Tigers trying to improve ugly Thursday night record

By Chris Preston  |   Wednesday, October 08, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

Clemson Tigers
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Not that Clemson fans need any more reason to be down on the state of their beloved football program right now, but Thursday nights have not been kind to the Tigers under Tommy Bowden. His record in the made-for-ESPN tilts through his first nine seasons as Clemson coach is a lackluster 2-6, with one of the wins coming against lowly Temple in 2006. Average margin of defeat in those six losses (five of which came on the road)? Eighteen points.

Obviously, then, those numbers do not bode well for tonight's televised visit to 3-1 Wake Forest. Still, it's likely the Clemson players and coaching staff are viewing the Wake Forest game as an opportunity for redemption on the road against one of the ACC's premier teams. Thursday night matchups are unique in that they're the only game in town - a chance for two programs to bask in the national spotlight alone, if only for one night. It's likely that the Tigers' history of no-shows in these Thursday night affairs has contributed to their image as big-game floppers. Being on the losing end of lopsided results against other high-profile programs like Florida State (which downed Clemson, 48-31, on a Thursday night in 2002) and Virginia Tech (31-11 winners in 1999; 24-7 winners in '06) when all eyes are on two teams can be devastating to even the most elite programs. Just look at the hits Ohio State's national image has taken the last three years on the strength of three decidedly lopsided losses against Florida, LSU and USC.

The more important question is: Why have the Tigers struggled so mightily on Thursday nights? For one, playing on the road against the Virginia Techs and Florida States of the world is no easy task. Why the Tigers have hosted so few of their Thursday night showdowns is a bit of a mystery given the famed fervor of Death Valley. But it's not as if Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium and FSU's Doak Campbell Stadium house wine-and-cheese crowds. Those too are hostile environments.

It's more likely that Clemson's history of Thursday night struggles can be attributed to the more practical reason of preparation - or lack thereof. Most Thursday games come on the heels of a 12-day break, meaning both coaching staffs have an extra five days to get their teams ready - as was the case for tonight's game. While that does allow Bowden and his coaches more time to draw up a game plan, it also allows the opposing coaching staff to do the same. As most Clemson fans know by now, that scenario typically doesn't favor a Tommy Bowden-coached team - at least not when it is matched against a squad coached by a Frank Beamer or, at least a few years back, Bowden's legendary father.

This time it's Wake Forest's Jim Grobe on the other side - widely renowned as one of the finest coaches in all the land. Giving Grobe 12 days to prepare for a big game - especially coming off a huge letdown against Navy two Saturdays ago - could be a recipe for disaster for Bowden and the Tigers.

But at this point, with the few fans who still supported Bowden almost certainly having turned against him and the Tigers already falling well below this season's lofty expectations, perhaps Clemson has the Deacons right where it wants them. After all, Clemson is accustomed to losing games it is favored to win. Now that the Tigers are the underdogs (by 2 1/2 points as of this writing) and seemingly have nothing to lose, perhaps they can reverse their hideous Thursday night trend.
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