Tag Archives: Clemson

Saturday Reaction: Clemson, Big 10 and Mother Nature

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It was a huge night of college football as the defending national champion was tested. While the story is and will continue to be Jameis Winston the real story should be how Clemson blew this game. Missed field goals and a bad fumble kept the Seminoles in it and now we have to listen to Winston talk for the next few months.

Coach Jimbo Fisher’s quote “We know how to win” at the end of the game on ABC is a stretch. Clemson helped FSU with a slow developing play call on fourth and one. The Tigers had a 407-318 lead in yards and still lost.

Florida State is still in the driver seat for the ACC title and a playoff spot. For college football as a whole though, Winston will continue to be a bad distraction. People don’t change this quickly and I’m bracing myself for the next bad report out of Tallahassee.

Winner: Sean Maguire, Florida State quarterback

Congratulations to Maguire for keeping the Seminoles alive for another national title. He did throw more picks (2) than touchdowns (1) but his 305 passing yards were unexpected for a guy who threw just 116 yards last season. That was probably in garbage time too. Florida State fans will always have respect for Maguire for years to come.

Loser: ACC

The conference looks weak outside of Florida State right now. North Carolina was rolled over by East Carolina in embarrassing fashion. Syracuse, Miami and Pittsburgh lost to Big Ten schools. The best win the conference had today was Duke over Tulane. Not going to move the needle with that one.

Winner: Samantha Ponder

Ponder gave a great take on Winston during College Gameday as she explained why his suspension was warranted. It was probably the best I’ve heard and that’s with everyone in the media giving their two cents. Please give her more time than David Pollack ESPN.

Loser: Florida State University

The school originally suspended Winston for just the first half of the Clemson game but changed course to a full game late Friday night. Nothing good is announced on a Friday night. The school came across as suspicious and incompetent. Better to stick to your original decision to than to try and sweep a new choice in past newspaper deadlines. It was bad public relations coming from a school that appears to not have any.

Winner: Mother Nature

Several games have been delayed due to lightning this year and more were impacted this week. Michigan vs. Utah, Illinois vs. Texas State and Toledo vs. Ball State were games that were severely delayed.

Loser: Michigan Athletics

Well this tweet from the Michigan Golf Club sums it up.

Should note that the golf club is not a varsity sport for Michigan but yeah, that’s disrespectful of the athletics department if that’s true.

Winner: Indiana

The Hoosiers got there first win against a Top 25 team under Kevin Wilson today after six unsuccessful tries. IU went into Columbia, Missouri and knocked off the No. 18 Tigers 31-27. This was huge for the Big Ten as the Hoosiers are the only school in the league with a win over an SEC school this year. SEC fans will go back to disowning Missouri on a convenient basis. Today, the Tigers are back in the Big 12.

The Pain of Miami University Football

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The poor Miami RedHawks had a chance to snap their gargantuan losing streak Saturday to FCS Eastern Kentucky but fell to the Colonels 17-10. It may have been Miami University’s best chance to win on the season and now…  there’s this.

The quote from Coach Martin, “Anybody that doubts us, I would doubt us too” at the three-minute mark speaks to the depression that is Miami University football. Having Office Max as a sponsor shows the depression too. The last time Miami won a game was in October of 2012. Think about where you were 23 months ago. For me, I’ve changed jobs three times since then. The Republicans thought they were going to take down Obama in the 2012 election. Ray Rice was a productive running back leading the Ravens to a Super Bowl. Comic book fans were genuinely optimistic about Man of Steel and Iron Man 3 coming out the following summer. That’s how long it has been since Miami of Ohio beat someone in football.

Saturday’s game led to this depressing tweet.

That’s right, six turnovers. Yet Miami only lost by a touchdown.

Miami’s next four remaining home games all are winnable but road trips to Michigan and Cincinnati come first. Miami will enter MAC play on a 20-game losing streak, the longest streak among FBS teams by a massive margin. If the RedHawks can enter MAC action without any injuries, then maybe Miami can steal a game this year. Otherwise Coach Chuck Martin is going to have several more painful press conferences.

Clemson Runs Up the ScoreSensor Scans

The Clemson Tigers were not happy about their loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the first week and took their frustrations out on FCS South Carolina State Saturday. We’re talking 73-7 frustration. Clemson had a 44-0 lead in the third quarter and were still passing the ball. The Tigers even put the ball in the air in the fourth quarter. Don’t care if you’re second string is in, you don’t pass the football against an inferior opponent when you’re up by six touchdowns in the second half. This is not a video game.

South Carolina State got revenge late when the score was 73-0. The Bulldogs took a fumble and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Whether it was karma, football Gods, or the Holy Spirit, Clemson was denied their precious 73-0 shutout. They play at Florida State on Sept. 20 and you can bet who I’ll be rooting for. Let’s see them run up the score against FSU.

Appalachian State Loves Cupcakes

Appalachian State earned or should I say received its first win of the year Saturday, smashing Campbell 66-0. Problem is Campbell is a member of the Pioneer League, a FCS conference that does not offer athletic scholarships for football. So basically, the Moutaineers defeated the equivalent of a Division II school. This is App State’s first year in the FBS but come on. Again, the Holy Spirit or Doctor Who interfered with the blowout as the game had a lightning delay after the first half. Few came back to watch the one-sided affair.

Campbell tried to make the most of it, as it featured pictures of Campbell students on a bus traveling to the game.

[View the story “#CURoadTrip: 4-hour bus trip? Woo!” on Storify]

Congratulations to the Campbell Camels for showing spirit despite the mismatch.

Division II Pride

Congratulations to Division II McMurry for defeating FCS Houston Baptist Saturday 26-17. Sure, it was the first official game in the history of Houston Baptist football but it is always a big deal when a D-2 team knocks off a D-1. Just ask McMurry.

McMurry is referencing how ESPN and other cable outlets only display Division I scores in the bottom ticker. Getting on it as a winner is huge for McMurry. Maybe the school should reconsider dropping down to Division III.

It’s going to be a tough starting out for Houston Baptist as the Southland Conference will not show much mercy on them. Such is life as a football start-up.

Night Life in El-Paso

UTEP wanted to make sure its home game with Texas Tech was televised and went to great lengths to do so. Like having the kickoff at 11 p.m. Eastern Time so Fox Sports 1 would broadcast it. FS1 showed BYU at Texas earlier in the evening as that game took priority. While the game started a 9 p.m. local time it didn’t end until 12:41 a.m. in El-Paso and 2:41 back East. UTEP lost 30-26 so I hope the late night exposure was worth it.

Georgia’s bad schedule

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It was a great game that ESPN wanted. Clemson knocked off Georgia Saturday Night in what many believed to be Clemson’s start to a championship campaign. I’m not so sold but it was a great win.

The point is not so much about Clemson as it’s about making a good schedule. Georgia has done what might be the dumbest scheduling possible. Opening at Clemson and followed by South Carolina is insane. The Bulldogs have no chance to recover and for what? To play a game on national television against a school from South Carolina? That’s what they are doing this upcoming Saturday.

Asking a road team to come win a game here in the first week is like asking Batman to fight crime on Krypton.

Asking a road team to come win a game here in the first week is like asking Batman to fight crime on Krypton.

There is no upside to recruiting as they have that state covered by playing South Carolina. If Georgia scheduled Ohio State then it could score recruits in the Midwest. The Bulldogs would also have a chance to impress pollsters in an area that may not otherwise pay attention to them.

In other words playing Clemson was redundant and unnecessary for Georgia. Now they have a beat up team playing a rested South Carolina squad Saturday (Gamecocks played Thursday). The Bulldogs could be 0-2 next week.

If Georgia had won Saturday you might be thinking I would have called it a smart gamble. Even if Georgia won it would have a fleeting victory that would have been wiped out if it lost to South Carolina. That’s the game that matters as winning the SEC East to get another crack at Alabama in the conference championship is everything to Georgia. Well, that and beating the holy hell out of Georgia Tech.

Now to some awards for week one.

Public Enemy: Florida State
Florida State pounded Pittsburgh Monday night and looked great. Especially their new freshmen Quarterback Jameis Winston. Don’t get too full of yourself kid.

Cannon Fodder: Elon
Elon lost to Georgia Tech on Saturday 70-0. The Phoenix (yes, that’s their name) fumbled on their second play and gave up two interceptions for touchdowns. Elon did miss a field goal at the end of the first half so it’s not like they didn’t get a chance to score. That’s something? Right?

Headshot victims: Oregon State, Kansas State, South Florida, Connecticut, and Iowa State.
These BCS conference schools all lost to FCS teams. That’s like being a named a registered sex offender. Enough said.

Best Game: Ole Miss 39 Vanderbilt 35
Vanderbilt converted on fourth and 18, scored a touchdown to take the lead with a minute to go, and still lost. That’s like taking the lead in the Mario Kart with the finish line in view only to take a turtle shell from behind before crossing. I felt bad for the Commodores but I was so happy to see a great game on college football’s first day back. Man I missed it.