Monday November 17, 2008

Duke Game Review

Duke Game Review
I needed that.

I think we all did.

I think Clemson Nation needed a nice win that featured dominance. It was nice to see Clemson dominate an opponent physically. I enjoyed watching the offense hit on big plays in the running game and through the air. I enjoyed watching a defense suffocate the opponent. I enjoyed watching a record get broken. But mostly I enjoyed watching Dabo and his football team having so much fun.

We needed to have fun. It has been exhausting watching the school plane and keeping up with all of the rumors. So it sure was fun to see the Tigers come out and enjoy themselves Saturday.

Yeah, it was cold and the offensive line could not protect early. It would have been nice to see Cullen Harper step up in the pocket a little more and it would have been nice to see Willy Korn’s shoulder not get exposed by the cold win. But I couldn’t have cared less Saturday because Saturday was fun again.

It was a lot like the weather over the weekend. Rain poured throughout Friday and Saturday morning much like the distraction of the coaching search itself. But when the game came about the weather cleared up and the school plane was grounded at Oconee Country Airport.

I have no idea who the next coach will be at Clemson but I sure was glad to see Dabo lead his team to victory Saturday.

I have no idea if C.J. Spiller will be back next season but wasn’t it fun watching his electrifying gallops again this past Saturday.

Vic Koenning may not be here in 2009 but his aggressive defense was a pleasure to watch on this weekend. Six tackles for loss and three sacks were a sight for sore eyes.

I am as guilty as anyone in my flawed approach of looking so hard into the coaching search that I have almost ignored each week’s games themselves. After all, isn’t that what we are here for anyway?

Sure this season has not turned out to be what we all thought it would be but we must enjoy some of the fruits of this team’s effort.

Those fruits would include:
*Dabo’s continued effort to build the bonds of this team. I was not there but it was a nice touch to have the entire team at Tigeramma Friday night. Saturday’s Tiger Walk was another nice touch by the new head man in Clemson.

*I thought it was a classy move to call a timeout to let Aaron Kelly enjoy his time. Kelly broke the Atlantic Coast Conference’s all-time receiving record. Think about that. No one has ever caught more passes in their career than Kelly did in his time at Clemson. Here is a first class kid that has handled his business in a first class way. Congrats to Kelly and his family.

*Rashaad Jackson’s return was a treat as well. Few have worked as hard as Jackson over the last four years and Saturday was his most impressive performance of the season.

*Speaking of defensive linemen, I was impressed by Da’Quan Bower’s best game as a Tiger. He was relentless. Bowers, fellow freshman Brandon Thompson and sophomore Jarvis Jenkins give the Tigers a bright future up front defensively.

*I know it was only Duke and I know they lost their starting quarterback early but when I watched the Tigers run 79 plays while the Blue Devils ran only 56, it reminded me of what my expectations were for this 2008 season. Clemson had the ball for 35:36 while Duke only had it for 24:24.

*I spent more time watching the offensive line Saturday and was impressed with what I saw. Thomas Austin is solid. He is playing good football. I was impressed with true freshman Antoine McClain. After a full spring practice, I can see McClain taking over at right guard.

Dabo has done a lot to help his chances and Saturday was the best example of that. The team looked unified in the pre-game and looked like they were playing hard for each other during the game. Winning makes everything look smoother but I noticed a great attitude on Saturday. There was positive energy and that can be attributed directly to Dabo.

He has built team chemistry in five weeks. He has cured a lot of issues this team had before he took over. I am not sure if he will get the job but whoever the new coach is will inherit a tighter, closer knit team because of Dabo’s hard work the past month.

There are still things that need to be accomplished during this interim stretch. Two more wins mean bowl eligibility. White meat this week, arch rivals next week. Two more opportunities. Two more opportunities for Dabo to show his stuff. Two more opportunities for James Davis to break the school’s all-time rushing record. Two more opportunities for a young offensive line to grow up. Two more opportunities for Spiller to make us say, “Wow!”

But most importantly, Clemson Nation has two more opportunities to have fun.

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