Tigers will roll Tide in anticipated season opener

By Chris Preston  |   Thursday, August 14, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

 Clemson Tigers
In a column titled “Five ACC Predictions” that appeared on ESPN.com on Tuesday, among many bold predictions author Mark Schlabach made was this fearless assertion: “Alabama will beat the [Clemson] Tigers in the Georgia Dome in the opener.” Schlabach is a good writer who knows the ACC well, but in this case I disagree – and not simply...
What's the buzz about?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans!

CommentsComments: 4
 No.1
RazzMaTazz		 02:13 PM
08/14/2008
I sure hope you're right Chris. But I wouldn't put a penny on that game. A lot depends on how our O-line does. I think Bama has a good D-line, and as we saw last year when our mediocre O-line played teams with good D-lines (like GT or BC), our superstar RBs run into brick walls at the line, and have no chance to succeed. So even if Bama's LBs are relatively weak, the LBs's would be able to manage if Bama's D-line beats Clemson's O-line and our RBs don't get a chance to pop through a hole at the line of scrimmage. In our 3 ACC losses last season, Clemson rushed for 34 yards (GT), 41 yards (VT), and 46 yards (BC). And as we've seen before (and to a ridiculous extent against BC last season), Clemson's OC, Spence, is usually too committed to the running game to call mostly passes even when the running game is going nowhere and the passing game is going well. If Spence is willing to adapt during the game, I think Clemson should score enough points to win. I just have zero confidence in Spence.

I think our solid D-line (hopefully still solid without Jackson) will plug up the line of scrimmage (and make up for our relatively inexperienced LBs) so I think Clemson's D will handle the running game. I also feel good about our defense versus Bama's passing game. Our DBs are good. And although Julio Jones is supposed to be amazing, I don't think that our DEs are going to give JPW that much time to pass.

I have dreams of Ford, Kelly, Davis, Spiller, et al, striking multiple home runs, while our defense does its usual good job. But until I see our O-line perform, I have no idea what's going to happen.
 No.2
RazzMaTazz		 08:08 PM
08/14/2008
I just noticed that Schlabach's #1 prediction for the ACC (2 days ago) is that Clemson, won't win the ACC, and that Wake or UNC will. Today Schlabach predicted that Alabama would lose either their opener against Clemson or their closer against Auburn. Hmmm... I wish all of these guys (and publications) would post their predictions from the previous year so we could see how prescient they are.
 No.3
NB		 04:04 PM
08/15/2008
I have to concur with Razz's reluctance to give Clemson a "going away" victory here. While the Tigers have experience and talent at the skill positions, their OL is suspect, and it has been suspect for the entire tenure of Tommy Bowden's era at
Clemson. Without that "hard-nosed approach, they won't fare well against SEC-tough Bama. In therms of overall talent, these two teams look even. In terms of head coaching prowess, Alabama clearly has the 2-1 edge. Nick Saban has won a national title, has won at Michigan State, LSU and has an NFL pedigree, where Tommy Bowden has fielded 9 Tiger squads that have underachieved. Therfore, have to make Bama a 3-point favorite, because of the coaching disparity, and the fact that Bama will be a much improved squad than last year's 7-6 team. Saban has a history of improving teams each year. TB's history is not so glorious. So, with that said, Clemson has enough experienced talent to win this game, but history tells me that Alabama will prevail by a small margin. Until Clemson proves that they belong in the Top 10 by beating prominent squads, they won't get the respect they want or deserve. Bama by three.
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.