Wednesday October 31, 2007

The Secret

The Secret
To be fair I want to begin by saying this blog is not meant to be disrespectful to Duke, Ted Roof and his staff, any Duke football players or their fans. I happen to think Roof is a terrific coach who is getting the most out of a bad situation. I consider Duke assistant Danny Pearman a personal friend and I think this staff is a good, hard-working crew that continues to make some strides.

With that said, I think some are taking the wrong approach concerning the game on Saturday.

I continue to hear and read thoughts like, “You can’t overlook Duke. Remember 2004.” Or better yet, the one I love is, “Duke scares me.”

What the hell are you talking about? Duke scares you? Duke? We are talking football this Saturday, right?

The old saying goes, “Respect every opponent. Fear no opponent.” I respect Duke and Coach Roof. I think they have an excellent passing game. Thaddeus Lewis is a terrific athlete. But I refuse to fear Duke. In fact, I think 2004 has nothing to do with 2007.

I think the proper way to approach Saturday’s contest in Durham is to not overlook the Blue Devils but don’t give them more respect than they deserve. If you keep bringing up 2004 and keep talking about how they won in 2004 then 2004 has a better chance to repeat.

James Davis did not play in 2004 but he will play Saturday. In 2004 Clemson had zero running game and entered the game with an awful offensive game plan and made bad adjustments. This is a better team and I think a better staff.

The proper way to approach Duke is how the Tigers used to back under Coach Ford. Back in the 1980s Clemson was better than Duke. The Tigers knew it and Duke knew it. Ford actually lost twice to Duke (1980, 1989) but he would have never talked about it to his players. The players back then looked forward to playing Duke because they knew it would be a dominating win. The starters looked forward to getting their work done early and piling on a game worth of stats in only one half. The starters would tell the reserves to get ready in practice because they would get a ton of snaps Saturday.

The reserves would be excited all week in practice because they knew they would see extensive action against the Blue Devils. They prepared like starters all week and practice was actually pretty spirited. The Tigers did not taunt Duke or try to embarrass them but they did nothing to give them confidence either.

I don’t think games are won in the media but I also don’t think you should give an inferior opponent any confidence by talking about an upset win over 1,000 days ago.

My wife reads this popular book entitled, “The Secret.” The best seller is on the topic of the Law of Attraction. Basically it says that you experience physical and mental manifestations that correspond to their predominant thoughts, feelings, words, and actions and that people therefore have direct control over reality and their lives through thought alone.

If you keep thinking of 2004 then 2004 can repeat itself. I am looking at 2007. In 2007 Clemson is a 17-point favorite over Duke. In 2004 Clemson was a 12-point favorite and lost 16-13. The Tigers are an even bigger favorite this season for a reason. Duke is 118th in the country in rushing offense, 114th in total offense, 105th in scoring offense, 108th in pass defense, 97th in scoring defense and 101st in total defense.

Duke has won 10 football games in the last eight years. Why do you want to remind them of one of them? Why not talk about all of the losses?

I think Duke can upset Clemson on Saturday but I am not scared of Duke and will not give them more respect than they deserve. Vince Dooley and Lou Holtz would have a hard time making this group of Blue Devils look good.

Being scared can wait until next three weeks. Wake Forest is the defending ACC champion and they have had more recent success against the Tigers. Wake Forest is worth of the scared talk. The Deacs are ranked and might be playing the best football of any team in the ACC. Jim Grobe’s group will keep me up at night next week.

Boston College is ranked second in the nation and if the season ended today they would play for the national championship. The Eagles’ defense is among the best in the country against the run and their offense is led by Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Ryan. I will wake up in cold sweats thinking about the Eagles coming into Death Valley in two weeks.

Steve Spurrier is the greatest man to ever walk the face of the earth. He is the scariest human to grace our planet. I think he may be starring in the next Friday 13th movie so of course I am scared to death of Superior. I will check under my bed in three weeks just to make sure there are not any visors under there. I will hear someone sucking his teeth in my closet in the middle of the night.

But Duke? No way can I be scared of Duke. In fact, when my head hits the pillow this week I will sleep very comfortably.

If the Blue Devils upset Clemson Saturday then shake their hands and wish them congratulations. I was in Death Valley in 1980 when Ben Bennett went crazy on the Tigers’ secondary and I was at a wet Wallace-Wade Stadium when Randy Cuthbert had a great day running the ball. After the upsets just shake their hands.

But please don’t make it easier by mentioning how scared we should be. The powers in college football did not get there by being scared. Miami had swagger. FSU had you beat before you took the field. Southern Cal had an air about them.

Save the spooky talk for the next three weeks. I would tell Tribble Reese and Sadat Chambers to get ready to play because they will have a chance Saturday. I would tell James Davis and C.J. Spiller to pack their baseball caps for the second half.

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