Title Defense 3, Homecoming @ Death Valley; Looking Ahead to Maryland

3rd Title Defense
...If you don't have a belt, you ain't nothing....Whooo!


Let's get right to the polls...there has been a shake up in spots 2 - 5: 

Our Life College Football Poll:
1. Clemson (Title Belt Holder)
2. Doesn't Matters
3. Irrelevant
4. Unimportant
5. Who Cares
6. Your Team

LA and I decided a couple of weeks ago to take Aubrey and Wyatt to a Clemson game and decided on the Wake Forest game which also happened to be homecoming.  We have had her practicing her C-L-E-M-S-O-N T-I-G-E-R-S, Fight Tigers, Fight, Fight, Fight.

Every morning when I would wake her up I would ask her "Where are we going on Saturday" and she would reply "Clemson Tigers".  It worked out pretty good that the game was at 3.  We didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn and we could still make it a day trip (long day but able to avoid a hotel stay which would be another adventure all together...you can't try to do to much at one time).  We hit the road around 8am with the car loaded down with two excited Tiger Cubs and lots of snacks and drinks (what's missing for our 4 hour car ride - toys, books..etc - what rookies...but to be honest we didn't even need it).  Aubrey and Wyatt both got a nap on the way up and to my surprise, we didn't even have to make a pit stop along the way.  Glad I didn't bet LA that we would have to stop at least once.  When we got parked, we unloaded the kids and put them in their strollers for a walk down town.  It is a one mile walk up hill on a side one made for one way traffic that has two way traffic and cars waiting to take you out with your first misstep and at the narrowest part a fence waiting to grab a hand, stroller, shirt, anything to start the chain reaction of events that will put the person in the street and hit by a car.  We made it and did some shopping with about 2,000 of my favorite Clemson fans and had lunch on Bowman with the kids and the homecoming "floats".  The kids had a good time and enjoyed the freedom of running around while mommy and daddy took a nap in the grass on Bowman...really how far are they going to go, we have the drinks and food.  (Ok, so we didn't get a nap.)  We got to our seats in time for the greatest 25 seconds of Wyatt and Aubrey's life.  They were excited, clapping and cheering for the Tigers.  They were good for the 1st Half and started to get restless towards the end of the half.  We spent halftime and part of the 3rd quarter going to the bathroom, eating dinner and playing.  We returned for the end of the 3rd quarter and stayed until the end of the game.  LA and I were pleased with their behavior...especially since neither of them had an afternoon nap.  Back at the car, they didn't last too long before it was lights out on the way home.  I would take them again and I hope they get to have many more Clemson trips. 

Ready For The Game - Go Tigers

Long Day - Done

Long Day - Done

Game Recap

The Good
1.  6-0
2. 3rd Title Belt Defense
3. Beating BC (they have been a thorn in our side since they joined the ACC)
4. Catman (FG kicker) - 5 Field Goals and All his extra points (he's not going to get a helmet sticker, yet - he has to do it every week - consistency is the gold standard for a kicker)
5. The Deuce - Sammy Watkins
6. Dwayne Allen TE
7. The Defense (when focused)

The Bad
1. Boston College
2. Tajh Boyd injury (looks like he will play this week at MD)
3. 6-0 - Everybody gets up for an undefeated team, ranked in the top 10 (especially at night, see vs Maryland)
4. Defense went to sleep a couple of possessions and gave BC 14 points
5. Offense not scoring touchdowns and settling for FGs - points on the board are important but TD are worth 4 more points and that will come back to haunt us if the trend continues...hard to complain about scoring but we had a chance to put them away early and never let them see the light of day.

Summary
We meet the first challenge of "beat the teams your supposed to beat".  The road doesn't get easier from here on out.  4 of the last 6 games are on the road.  As I mentioned earlier, every team want a chance to beat an undefeated team and a team ranked in the top 10.  No one knows this better than Ric Flair, every week you get that teams best shot.

Did you see the sign the Tiger had before the game when they were getting ready to run down the hill - "2011 Shock The Nation Tour" and they should add "Coming To A City Near You".  There are 13 teams undefeated coming into Week 7 (lost two last week).  Many writers think this is the year the BCS implodes because of the 13 unbeaten teams most think that 5 or 6 could finish undefeated.  And just to make sure you are clear on where I think this Tigers team is right now and the possibility of going undefeated, I realize that we could end the year 6-6.  We are not in the same league as the top 3 or 4 teams right now (might not be at the end of the year but we are improving but we have to keep winning to be part of that conversation at the end of the year.).


Week 7 Preview
Maryland @ College Park

Another week against a team that has been a thorn in Clemson's side, especially under their former coach Ralph Friedgen.  In 2009, we went up their and laid an egg even with CJ doing everything in his power to make a difference, including running out of his shoe.  This MD has not performed as expect with All ACC quarterback returning, a new coach and new OC.  Knowing MD, Clemson is just the team to get them out of their funk and turn their season around with a win.  I hope Dabo can keep everyone focused and put a W on the board in a night game in a hostile environment.  I asked the only MD fan I know, Jeremy, to help me out with this weeks game and answer a few questions about the game.

• What uniform combination do you expect this weekend when number 8 Clemson visits, College Park?  

• I expect to see Maryland to go with black helmets, red jersey, and red pants....And while I'd like your readers to be impressed by my accuracy, I will confess that Maryland released the uniform information last night (which they do each week on Wednesday night).

• Do you have a favorite combination at this point or a combination you would like to see against Clemson? 

• So far, I've liked the gold jersey w/ black helmet and black pants that they wore against Temple.  Unfortunately, based on the result of that game, I doubt we'll ever see that uniform again.

• What's the atmosphere going to like in Byrd Stadium at kickoff?

• It is a night game, and it is Homecoming, so while the team hasn't been very good so far this year, I'd expect it to be a pretty good atmosphere.  Not as full or loud as Death Valley can get, but for Maryland, it will likely be a little on the liquored-up/rowdy side, especially in the student section.

• Why does Maryland hate Clemson so much?  I would ask about their hatred for Duke but everyone hates Duke.(except Jenn and Ross and anyone who went to school there). 

• I never got the impression that Maryland hated Clemson so much. I'd put Duke, Virginia, and West Virginia way ahead of Clemson in the hatred list.

• Should the "Fridge" have been let go? 

• That's the Million-Dollar question....I'm not sure the program was going to ever get to the elite level with the Fridge, but nobody has ever gotten Maryland football to that level, and he was one of the most successful coaches in the program's history, so it is a shame that it had to end like that.  I think the fanbase got a little 'bored' of being in the 6-9 win range every year, and the athletic department wanted to get some new energy.  Whether Edsell was the right pick for that?  Too early to tell...but he hasn't helped himself out by bad-mouthing the prior coaching staff and with the loss to Temple.

• Where's the football program headed this year?  Is this a rebuilding year, since you have a new coach on board and new OC?

• Sadly, the program expected to be pretty solid this year with a good young quarterback returning from a pretty solid team the year before...but O'Brian has not been as good as he was last year, so it is looking more like a rebuilding year than expected.  Based on early results, I think the team would be happy making a bowl this year, when I think they had a solid chance at challenging for the Division title heading into the season.

• What the best chant that you have heard from the student section - football or basketball? 

• Hmmm.  Not sure if I know of any non-Rated R chants that Maryland has ever had.  

• If I decided to road trip to the game, do you have any good hangouts or restaurant recommendations? 

• I'm a little out of the loop of what the good hangouts and restaurants are near College Park.  In general, I'd recommend venturing to other parts of the Maryland/DC area if you were really wanting to find good places to go out or eat (College Park isn't really anything special).  For a nice meal, if you venture west to Bethesda, MD, or into DC toward the Georgetown area, there are plenty of good choices.  For nightlife, the Adams-Morgan part of DC has always been well known as a good area to explore.

• Crabcakes or Barbeque? 

• Very tough choice.  Really depends on the occasion.  I'm a big fan of both though.  If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Barbeque...Guess I'm officially a southerner now.

• Give me your prediction for the game.

• I'm a homer...Despite there being no evidence that the Terps should win this game, I think they'll find a way of somehow winning an ugly game.  Maryland 24, Clemson 20

Misc Rumblings
*Biggest waste of space in the paper (other than all the sections except sports) - I can't even think what it is called - Page 2, top left corner of Monday's Sports page where some genius predict the score of the Clemson vs USC game if the teams played right now and give some blah, blah, blah reason why.

*Coming to a bar near you - Stephen Garcia - Reminds me of this scene in the movie "Stripes"

*The HBC (Steve Spurrier) has two new job offers and a slew of other coming in  - Deflection Master for anyone looking for a misdirection play to get the media onto another topic.
*This sounds about right - Payton Manning is pushing Sony TVs and Eli Manning is pushing Samsung - Payton (before injury) probably 1st or 2nd quarterback in NFL and Eli is a middle of the pack NFL Quarterback.
*Armstrong Atlantic Pirate Soccer Update - Megan (my niece) has picked up her second yellow card of the year - evidently the team did not use the film or talk to the girl from her 1st yellow card to scout her from earlier in the year...keep laying the law down.