Wednesday November 28, 2007

Win It or Spin It

Win or Spin
As I watched the tape of the Carolina-Clemson game this week I had a few thoughts leftover and thought they were interesting enough to write about today.

Besides telling you they play in the SEC, all you hear out of the Gamecock faithful is spin from Saturday. Seems to me you either win the game or spin it so your program looks better.

Some try to spin it that the talent level of the two rivals is close. They say there are only a few plays away and Clemson is not much more talented.

Other Gamecock fans admit the talent level is a big edge to the Tigers but the reason the game was close was because Steve Spurrier is a genius. They spin it that Spurrier can “coach ‘em up” and he does not have to be as good as the other team to win each week. Despite Tommy Bowden improving his record to 7-2 against Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier and USC, some of our rivals will try to tell you that Bowden is an awful coach.

After watching the game again I think the Gamecocks might have received their worse scenario. I watched the better team dominate their opponent. Clemson ran thirty more plays and had a 2-1 advantage in time of possession and gained more yards and had more first downs than the opponent. It was apparent to me that the Tigers were the better team and it took several missed opportunities to let the Cocks back in the game. In my opinion, the Tigers showed they were the better team for 60 minutes.

Was USC better at quarterback? Running back? Wide receiver? Anywhere on defense? Can you name a unit where the Gamecocks were decidedly better than Clemson? Does Bowden get any credit for recruiting any of these players? If Bowden gets blame when Clemson gets punts blocked does Bowden and his staff get any credit for blocking two punts against USC?

I don’t understand Clemson throwing the ball on second and goal at the two or James Davis not playing more in short yardage situations. However it seemed to me the Tiger staff made the right moves and outcoached USC Saturday.

Spurrier had the game gift wrapped to him but he decided to run the ball three times on their final drive. On the third down play Clemson showed a soft cover two until USC changed the play then the Tigers walked up the safety to add another defender to the box. The result was a stop and the Gamecocks had to punt.

Despite a third and 18 the Clemson coaches pulled another one on USC especially on fourth down. On that play Clemson lined up with five wide outs but USC was to have Emanuel Cook drop down as a robber to cover the middle of the field. But Rob Spence sent the other receiver on Aaron Kelly’s side of the ball in motion to the other side of the field. This took Cook out of the coverage and lead to 5-8 true freshman corner Addison Williams with man coverage on Kelly. The result was a first down.

The Clemson offense took advantage of Kelly’s height advantage over the two outmanned USC corners on the final drive. Kelly had four catches for 70 yards on the last drive. This is another example of the Clemson staff outwitting the Gamecock defensive staff.

Sure Clemson needed a last second field goal to win. Sure the Gamecocks had some injuries. Sure they play in the SEC. But it was obvious that Clemson was the more talented team and missed opportunities hurt. Clemson had injuries to Jacoby Ford and Tyler Grisham so they had to use LaDonte Harris and Nelson Faerber as wide outs in the second half.

There is a talent gap between the two programs and Bowden must not be the idiot their fans claim because 7-2 speaks volumes. Somehow the spin doesn’t seem to matter because in the end the only thing that matters is the scoreboard.

Remember next time the two rivals get together you either win it or spin it.

Things I Learned on Tigernet
I had forgotten about Spurrier’s claim two years ago that he would never lose to Clemson again. On our recruiting show that January we had two prospects, Moe Brown and Rodney Paulk, tell us that is what Spurrier told them. I thank Tigernet for reminding me of the claim. Should the media hold him accountable for the guarantee?

I also must thank the members of Tigernet for pointing out the fact that Tommy Bowden has won nine games three times (2000, 2003, 2007) in his nine years at Clemson and South Carolina has won nine or more games twice (1984, 2001) in 114 years.

Was I at NC State?
I saw and heard things I thought I would have never seen and heard Saturday night. I could not believe how many tickets were for sell Saturday. My brother-in-law had eight and only used three. He joked that he could leave at halftime and return in the second half despite USC not having a pass out policy because he had used tickets.

When walking into the gates I saw people selling tickets for five and ten bucks each but it kept getting better. Right before I walked into the game I saw two groups of fans that were yelling out “Free Tickets!” I saw people giving strangers free tickets to the USC-Clemson football game. I hope the temperature did not drop below 32 degree in hell at that time.

Also, was it just me or was the crowd noise not a factor? It was the most quiet USC-Clemson game I have ever been to. Admittedly I was on the ninth row of the upper deck but Roy Philpott was on the field and he agreed. Roy even added that it sounded about like an NC State home game.

Was the tickets and lack of noise a result of a four-game losing streak or is the Thanksgiving holidays taking anything away from our rivalry?

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