Clemson Game Notes

What a way to start the season! C.J. took the opening kickoff and 96 yards later, the Tigers were up 7-0. They went on to win 37-14. Kyle Parker looked good in his debut, especially in making several key scrambles for first downs. He’s going to be exciting to watch.

The biggest concern I saw was the offensive line. This was MTSU. No disrespect to them, but we should, just based on the difference in talent, be able to move their defensive line off the ball. While we had some success running the ball (202 yards total), we still could not score from their 1 on two tries. And as noted above, Parker had to scramble several times–I can’t believe MTSU’s DBs are good enough that there was no place to go with the ball. So it comes down to blocking. Big improvement needed here.

But a win is a win and I’m sure the Tigers and Dabo are glad to get that first one out of the way. Now comes a short turn-around until the Thursday night game with Georgia Tech. Big game, not much time. Hope they’re ready. Go Tigers!

I may have sold the Tigers and MTSU short, talking about how we ought to have been able to blow them out. The next week, the Blue Raiders took 3-0 Missouri into OT to lose 41-40. That is not to say Missouri is a power house, but they are ranked in the Top 25 this week. So maybe MTSU has better talent and coaching than I gave them credit for. Maybe the Tigers are really starting to gel. Still a long way to go.

Charlie Whitehurst started his eighth game for the Tigers with a game plan designed to take advantage of his skills and those of his receivers. Air Clemson! (more…)