SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
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- 65,626
- We are playing Clemson, not Alabama. These guys have been talking about winning another national title for years but they always seem to lose a game they didn’t expect to. How about now?
- Some comments on Tajh Boyd suggest that he’s kind of a front-runner, a guy who’s great as long as things are going well but doesn’t respond well to adversity. (Sounds very much like Geno Smith.) Let’s give him some and find out.
- I’m not so sure our beating Wagner and Tulane by 106-17 is so irrelevant. We’ve had a habit over the years of playing down to the level of the opposition. Two years ago we beat a 3-8 FCS team, Rhode Island 21-14 in the Dome. We beat Tulane 37-34 between 6-45 and 7-44 losses, (by them) to Army and UTEP. Last year we were behind Stony Brook at half time 14-17 before coming back to win 28-17. But this year we beat Wagner and Tulane the way a good team beats a bad team. Heck, we beat them the way Clemson would probably beat them. Is Wake Forest, a program that seems to be slipping, really that much better than Tulane? Is Clemson beating them 56-7 really more impressive than our beating the Green Wave 52-17?
- The Tiger’s weakness is supposed to be their secondary. Terrel Hunt is 33 for 43, (.767) for 467 yards and 7 TDs with no interceptions. Those are Peyton Manning numbers. And we have some receivers that haven’t really broken out yet. Ashton Broyld leads with 19 receptions but he hasn’t really had that huge game we’ve been waiting for. And we haven’t really seen what Brisley Estime is all about yet. West and Clark are quietly having good years and Kobena can fly if he can catch the darn thing. Is it too much to ask to see a bit of Qunita Funderburk in this game? Yeah, probably. Too bad.
- But the strength of the team is its running game. Jerome Smith, who powered for 1171 yards last year. Prince-Tyson Gulley had 213 in the bowl game. George Morris may be better than either one, (we have a lot of positions where the second stringer may be better than the starter). But we haven’t dominated with the running game yet. You can’t beat speed by running away from it. You beat it by running at it. Our front seven on offense, (fullback, tight end and interior line) out-weighs their front seven, (linemen and linebackers) on defense by 25 pounds per man. We’ve got to make that matter.
- Perhaps Coach Shafer is “playing possum” when he says we are going to stick to our basic plays to try to beat Clemson. If there’s anything he’s saved up, this is the game to save it for. And we need to see it early, please.
- Our defense is very good up front, with plenty of size in the front line (286 pounds per man and we get bigger when we substitute), and all kinds of speed behind them. Hopefully the co-ordination problems in the backfield have been worked out. Shafer is the coach who figured out ways to beat Geno Smith three years in a row and Teddy Bridgewater last year. And his defenders hit like the dickens. I hope to see something like this:
- I loved hearing that one Clemson player thought this game would be played in Met Life Stadium because that’s where we play. Maybe some of the Tigers will show up there. Maybe some will wonder why they are here. The comment didn’t suggest that they are very focused. Hopefully they’ve been listening to Clemson Tom and will think all they have to do is show up, (and know where).
- I still remember walking back to my car among a bunch of dazed Nebraska fans in 1984. (I had to point out the telephone poles so they wouldn't run into them.) I hope to have that experience again tomorrow.
2-2 with 8 (or 9?) to do
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
- Some comments on Tajh Boyd suggest that he’s kind of a front-runner, a guy who’s great as long as things are going well but doesn’t respond well to adversity. (Sounds very much like Geno Smith.) Let’s give him some and find out.
- I’m not so sure our beating Wagner and Tulane by 106-17 is so irrelevant. We’ve had a habit over the years of playing down to the level of the opposition. Two years ago we beat a 3-8 FCS team, Rhode Island 21-14 in the Dome. We beat Tulane 37-34 between 6-45 and 7-44 losses, (by them) to Army and UTEP. Last year we were behind Stony Brook at half time 14-17 before coming back to win 28-17. But this year we beat Wagner and Tulane the way a good team beats a bad team. Heck, we beat them the way Clemson would probably beat them. Is Wake Forest, a program that seems to be slipping, really that much better than Tulane? Is Clemson beating them 56-7 really more impressive than our beating the Green Wave 52-17?
- The Tiger’s weakness is supposed to be their secondary. Terrel Hunt is 33 for 43, (.767) for 467 yards and 7 TDs with no interceptions. Those are Peyton Manning numbers. And we have some receivers that haven’t really broken out yet. Ashton Broyld leads with 19 receptions but he hasn’t really had that huge game we’ve been waiting for. And we haven’t really seen what Brisley Estime is all about yet. West and Clark are quietly having good years and Kobena can fly if he can catch the darn thing. Is it too much to ask to see a bit of Qunita Funderburk in this game? Yeah, probably. Too bad.
- But the strength of the team is its running game. Jerome Smith, who powered for 1171 yards last year. Prince-Tyson Gulley had 213 in the bowl game. George Morris may be better than either one, (we have a lot of positions where the second stringer may be better than the starter). But we haven’t dominated with the running game yet. You can’t beat speed by running away from it. You beat it by running at it. Our front seven on offense, (fullback, tight end and interior line) out-weighs their front seven, (linemen and linebackers) on defense by 25 pounds per man. We’ve got to make that matter.
- Perhaps Coach Shafer is “playing possum” when he says we are going to stick to our basic plays to try to beat Clemson. If there’s anything he’s saved up, this is the game to save it for. And we need to see it early, please.
- Our defense is very good up front, with plenty of size in the front line (286 pounds per man and we get bigger when we substitute), and all kinds of speed behind them. Hopefully the co-ordination problems in the backfield have been worked out. Shafer is the coach who figured out ways to beat Geno Smith three years in a row and Teddy Bridgewater last year. And his defenders hit like the dickens. I hope to see something like this:
- I loved hearing that one Clemson player thought this game would be played in Met Life Stadium because that’s where we play. Maybe some of the Tigers will show up there. Maybe some will wonder why they are here. The comment didn’t suggest that they are very focused. Hopefully they’ve been listening to Clemson Tom and will think all they have to do is show up, (and know where).
- I still remember walking back to my car among a bunch of dazed Nebraska fans in 1984. (I had to point out the telephone poles so they wouldn't run into them.) I hope to have that experience again tomorrow.
2-2 with 8 (or 9?) to do
LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
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