Playing catchup

If you write for a living, one of the worst things about coming back from vacation is learning to write again.

It's a lot like physical exercise: If you don't do it regularly, then a lot of time off is going to make you feel slow and out of shape.

The plan going in is always to do some sort of regular writing during vacation, just to keep the juices flowing. But when a boat and a lake some far-off family are involved, the plan tends to get lost a bit.

So pardon the huffing and puffing as I partake in the equivalent of a 10-mile run after sitting on the couch for a few weeks.

Having some time away allows for some reflection, and now might be an appropriate time to look back at what we were debating and discussing and wringing our hands over this time last year. College football has become such a big deal, and the wonders of the Internet have created an endless cycle of analysis and commentary to provide everyone their fix when absolutely nothing is going on.

A quick rewind to some summer suppositions from a year ago shows us that sometimes the importance and the drama can become inflated.

-- Remember when Kyle Parker's decision was being followed with breathless anticipation?

Parker looked really good in 2009 as a redshirt freshman, and he spent last summer trying to decide whether to play professional baseball full time or return to Clemson. Every media outlet that covers Clemson, including this one, chronicled the story with stop-the-presses fervor. Yours truly said Parker's return would be worth 2.5 wins, that the Tigers could be a six-win team without him.

As it turned out, the Tigers were a six-win team anyway. Parker absorbed a pulverizing hit in the third game at Auburn and suffered what at the time were classified as bruised ribs. After the season, he disclosed he'd suffered broken ribs. That, combined with a glaring lack of playmakers at receiver and an inability to make routine field goals, led to Clemson's first losing season since 1998.

-- Remember when Paul Johnson was a genius?

It was hard to dispute the notion after Johnson won 20 games and an ACC title his first two years with an oddball triple-option approach that had defensive coordinators pulling their hair out.

The offense averaged 323 rushing yards per game last year, but it wasn't the same after the loss of receiver Demaryius Thomas. That, combined with awful defense, the mid-season injury to quarterback Joshua Nesbitt and some bone-headed turnovers in the red zone, conspired to leave Johnson looking downright human with a 6-7 record.

Now even Johnson's most ardent supporters (including a couple of TI staffers) have to be wondering 1) Whether he'll be able to recruit the offensive skill necessary to make that offense dynamic, and 2) Whether the defense will ever be anything more than god-awful.

-- Speaking of bad defense, remember when Florida State's was hopeless?

This time last year, first-year coordinator Mark Stoops took over a disaster in Tallahassee. The Seminoles had allowed more than 30 points per game in 2009, and opponents had averaged 205 rushing yards per game in the final year under longtime boss Mickey Andrews.

Jimbo Fisher brings Stoops to town, and the feeling was that it'd take a while for him to revive the sinking ship. But while the Seminoles weren't great defensively, they were much improved -- and more improved than most observers thought possible.

Stoops sliced more than 10 points off the Seminoles' per-game average, and the per-game rushing average of 128 yards was plenty respectable. Opponents went from averaging 5.4 yards per carry in 2009 to a 3.4-yard clip in 2010.

-- Remember when N.C. State was headed for another losing season?

The prognosticators had anointed the Wolfpack the sexy pick in 2009, and the prognosticators were holding the Wolfpack accountable last summer after Tom O'Brien's team made us look stupid by finishing 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the ACC.

It didn't matter that Russell Wilson was returning for his junior season, or that the Wolpfack still had some nice pieces. N.C. State was branded a disappointment after the 2009 flameout, and that was influencing expectations for 2010.

The Wolfpack ended up winning nine games, including a heart-stopping triumph over Florida State and yet another victory over North Carolina, before grabbing the ninth victory with a bowl trouncing of West Virginia. Now O'Brien's team is intriguing again as we look to 2011.

-- Remember when Butch Davis was an ethical, virtuous, above-board coach who was getting it done the right way?

Ouch.

LW