Friday November 09, 2007
Friday E-Mail Bag
Friday E-Mail Bag
Each Friday I publish your comments and answer your questions. To submit a comment or questions please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com.
Mickey,
Nice break down of the "musts" for the HUGE GAME Saturday!
Like you, I trust the tradition - The Hill, The Rock, The Student Section......and I trust the Player's energy level. We've heard all week about the exceptionally SPIRITED practices and I see this carrying over to 12:02 PM on Saturday!
Wake has excellent players, both skill and just plain old football playing "hogs". They also have excellent coaching.
A BIG win on Saturday by the Tigers will go a very, very long way in re-establishing my personal "TRUST" in our Coaching Staff!
Of course, I'll take 2 to nothing and go back to the tailgate, but wouldn't it be just flat out terrific to hang about 70 on the Deacs?!!!
Can't wait till Saturday !
Dennis
Dennis,
Thanks for the e-mail. Will Saturday ever get here? I agree that this game is huge for many reasons. Bowden needs this game to regain all of the fans’ trust once again. I can’t see 70 but I do think this will be a fourth quarter game. Like my good friend says, “If you leave the game with a voice then you haven’t done your job!”
Mickey,
First time e-mailer here. I had a question for you. Now I know our Offensive line is probably not as stacked as Arkansas, but is there a chance for the Tigers to run silly on those Gamecocks since they don’t have Jasper Brinkley and Nathan Pepper? Also, since the stars seemed to have aligned this past weekend, what are the Tigers’ chances of taking full advantage for the season? And if we go to the ACC championship and win, who would we play in the Orange Bowl. Thanks -
Jason
Jason,
Brinkley and Pepper would not have made that big of a deal. Maybe instead of McFadden going 80 he would have had to go 20, 20, 20 and 20. USC was not going to stop them. I don’t think Clemson is as good as Arkansas up front and I don’t think Davis and Spiller are as good as McFadden and Jones but I do think the Tigers can have success running the ball on USC.
The Tigers have an excellent chance now and I think they will take advantage of it. The winner of the ACC will go to the Orange Bowl and play either the Big East Champ (WVU?) or an at-large BCS team.
Mickey,
I love reading your BLOG so keep up the good work. Anything new on Andre Ellington? I know it was rumored he opened his recruiting back up when we went thru the 2 game losing streak. I'm hoping to get to see him in action either this Friday or next Friday as Berkeley should be at home until the state championship game since they are the #1 seed in DII. He sounds like a great back who would look good in Orange!
Orange
Orange,
Ellington is solid to Clemson right now but that could always change. If Jamie Harper commits then it might have an effect on Ellington. David Blackwell has done a terrific job with him though. Anytime someone commits this early you still have to hold on but right now he is Clemson.
Mickey,
Are you concerned about a slow start this Saturday? In our last three games, we started slowly and the other team struck first. Since we won all three games, it hasn't really seemed like that big of a deal. I think Wake will be harder to overcome if we let them jump out to an early lead,
even if it is a small one. I'd love to hear your input. Thanks for the blog as well.
John
John,
The slow starts are a concern and will become bigger against better competition. The Tigers were able to take advantage of the opponents even after starting slow the last three weeks but probably can’t afford another bad start the next three. In my opinion the Wake game will be a fourth quarter war no matter who jumps out early.
Mick,
It’s been 15 seasons since Clemson has hoisted a championship trophy. As a charter member of this conference, NO TEAM in the history of the ACC has as many championships as Clemson! FSU has been strong…They still trail the Tigers for ACC Championships. Maryland has had some good years…but they are behind us as well. GT has a storied program…They don’t have as many conference trophies. The conference has changed over the years but one fact remains. There are 11 other teams in this conference that do not have as many ACC Championship Trophies as Clemson. Our 1st bowl win was in 1940. There have been many since. We have John Heisman, Frank Howard, Danny Ford and a National Championship to go with many other accolades. We have All Americans. We have Jeff Davis, Banks McFadden, and James Davis among the many Tiger greats. We have The Rock, The Hill, and Death Valley. The ACC Championship Trophy belongs in Clemson, its rightful home. I will go to bed early on Friday night. I will wake up early Saturday morning. And I will be in the Valley in time to sing God Bless America, The National Anthem, and The Alma Mater louder than I ever have. As a fan I cannot make one single play for our team, but I can do my part to lift our team up and give them the energy to make plays. I expect to leave my voice in Death Valley on Saturday and I expect our team to leave everything they’ve got on the field Saturday! Yes, there is something in these hills… It’s a Saturday afternoon with 82,000+ family members united with our beloved football team to bring home something that belongs to us!! The ACC Championship! It begins on Saturday! Please make it your mission to use your platform of the radio show and the blog to challenge our fans to prepare themselves to give Wake Forest 60 minutes of hell on Saturday. 60 MINUTES OF HELL!!!!!! When motivated, The Valley is the loudest and most difficult atmosphere in college football. We are about Championships at Clemson and it’s about time we put a shiny new trophy on the shelf for football! We have a football team that we can be proud of. They are men of high character and they will be successful in any endeavor they choose in life. They are better people because of Clemson and Clemson is a better place because of them. “There is something in these hills” that give me goose bumps as soon as I see the paws on the road leading to Clemson, SC. I know James Davis feels it. I know Harper, Spiller, Taylor, Grisham, Ford, Kelly, Jackson, Richardson, Austin, Hamlin, Clemmons, Butler, Buchholtz, Scott, Vincent, Sapp, Merling, etc. feel it. I know Bowden, Napier, Swinney, Spence, Koenning, Scott, Powell, Rumph, etc. feel it. The Valley should be louder than ever come Saturday. It should be electric!!!!! I’ll do my part. Go Tigers!!
David
David,
Preach it brother! Amen! Can you give the pre-game speech Saturday? 60 MINUTES OF HELL!!!! I love it! Thanks again.
Mickey,
After seeing BC and Wake play (and lose), what would you say Clemson's chances are against those two teams? Do you think that Clemson has what it takes to beat them both and go on to an ACC championship game? I never saw a situation like this presenting itself to us once we lost back to back division games... but I can also see something going horribly wrong in the next two games. I think that if we win Wake, we have a great chance against BC. We're back to the "What if...?" scenario game around here again.
Thanks & keep up the awesome work!
CP
CP,
I feel better about both games after seeing how Wake and BC played Saturday. Both have issues and Clemson can exploit both. I do feel the Tigers have the ingredients to win out but they have to play well to obtain that goal. The next few weeks are actually like the playoffs. If you win you advance and each game gets bigger. If Clemson does not beat Wake Forest then the BC game means very little. But a Tiger win on Saturday sets up another huge game. It is fun once again.
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