1. Perhaps the most priceless snapshot of the day Saturday came five minutes after it was over as I was walking from the press box down to the West End Zone.
Most of the masses were pretty giddy as they poured from Death Valley after Chandler Catanzaro's game-winning field goal. But one older guy was walking by himself and had a shell-shocked look on his face, almost as if he'd just escaped a near-fatal car accident.
The only words out of his mouth: "Thank you, Jesus."
2. As I sat down to write after doing interviews, a couple of folks from the Wake Forest sports information department were gathering their belongings and quietly discussing the Deacons' squandering of a mammoth upset.
They couldn't seem to understand how a 43-yard field goal took seven seconds.
Same here.
Not that it would've mattered. But still ... when the refs take the time to review seemingly 58 plays during the game, you wonder why they let this one go. Looked to me as if three seconds were still on the clock when the ball went through.
Not that Clemson fans should apologize or anything; some of those missed holding calls were pretty bad.
3. Dabo Swinney doesn't seem all that concerned about Sammy Watkins' AC sprain in his right shoulder, but anytime you have a finely-tuned athlete and he's dealing with any kind of injury that restricts that tuning it's something to worry about at least a little.
E.J. Manuel suffered an AC injury to his non-throwing shoulder earlier this season and it forced him out of the Clemson game. The Seminoles had an open date before playing at Wake Forest, and Manuel played against the Deacons only because of an emergency after Clint Trickett got dinged. So that was basically three weeks on the shelf for Manuel.
Watkins' injury could be a lower-grade sprain, though. Here's a link that helps explain the different grades.
Assuming Watkins' is only a Grade 1 sprain, here's the typical situation:
A grade I sprain is first treated by removing the athlete from the sport in question if he/she is unable to continue to play. If the athlete is able to continue play, a protective pad should be placed over the joint to minimize the chance of further injury.
If the athlete is unable to continue, the RICES (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation, Support) principle should be employed. Ice the injury and place the athlete in a sling. Since the A- C joint is a strut, the weight of the arm needs to be removed from the joint. A sling will make the athlete more comfortable. If a sling is not available use an elastic wrap to secure and support the arm. If nothing is available, have the athlete place his/her hand in the waist band for their pants or shorts. Over the counter medications such as Advil® or Aleve® should be given to decrease pain and control inflammation.
Range of motion exercises should be instituted the day after injury. Strengthening exercises are begun as pain allows. The athlete will often be able to resume full activities after 7 to 10 days. If the athlete is unable to perform rehabilitation exercises after 2 to 3 days, an orthopaedic surgeon should be consulted. The joint should be padded prior to return to contact activities.
4. Some good quotes from the Wake Forest side of things after Saturday's game, courtesy of Deacons beat guy Dan Collins:
Safety Josh Bush: "It was really a beautiful disaster. Clemson is a great team, number 9 in the nation, and we're right there with them the whole game. We took the lead and just couldn't hold on to it. At the end, we just fell off."
Offensive tackle Dennis Godfrey: "It's like you're in the championship game, and the kid comes down with about four seconds left to hit a buzzer-beater to win by one. It's devastating."
5. Clemson carried into this season a six-year streak of Top 20 finishes in total defense, and we didn't think it would hold for a seventh straight season.
But we also didn't think the Tigers would slip this much. They're 59th nationally in the statistic, having given up 378 yards a game.
The worst number since 1975 was 394 yards a game given up by Reggie Herring's bunch in 2001.
6. N.C. State hasn't exactly lit it up offensively this year. The Wolfies rank 100th nationally in total offense with 331 yards a game.
Since putting up 406 yards in the sixth game against Central Michigan, here's what N.C. State has done:
345 yards against Virginia (28-14 win)
166 yards against Florida State (34-0 loss)
290 yards against North Carolina (13-0 win)
267 yards against Boston College (14-0 loss)
The Wolfpack can't run the ball; it ranks 114th nationally in yards per carry (3.05) and 111th in yards per game (102).
Then again, Wake Forest couldn't run the ball either before Saturday.
7. Clemson is ranked No. 7 and South Carolina No. 14 in the AP poll that was released Sunday, and pardon me for looking ahead.
We're barreling toward just the second Top 15 matchup between these two rivals in the history of the rivalry. The first and only was in 1987 when the No. 12 Gamecocks played host to the No. 8 Tigers and won 20-7.
Just four times have the two teams been ranked when they've faced each other: 2000, 1988, 1987 and 1979.
8. Guess I'm eating a little crow after Boise State's home loss to TCU. Been saying for a while that Boise might be the best team in the country, but can't make that case now.
The Broncos lost when their kicker shanked a field goal, but it shouldn't have gotten to that point because the refs called a bogus pass-interference call on fourth down to give Boise new life.
9. Eating more crow because I thought Stanford would beat up Oregon on Saturday night.
Eh, not so much.
Boy is Oregon fun to watch with all that speed. A lot of people try to make Chip Kelly's system seem complicated, but it actually seems quite simple:
Send trips to either side, forcing the defense to take a guy from the box. Hand it to LaMichael James and he runs to the weak side. Against six-man boxes, he usually just has to make one guy miss before he's off to the races.
And Darron Thomas is a better passer than people think.
I'm guessing Clemson isn't interested in facing Oregon anytime soon.
10. One of the worst calls you'll ever see is from this hit by Nigel Bradham that drew not only a personal-foul, but an ejection, in Florida State's win over Miami.
What is this, powder puff?
LW
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