From famine to feast

Last week, we examined Clemson's abundance of close shaves over the past five seasons. It was no doubt a painful experience for you folks to be reminded of the razor-thin margins that have kept the Tigers from achieving much more.

Of Clemson's 17 ACC losses the past five seasons, 13 have come to Georgia Tech (5), Maryland (3), Boston College (3) and Wake Forest (2).

Of those 13 losses, 12 have come by five points or less.

Yeah, ouch.

Now we move to the other end of the spectrum.

Clemson is at the bottom of the ACC barrel when it comes to fortunes in close games, but the Tigers have to be near the top when it comes to winning convincingly.

Over the last five seasons, Clemson has won 41 games overall. Thirty of those victories have come by double digits.

Over the same stretch, the Tigers have won 24 ACC games. Eighteen have come by double digits.

Here's a list of them:

2005
31-10, N.C. State
49-20, Duke
35-14, Florida State

2006
52-7, North Carolina
27-17, Wake Forest
31-7, Georgia Tech

2007
42-20, N.C. State
30-17, Maryland
47-10, Duke
44-10, Wake Forest

2008
27-9, N.C. State
31-7, Duke
13-3, Virginia

2009
25-7, Boston College
38-3, Wake Forest
40-24, Florida State
43-23, N.C. State
34-21, Virginia

How many ACC teams can the Tigers reasonably expect to blow off the field this season?

Not as many as in some past years, I'd say.

Right now, I'd put four of their games in the "Definitely Tight" category:

Miami, at North Carolina, Georgia Tech, at Florida State

I'd put two in the "Probably Tight" column:

at Boston College, at Wake Forest

And I'd put the remaining two (Maryland, N.C. State) in the "Should win handily" category.

Moving right along...

Looks like Clemson's defense isn't the only one that's giving up some big plays in August scrimmages. Take a look at the stats from Miami's scrimmage on Wednesday night.

Speaking of the Hurricanes, interesting situation at quarterback. Apparently Spencer Whipple, son of offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, will play in every game.

Wonder if he received a guarantee?

Chris Low breaks down the SEC West, and I think he might be putting a little too much stock in Auburn's freshmen.

This signing class could be what puts Auburn over the top this season. The Tigers lacked the depth to make a serious run a year ago and wound up losing five of their last six SEC games. But already, it’s obvious that several first-year players are going to play key roles for the Tigers, starting with quarterback Cameron Newton. Freshman running back Michael Dyer, freshman fullback Ladarious Phllips, freshman receiver Trovon Reed and freshman receiver Antonio Goodwin should add firepower to the offense, and a number of newcomers are pushing to play on defense. Among them: Corey Lemonier at end, Jeffrey Whitaker at tackle, Jonathan Mincy at cornerback and LaDarius Owens and Jake Holland at linebacker. As senior linebacker Josh Bynes noted recently, the gap between the Tigers’ first- and second-team players shouldn’t be nearly as wide this season.

Sounds like they have a bunch of freshman talent. But is it the reason they'll elevate to greatness? Dunno about that.

Maryland beat guy Patrick Stevens assesses the nation's top QB candidates for the Heisman Trophy, and he lists Jacory Harris fourth.

The ACC's most viable Heisman candidate resides in Florida, but he's not the guy with the massive campaign behind him. Harris' Hurricanes will be lucky to make it through the first five games with less than two losses, but that set of opponents --- Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Clemson --- ensures Harris will be a known quantity very early. Should Miami be as good as some (including the Official Dot-Com Diva) believe, Harris will get a ton of credit for it because of the Hurricanes' cast-of-thousands approach to the rest of their skill positions on offense.

Interesting. I believe CP7 is a more legit Heisman candidate because of all the different things Jimbo Fisher's offense allows him to do.

And I might put Tyrod Taylor ahead of Harris.

Tidbit if note from this North Texas blog:

The return of Riley Dodge to quarterback appears to be a bit overstated. Todd Dodge said after practice today that the plan really hasn't changed.

Riley will get about 10 snaps a game at quarterback as a change of pace. That could mean he is in the Wildcat or just in the shotgun. He won't be out there fulltime.

Doesn't look good for Mark Herzlich, according to The Boston Globe.

Another interesting item:

Quarterback Dave Shinskie (13 of 19, 1 TD, 1 interception) was most impressive on the opening series, tossing a 43-yard touchdown pass to Billy Flutie off a Wildcat formation in which Shinskie lined up wide and took a pitch from tailback Sterlin Phifer.

Speaking of B.C. the student newspaper up there had some good details from the Eagles' scrimmage:

Gause set off some fireworks during Wednesday’s scrimmage as he returned an interception for a touchdown. Though Dave Shinskie appears to have grown in the offseason as a quarterback, Gause read his eyes from the snap and jumped in front of Clyde Lee to pick off the pass.

...

Spinney, a junior who entered BC highly recruited, played with the second team in the first scrimmage and got beat numerous times by defensive tackle Dillon Quinn and the rest of the second-team defensive line. During Wednesday’s action, he and Dave Shinskie had trouble on their exchange, as two fumbles came off botched snaps.

...

McMichael led all receivers in the first scrimmage, and Pantale had the second longest reception of the second scrimmage on a 27-yard play down the middle of the field. Eight of the total 32 completions went to the tight ends, and all showed good strength as they fought through tackles for an extra few yards.
With questions surrounding an unproven receiving corps, these three veteran tight ends will give their quarterbacks a valuable second or third option. Shinskie, Mike Marscovetra, Chase Rettig, and Josh Bordner all looked comfortable finding their tight ends in the middle of the field when no downfield options were viable.

...

Montel Harris caught four passes for 35 yards. Harris caught only eight passes all of last season.

In the New York Times, a look at the fall of the pathetic Jim Gray.

Actually, it can't be characterized as a "fall" if he never occupied a high position in the first place.

For the life of me, I can't figure out how, at any point in this bizarre dude's career, high-profile television executives have looked at him and said: "Yeah, we want that guy."


LW