Tuesday June 16, 2009

We Were All Wrong About 2008; ACC Hoops

We Were All Wrong About 2008
Due to my lower back issues I did not have an e-mail bag on Friday but wanted to touch on a question from last week from a good friend. His 10-year old son asked him, “Who had a better senior year-Cullen Harper or Will Proctor?”

Great question. The perception among a lot of Clemson fans is that Will Proctor had a poor senior season. Cullen Harper was the ACC pre-season player of the year but he did not perform last season.

As a senior Will Proctor completed 183 of his 304 passes for 2,353 yards for 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He had a 60.2% completion percentage.

In his senior season Cullen Harper completed 221 of 360 passes for 2,601 yards with 13 touchdowns and 14 picks.

Proctor had 85 yards rushing while Harper lost 140 yards rushing.

Proctor was 8-5 as the starter that season and Harper was 7-5 as the starter (he did not start the Georgia Tech game).

Their senior seasons were so different in so many ways. Proctor’s team did not have huge expectations but he helped lead his squad to a 7-1 start and a top ten ranking. Harper’s team started the season in the top ten.

One thing both teams had in common was the fact that both collapsed after reaching the top 10.

Proctor had a better offensive line and a better running game but he was also not the focus of the offense. However, Proctor also did not have any experience unlike Harper who had a phenomenal junior season.

I personally think Proctor’s senior season was a little better. The team won more games. He threw more touchdowns and fewer interceptions. And I guess I still have a bad taste in my mouth about some of the comments Harper made about his coach and his teammates.

So, yes we were wrong about the 2008 football season. We were all wrong. The pre-season magazines were wrong (Phil Steele’s magazine had Clemson at number five), the coaches were wrong and the fans were wrong.

Here is what we did not account for:
*We knew the weaknesses we the offensive line and the linebackers. What we did not know is that both units would be exploited the way they were early. Alabama gave the rest of the schedule a blueprint of how to exploit those weaknesses.

*We were wrong about the running game. James Davis and C.J. Spiller had huge expectations in the running game but the Tigers running game was pathetic at times. How do you have Davis and Spiller and average 112 yards rushing for the season?

*We did not know the Tigers would give up 34 sacks. The quarterback held the ball too long and took too many sacks that stopped too many drives.

*In the end the biggest disappointment though was the quarterback play. In his junior season Harper threw 27 touchdowns and only six interceptions. How could anyone have seen a 13 touchdown and 14 interception senior campaign?

ACC Hoops
Monday was the last day for college basketball players to withdraw from the NBA draft and the news was mixed for several of the conference’s schools.

Maryland and Georgia Tech have not lived up to expectations since their Final Four appearances but both got good news yesterday. Grevais Vasquez will return to school for Gary Williams and the Terps while Tech got similar news from Gani Lawal.

Williams and Tech head coach Paul Hewitt needed their best to return and both may get off of the hot seat with better seasons in 09-10. I think Tech will be among the most talented teams in the league with Lawal, Lewis Clinch and Iman Shumpert being joined by freshman superstar Derrick Favors.

The news was not as good for the rest of the league. Wake Forest will lose James Johnson and Jeff Teague early to the draft. The only other school to lose two underclassmen was North Carolina who lost Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington.

Duke will certainly miss Gerald Henderson. You could make a case that the Blue Devils will miss Henderson as much as any underclassmen leaving the league.

NC State’s Brandon Costner is leaving and is a solid player but he is not in the class of Henderson, Lawson, Ellington, Teague or Johnson.

The league will still be among the best in the country. CBS Sportsline released their new pre-season top 25 after the news of players like Jodie Meeks of Kentucky staying in the draft. The website has North Carolina number four, Duke number seven and Clemson at number 14. I also think Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Florida State could be a pre-season top 225 pick.

With the news of Dominique Archie and Devin Downey returning to South Carolina, the Gamecocks have fairly high expectations for the 09-10 season. So I wondered this morning…When was the last time Clemson and South Carolina both had higher expectations in basketball instead of football or baseball?

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Mrs. Kathleen Bowers, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Jean-Pierre Bailey, Kaitlyn L, William Perry, Delores Weaver, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness.