Monday October 30, 2006

Protect This House

Protect This House
Thank Goodness “Click-Clack” took over for the worn out Under Armour ads that claimed, “We must protect this house!” It is Maryland week and the sight of more of Ralph Friedgen on TV is hard to stomach (No pun intended).

The ads featuring the Terps as one of the main Under Armour schools did make some sense however. Most college teams take pride in winning at home and protecting their home turf. Winning on the road is the most difficult task in college football. If you don’t believe please look at some of these numbers:

1-Only Wake Forest is undefeated on the road this season in the ACC. The Deacons are 2-0 on the road in the conference with wins over UNC and NC State. They still have road games at Florida State and Maryland.

2-Maryland and Boston College are 5-0 at home this year and Clemson is 4-0.

5-Ralph Friedgen is 29-7 at home and 16-14 on the road.

4-Since the start of the 2002 season Frank Beamer is 28-6 in Lane Stadium and 15-8 away from home.

5-Tommy Bowden is 36-12 at Death Valley and 19-20 on the road. The Tigers have won seven straight at home but have gone 4-3 in their last seven road games.

I could go on and on. I watched most of the Southern Cal and Oregon State game Saturday. Think the Beavers would have won if the game had not been at home? I have watched Texas struggle on the road at Nebraska and at Texas Tech the last two weeks.

The ACC is no different. In my opinion, only Georgia Tech’s win in Blacksburg can qualify as a great road win in the league. It is the only time a team has gone on the road and beat a good team in a tough place to play. Usually FSU is more talented than their opponent but that is not the case this season so winning at FSU like Clemson and Boston College has done is not what it would have been five years ago. Wake Forest is ranked and the Deacs are a pretty good football team but Groves Stadium is not a pit.

On the national scene there are few examples of this as well. Florida went into Knoxville and beat a good Tennessee team. Arkansas went into Auburn and beat a good Tiger squad. I think Ohio State’s win at Texas is as impressive as any in the country. I would also put Michigan’s win at Notre Dame as a very impressive road win. But what are the others? Please name the fifth best road win of the year across the country.

I have come up with a list of the eight hardest places to play, the eight loudest stadiums. I know many of you will disagree but follow my logic. This list is only made up of the stadiums where I think the atmosphere itself makes the difference. This list does not include some great schools like FSU. The reason FSU wins at Doak Campbell is not the atmosphere it’s the players. Most of the time FSU is just that much better than you. The Orange Bowl is not on the list because it can be awesome for some games; it is not there each week. Also, Miami is just better than most opponents this year is the exception. Texas is not a pit. They are extremely talented but it is not a noise factory. I would say the same thing about Alabama. I have been to Bryant-Dendy and it is not as loud as my top eight loudest venues in college football. Please don’t hand me Ohio State, Michigan or Penn State. No one north of the Mason-Dixon line is on the list. Their stadiums are big but not deafening.

So here is the list of the loudest stadiums in the country in alphabetical order:
Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech.

Those eight schools have six home losses this year. We have mentioned Georgia Tech’s win in Blacksburg, Auburn’s home loss to Arkansas and Tennessee’s home loss to Florida.. The Aggies lost to Texas Tech and Georgia has lost to Tennessee and Vanderbilt at home. Clemson, Florida and LSU are undefeated at home this season.

This leads me to the original point of today’s blog and that is that Clemson’s final three games of the season are at home and it is time to make this good season a great one. Maryland is 6-2 and coming off of an emotional win against Florida State. Unless NC State upsets Georgia Tech Saturday the Pack will enter Death Valley with a 3-6 record. Who knows what will happen to South Carolina between now and November 25 but the Gamecocks will not come into that game as a favorite.

The Tigers are 7-2 and will be favored in each of their last three games. A 10-2 regular season would be outstanding and one game better than my 9-3 pre-season prediction. Who knows how the ACC race will play itself out but either way a 10-2 campaign should net a great bowl experience. My guess would be the Gator Bowl unless the ACC title is in the picture. A Gator Bowl opponent would be West Virginia, Louisville, Rutgers or Pittsburgh and I could get excited about that.

OK. I know I am doing what I preach to you not to do and that is get ahead of yourself. There is plenty of football to be played and it starts this Saturday at Noon against a 6-2 Maryland club. If Death Valley is anything like I think it is then it will be rockin’ again this Saturday and the Terps will not upset the Tigers. Clemson will use a little of Friedgen’s playbook in the rally cry of “We must protect this house!”

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