Orange Blooded [3105]

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This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Oct 21, 2012, 7:08 PM

Yesterday was a frustrating game to watch, but I think it proved that a great deal has changed in Clemson under Dabo Swinney. Although it was only one game, it speaks volumes about how far this program has come in recent years.

The Tigers were held to the 2nd lowest number of total yards since Chad Morris arrived. There seemed to be a ton of 3 and outs and stalled drives. Tajh still seems to be high on some of his throws and he looked frustrated throughout the 2nd half. Although we seemed to be the better team, we allowed Virginia Tech to hang around long after the game should have been over.

Basically, the game yesterday reminded me of the nightmare games from the Tommy Bowden era. Although we seemed to be the better team, we just couldn't deliver the final blow to put the game out of reach. I can't count the amount of losses I've witnessed to NC State, Maryland, Wake Forest, and Boston College when we just couldn't shut the door on inferior opponents (that's not to say that I think VT has fallen to the level of an ACC basement-dweller, but they've clearly been underperforming). That was a rough game yesterday, but our team found a way to win. While we were favored, I doubt most people would have expected a Clemson win if they knew we would be held to under 300 yards. And despite the frustrating performance by the offense, we beat a talented VT team by 3 touchdowns. The Tigers had to dig deep, but they were up to the challenge when previous Clemson teams used to crumble.

We’ve got another big challenge Thursday night. I don’t care what type of year Wake is having or how much more talented the Tigers are, Thursday night road games are not easy, especially on short rest after a tough game. If we want to have a successful season, and if we want to really prove that we have turned the corner, we need to come out and get the win against the Deacons. We might not have a great defense this year (although they certainly had a better game against VT), but we should be able to post a 10-1 record going into the South Carolina game.

I want to see a Clemson team that beats the teams it should beat; I want to see a Clemson team that can avoid trap games; I want to see a Clemson team that finds a way to win when things go bad. In short, I want to see the kind of Clemson team that never existed in the Bowden era. And I think we are starting to see that Clemson team under Coach Swinney.

I feel like Dabo is leading this team in the right direction. He has already accomplished more than any Clemson coach since Danny Ford (you could maybe argue Hatfield, but… do you really wanna defend Hatfield?). We proved last season that we could bounce back from a rough stretch. Following the NC State and SC losses, I didn’t like our chances against VT in Charlotte, even after beating them in Blacksburg. The Tigers proved they could bounce back from a disappointing string of games and brought the ACC Championship back home for the first time in 20 years. The Orange Bowl loss was a setback, but we also achieved a small step in making it to our first big bowl in the BSC era.

It’s easy to point to tangible success, but the biggest difference in this current Clemson team may be difficult to see for those that haven’t closely followed the Tigers. Where other Clemson teams would have rolled over and died yesterday, this team kept fighting. Tajh seemed frustrated, but that might not be a bad thing. He expects to play better because he can play better. This team expected to win because they should win. We weren’t able to dominate them on offense, so we hunkered down and dominated on defense (I honestly couldn’t care less about the yards allowed – they had 10 points through the first 3 quarters). This team is finding a way to win games.

Despite the frustrations with the offense, I still expected a win. And I certainly wasn’t the only one. A lot of people on this board seemed to be bent out of shape in a game against VT that we won by 21 points. Just let that sink in for a second. We were frustrated that we didn’t look more dominant while beating a VT team with their backs against the wall by 3 touchdowns. If you had told me the outcome of this game before the season I would have been thrilled. It’s to the point now where the fans and the team seem to expect a win every Saturday. And honestly, those are not unreasonable expectations. We knew coming into this season that the defense could be a liability, and we also had to deal with the expected growing pains with a new defensive coordinator. But here we sit, 6-1 with the only loss a frustrating game against FSU that we had a good chance to win. The schedule isn’t great, but we’re doing what we should do with the schedule we’ve been given. We have a chance at back to back 10 win seasons for the first time since the late 80s. This is a good time to be a Clemson fan.

There’s a lot of nonsense on this board right now. A lot of talk about BCS standings, the Gamecocks, politics, uniform combinations, defensive struggles, etc. I just hope that most Clemson fans understand that right now is a great time for Clemson football. We are slowly but surely reestablishing ourselves as a force to be reckoned with. Like everyone else, I would love to see us have a stronger defense. I would love to see us become a national powerhouse. I would love to see us go to BCS bowls on a regular basis. But I also understand Rome wasn’t built in a day. Dabo Swinney is putting the pieces in place to secure long-term success. I sat through a lot of those Tommy West and Tommy Bowden years longing for the day when I would see a return of the Clemson teams of old. And while the game has changed, and this team certainly doesn’t resemble those teams of the 80s, the most important element is there: we are winning again. I just hope most Tiger fans realize how far we've come.

With that said, we better crush Wake Forest on Thursday. Go Tigers!

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every big or important game. Our offense is better thanks to Morris, which Dabo gets credit for, but our OL is still mediocre and our defense sucks. We are in a pathetic conference and not even close to being competitive on the national stage. We've played 1 good team this year, and lost. We got our butts handed to us in 4 games last year. WV is not better than us, we're about equal, GT was not very good last year, NC State was not very good, and USC was good, but not great. Yet all 4 kicked our rear ends. We are very soft and had this conversation in Tiger Town all weekend with plenty of Clemson people, including two of the owners of Tiger Town. They all like Dabo the person, but agree we are soft and none are crazy about Dabo as our HC. Dabo is 1-3 in bowl games, 1-3 vs. SC and has very few wins vs. teams that finished in the top 25. Are we better than under TB? Yes. Marginally. But not any tougher nor much more competitive.

This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Too much for me to read, but if you are saying that

That's exactly what I'm saying, but just long-winded***

Dabo motivates.***

lol wrong, Dabo cheerleads. Motivators don't have teams

Re: lol wrong, Dabo cheerleads. Motivators don't have teams

I was in Tiger Town all weekend wearing my Clemson ring

Re: I was in Tiger Town all weekend wearing my Clemson ring

I love Clemson, I love CU, my loyalty is to them, not people***

Re: I love Clemson, I love CU, my loyalty is to them, not people***

You aren't very bright, are you?***

and while this poster always screams about others

whatever, he keeps asking stupid questions, i'm a CU alum

Re: lol wrong, Dabo cheerleads. Motivators don't have teams

lol whatever. If you were there why didn't you come say

Re: lol whatever. If you were there why didn't you come say

lol I pull for Clemson to win every game and being honest

Your a pretty weak Clemson fan***

It's you're not your and if your definition of a "fan" is a

Then get behind your team #### it and quit putting negative

Re: Then get behind your team #### it and quit putting negative

I don't but since he claims it I am challenging him to

Whatever. My CU ring says otherwise.***

I have the right to my opinion, too bad kool aid drinkers

LOL Blue Cootie.***

Actually, he might be good ole T. Bowden

Fla game hard to take??***

Re: Too much for me to read, but if you are saying that

You hater. Liar. Dabo is the greatest. ;-)***

because they are young.

That's part of the game and every team deals with it.***

yeah, and ours are improving over the season

Last 2 games OL has been bad and we just had the 2nd

we had over 200 yrds rushing against GT and allowed 1 sack

GT sucks, OL sucked Saturday.***

Everything sucks to you.***

I feel the same

You ever notice that you never see Low Country

Because we win most games we should and lose pretty much

Re: Because we win most games we should and lose pretty much

Re: Because we win most games we should and lose pretty much

Re: Because we win most games we should and lose pretty much

Dabo 1-3 vs USC, 1-3 in bowl games, No top 20 finishes.

Re: Dabo 1-3 vs USC, 1-3 in bowl games, No top 20 finishes.

Ford had 95 now it's 85, but the teams Ford coached against

Re: Ford had 95 now it's 85, but the teams Ford coached against

Played football all my life and would have played for CU

lol .43 winning percent, woohoo.***

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

Good post!***

Re: Good post!***

I though low country was banned

Clearly you and others had bad intel. Tsk. Tsk. And yes,

Re: Clearly you and others had bad intel. Tsk. Tsk. And yes,

Yea, when I'm wrong, but so far history keeps proving me

Re: Yea, when I'm wrong, but so far history keeps proving me

My track record stands, and until I'm proven wrong I'll

so what would it take to prove you wrong?***

Time, significant improvement, consistency, some top 20

yet another wrong statement. Pump the gas and keep

Simply don't read my posts. Problem solved.***

Re: This program has come a long way under Dabo (long)

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