Three players for Clemson to look forward to

By Robert Rousseau  |   Sunday, January 04, 2009  |  Comments( 5 )

 Clemson Tigers
It’s sometimes hard for college football fans to stay optimistic if their team closes a season poorly. That happened to the Clemson Tigers, who allow a blocked punt and blocked field goal in their loss to Nebraska, 26-21, in Jan. 1's Gator Bowl. It was the kind of thing that gives a coach like Dabo Swinney nightmares. Still, the bottom line is ...
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CommentsComments: 5
 No.1
NB		 09:35 AM
01/06/2009
Rally around what? A 26-21 loss in the Gator Bowl to a Nebraska program that's rebuilding? Clemson's program is no better off now than it was 10 years ago...it has made very little progress, unless you are grateful for 7-6 records every year. I continually stand amazed at the low expectations of Clemson football. If C.J. Spiller is smart, he'll get out of there fast and go into the draft. He wasted his talent there.
He could have gone anywhere in the country and done so much more.
 No.2
RazzMaTazz		 02:18 PM
01/09/2009
And lets not forget that Brandon Maye was a first team freshman all-American selection by the Football Writers Association.

On offense, Clemson doesn't lose THAT many key starters- except arguably the entire backfield. :-) They lose Davis, Kelly, Harper (don't care), Grisham, and perhaps Spiller. If Spiller doesn't return, there will be a drop-off at RB, but I think the RB stable will still be pretty formidable with Jamie Harper and Andre Ellington. If Spiller returns, I don't think there will be much drop off at RB. I think QB play will improve greatly with Korn and/or Parker easily outperforming Cullen Harper. OL play should improve since essentially everyone returns. And if Ford doesn't bolt to the NFL, I think WR play may not drop much, if at all, with guys like Dye, Jones, Clear, Brown, & Ashe ready to step in. (Besides, any WR drop-off may be offset by the improved QB & OL play).

Clemson's key losses on defense are safeties Clemons & Hamlin, and DTs, Jackson, & Scott. We'll see some drop-off at safety and perhaps DT which is frighteningly shallow. But the rest of the defense should be better. All of the LBs are back, and we get Bowers, Sapp, and Alexander back at DE.

On special teams, Clemson loses PK Buccholz, punter Maners, gunner Grisham, and perhaps return-man, Spiller. Not sure if any of the younger guys can replace Buccholz. And nobody can replace Spiller if he leaves. So I'd expect to see a drop-off on special teams.

I'm hopeful that Swinney (Steele, et al) will bring a new, tougher, more aggressive style of football to Clemson. I think we saw glimpses of that against Nebraska-- although our QB play killed us. I may not be realistic, but I'm hopeful. That's part of being a fan. Time will tell.
 No.3
NB		 05:05 PM
01/14/2009
The talent there at Clemson, as it has been for the past three seasons, but we all know that athletic talent alone can't win big in football: it is, and will always be, that the team that blocks and tackles better
will win most of time. Miami and Florida State are glaring examples of this travesty of refusing to teach these all important basics of fundamental football. This so-called "spread" offensive era has killed real football. The blockers hold, and the defenders horse-collar everybody and they don't have a clue as to "how" to bring a ballcarrier down. If Swinney, or any other coach sticks to the raw basics of sound blocking and tackling techniques with raw good talent, he will beat everybody. Unfortunately, most of today's coaches are too caught up in spreading the field out and passing every down to get points, and
300-pound guys with NO mobility get to grab jerseys instead of block the correct way.
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