Clemson Football - Paws Up, Paws Down

This Saturday was a little different for me. Normally I spend all day Saturday consuming as much college football as I can. Not this one. Living just 60 miles inland, we had no power for a lot of the weekend, so I am still not 100% caught up on all the happenings from Saturday, particularly the late games. Not to mention, I would normally watch the Clemson game again before writing these, but haven’t done so this week, so all of this comes from what I recall from watching it live. So, with that in mind, lets get to it.

ETN

Travis was freed yesterday, and he put on a show. It came against a G5 team, but Etienne showed exactly how much impact he can have on the running game. He racked up 162 yards on 16 carries and a lot of that looked to be him making something out of nothing, as the run blocking was not great at times. He also had 2 TDs, one being a 40 yarder in the 4th qtr that finally broke it open. Not that it was ever in doubt. Hopefully a sign of things to come as the season progresses..... Paws Up

DL

I thought this group looked dominant. More along the lines of what I expected to see against Furman. Big Dex and Wilkins were having their way and Ferrell and Bryant had 2 sacks each. How do you let Austin Bryant come through untouched twice..... Paws Up

QB

KB2 had a couple of misfires early on in that first series, but I thought he played well enough after that. In the limited action he saw, anyways. Hopefully he is not seriously hurt and is good to go next week. After looking like a freshman at times last week, I thought Lawrence came back and looked really good this week. Not perfect, but really good. It was at home and against an inferior opponent, but with each passing week he looks to have more command of this offense. It is going to be fun watching him slinging it around the next couple of years.... Paws Up

Justyn Ross

He has made the most of his opportunities so far. He looks like a man among boys out there at times. And we are talking about a kid that is a true freshman and who did not enroll early.... Paws Up

OL

The run blocking from this group has to get better. It was good to see the entire 1st string OL get benched temporarily after it took 4 plays to get it in from the 2. Do what you must to get their attention. It was kind of refreshing to see some nastiness out of Bockhorst, despite the 15 yard penalty. That is the mentality I like to see OL possess. Overall, the run blocking seemed to get better as the game went on, but I tend to think that had as much to do with wearing an undermanned team down, as it did anything else..... Paws Down

Turnovers

They made me pay for bragging on the lack of turnovers last week, as the Tigers turned it over 3 times in this one. KB has to put more on that tunnel screen that was picked on the first series. The DB made a great play to jump the route, but if that ball has more zip on it, he doesn’t get to it. Then Choice puts one on the ground right after that. Both turnovers were deep in Eagles territory. Then Lawrence throws a pick where it would seem he never saw the LB coming down. Just some overall sloppiness in the ball security dept..... Paws Down

Special Teams

Greg Huegel has had better days. 1 out of 3 on FG attempts, and Spiers with a 32 yard punt. Having not been there, I can not say how windy it was. Maybe that played a part in the missed FGs. Either way..... Paws Down

And in other games across the nation:

Auburn

I still do not know how legit LSU is after the 3-0 start, but we can’t be far from the “Fire Malzahn” talk starting up after Coach O and his Bayou Bengals came into town and pulled off the upset. If it hasn’t already started..... Paws Down

UCLA

Only Chip Kelly would have his team doing “conditioning drills” on the sidelines during a game. A game which saw his Bruins get dismantled at home by Fresno St sending them to 0-3..... Paws Down

FSU

Wow..... Just wow. I never liked this hire from the beginning but I didn’t see this coming. That OL seems to get worse every week. It is to the point that Francois seems to be bracing for the hit he knows is coming, every time he drops back. And Taggart might be the worst I have seen at clock management in recent years. Their not even getting off a FG attempt off before halftime was just plain sad. They are fortunate they did not get beat worse than they did. And after having mocked the new “Security Bag” in last week’s win over Samford, I now see what it is really intended for, securing all those L’s in......Paws Way Down

That is all I have this week. Sorry for an abbreviated version, hopefully everything is back to normal next weekend.