Know Thy Enemy: Ugly Game, Great Weekend Edition

At what point does the college football world’s infatuation with high-powered offenses end? The math is pretty simple, great defense > great offense. LSU has an offense that makes high school ball look good, but because of their defense they can beat anyone. Florida put a beat down on the ‘Cocks despite not throwing for over 100 yards, something they haven’t done since before the LSU game. While I love The Chad, I’d trade him for a defensive coordinator in a heartbeat if it meant we had an LSU, ‘Bama style offense.

As a reminder all rankings are from the AP Poll, and click on the team name for a game report article.

Georgia #12 (6-1):

UGA had to have been looking ahead to their game against Florida next week. They made things difficult by letting Kentucky hang around for a little too long but won 29-24. Georgia outgained the Wildcats by nearly 200 yards, but couldn’t convert it into a sizeable lead. After this performance UF has to be considered the favorite to go to Atlanta from the SEC East.

Auburn Tigers (1-6):

It is official; Auburn can realistically go defeated in SEC play. The Tigers lost to Vanderbilt in a game that will never make the highlight reels at the SEC office. Auburn barely had 200 yards of offense, and even brought in the backup QB to try and create something. UGA and ‘Bama are the only SEC teams left on the schedule, and I don’t see them competing in either of these matches. This likely means a 3-9 season is in the books 2 years from a national title.

Ball State Cardinals (5-3):

The Cardinals put together a complete performance in their 41-30 victory over Central Michigan. Ball State had over 200 yards on the ground coupled with another 200 plus in the air to put too many points on the board for Central Michigan to deal with. Central Michigan did manage to score 2 touchdowns in the 4^th quarter, but it wasn’t enough.

Furman Paladins (2-6):

Furman played #3 ranked Georgia Southern in FCS play and got taken out behind the woodshed in a 38-17 loss. It was the third consecutive loss for the Paladins, and the Eagles did a great job pulling away in the second half.

Florida State Seminoles #12 (7-1) (4-1):

FSU really seems to enjoy teasing Clemson fans. After a poor second half, the Seminoles were able to ride 450 yards of offense to a fairly comfortable 33-20 victory over Miami. FSU did show some signs of weakness with 12 penalties and 5 fumbles resulting in 2 turnovers in this game. Unfortunately Miami wasn’t able to take advantage of these mistakes, and Clemson is still stuck hoping for the Seminoles to suffer another unexpected loss. FSU did lose running back to Chris Tompson to injury in the second quarter, and it can only hurt FSU if he misses significant time the rest of the season.

Boston College (1-6) (0-4) vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-4) (2-3):

All I can say is I’m glad I don’t have to watch these games to get the details of what happened. In a matchup between two teams no one cares about. GT returned from their bye week and defeated an awful BC team 37-17. Apparently there is at least one team these guys can play defense against. Fun stat for everyone, The Yellow Jackets had 44 minutes of possession in this game, how they only scored 37 points with the ball that often is anyone’s guess.

Duke Blue Devilss (6-2) (3-1):

Duke is now bowl eligible after their 33-30 victory over UNC this weekend. The Blue Devils also have sole possession of the Coastal Division lead and I’m rooting for them to make it to Charlotte this year. Their victory over UNC was a solid offensive effort with over 500 yards, but their defense could use some work as they head into the homestretch of their schedule. They make a trip to FSU this weekend, and we can see just how talented this team is.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-3) (2-3):

Our wonderful Thursday night opponent this week outlasted Virginia in a 16-10 victory to move above .500 on the year. The Demon Deacs are averaging a little over 300 yards per game, and if this was a normal Saturday game there should be no question of Clemson kicking some ass. The Thursday night kickoff makes things interesting though, and hopefully the quick turnaround helps erase any bad memories from the VPI clusterfuck.

NC State Wolfpack (4-2) (1-1) vs. Maryland Terripans (4-2) (2-0):

NC State took another step towards the Atlantic division title by defeating Maryland in a piss poor game, 20-18. At this point all NC State needs to do is win out and they get a short trip to Charlotte. The Wolfpack won this game due to injuries and turnovers. They were outgained by a little over 100 yards on offense, but the loss of Maryland’s QB doomed the Terrapins. Their new QB wasn’t even listed on the depth chart earlier this year and had about as little experience as you can have as a college QB. This certainly bodes well for Clemson later this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fuck it all up.

South Carolina Gamecocks #17 (6-2):

This was a great weekend to be a Clemson fan. Lots of folks claimed the LSU game was an aberration that going to LSU at night is nearly impossible. This was an afternoon SEC game and USC has shown they do not have a QB. Spurrier got pissed enough to yank Shaw, and Lattimore was a non-factor. As we’ve said multiple times, USC is beatable, but Clemson hasn’t shown an ability to do the things needed to beat USC like pressuring the QB. Just remember Cock fans, Benson and Stabler are there for you.