Post Wake Sunday Thoughts

Yesterday's win was what Clemson needed.  We blew out a very bad Salem team yesterday and were able to get a lot of players more reps.  I would have--like everyone else--liked for Clemson not to have given up the first quarter touchdown but otherwise cannot complain too much about the defense.  The defense gave up 222 yards.  That is outstanding even if it is done against a team of Wake's caliber.  Offensively, both Tajh and Stoudt played well.  I am not sure why Boyd had 17 carries on the afternoon when they weren't necessary.  Don't make your quarterback take unnecessary hits.  Those carries--especially in a game like the one we saw yesterday--need to go to the backs.  We also still have items to work out along the offensive line.  I was not impressed with our offensive line footwork.  Clemson looked sluggish at times along the line.  Clemson gets another cream puff next week when the Tigers fly up to New York to play Syracuse.  I have loathed even thinking about those jokers being in our conference and will have heartburn all week looking forward to the game against the Orangemen.

In other news, we all knew that Lane Kiffin's time as a head football coach was limited and his (September) midnight firing was just what he deserved.  Just to assure there is no confusion, I do not like Tennessee by any means.  I do, however, think that Kiffin screwed them royally and he is getting exactly what he deserved.  When the Godfather told us that Kiffin screwed the Rayyydaas, we all thought it was just Al Davis being Al Davis.  No, Davis wasn't the craziest person in the Raiders organization.  He then rolled to Knoxville and completely punked UT.  Kiffin is lucky that he got out of Tennessee with all of his limbs still intact.  It is only fitting that Kiffin's head coaching career ends with him getting punked himself in the middle of the night on an airplane.  Next on the list--Mack Brown!

VPI looked much better than I expected them to look on Thursday.  If Thomas can keep this type of play up, Virginia Tech presses Miami as the cream of the Coastal division.  North Carolina's loss to ECU was embarrassing for the Tarheels and takes a lot of the luster off of GT's win last week--well, that and Virginia Tech's performance against the Jackets earlier this week.

Clemson's win over Georgia looks better and better every week.  Georgia did a good job yesterday of making LSU beat them through the air--and Mettenberger damn near did just that.  Georgia's defense gave up a ton of yards and points, there is no question about that, but Aaron Murray's nearly 300 passing yards and Marshall's nearly 100 yard game kept Georgia's National Championship hopes alive.  Losing Gurley was a really big deal.  If they can keep him healthy, Jawja is a team that can make some noise this season.  Those guys got through a very tough season-opening stretch with a 3-1 record and conference wins over SCar and LSU.  That is not too shabby.  The next eight games play out very nicely for these guys with Florida being the lone team that I see who have the ability to beat them until they play Bama in the SECCG.

Speaking of Bama, the Tide reaffirmed that they are indeed the team that should be ranked #1 in America.  They'll get to prove their worth against LSU in a couple weeks.  LSU is the only team I can see putting up a fight against the Tide.  Bama has taken care of VPI, ATM, and now Ole Miss.  Aside from the Cajun Tigers, their schedule is set up for a big run down the stretch and into the SECCG against Georgia.

Carolina struggled yesterday.  A lot of people predicted that one would be close and it was too close for comfort for Gamecock fans.  They too have a schedule that is easily manageable.  Carolina still has Florida in conference play and Clemson to cap the year.  I have definitely not been impressed with the Gators this season.  The SEC East is really just Georgia and SCar this year.

I'll also point out that Oklahoma laying the smack down on Notre Dame was very nice.  Now the Irish can go back to being a bad football team and the media can just ignore them.  I wouldn't mind seeing them lose every week.

Looking at this week's games, is it just me or does BYU only play games on Friday nights?  I guess since they also don't want to be in a conference, they want as much exposure as possible and being the only game on television on Friday night isn't a bad idea.  This week we get to watch Maryland down at Florida State and Georgia Tech goes to Miami.  We should have a better idea of how our schedule will lay out this time next week.

That's all I got other than waiting on television to tell us when the Tigers will tee it up this Saturday.  Have a good week.