Monday August 20, 2007

Ain't Skeered!

Ain’t Skeered
You know you are in the south when you see the “Ain’t Skeered!” bumper stickers. For our readers that are geographically challenged, this translates to “I am not scared!” After lloking closely at the matchups, I think this is my attitude concerning our little football game coming up two weeks from today.

I have been outspoken on this blog and on the morning radio show about FSU and their downfall. Here are a few reasons why I “Ain’t Skeered”:

One team has won three out of four in this series
Many times Clemson came into this game with a sense of fear. No one would admit it then but today when you talk to former players some of those teams they did not feel like they had a chance to win against FSU. Clemson is only 5-15 against the Seminoles but three of those wins were in the last four meetings. The Tigers little chance to win in Clemson and no chance to win in Tallahassee. It was like early fights in Mike Tyson career when the opponent was so scared and lacked confidence they were beat before the fight began.

Like Tyson’s career though, once the champ showed some weakness the opponents gained confidence. I am not sure how many players on Clemson’s 2003 team thought they could beat FSU 26-10 that November night but after winning three out of four against FSU I think many more players on this 2007 team believe Clemson will win Labor Day night.

Old Florida State teams played with a swagger. They knew they were better than you and they proved it each week. But they had positive experience to draw off of. What is the best thing this current group of players at FSU have done? Where are their positive experiences? There are some players at FSU that have never beaten Clemson and no player on their sidelines has defeated Clemson twice. But the Clemson red-shirt seniors are trying to beat FSU for the fourth time in five years.

The Florida State Offense
Anemic. Pathetic. Downright embarrassing. These are phrases some FSU fans have used to describe the Seminole offense in the past few seasons. In the 57-0 years the Seminoles put up massive numbers against Clemson. In 1993 Florida State averaged 469 yards passing and 222 yards per game on the ground for the entire season. That powerful offense averaged 43.2 points per game. Last year they averaged 239 yards through the air and only 96 yards per game on the ground which netted 26 points per game.

I know Jimbo Fisher is the new offensive coordinator and FSU has three other new offensive assistants but how much difference can they make in their first game?

The reason FSU was so powerful offensively in their prime years was because of Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke, Danny Kanell, Thad Busby, Casey Weldon, Peter Tom Willis and Chip Ferguson at quarterback. After seeing those guys do you think Drew Weatherford or Xavier Lee scares me?

I still wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweats with flash backs of Warrick Dunn, Travis Minor, Sammie Smith, Greg Jones, Amp Lee and Dexter Carter. I sleep fairly well knowing Antoine Smith will be playing instead of Warrick Dunn.

Tamarick Vanover, Peter Warwick, Kez McKenzie, Cro Thorpe, E.G. Green, Andre Cooper, Snoop Minnis and Lawrence Dawsey had me worried. This group of Seminole receivers does not.

I can go on about the offensive linemen not being Alex Barron, Walter Jones, Tra Thomas or Clay Shiver but you get the picture.

This offense will be better than last year because Jeff Bowden in not the offensive coordinator. I think this is addition by subtraction. Fisher is a very good offensive coordinator but he is not the difference maker the FSU fans make him out to be. I believe the bigger gain is Bowden’s departure and not Fisher’s arrival.

The Seminole Defense
In the past I have made the same claims about the FSU defense. Derrick Brooks, Marvin Jones, Deion Sanders, LeRoy Butler, Terrell Buckley, Derrick Alexander, Peter Boulware, Reinard Wilson, Andre Wadsworth, Corey Simon, Ernie Sims, Lawrence Timmons and Tay Cody are not filling out the Noles uniforms anymore.

Instead it is Neefy Moffett, Letroy Guion and Tony Carter that will be on the field. I think it is safe to say that of the 2007 Noles only Myron Rolle, Geno Hayes and Andre Fluellen could have played on some of the defenses of the 1990s.

I keep hearing about how good they are going to be on defense but the last two years they have given up an average of 21 points per game. The 1993 defense gave up 9.4 points per contest.

The last five years Clemson has averaged 28 points per game against Florida State and that is because Clemson has improved but also because FSU has declined.

The Venue
Even bad Clemson teams played Florida State close in Death Valley. The Tigers would get trounced in Tallahassee but the games in Clemson turned into fourth quarter wars.

Florida State players used to make comments about how tough it was to play at Clemson and that was during the bad years. Remember FSU has not won at Clemson since 2001.

I might put too much into the venue but I have seen the power of Death Valley and I trust it more than any one player.

The Best Players
Myron Rolle (#3 strong safety), Roger Williams (#11 free safety), Paul Griffen (#7 defensive tackle) and Andre Fluellen (#10 defensive tackle) are the only four Seminoles ranked in the top 15 at their respective positions in the national player rankings according to Phil Steele’s pre-season magazine.

I personally believe James Davis, C.J. Spiller and several other Tigers are better than FSU’s counterparts. I think Clemson has more difference makers than Florida State in my opinion.

Summary
I am not saying Clemson is a lock to beat FSU on Labor Day night but it might read that way. FSU has enough weapons to beat Clemson and the Tigers cannot play bad and still beat the Seminoles. The Tigers have issues and might have as many flaws as FSU. I am not saying this is a lock but what I am saying is the days of me being “skeered” of FSU are long gone.

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