Road worriers

Before this season, Dabo Swinney endeavored to take some of Clemson's supposedly supernatural assistance away from Death Valley.

The Tigers have something called a "Road Rock" that they take on road trips and rub in the locker room before games.

The new baggage hasn't brought much magic, with Clemson losing all four of its road games this season. At this point, it could easily be called the Road Egg.

The 1998 season is one that is coming up a good bit lately, because the Tigers are flirting with some dubious marks "achieved" that year.

Fail to win one of their last two games against Wake Forest and South Carolina, and the Tigers will have their first losing season since 1998. First season of bowl ineligibility since 1998.

And, if they lose Saturday at Wake Forest, it'll be their first winless season on the road since ... 1998.

Here's how the Tigers have fared away from Clemson since then:

1999: 2-4
2000: 3-2
2001: 4-2
2002: 2-4
2003: 3-3
2004: 2-3
2005: 4-2
2006: 3-3
2007: 4-2
2008: 2-4
2009: 3-4

So far, since taking over as interim coach halfway through the 2008 season, Swinney is 5-10 away from Clemson.

Could the Tigers lose Saturday in Winston-Salem?

I'm not big on putting a bunch of weight on history when a lot of the guys on this team weren't around for that history, but Clemson's history at Groves Stadium is hard to ignore.

Since Jim Grobe took over at Wake Forest, here are the results when Clemson has come to town:

2001: Clemson, 21-14
2003: Wake, 45-17
2005: Wake, 31-27
2006: Clemson, 27-17
2008: Wake, 12-7

So the Deacs have won three of the last four, and the one Clemson win since 2001 was achieved after Wake Forest entered the fourth quarter with a 17-3 lead.

More important than history, in my mind, is the fact that Clemson's emotional foundation was rocked considerably with Saturday's loss at Florida State.

The despair, the feeling that botched scoring opportunities are inevitable, is a significant obstacle right now. I wrote about it in this column yesterday, and Swinney acknowledged it last night during his teleconference.

It has some similarities to the last time Clemson ventured to Winston-Salem in what ended up being Tommy Bowden's last game as head coach. So, in some ways, we've come full circle in two years.

Now, it has to be noted that Wake Forest is pretty much crap this year. Big difference between this Deacons team and some of the previous groups Grobe has fielded.

But Wake has been much more competitive at home than on the road.

Here are the Deacs' results at home:

Presbyterian 53-13 W
Duke 54-48 W
Georgia Tech 24-20 L
Navy 28-27 L
Boston College 23-13 L

If the Tigers don't win this one, Swinney might want to toss the Road Rock into Lake Hartwell upon the team's return to Clemson.

On to some Monday linkage...

Gene Sapakoff fires up the Braggin' Rights Barometer and gets a readout of Gamecocks 24, Tigers 14.

South Carolina made Florida look bad, and the Gators did their part to cooperate. The Tigers should be worried -- Auburn and Clemson.

The 55-yard dagger field goal in Tallahassee will sting deep into the off-season. Clemson opened with a bang at Florida State and got stellar performances from Jamie Harper and DeAndre Hopkins that bode well for the future, ideally the next two weeks.

But the Tigers need a rout, not just a win, in Winston-Salem.

My friend Dan Collins of the Winston-Salem Journal gives his take on the Deacons' blowout loss at N.C. State on Saturday.

And it looks as if merely covering the Deacons brings the threat of bodily harm.

Jeff Schultz of the AJC says Georgia Tech is just as bad now as it was at Kansas.

Tackling isn’t any better. Blocking isn’t any better. Even the most basic of common-sense football moments — like, dude, the ball is on the ground, so fall on it — seem to leave players looking perplexed, like preschoolers trying to comprehend chemical engineering.

The New York Times explores just how much money Cam Newton's presence is worth to Auburn.

Time for some bowl projections...

Stewart Mandel has Clemson playing West Virginia in Charlotte.

The battle of high-risk hires. I like it.

Both of ESPN's bowl gurus have Clemson playing Air Force in the Independence Bowl.

Christmas in Shreveport ... lovely.



LW