It looked fairly promising until:
> **One way-too-early prediction:**
> Clemson will lose its sixth straight game to rival South Carolina. Clemson will have the edge on defense, but if the Tigers couldn’t beat South Carolina with an all-star cast that included Watkins and Boyd, then it’s going to take more than defensive end Vic Beasley to beat the Gamecocks without them.
Ugh.
I have never really followed recruiting that closely, but even I can appreciate Dr. B’s rundown of Clemson’s class.
This is about what I expected. Clemson is going to have to get one or two more upsets on its resume if it wants to be dancing in March.
A BCS bowl win would be a pretty nice cap to the season.
I, admittedly, held my breath on this one for a little bit, especially [after the Aaron Rodger injury](http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9929515/aaron-rodgers-green-bay-packers-broken-collarbone).
Get your popcorn ready.
Of course, Clemson is going to have to take care of their business if they want any chance of this happening.
The explanation of the new “financial aid agreement” is pretty interesting:
> Last month, the NCAA ruled that a prospect who is on track to graduate early from high school may choose to sign a financial-aid agreement with his or her school of choice, provided that the college confirms that the prospect is enrolled in all courses necessary to graduate from high school at the end of the fall semester.
> A financial-aid agreement differs from a national letter-of-intent, which binds a recruit to a college after signing. According to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the financial-aid agreement “locks the university into providing a scholarship but does nothing to commit the prospect to the university.”
> While the prospect would still be fair game to competing recruiters until the NLI is signed, the school would have unrestricted communication access to the prospect during the time between the signing of the two documents.
> Also, the ruling permits “publicity” of a recruit by a college – meaning that the school may announce the prospect who signs a financial-aid agreement as a future signee.
A, shockingly, reasonable move from the NCAA.
I approve of them picking a guy with a computer science degree.
> An NIT berth, which would require at least a 17-14 record, should be viewed as a major success and step forward for this very young Tiger team. That may be asking too much though. Growth, steady improvement, and closer to 15 wins is what I’m expecting this season as big success may still be a year away.
I am guessing that I will not be watching too many Tigers basketball games this year.
That was a beat down.
These look really, really impressive. I hope the real-life, constructed versions look this good.
I am too bummed to post any Red Sox stuff today, so I might as well post a story that talks about my college’s QB having huge gambling debts. Awesome.
> The pre-concept approval status allows the athletic department and IPTAY to commission further studies and begin fundraising efforts. Included in the proposed facilities: 1) a rebuilt basketball arena on the current site of Littlejohn Coliseum; 2) a new academic center as part of the core campus project; 3) the construction of a letter winner’s area and meeting space at Memorial Stadium; 4) complete suite renovation at Memorial Stadium; 5) a new football operations facility; and 6) significant upgrades to the tennis complex.
It is probably a good thing they took this vote *before* Saturday night’s débâcle.
Brandon Rink does the honors:
> 1. Clemson breaks up a run of two-straight 300-yard passing games for Jameis Winston and two-straight 300-yard passing games surrendered to Florida State.
> 2. FSU is held to its lowest touchdown count of the season by at least one, maybe two (scored 5 versus Pittsburgh and B.C.), and they score more on the ground than the air for their first FBS game since Nevada (their only too).
> 3. Sammy Watkins stretches his run of 100-yard receiving games to four.
> Final Score: Clemson 34-27
I *really, really* hope he is right.
> The Seminoles have not won at Clemson since 2001, but they are not alone in their Death Valley struggles. Swinney is 18-2 in ACC home games (.900), the highest winning percentage in league history. He recently moved ahead of former Clemson coach Ken Hatfield, who had a 12-1-1 record at home against league foes from 1990 to ’93. Bobby Bowden is third on the all-time list for home winning percentage at .861, with a 62-10 record in home ACC games at Florida State.
I did not realize Clemson had such a streak over FSU in Death Valley. I *guess* this make me feel a little better about Saturday’s game, but I am still quite nervous.[^fn1]
[^fn1]: I cannot imagine what I am going to feel like if the Red Sox **and** Clemson both have 8 o’clock games on Saturday night.
An excellent column by Dan Wetzel on Dabo Swinney’s time as head coach. A taste:
> Swinney had planned for everything: offense, defense, pregame speech. There on a Friday night at the team hotel over in Anderson, however, he realized he hadn’t prepped for the Tigers’ pregame tradition of touching Howard’s Rock and running down the steep, grassy hill in the east end zone of their massive home stadium, his players charging behind him. The assistants don’t run it. They walk onto the field from a different entrance. It’s an honor bestowed on the head coach.
> “I just sat there and thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to have to run down that hill tomorrow in front of 85,000 people and a bunch of people with TV cameras.'”
and
> “It’s a reminder, every week, that ‘man, people care.’ It’s just a game, but it matters. It’s important how we play and how we represent this university. People drive five hours to watch you play and then drive five hours back. They spend their money on this. A lot of these guys aren’t wealthy. We have a blue-collar fan base.
> “We may not win all our games but how we compete, how we play, the pride that we take in playing the game a certain way, should be important.”
After reading this piece, I am an even bigger fan of Dabo than I was before. Every Clemson fan should take a few minutes to read it.
Two things:
1. This is stupid.
2. I hope they get it.
Both of them pick Clemson. I hope they are right.[^fn1]
[^fn1]: Obviously
I think this could be the biggest point:
> This isn’t the same defense that allowed FSU 49 points and 667 total yards last year. Clemson’s defensive progress has been the missing link in the Tigers’ hopes for a national title. Defensive end Vic Beasley leads the nation in sacks, and the Tigers are good enough to pressure Winston into some mistakes. Clemson’s defense has now held five straight opponents to 14 points or less and is 10th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 16.2 points per game. Clemson, which has built its success on Chad Morris’ offense, actually has a higher national ranking in scoring defense than scoring offense (17th, 40.8) right now. Clemson opponents have converted just .237 on third down, best in the nation. It is even better in ACC games as opponents have converted just 11 of 65 opportunities, just 17 percent. The Tigers also rank fourth in the nation in red zone defense, first in the nation in sacks, first in tackles for loss per game, and 12th in forcing turnovers.
If Clemson’s defense really *is* as good as they have looked recently, then Clemson has a really good shot at winning the game.