Life without Spiller

Clemson is 2-3 right now, and by all accounts that is not acceptable. That part has been covered.

But what about this part: Should it be surprising that the first five games without C.J. Spiller have been a struggle?

When I submitted my Heisman Trophy ballot last year, Spiller's name was at the top of the list. Maybe there was some bias there, but I still feel quite comfortable in my belief that he was the best player in college football last year.

Spiller didn't even get enough votes to go to Manhattan for the Heisman ceremony, and a major factor in that was voters' ignorance. They looked at his pedestrian rushing average (90 yards per game) and stopped there, failing to notice his dramatic impact in the passing game (eight receptions of 20 yards or more) and return game (five touchdowns on 31 returns of kickoffs or punts).

In August, when we were making our predictions for the Tigers this season, I picked 9-3. It was based on the fact that this team is still loaded with talent and could be a more complete team than last year's team.

But Spiller's loss leaves such a colossal void because of his wide-ranging impact. Clemson fans will be reminded of that Saturday, when Spiller's No. 28 is retired at Death Valley.

Looking back, Spiller's cleat marks are all over the highest moments of Dabo Swinney's 26-game tenure.

-- The 242 all-purpose yards in the 27-21 win at Boston College in Swinney's second game as interim coach.

-- A dazzling 39-yard run early against South Carolina in 2008, helping give the Tigers the early momentum in a 31-14 victory over a team many people favored coming in (the interim tag was removed from Swinney's title a day later).

-- The 310 all-purpose yards last year at Miami, including a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown just before halftime and a 56-yard scoring catch on a wheel route. Clemson won 40-37 in overtime.

-- The 312 all-purpose yards in a 40-24 win over Florida State, including 165 rushing yards.

-- The 172 all-purpose yards in the Music City Bowl against Kentucky, including the final score on an 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

How many of those games does Clemson win without Spiller? Not all of them, and maybe not many of them.

The offense dazzled in the first 30 minutes of Clemson's first test of the season, going up and down the field at Auburn.

But it committed six turnovers and had a bundle of three-and-outs two weeks later against Miami.

And last week at North Carolina, the Tigers barely cracked 300 yards of offense while mustering 91 rushing yards. If Deunta Williams doesn't go for the interception, allowing Jaron Brown's 74-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, the Tigers' output is much lower.

Speaking of Williams, here's a telling quote from the hard-hitting safety:

“We knew if we made them one-dimensional, they'd have a tough time throwing the ball. They don't have a lot of weapons at receiver. If you stop Ellington and Harper, then the only other guy that can hurt you in their passing game is (Dwayne) Allen.”

Clemson has been missing a big-play spark on offense. It's been missing the game-turning kickoff and punt returns. It's been missing the excellent starting field position that comes from teams kicking away from Spiller, and even kicking out of bounds.

When you add in the glaring defensive lapses, the two missed field goals in close games, and all those turnovers against Miami, you get a 2-3 start that is not particularly surprising.

This team should be better. We all know that. But maybe we underestimated the difficulty of the transition to a Spiller-less Clemson.

On to some Monday linkage...

Not long ago, I wasn't really liking my pick of Florida State and Virginia Tech to win the ACC's Atlantic and Coastal divisions.

That forecast looks a little better now.

Heather Dinich says the Seminoles look ahead of schedule after Saturday's stomping of Miami.

Mike Bianchi says it's time for Florida State fans to step up and fill up all that aluminum at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Randy Shannon shouldered the blame for his team's ugly showing.

Disturbed Miami fans called for coach Randy Shannon's firing, heck, even for the hypothetical firing of quarterback Jacory Harris (who already is suffering with a pulled groin) after archrival Florida State crushed the Canes at sold-out Sun Life Stadium.

But Shannon, who immediately blamed himself Saturday night and said, ``We just got our butts whooped tonight -- plain and simple,'' remained his steady, calm self Sunday morning.

In the Charlotte Observer, J.P. Giglio calls Clemson and Miami talented teams with no direction.

In the Orange & White, Kerry Capps pens a well-written appraisal of Clemson's plight.

Coming into the season, the Tigers were rated as underdogs against each of their last three opponents. And it's played out the way a lot of people expected – Clemson being just good enough to give teams the caliber of Auburn, Miami and UNC a run for their money, but nothing more...not without CJ Spiller and a handful of defensive mainstays who are playing on Sunday this fall.

That wasn't the expectation of the Tigers and their coaches.

They thought they had more under the hood than that; and despite three games of conflicting and confusing evidence, they still believe they do.

But time is growing short as mid-season approaches. And no one is waiting on the Tigers to catch up.

Florida State is starting to look like the real deal. NC State and Georgia Tech - and maybe even Maryland – are playing better football than the Tigers right now.

And down the road in Columbia...

Gene Sapakoff consults his Braggin' Rights Barometer and gets a readout of Gamecocks 31, Tigers 17.

And he nails it with this observation:

Worse, the Tigers cannot fix things with a win this week over lowly Maryland at Death Valley on Saturday. It will take weeks and weeks to regain the confidence eroded in three straight losses.

Speaking of the Gamecocks, the most overlooked aspect of their ascent has been Steve Spurrier's use of an offense that's completely different from what he used to guide Florida to dominance.

You can count on one hand the number of times per game the Gamecocks go into the I formation, run play-action and throw deep.

The man's system was antiquated. Gotta give him credit for realizing it and adapting.

Rip on Les Miles all you want -- and I'm among the rippers -- but the guy gets it done. The man is 6-0, and every one of those victories is over BCS competition. Who else can say that?

This AP story points out some of Miles' accomplishments:

Since replacing Nick Saban, who bolted for the NFL after the 2004 season, Miles is 57-15 (.792 winning percentage) at LSU. He's 30-13 in regular season SEC games and he won a national title in 2007.

For comparisons sake, Urban Meyer, whose first season with Florida was also 2005, is 60-12 (.833) and 34-10 in the SEC with two national championships.

Head-to-head, they have split six games. The latest was the wildest. A week after Miles came down with another case of tangled time management and lucked into a victory against Tennessee, every card he flipped down the stretch against the Gators at The Swamp was an ace.

The centerpiece of LSU's 33-29 victory was a fake field goal that will go down in SEC history, a strange combination of boldness, brilliance and blind luck that pretty much sums up Miles' LSU career.

He's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. But there are worse coaches out there.


LW