Thursday Thoughts


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Thursday Thoughts

Attitude

The Clemson staff has a much taller task this week in preparing the team for perhaps its final trip to College Park.  Last week there were no issues of attention to meetings or emotions.  This week the Tigers are coming off of a potentially devastating loss and the opponent is not atop the national polls.  Therefore, it would be natural to have a hangover and fall victim to a let down on the road this Saturday.

The real answers will not come until the Tigers take the field Saturday at 3:30, but two observers I talked to that were at both Monday and Tuesday's practice said the team's attitude was very good.  Earlier in the week the players were not hanging their heads and stepping on their bottom lips.  But again, the real answers will not be seen until Saturday.

Injuries

One of the major story lines for this weekend's game has to be Maryland's major injuries.  The injury bug has once again struck in College Park.  We know that starting wide receivers Stephon Diggs and Deon Long are gone for the season.  Today we will find out about the availability of both starting cornerbacks Dexter McDougle and Jeremiah Johnson, starting running back Brandon Ross and starting linebackers L.A. Goree and Matt Robinson.

However, Clemson is a banged up football team as well.  Clemson now has ten percent of the scholarship players out.   Charone PeakeCharone Peake
Jr. Wide Receiver
#19 6-3, 200
Moore, SC

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, Patrick DeStefanoPatrick DeStefano
RS Fr. Offensive Line
#71 6-5, 275
Spartanburg, SC

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, Kellen JonesKellen Jones
RS So. Linebacker
#52 6-1, 215
Houston, TX

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, Mackenzie Alexander, Tyshon DyeTyshon Dye
Fr. Running Back
#23 6-1, 205
Elberton, GA

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and, most likely, Kevin DoddKevin Dodd
So. Defensive Tackle
#98 6-4, 280
Taylors, SC

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and Carlos WatkinsCarlos Watkins
So. Defensive Tackle
#94 6-3, 300
Mooresboro, NC

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are out for the season.   Garry PetersGarry Peters
RS Jr. Cornerback
#26 6-0, 195
Conyers, GA

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is out for the next few weeks and DeShaun Williams is questionable this week.

I don't care what level of football you play, not having nine players available to you has to hurt.

Strike Fast

Like many road trips I think the first quarter will be important Saturday.  Earlier in the season Clemson did not take advantage of opportunities in the first quarter in Raleigh and the Tigers let NC State hang around.  The Carter-Finley Stadium crowd hung around a little and got into the game and it got a little closer than some would have liked.

Against Syracuse, the Tigers came out and sent the Orange a message.  This early lead helped put the game out of hand early and helped defuse a potentially rough crowd in the Carrier Dome.

I don't expect a big atmosphere Saturday if the Tigers can start fast.  Maryland is bruised and battered physically and emotionally.  A fast Clemson start would be demoralizing to the Terps and their fan base.

Clemson can still win without a fast start Saturday but the fourth quarter would be a heck of a lot easier with a dominating first half.  The perfect storm is to not let Maryland have any reason to believe in the upset.

The Final Trip

This is perhaps the final time Clemson will play football in College Park.  I have mixed emotions about perhaps my final trip there.  On one hand, College Park is a dump and I won't miss getting told what to do with myself and my mother.  I won't miss the sign language some fans use there either.

I will miss the DC and Baltimore parts of the trip.  I have usually split time between the two cities.  The first time I went to Baltimore I thought it was a dump but they have improved the city.  The food is worth the trip.

I love sight-seeing in DC though.  A few weeks ago it looked like many of the attractions would be closed but that won't be the case now.

In the end, I won't miss the Terps.  I always felt it was a northern campus and I felt I had little in common with Maryland people.  I always felt like Maryland was a Big East type of school but I guess I was wrong, and it is actually a Big Ten school.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency


Prayer List

We have started a prayer list on the blog.  Here are the guidelines:

If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance.  The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.

If you would like to add someone to the list please email me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com

*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list.

Those who need our prayers include: Finn Brookover, Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got Igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S., Daniel Rosborough, the Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L., Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Perrin Seigler, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, the Nicolopulos family, "the Jacksonville, FL guys," Kim Sims, the Coyle family, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, the Thomas V. family, Emary Claire Young, Kitty Bowers, Julie Locke, the Scheider family, Lauren Kittles' family, Frank Gentry, Joyce Bussey, Stacey McKeown, Dale Childs, Larry Lentz, Jr., Carl Sharperson, Scott Hannon, William Perry, Tyler Swaney, Lillian, Mark Feit, David Frame, Chad Berry, the family of Matthew M. Watson, the Dowis family, Shervin Messer, Alan Putnam, the Olivers, Lee Tate, Ronnie Abrams, Eddie Greene, the Jackson family, Bill Vader, Jim Taylor, Tina DeWitt, Rock Horne, Christopher Tuten, Bobby Wayne Thomas, Emma and Danielle Carothers, Robert Ditty, Mr. and Mrs. Murray Smith, Dot Cartee, Ayden Mills, Millie Heatley, Lynn Martin and family, Michael Pinson, Jake David family, Angie Crowley, Ira, Mike Tolson, Poly Wells, Dr. Muriel Bishop, Jack Cunningham, Emily Jefford Meister, Zachary Stoller, Aaron Clackum, Pat James, Cortney Moore, William Moore, Angelia and Savannah Anderson, William Ross, Meredith Legg, Scott Johns, Frank Carroll, Brandon ThompsonBrandon Thompson
Defensive Tackle
#98 6-2, 310
Thomasville, GA

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, Alvin Sammons, Georgine McAlhaney, Glen Davis, Mike Price, Clay Childers, Aaron Knight, Danielle Johnston and family, Nicholas Abrams, Lana Kuykendall, Gary, Gary G., William Huggins, Jim Bennett, Chantz Fowler, Ethel McElveen, Michele Gurganus, William Gentry, Lewis Usher and Tanya Sanders,  Shon Cooper, Nick Collins, Amanda Peake, Danny Hammond, Chip Turner, Nick Collins, Allen Steen, the Sturkey family, the Lance family, Nick Chrisley's family, Allison Williams, Lt. Kyle Walker, Summer and Joel Johnson, Nicole O'Donnell, James O. Johnson, Joy Pruett and family, Bill Schmidt, Jack Bailey, Gardner Family, Charles Turner, Kathy Bartholomew, Ray Sanders, David and Robin Blocker, J.R. Ray, Kenneth Kowe, Lauren Sielicki, Doug Bailey and family, Jenna Phipps, Mark Lawrence, Harlan Sullins, Peter Laboy, Kat and Carlisle Jones, Elizabeth Galloway and family, Anita McDonald, Willard Harryman, Liz Surratt, Molly Senn, Jackie Shearer, Richard Sellers, Tim Drisdelle, Edward Easterling, Dawson Bourne, Susan and Mike Brown, Julie Goodman Marshall, Willard and Dorothy Harryman, Justin Jernigan, Jack  Cunningham,  Mia Daughtery, Tee Senn, Jim Lanier, Bob Garrett, Skylar, Joseph Thomas, Mrs. Nelis, Jeanne Thompson, Sean Rowell, and our great country and the men and women in uniform that protect and serve it every day, plus their families.

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