weekend work sucks, especially after you spend most of the night watching your favorite football team defeat an arch rival and top ten in the nation on their home turf.  It took me until about 12:30 to get the adrenaline down and stop murmuring “we beat Florida State….at Florida State” like a zombie and finally get to sleep.  After missing the alarm clock my internal clock screamed “Get the F up!!” at 5 AM.  I raced out of the house and made it to work just in time for the start of the tail end of the 24 hour weekend shift.  I sit here now in the 24th hour and have realized that I have polluted the Gnomes site waaaaay too much today (great clip of the final play that I mentioned to Wha and a buddy who’s last name “HAS TWO N’S!!”) so I thought I would place my last ranting on my page.  So here we go.

FSU Revelations:

 
The next home game for Clemson is against UNC who had a high scoring affair against Furman this past weekend to score 45 points and take the win (even though on paper Furman waxed the heels).  If you were waiting to get your tickets to this game, you missed your chance. After the win at FSU, Clemson takes back the chances at the ACCCG and the Tiger faithful know that the home schedule is one that they can make a difference in.  Throw in that the game was already sold out and that it is the celebration of the 1981 National Championship and this game is about to explode with anticipation.  The noon time kickoff is a bit of a bummer but the temperatures are dropping and the early start will reduce some alcohol induced dehydration.  Now the Tigers just have to make sure that their egos don’t get in the way and make this game another low in the roller coaster ride known as Tiger Football (re: losing to Duke by a FG).

 
Coming into the season the Clemson D were just downright scary.  Two starters passed up their NFL possibilities so that they could help the Tigers to the ACCCG.  The LB corp was touted as the best in the conference and the secondary were recognized as one of the more aggressive groups around.  Now the defense is, at best, an average ACC group with the star DE suffering from a slightly dislocated shoulder, although he did not show it against FSU with a few hurries and sacks.  This past game against FSU was so big for the defense in terms of establishing position and confidence that it will pay off the rest of the season.  The D started to look tired at the end of the 3^rd quarter but they held in there and forced the ‘Noles into a bunch of 3 and outs.  I was very impressed by the D in this game as they were forced to stretch their depth and play inexperience in one of the biggest games of the year.

 
At the beginning of the year, the Tigers touted the depth of position that they had established at running back.  This past game that depth was exercised with fresh legs tearing up the FSU D the whole game.  James Davis may have been the man but Reggie and CJ stepped in to let James get a breather every now and then.  If CJ can get his game together and the splits on the carries can spread out, the rest of the season may have the insurance on the ground to wear defenses out all day.

 
I am not sure how much talent the Tigers have played on the field these past three games but I am sure that every receiver has touched the ball at least once a game and everyone in the backfield has made some big plays.  The Tigers have an extremely young offense (outside of the line) and I look forward to seeing what they can do as they mature in Clemson. 

 
Speaking of Offense, how about that line?!?!  They did one HELL of a job protecting Proctor against the monstrous FSU Defensive line.  I hope that these guys stay healthy the rest of the year as they are the core of the offense and if they perform well, so does everyone else.  The replacement of these seniors will be tough next year but I am sure that the younger guys will get their reps in against the supposedly easier opponents.  Great Job O-Line, you don’t get enough props in the sport, but my friends and I continuously commented on the time that Proctor had in the pocket last night. 

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