is gonna be an off season for Va Tech anyway this year. You guys have a shot.
Good job by the Gamecocks and Tigers this week. Taking out Georgia and FSU. Harper had a record breaking night. The best thing about him is he has yet to throw an interception and the Tigers made it a point to do it through the air. I wish they hadn't of put in Korn, but oh well its done now.
Other than Ga Tech maybe, everone in the ACC is looking beatable this year. We have gone a long way so far in correcting our mistakes from last year. Could be a good one for us. Hopefully for both of us. Could we go into the big game undefeated at long last this year? Could this be the big one? Probably not, but its still possible.
Good job by the Gamecocks and Tigers this week. Taking out Georgia and FSU. Harper had a record breaking night. The best thing about him is he has yet to throw an interception and the Tigers made it a point to do it through the air. I wish they hadn't of put in Korn, but oh well its done now.
Other than Ga Tech maybe, everone in the ACC is looking beatable this year. We have gone a long way so far in correcting our mistakes from last year. Could be a good one for us. Hopefully for both of us. Could we go into the big game undefeated at long last this year? Could this be the big one? Probably not, but its still possible.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Audio of the game
If you're up bro, here is the audio of the Clemson game..
http://www.mainstreamnetwork.com/listen/dynamicuasx.asp?station=wccp-fm
http://www.mainstreamnetwork.com/listen/dynamicuasx.asp?station=wccp-fm
Friday, September 07, 2007
Week 2 is Here.
I fully expect Clemson to roll tomorrow. I want the shut out dammit. Seriously though, I am looking for a smothering lights out defense and a consistent passing game from the offense. I'm really not worried about the running game. I think it is important to get Cullen Harper a lot of work throwing the next two weeks to get ready for conference play.
I am still staying off of the Emanuel (spelling?) Cook story. I think the Georgia/South Carolina game is going to be a war. I honestly look for both teams to score between 20 and 30 points and the one that can get 30 wins.
Back to Clemson, Tommy Bowden did mention that he was making a commitment to the passing game and that it may have hurt them last year not throwing the ball early in the blowouts.
I am still staying off of the Emanuel (spelling?) Cook story. I think the Georgia/South Carolina game is going to be a war. I honestly look for both teams to score between 20 and 30 points and the one that can get 30 wins.
Back to Clemson, Tommy Bowden did mention that he was making a commitment to the passing game and that it may have hurt them last year not throwing the ball early in the blowouts.
I dunno....
Supposedly and Spurrier didn't say, he and his friend were on the campus sitting on his friends car. His friend pulled out his new gun (unloaded) and handed it to Cook to look at. Cook took the weapon and to check it out and handed it back. Now if that were me and you on campus and you handed me a gun and I handed it back I think we would have gone to jail. I don't know what really happened. If that was the case if he didn't go to jail I feel like it would have been because he plays football. I don't however think he should be kicked out of school and it should be over. He probably has learned his lesson.
The Junior college transfer King was kicked out of his school according to his coach for going room to room in the dorm checking doors and entering open rooms on video. He supposedly stole some money. Not sure if he is still being accepted by the Gamecocks though.
None of this matters and they need to concentrate on the SEC, particuarlly Georgia. I am excited about their chances. We both need to play Georgia and beat them. I don't think it is a coincidence that we started stealing Florida recruits when we started dominating FSU. I think we could keep our in state recruits and get more of theirs if we started beating them. Very important for both our teams. Sounds like he held back like I had thought vs La La.
Louisville starting out with a push over obviously didn't help them. Teams get a little overconfident and I am glad we started out the season with FSU now.
The Junior college transfer King was kicked out of his school according to his coach for going room to room in the dorm checking doors and entering open rooms on video. He supposedly stole some money. Not sure if he is still being accepted by the Gamecocks though.
None of this matters and they need to concentrate on the SEC, particuarlly Georgia. I am excited about their chances. We both need to play Georgia and beat them. I don't think it is a coincidence that we started stealing Florida recruits when we started dominating FSU. I think we could keep our in state recruits and get more of theirs if we started beating them. Very important for both our teams. Sounds like he held back like I had thought vs La La.
Louisville starting out with a push over obviously didn't help them. Teams get a little overconfident and I am glad we started out the season with FSU now.
OK, last post of the night.. lol..
I now have exact quotes from Spurrier about the Cook situation:
"He was in a car and a guy showed him a handgun," Spurrier said. "They both got arrested. The headlines all over the country (blared) 'Weapons charge.' Right now, it's all over. Emanuel Cook has been exonerated. One of the guys who worked for the police force told me if he had been on duty that night Emanuel Cook would never have been arrested for that. But they could have and they did. It's over now. Sometimes in life you're accused of something you're not really guilty of. But it makes headlines."
"I can assure you Emanuel Cook did nothing wrong in that whole incident," Spurrier said. "But (the headlines said) South Carolina football player has gun on campus. But we've got to fight it. We've got to live with it. Sometimes we all just have to wait to find out what happened before we react in these situations."
"His appendicitis is healed very well," Spurrier said. "I think the doctors are going to clear him to play Saturday. Having Emanuel Cook out there will be a big help to our defense and special teams."
I don't want to stir this back up but you guys should know the facts. These are the facts and you don't have to respond to them if you don't want to, but if you do, what do you really think of the situation after you have read this?
"He was in a car and a guy showed him a handgun," Spurrier said. "They both got arrested. The headlines all over the country (blared) 'Weapons charge.' Right now, it's all over. Emanuel Cook has been exonerated. One of the guys who worked for the police force told me if he had been on duty that night Emanuel Cook would never have been arrested for that. But they could have and they did. It's over now. Sometimes in life you're accused of something you're not really guilty of. But it makes headlines."
"I can assure you Emanuel Cook did nothing wrong in that whole incident," Spurrier said. "But (the headlines said) South Carolina football player has gun on campus. But we've got to fight it. We've got to live with it. Sometimes we all just have to wait to find out what happened before we react in these situations."
"His appendicitis is healed very well," Spurrier said. "I think the doctors are going to clear him to play Saturday. Having Emanuel Cook out there will be a big help to our defense and special teams."
I don't want to stir this back up but you guys should know the facts. These are the facts and you don't have to respond to them if you don't want to, but if you do, what do you really think of the situation after you have read this?
I got my posting fix, finally.. lol.
I went on a little binge tonight because I haven't been posting a lot lately but it isn't because I haven't wanted to. I am trying to stay caught up at school. This has been my toughest semester yet and the season is taking a 2nd seat to school right now. It's starting to get a little easier but I want to make the same grades that I had been making and I just don't think it's going to happen as of right now. Hopefully I will prove myself wrong. Just know that if I go on a posting drought, it's because of school.
Now, GO GET THEM HAIRY DAWGS GAMECOCKS!
Now, GO GET THEM HAIRY DAWGS GAMECOCKS!
Wow, I thought you were optimistic about Carolina' chances this Saturday bro..
Check out what Ron Morris had to say about Carolina. Believe it or not, he writes for The State. If a guy that writes for The State is optimistic about Carolina this week, it could only be good:
How do you see Saturday's game going and what are your keys to the game?
I really believe South Carolina is going to take it to Georgia. There are two keys, both of which will favor USC. First, USC's inexperienced offensive line is not bad and should be able to create holes for running backs Cory Boyd and Mike Davis as well as time to throw for Blake Mitchell, who should have a big, big game against Georgia's secondary. Second, if you think USC's offensive line is green, take a look at Georgia's. USC has a very good defense that did not show its true colors against Lafayette. Look for Jasper Brinkley to have a huge game against Georgia. I'll be surprised if Matthew Stafford has time to throw, and if Georgia scores more than 14 points.
How do you see Saturday's game going and what are your keys to the game?
I really believe South Carolina is going to take it to Georgia. There are two keys, both of which will favor USC. First, USC's inexperienced offensive line is not bad and should be able to create holes for running backs Cory Boyd and Mike Davis as well as time to throw for Blake Mitchell, who should have a big, big game against Georgia's secondary. Second, if you think USC's offensive line is green, take a look at Georgia's. USC has a very good defense that did not show its true colors against Lafayette. Look for Jasper Brinkley to have a huge game against Georgia. I'll be surprised if Matthew Stafford has time to throw, and if Georgia scores more than 14 points.
WOW!
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Note on Emanuel Cook..
Spurrier said tonight on his call in show that Cook had been completely exonerated. He said that a friend of his on the police force told him that if he would have been on duty that night, the arrest would have never happened. It was not justified. Spurrier also chastised the media for blowing up Cook's arrest with headlines across the nation without knowing what really happened.
I hate to bring this back up but I really feel that Cook is a good kid and that he meant no harm in his actions. I hope to see him on the field this season to build his confidence back up. Kid has went through a lot in the past couple of weeks..
I hate to bring this back up but I really feel that Cook is a good kid and that he meant no harm in his actions. I hope to see him on the field this season to build his confidence back up. Kid has went through a lot in the past couple of weeks..
Notes leading up to the UGA game..
First of all, MTSU couldn't pull it off but man what a great showing against a team like Louisville. Now for the Gamecock notes that I have gathered this week:
- Spurrier announced officially today that Mitchell would be the starter.
- He is confident in Beecher if Mitchell goes bad.
- Garcia is the third guy if both go bad. He wants to redshirt Garcia and I think it will happen unless Mitchell and Beecher are injured or just plain terrible. He said that if Garcia did have to play, it may give Carolina a little edge because he knows that UGA isn't gonna prepared to face a QB like Garcia. He was referring to Garcia's ability to scramble and take off with the ball if he has to.
- Emanuel Cook may play if cleared by the doc. Spurrier said that he is one of the best players on the team. Nix said that Cook and Jasper are the best tacklers on the team and if Cook would have played last Saturday, at least 5 of the missed tackles would not have happened.
- Mark Richt said that today's UGA practice was "sloppy." The excuse that the players gave was that they were tired. Richt said that they should not be tired this early in the season.
- Spurrier said that we are a great practice team and if we played the game like we practice, we will be fine. Unfortunately that isn't always the case during the game. Spurrier said "we have to take it to the ball field."
- Spurrier said that he has added some new material to his playbook for UGA. It has also been rumored that the Gamecock offense only showed about 20% of their playbook against LA Lafayette. It has also been rumored that the Gamecocks have practiced solely for the UGA game for 3 weeks with the exception of the last 2 practices before the season to focus on LA Lafayette. These 2 rumors came from a very good source. I think Spurrier was holding back some with Culliver. Who knows what he has up his sleeve!
Just a few optimistic notes. What do you guys think? Good post on the Gamecocks by the way bro. I certainly hope you are right. I'm trying to be as optimistic about it as you are. Trouble in the redzone was not the problem though. I could easily see why you would think that though with the decent offensive stats. We were 4 for 4 in the redzone but we kind of sat on the ball and wore down the clock. Would be nice if we got that chance against UGA.. lol. I'm just ready for Saturday to see how it turns out!
- Spurrier announced officially today that Mitchell would be the starter.
- He is confident in Beecher if Mitchell goes bad.
- Garcia is the third guy if both go bad. He wants to redshirt Garcia and I think it will happen unless Mitchell and Beecher are injured or just plain terrible. He said that if Garcia did have to play, it may give Carolina a little edge because he knows that UGA isn't gonna prepared to face a QB like Garcia. He was referring to Garcia's ability to scramble and take off with the ball if he has to.
- Emanuel Cook may play if cleared by the doc. Spurrier said that he is one of the best players on the team. Nix said that Cook and Jasper are the best tacklers on the team and if Cook would have played last Saturday, at least 5 of the missed tackles would not have happened.
- Mark Richt said that today's UGA practice was "sloppy." The excuse that the players gave was that they were tired. Richt said that they should not be tired this early in the season.
- Spurrier said that we are a great practice team and if we played the game like we practice, we will be fine. Unfortunately that isn't always the case during the game. Spurrier said "we have to take it to the ball field."
- Spurrier said that he has added some new material to his playbook for UGA. It has also been rumored that the Gamecock offense only showed about 20% of their playbook against LA Lafayette. It has also been rumored that the Gamecocks have practiced solely for the UGA game for 3 weeks with the exception of the last 2 practices before the season to focus on LA Lafayette. These 2 rumors came from a very good source. I think Spurrier was holding back some with Culliver. Who knows what he has up his sleeve!
Just a few optimistic notes. What do you guys think? Good post on the Gamecocks by the way bro. I certainly hope you are right. I'm trying to be as optimistic about it as you are. Trouble in the redzone was not the problem though. I could easily see why you would think that though with the decent offensive stats. We were 4 for 4 in the redzone but we kind of sat on the ball and wore down the clock. Would be nice if we got that chance against UGA.. lol. I'm just ready for Saturday to see how it turns out!
Stockstill has got his boys playin!!!!
MTSU is hanging in there with Louisville right now! The game has been a lot closer than the score is, 58-42 Louisville. Wow, the Blue Raiders hanging 42 points and 532 yds on the Louisville D! 8:00 left, it ain't over yet..
I hadn't realized that ole Mick had been around that much..
I had remembered you saying before that he coached at Clemson. I figured he had coached at Clemson for a little while and then was on to FSU without coaching anywhere else. I looked him up today and he has been coaching for nearly half a century! Man, that is an acheivement. He even coached a little while at Florida. Here are the schools that he's coached at and the timeframes..
1965-1966 Erwin H.S. (Birmingham, AL)
"Shaba, daba, doo!"
1966-1967 E. Kentucky (Off. backs coach)1973-1976 North Alabama (Head coach)
1977-1980 Clemson (Def. coord.)
1981-1982 U. of Florida (Asst. coach)
1983 Arizona Wranglers (Def. coord.)
1984-Now Florida State (Def. coord.)
2002-Now Florida State (Assoc. H.C.)
I like what Tommy had to say...
Totally different from what would have been said in past years. He has really made changes to how he approaches thing. He sounds like a coach who wants to find ways to win games this year instead of finding excuses for poor play and losses:
CLEMSON - When Tommy Bowden finally got a chance to review the full game film from Monday night's win over Florida State, he came away with mixed emotions.
Bowden was very happy with the overall play of his defense. He couldn't say the same about the offense.
The inability to "Finish The Job" - the slogan by which the team has been operating throughout fall camp - irritated the Clemson mentor. Ahead 24-3 at the half, the Tigers couldn't muster any points over the final two quarters and held on for a six-point victory.
"One score and we could have put the game away," he said following Wednesday's practice. "But we just couldn't find a way to get it done."
And it was mistakes that caused the problem moreso than an inability to execute.
A pair of holding penalties negated significant gains that could have led to promising drives.
And at least once a wide receiver - in this case Aaron Kelly - wasn't on the same page as quarterback Cullen Harper; Kelly wasn't looking for the ball on a beautifully thrown pass by Harper that could very well have gone for a touchdown.
CLEMSON - When Tommy Bowden finally got a chance to review the full game film from Monday night's win over Florida State, he came away with mixed emotions.
Bowden was very happy with the overall play of his defense. He couldn't say the same about the offense.
The inability to "Finish The Job" - the slogan by which the team has been operating throughout fall camp - irritated the Clemson mentor. Ahead 24-3 at the half, the Tigers couldn't muster any points over the final two quarters and held on for a six-point victory.
"One score and we could have put the game away," he said following Wednesday's practice. "But we just couldn't find a way to get it done."
And it was mistakes that caused the problem moreso than an inability to execute.
A pair of holding penalties negated significant gains that could have led to promising drives.
And at least once a wide receiver - in this case Aaron Kelly - wasn't on the same page as quarterback Cullen Harper; Kelly wasn't looking for the ball on a beautifully thrown pass by Harper that could very well have gone for a touchdown.
Mick is an old Clemson Tater...
His defense is gonna be better than people think. Spence kept them off balance in the first half with a good gameplan. We all saw what happened when he used more tradional/conservative plays later. FSU is gonna be ok this year, I don't buy into the lack of talent crap. I saw the offense in a completely different light in the second half.
Mick would have made someone a good head coach, he is loyal to Bobby. You don't see that kind of loyality often these days. After all, Danny was a defensive guy too.
Gamecock win in a close one this week, much like the game with the Tigers last year. When you don't have your starting QB it is not a good thing. Spurrier probably doesn't have alot for Blake Mitchell right now, he is still starting. That alone tells you something. You guys racked up plenty of yards, I didn't see the game. But all those yards and not as many points tells me you had trouble in the red zone. Thats where your starting QB makes the difference.
What I see hapening is Blake knowing his job is on the line. Most fans are tired of his off the field antics. As he did last year he is going to come back with a vengence. He will have a very big game trying to make up for it.
Georgia will take the Gamecocks a little lighter and these two things will add up to a win. Good way to start off the season for you guys. Sound good? I think it will happen.
Mick would have made someone a good head coach, he is loyal to Bobby. You don't see that kind of loyality often these days. After all, Danny was a defensive guy too.
Gamecock win in a close one this week, much like the game with the Tigers last year. When you don't have your starting QB it is not a good thing. Spurrier probably doesn't have alot for Blake Mitchell right now, he is still starting. That alone tells you something. You guys racked up plenty of yards, I didn't see the game. But all those yards and not as many points tells me you had trouble in the red zone. Thats where your starting QB makes the difference.
What I see hapening is Blake knowing his job is on the line. Most fans are tired of his off the field antics. As he did last year he is going to come back with a vengence. He will have a very big game trying to make up for it.
Georgia will take the Gamecocks a little lighter and these two things will add up to a win. Good way to start off the season for you guys. Sound good? I think it will happen.
"Dem dang deh Spilley N Jame Davey, good deh.. Come on.."
Vance, the silly talk is coach speak, I guess.. lol. We were saying during the FSU game that Micky Andrews looks like if he spoke, he would sound something like the subject lines of this post and Brent's last post. He looks like an old swamp, bayou guy.. lol.
I'm not going to give much of a Carolina report. Just a couple of notes. The defense struggled against the option.. Luckily, we won't face another offensive scheme like that this season. It would be different if we played an option team every season and knew more about what they were going to do. The D had trouble tackling in the first half (looked a lot like FSU) but began to pick it up as the game went on. I look for this game to be a wake up call or that's what I'm hoping for. A little eye opener. They know that they are playing a much tougher opponent this week and I think they will play much better. They are good enough physically but they have to be there mentally if they want to hang with UGA. I look for a better showing on defense this week. Hopefully good enough to shock.
The offense on the other hand was a pleasant surprise. The QB's threw for 21-29 and 238 yds. Mike Davis ran for 94 yds on 15 carries. Chris Culliver had a 11 yd gain on a reverse the only time he touched the ball the whole game. He's quick but also looked tougher than I thought he would be. O-line did OK but will have to pick it up against a team like UGA. They will have to step it up but I think they will be fine. The most impressive position was TE believe it or not! This position combined for 102 of our 433 total yds on a combined # of 6 catches. Everyone was wondering who the 2nd guy behind McKinley would be this season, well I think it will be whoever is playing at TE at the time. We have 3 outstanding TEs. Speaking of Kenny, he did really well with the exception of not bringing in one overthrown pass. He could have caught it, I think. Overall he finished up with 6 catches for 44 yds and one TD. Keep in mind that he was one of 8 other players to catch at least one pass. Smelley and Beecher did a pretty good job of finding the open man. If Blake starts Saturday and struggles I will feel confident in Beecher to back him up. Smelley will be out with a shoulder injury. Not to serious but enough to hold him out this week.
Overall, it was a win but nothing to be to excited about. One Gamecock fan did bring up a really good point on the message board. The last time we played LA Lafayette we beat them by only one TD. The next week we played #15 Virginia and romped them by a score of 30 something to 7. I'm still cautiously optimistic about Saturday.
I'm not going to give much of a Carolina report. Just a couple of notes. The defense struggled against the option.. Luckily, we won't face another offensive scheme like that this season. It would be different if we played an option team every season and knew more about what they were going to do. The D had trouble tackling in the first half (looked a lot like FSU) but began to pick it up as the game went on. I look for this game to be a wake up call or that's what I'm hoping for. A little eye opener. They know that they are playing a much tougher opponent this week and I think they will play much better. They are good enough physically but they have to be there mentally if they want to hang with UGA. I look for a better showing on defense this week. Hopefully good enough to shock.
The offense on the other hand was a pleasant surprise. The QB's threw for 21-29 and 238 yds. Mike Davis ran for 94 yds on 15 carries. Chris Culliver had a 11 yd gain on a reverse the only time he touched the ball the whole game. He's quick but also looked tougher than I thought he would be. O-line did OK but will have to pick it up against a team like UGA. They will have to step it up but I think they will be fine. The most impressive position was TE believe it or not! This position combined for 102 of our 433 total yds on a combined # of 6 catches. Everyone was wondering who the 2nd guy behind McKinley would be this season, well I think it will be whoever is playing at TE at the time. We have 3 outstanding TEs. Speaking of Kenny, he did really well with the exception of not bringing in one overthrown pass. He could have caught it, I think. Overall he finished up with 6 catches for 44 yds and one TD. Keep in mind that he was one of 8 other players to catch at least one pass. Smelley and Beecher did a pretty good job of finding the open man. If Blake starts Saturday and struggles I will feel confident in Beecher to back him up. Smelley will be out with a shoulder injury. Not to serious but enough to hold him out this week.
Overall, it was a win but nothing to be to excited about. One Gamecock fan did bring up a really good point on the message board. The last time we played LA Lafayette we beat them by only one TD. The next week we played #15 Virginia and romped them by a score of 30 something to 7. I'm still cautiously optimistic about Saturday.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
I am sold on our Defense..
We are gonna be good on defense all year. Its not a one man band anymore. We have alot of good guys and the best part? Two Seniors!
For that matter, count them, two Seniors starting on offense. Amazing. I was proud of old farmer Spence. He just needs to organize his plays a little better. Save some for the second half and critical situations. James Davis says he hasn't used much of his play book yet. Harper is close. If he can get some good experience and a little more confidence the consistent drives will come easy. A few more short passes and a few long ones. I think he could be on his way. Still want Korn not to redshirt? Not me.
I was impressed with our kicking game, particuarly the kickers. Those guys have confidence, Manners didn't even hesitate, picked up that ball and ran it back for a safety. Heads up play for a guy in his first game. We just missed a blocking assignment up the middle and a bad snap. Typical for the first game.
We only played about 10 mins of questionable football. Started late in the 3rd, 3 mins left. Unfortuanately, thats all it takes with FSU. I think people are gonna be surprised at how they do this year. I saw that old fight in them for a few minutes, its coming back. Clemson just saw it too and had the same determination late in the 4th.
The team this year just has a feel good feeling to them. Not so last year even on winning weeks. Even our injuries are turning out good so far. All as questionable or probable this weekend. Should mean they will come back soon. Need to get Jacoby Ford the ball more on short passes. Give our guys the ball and let them make plays. We have so many play makers right now on offense. How did you like that stiff arm from Kelly? Did I really see that? He looked like Stuckey on that play. But he is much taller and has alot more potential. Rendrick Taylor is going to be more involved too.
Bowden was asked when do we see a pass from Spiller or Davis in the QB position and he said very soon. WOW! These guys are pulling out all stops. Give old Tommy some props for a change he has earned it.
For that matter, count them, two Seniors starting on offense. Amazing. I was proud of old farmer Spence. He just needs to organize his plays a little better. Save some for the second half and critical situations. James Davis says he hasn't used much of his play book yet. Harper is close. If he can get some good experience and a little more confidence the consistent drives will come easy. A few more short passes and a few long ones. I think he could be on his way. Still want Korn not to redshirt? Not me.
I was impressed with our kicking game, particuarly the kickers. Those guys have confidence, Manners didn't even hesitate, picked up that ball and ran it back for a safety. Heads up play for a guy in his first game. We just missed a blocking assignment up the middle and a bad snap. Typical for the first game.
We only played about 10 mins of questionable football. Started late in the 3rd, 3 mins left. Unfortuanately, thats all it takes with FSU. I think people are gonna be surprised at how they do this year. I saw that old fight in them for a few minutes, its coming back. Clemson just saw it too and had the same determination late in the 4th.
The team this year just has a feel good feeling to them. Not so last year even on winning weeks. Even our injuries are turning out good so far. All as questionable or probable this weekend. Should mean they will come back soon. Need to get Jacoby Ford the ball more on short passes. Give our guys the ball and let them make plays. We have so many play makers right now on offense. How did you like that stiff arm from Kelly? Did I really see that? He looked like Stuckey on that play. But he is much taller and has alot more potential. Rendrick Taylor is going to be more involved too.
Bowden was asked when do we see a pass from Spiller or Davis in the QB position and he said very soon. WOW! These guys are pulling out all stops. Give old Tommy some props for a change he has earned it.
Clempin dem gewd tiga maan!
Hey Vance, did you catch the 3-3-5 nickel defense Monday Night? I really liked the variety and different looks Clemson gave. I think this defense was designed to get more of our talented secondary in the game. I also liked the way they blitzed from different angles and positions. Right now, this is the strength of our team.
Clemson has got to fix their punting woes, because thats what got FSU in the game. The offense has 2 games to hammer consistency down as well.
Clemson has got to fix their punting woes, because thats what got FSU in the game. The offense has 2 games to hammer consistency down as well.
Tigers make the top 25 early!!! Good to go.....
AP Top 25
1. USC (59) 1-0 1,619
2. LSU (5) 1-0 1,542
3. West Virginia (1) 1-0 1,449
4. Florida 1-0 1,346
5. Oklahoma 1-0 1,275
5. Wisconsin 1-0 1,275
7. Texas 1-0 1,221
8. Louisville 1-0 1,152
9. Virginia Tech 1-0 1,085
10. California 1-0 1,080
11. Georgia 1-0 959
12. Ohio State 1-0 940
13. UCLA 1-0 736
14. Penn State 1-0 662
15. Rutgers 1-0 659
16. Nebraska 1-0 541
17. Auburn 1-0 519
18. Arkansas 1-0 450
19. TCU 1-0 384
20. Hawaii 1-0 335
21. Georgia Tech 1-0 278
22. Boise State 1-0 267
23. Texas A&M 1-0 217
24. Tennessee 0-1 210
25. Clemson 1-0 195
1. USC (59) 1-0 1,619
2. LSU (5) 1-0 1,542
3. West Virginia (1) 1-0 1,449
4. Florida 1-0 1,346
5. Oklahoma 1-0 1,275
5. Wisconsin 1-0 1,275
7. Texas 1-0 1,221
8. Louisville 1-0 1,152
9. Virginia Tech 1-0 1,085
10. California 1-0 1,080
11. Georgia 1-0 959
12. Ohio State 1-0 940
13. UCLA 1-0 736
14. Penn State 1-0 662
15. Rutgers 1-0 659
16. Nebraska 1-0 541
17. Auburn 1-0 519
18. Arkansas 1-0 450
19. TCU 1-0 384
20. Hawaii 1-0 335
21. Georgia Tech 1-0 278
22. Boise State 1-0 267
23. Texas A&M 1-0 217
24. Tennessee 0-1 210
25. Clemson 1-0 195
Lol, I understand..
Ragging on each other a little is always gonna be a part of college football.
I think it was humid, adrenolin and going full speed the whole game was a big factor. FSU coming back probably helped the Tigers in the long run. They can't get comfortable. But they did reach down in the 4th and find something extra in the tank. Thats what makes a good football team.
I think they did however stop the blitzing. Oh, they were still trying to get to the QB. But at that point it was with inside lineman not the same as before or late in the 4th. Spence as I said had a great gameplan. One of his problems is he throws everything at you early and he needs to learn to save it for the second half. The direct snap for example would have been better used in the second half. Second half is what counts.
You can't get conservative late in the game. You lose like that. I think he is learning. Taken as a whole I have even more hope for his offense and I am sold for the moment on Harper. The next two weeks they can't let up. Full speed every game, if you play half speed just because you can you have a tendency to do it in a game later that you can't.
Now, I didn't get to see the Gamecocks but I'm not too concerned. Some of the older coaches have a tendency to hold back on a lesser team the week before the big game. Oldest trick in the book especially early in the season. Georgia didn't see much I'm sure and will probably take the Gamecocks a little lighter now. However Georgia seems to be a little better than we had hoped. Gonna be a big battle, I can guarantee it and I won't count out the Old Ball Coach. He is making adjustments and they will be ready to play. He knows football and he saw something in the off season.
Gamecocks win, surprise everyone.
I think it was humid, adrenolin and going full speed the whole game was a big factor. FSU coming back probably helped the Tigers in the long run. They can't get comfortable. But they did reach down in the 4th and find something extra in the tank. Thats what makes a good football team.
I think they did however stop the blitzing. Oh, they were still trying to get to the QB. But at that point it was with inside lineman not the same as before or late in the 4th. Spence as I said had a great gameplan. One of his problems is he throws everything at you early and he needs to learn to save it for the second half. The direct snap for example would have been better used in the second half. Second half is what counts.
You can't get conservative late in the game. You lose like that. I think he is learning. Taken as a whole I have even more hope for his offense and I am sold for the moment on Harper. The next two weeks they can't let up. Full speed every game, if you play half speed just because you can you have a tendency to do it in a game later that you can't.
Now, I didn't get to see the Gamecocks but I'm not too concerned. Some of the older coaches have a tendency to hold back on a lesser team the week before the big game. Oldest trick in the book especially early in the season. Georgia didn't see much I'm sure and will probably take the Gamecocks a little lighter now. However Georgia seems to be a little better than we had hoped. Gonna be a big battle, I can guarantee it and I won't count out the Old Ball Coach. He is making adjustments and they will be ready to play. He knows football and he saw something in the off season.
Gamecocks win, surprise everyone.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Good job at blowing that one out of context Brent..
I did say that the defense was starting to look tired in the 2nd half. Hell they was tired. They weren't as fast or tackling anywhere near as well as they did in the first half. Clemson was still blitzing in the 2nd half it just wasn't working as well and I believe it was because they were tired. As far as CJ goes, I didn't hear anyone over at my house say that he was out of shape. I said that him leaving for the whole Summer workouts to visit family may have hurt his stamina and conditioning. You could tell that the same CJ that started the game was not the same CJ that ended it. He lost a step in the 2nd half and everytime they put the camera on him it looked like he was having trouble catching his breath. Regardless, he is awesome. I wasn't taking anything away from him at all. JD had the better game I thought and he didn't get enough snaps in my opinion. When CJ got tired in the 2nd half they should have brought in JD. Both are great backs though.
Vance, you know how Brent gets after games like this one. He loses the color in his face.. lol. He also gets very defensive. He just heard what he wanted to hear. There was a lot of talk about how bad FSU's D looked because they were trying to arm tackle and missing assignments terribly. Brent took this and what I said in the above paragraph and.... POW! LOL.. "Clemson hasn't won a game over here (at my house) in 3 years.." lol.
Bottom line is that Clemson won. They are off to a good start and if they play like they did in the first half of that game all season long they could easily kill the ACC this year. They looked better than Carolina did and Carolina didn't look terrible but they didn't look good either. Thats another post though. I'm trying to get my school work caught up but I'll have a Gamecock report as soon as I can. Overall, good win for the Tigs.
Vance, you know how Brent gets after games like this one. He loses the color in his face.. lol. He also gets very defensive. He just heard what he wanted to hear. There was a lot of talk about how bad FSU's D looked because they were trying to arm tackle and missing assignments terribly. Brent took this and what I said in the above paragraph and.... POW! LOL.. "Clemson hasn't won a game over here (at my house) in 3 years.." lol.
Bottom line is that Clemson won. They are off to a good start and if they play like they did in the first half of that game all season long they could easily kill the ACC this year. They looked better than Carolina did and Carolina didn't look terrible but they didn't look good either. Thats another post though. I'm trying to get my school work caught up but I'll have a Gamecock report as soon as I can. Overall, good win for the Tigs.
BLITZ BLITZ BLITZ
All year, let the only time we didn't be in the third quarter against FSU.
When your player go full speed for 4 quarters as they must to win. They are gonna get tired. You can look at our players and know they are in peak condition. The talent has shifted supposedly in Clemson's favor vs FSU. ?????? Don't they still get some of the best players out there?
We do more with what we get. It was humid as hell from what they were saying. They have practiced harder than they ever have in that heat. They are gonna get winded. At some point during the season, all that hard work in the heat is gonna pay off.
We went away from what we were doing so well and almost paid the price. Harper did a good job in my opinion. I was sitting there thinking oh lord, hes not gonna work. Next play he threads the needle between two defenders with a guy right in his face for a TD. If a couple of passes had been caught that should have (reciever not looking) he would have won the game early in the 4th.
Great game, we have alot to work with and alot of potential. Hats off to Rob and Vic. I think James Davis said today Spence hasn't even scratched the surface in his play book yet. No doubt waiting on Harper to get a little more confiedence. GO Harper!! Redshirt Korn!! I don't think he will ever lose a game for us. I mean it won't be his fault. Direct snap is a hit. I wanna see them direct snap it in the shotgun with Harper still back there. It will drive a defense insane.
Heart stopped when Ford was carried out. I thought for sure broken collar bone, out for the season. Shocked when I saw him back. Gonna be a good year for us.
When your player go full speed for 4 quarters as they must to win. They are gonna get tired. You can look at our players and know they are in peak condition. The talent has shifted supposedly in Clemson's favor vs FSU. ?????? Don't they still get some of the best players out there?
We do more with what we get. It was humid as hell from what they were saying. They have practiced harder than they ever have in that heat. They are gonna get winded. At some point during the season, all that hard work in the heat is gonna pay off.
We went away from what we were doing so well and almost paid the price. Harper did a good job in my opinion. I was sitting there thinking oh lord, hes not gonna work. Next play he threads the needle between two defenders with a guy right in his face for a TD. If a couple of passes had been caught that should have (reciever not looking) he would have won the game early in the 4th.
Great game, we have alot to work with and alot of potential. Hats off to Rob and Vic. I think James Davis said today Spence hasn't even scratched the surface in his play book yet. No doubt waiting on Harper to get a little more confiedence. GO Harper!! Redshirt Korn!! I don't think he will ever lose a game for us. I mean it won't be his fault. Direct snap is a hit. I wanna see them direct snap it in the shotgun with Harper still back there. It will drive a defense insane.
Heart stopped when Ford was carried out. I thought for sure broken collar bone, out for the season. Shocked when I saw him back. Gonna be a good year for us.
Quick Game Thoughts.
Great game, huh Vance? Clemson looked phenomenal in the first half, asleep in the second half. I think the defense played well the entire game I thought. The offense looks to be better in the red zone, but needs to be able to sustain a long drive. The holding penalties hurt some drives late in the game. Blake and the gamecock groupies argued that Clemson was out of shape and suffered from conditioning, but I think it was more along the lines of getting complacent with a seemingly big lead. They also said CJ Spiller was out of shape, but I haven't heard that from anyone else in the nation yet, so.......
More to come later!
More to come later!
Whewww!!!!!!
Thats about what you can say after a game like that.
Its certainly gonna require more than one post. Especially being still shell shocked.
The good and the bad. Thats what we saw from the Tigers today. We say the team we want to be and the team we don't. Spence sure fooled me. I thought we needed deep passes to back Fla State off the line. He proved we didn't by using untraditional run plays and the infamous misdirection. Some pretty damn good stuff in the first half. Vic did what I knew we needed to do, in the first half. Use our speed to blitz. WOW! How many people do we have that seem to be almost unstoppable on a blitz???? It was hard to count them all. I couldn't keep up. But the biggest shocker on a BLITZ???? Didn't see it coming I knew the kid was gonna be special, Diandre Mcdaniel? Blitzing?
Classic when Bowden said Ricky Sapp says he will be better than Gaines Adams and tonight we will see. Less than 2 seconds later, knabbed a very good Fla State RB Smith for a big loss. Players with Unbelievable athletic ability and speed coming in every direction. Who you gonna block? Sapp, Mcdaniel, Scott, Vincent, Billie, the list goes on and on. As a whole on first glance, no better blitzing package in college football.
In the past when things fall apart it has often been hard for me to pinpoint what happened. Not so tonight. Bothe Vic and Rob had an awesome gameplan. What the hell happened? They went away from it. How do you stop the offense? What can you do to screw things up? Go away from the misdirection and start passing. Granted, we wanted to see Harper. But, that in nutshell is what happened. He changed his gameplan. Defensively, Smith looked one step away all night. In the first half someone was there to grab him as soon as he touched the ball and Weatherford was running for his life. So how do you mess that up? Drop back and stop blitzing. At the end we simply went back to the original gameplan and won the game.
Being my first post, this all could be a blessing in disguiss. Hell, we won our first game against FSU and are 1 and 0 in the ACC. We have a couple of weeks to hone things up. But the blessing is learn now! Even when you play lesser teams. Use your strengths! Blitzing and misdirection. Not unneccessary passes and conservative defense, lead or no lead, stick to it! It will work!
Hopefully these two learned, with all that speed, nothing about this team should be conservative. OPINIONS? GAMECOCKS??? Gameday has come and gone boys, time to get to posting.
Its certainly gonna require more than one post. Especially being still shell shocked.
The good and the bad. Thats what we saw from the Tigers today. We say the team we want to be and the team we don't. Spence sure fooled me. I thought we needed deep passes to back Fla State off the line. He proved we didn't by using untraditional run plays and the infamous misdirection. Some pretty damn good stuff in the first half. Vic did what I knew we needed to do, in the first half. Use our speed to blitz. WOW! How many people do we have that seem to be almost unstoppable on a blitz???? It was hard to count them all. I couldn't keep up. But the biggest shocker on a BLITZ???? Didn't see it coming I knew the kid was gonna be special, Diandre Mcdaniel? Blitzing?
Classic when Bowden said Ricky Sapp says he will be better than Gaines Adams and tonight we will see. Less than 2 seconds later, knabbed a very good Fla State RB Smith for a big loss. Players with Unbelievable athletic ability and speed coming in every direction. Who you gonna block? Sapp, Mcdaniel, Scott, Vincent, Billie, the list goes on and on. As a whole on first glance, no better blitzing package in college football.
In the past when things fall apart it has often been hard for me to pinpoint what happened. Not so tonight. Bothe Vic and Rob had an awesome gameplan. What the hell happened? They went away from it. How do you stop the offense? What can you do to screw things up? Go away from the misdirection and start passing. Granted, we wanted to see Harper. But, that in nutshell is what happened. He changed his gameplan. Defensively, Smith looked one step away all night. In the first half someone was there to grab him as soon as he touched the ball and Weatherford was running for his life. So how do you mess that up? Drop back and stop blitzing. At the end we simply went back to the original gameplan and won the game.
Being my first post, this all could be a blessing in disguiss. Hell, we won our first game against FSU and are 1 and 0 in the ACC. We have a couple of weeks to hone things up. But the blessing is learn now! Even when you play lesser teams. Use your strengths! Blitzing and misdirection. Not unneccessary passes and conservative defense, lead or no lead, stick to it! It will work!
Hopefully these two learned, with all that speed, nothing about this team should be conservative. OPINIONS? GAMECOCKS??? Gameday has come and gone boys, time to get to posting.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Great news bro!!!
Brent and I had wondered if you were gonna get to watch any of the games but we felt bad to ask. It would have sucked to get a response that you weren't. That is great news. It does kinda suck that they're on that late but at least you do get to watch it. I'm happy for ya bro!!
I don't know where you guys are, its only the best day of the year....
The GAME IS GONNA BE ON HERE!!!!!! :)
AT 4:30 IN THE MORNING!!!!! :(
Guess I will be gettin up at 4 then...
I can't complain, they were at 2 or 3 in the moring in Japan. It also means the mid day games will be at 10:00 at night, not bad at all. I am so happy I will get to watch it. WOW, I am so freakin excited now. This is just about the most exciting time every year, knowing you will get up and watch the big game finally. Finally we will have the answer to a few questions......
AT 4:30 IN THE MORNING!!!!! :(
Guess I will be gettin up at 4 then...
I can't complain, they were at 2 or 3 in the moring in Japan. It also means the mid day games will be at 10:00 at night, not bad at all. I am so happy I will get to watch it. WOW, I am so freakin excited now. This is just about the most exciting time every year, knowing you will get up and watch the big game finally. Finally we will have the answer to a few questions......
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Typical Michigan Fan!!!!
I did enjoy the biggest upset in college football history. But I would have gladly traded it for the thrashing that Ga Tech gave Notre Dame.Va Tech also did not look very impressive against East Carolina. Skip starts his season off right even though its a loss.
Spurrier cannot be overjoyed at the moment but it was opening day.
Navy pulls it out even with a couple of very uncharacteristic turnovers and penalties. Even so they still had almost 400 yards rushing and the game with Rutgers next week should be fun.
Anybody know that Bo Schembeckler started his carreer out as an assistant coach for Presbyterian college right up the road? He rolled over in his grave yesterday. Both Carr and Miss State's coaches need to go.
Big, big weekend already. But of coarse the one for me is just around the corner. I can't wait.
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