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If you were at my house last night, or if you were one of my buddies who made the congratulatory call last night, you realize that I acted a damn fool after Martavis Bryant recovered that onsides kick. Typically, FigureFour is pissed pissed pissed...even after a big win. Not last night. I am fortunate that I forgot to pick up a bottle of champagne prior to the game, as I would be cleaning my kitchen right now instead of chatting with you.
I hate Georgia. I cannot stand Georgia. They are the people who throw liquor bottles at you when you leave the stadium. They are the people who (according to one of my coworkers) got pissed that SCar beat them for the first time in years then decided to urinate off the upper deck onto opposing fans below in protest of their team sucking. They are Georgiafan. Take as many shots as you want...they are many times worse to deal with than Cockfan. If you don't agree, you are either too young to remember Clemson playing them every year, you did not go to those games, or you are just not paying attention.
You all can dislike South Carolina all you want, I hate Georgia. Ever since the game was announced (I believe six years ago), I have been anticipating last night. You would have thought we won the National Championship if you could have seen me last night. My year is complete. I hate those assholes and winning last night already made the year complete (I want to play Georgia every year). Yes there were many things Clemson has to correct if we are to challenge for a MNC, but anytime you beat Georgia's ass, you celebrate. I don't have goal posts in my back yard, so I contemplated going out and bringing down a pine tree instead. Duhhh Nannna Nanna Na, FUCK GEORGIA BULLDOGS!
I tried to take notes during the game to avoid rewinding film to recap. See my thoughts below. I will say that I give Peake hell early on, but he had some really big plays last night. The 4th down conversion was redeeming. He fought for that one and assured that we scored on that drive. I was particularly disappointed with Martavis Bryant's play last night. If he could simply catch the ball, Clemson would have won big. Dude has boatloads of talent but needs to put it to work. He does get big ups for the onsides kick recovery at the end of the game.
Now the game thoughts...
After trading punts, the rest of the first quarter turned into a track meet. I am not sure why The Chad chose to get cute there at the end of the first quarter when it looked like we could line up and run the football. The reverse to Sammy was poorly timed and was a key reason Clemson had to punt. I will say that Tajh looks to be more conscience of not taking a hit. I don't want him taking as many shots as he did last year. Peake had another would be big catch fall to the turf midway through the second quarter. He absolutely has to make big 3rd down catches for this football team to be successful.
Martavis Bryant is a huge disappointment. He drops passes and had a very stupid false start. He has to get it together and become a viable threat for our Tigers to be successful. He and Peake need to get their shit together and quickly...it is unacceptable that both have been at Clemson for three years and that is all you get out of those guys. I will say that Peake did have a couple big catches early in the 3rd quarter-particularly giving a great effort to convert a big 4th down prior to Brooks' wheel down the sideline (here is how this thing works, if you need it).
Roderick McDowell really impressed us. He runs hard. He doesn't have the quickness through the hole that Andre Ellington had but he is damn good.
The Clemson defense is complete shit. Our linebackers and safeties did a poor job filling gaps and alleys. That was apparent in Georgia's first touchdown run and became a recurring theme. Clemson did a poor job containing the quarterback, allowing Murray to move around (in and out of the pocket) and pick up big yards either tucking the football or finding a receiver open. Our secondary is very bad. For Clemson to be successful against the run, we have to put pressure on the opposing QB.
Tajh Boyd is perfect for this offense. He is a little run happy, but that is not the biggest problem we have. Hot Rod is a beast and Brooks is as athletic as advertised. Clemson was able to put pressure on Murray at points of the game. You saw Venables throw pretty much all he had at them...he had no choice but to go after them because our play five yards or more down the field was poor.
Clemson has a lot of work to do on defense. Travis Blanks didn't fill the alley as we'd like and gap control out of the linebackers was less than impressive. Clemson decided to play a lot of soft coverage all night and Aaron Murray ate it up. Year over year, I saw little improvement outside of the front four. We have got to get better here. If we face a quarterback who really wants to run, we are in trouble.
I have a lot more to talk about but need to put this one online...since we play SC State, I may use some of my allotted internet time to better discuss this one...Now for other items:
I, like everyone else, was excited to see football return last Thursday. North Carolina looked much worse than I thought they would and really impressed no one. I don't have to make up my mind about South Carolina now and will hold judgment about this squad until they play Georgia and/or a couple more conference contests.
I will say that ESPN has been a little ridiculous in their coverage of one South Carolina defensive end. Don't get me wrong, Clowney is a stud-plain and simple. ESPN, though, completely ignored the rest of their team on Thursday, instead choosing to watch Clowndogg drink Gatorade and comment on him jogging around rather than focusing on the action. Afterward (and because Clowney didn't rip someone's head off) the talking heads-because of the ridiculous hype they've placed on him-chose to discuss nothing but their disappointment afterward. Did Clowney appear to take plays off and look winded at times? Yes. Did the media go way overboard pimping him out this offseason? Yes. Had they not participated in such, could we have heard real football discussion during the game instead of commentary on how the guy tied his shoes or his favorite flavor of chewing gum? Well...the focus would have been more on SCar/UNC but the quality of commentary...
The quality of commentary for ESPN's Thursday premier game is less than I would expect. The stupidity coming out of the Bachelor's mouth all night nearly forced me to change the channel several times. I then realized that I'd better go ahead and get used to it...Clemson has a pair of Thursday night games and I am sure that the same stupidity spewed out of Palmer's mouth Thursday will continue to flow for the balance of the season. The highlight of the night was seeing some video of the Bachelor tossing the old pigskin around and making the profound and insightful point that a quarterback should not stare down a receiver and should lead the receiver...he went further to explain that the ball should be thrown where the receiver will be and not where he currently is on the field. That is some deep stuff there. Don't telegraph where you're going to throw the ball and lead your receiver with the forward pass. With that type of in-depth football knowledge, it is a small wonder that some college out there hasn't offered the Bachelor a job and boatloads of cash...the in-game commentary was just as bad.
Johnny Manziel is a toolbag. There is no reason for any of the crap he's pulled. Unfortunately, Kevin Sumlin will do nothing. It is a little ironic hearing the Bachelor call Johnny Football immature and, basically, not ready for the big stage. Look in the mirror Jessie. Maybe you weren't subjected to the torture that would have been listening to you're shit-terrible commentary Thursday night. I don't want Clemson to play on Thursdays for the simple reason I can't stand the thought of listening to the bachelor act like a complete assclown for nearly 4 hours.
It was Danny Ford Day up in Tigertown yesterday. It was fitting that Clemson beat Jawga on the day that Danny was properly honored. If you don't like Danny Ford, you can kiss my ass. It was a long time coming, but Coach Ford deserves every honor and good thing that comes his way. As much as we hate Georgia, we love Danny Ford. God bless Coach Ford.
One final note...I have given Dabo Swinney hell on and off for the past five years. I will say that I was for the Dabo replacement of Tom move. I've been a bit disappointed that Swinney played for Gene Stallings and isn't as hardcore as Bebes, Schnelly, or the Bear. However, that isn't his style and the man deserves a lot of credit. Clemson has won more the past couple years than we have in a couple decades. You can call the LSU game "the chips falling in the right spots." This Georgia win proved that the staff could scheme around a team that has a long time to prepare-and isn't coached by one Les Miles. Dabo certainly gets my thanks for beating Georgia. I also think he is a much different and improved coach from a couple years ago. I will say that I was anticipating a little "Tonnyy Schivanteeeeee, WHOOO...it's Rolex Time! Whoooo" after the game...I am not done being critical of our coaches but want to point out the improvement noticed from our top man. Oh, and by the way, the $1.2 mil spent on The Chad was worth every penny.
Last thought...South Carolina please send Clemson a thank you note. We wore down Georgia for you. There is no doubt that SCar will beat Georgia like a drum, and this week's games definitely worked in the Gamecocks' favor.
Too much football and too little time keeps me from discussing Phil's big round Friday (and fall from grace yesterday) or Neckcar in Atlanta tonight. Football season is awesome and your humble writer is pumped up. Fuck Georgia!