"All the news that's fit to link"

"All the news that's fit to link"
"All the news that's fit to link"

Friday, August 31, 2012

Opening-day thoughts


During the NCAA basketball tournament or College World Series -- or, heaven forbid, opening day in Major League Baseball -- I always get a kick out of it when folks call it the best time of the sports year.

No.

This, folks, is the best time of year. And it ain't even close.

Welcome back, college football. Gonna be a fun ride. Always is.

A few thoughts from opening day:

-- Tremendous effort by Connor Shaw, fighting off excruciating pain to help lead his team to a hard-fought win at Vanderbilt. There are questions about this kid's ability to make pressure throws from the pocket. There are questions about his durability over the course of a season (more on that in a moment). But there should be no questions about his toughness and commitment, and that goes a long way with teammates. He seems to be everything Stephen Garcia wasn't in that category.

-- The obvious positive to running the zone-read stuff with Shaw and Marcus Lattimore is that defenses have to honor both as running threats. Shaw is the jitterbug type, and he's capable of picking up large chunks if you focus too much on Lattimore.

The negative to this is Shaw's exposure to injury. Think of past SEC teams that have made the zone-read thing a staple, and most have done it with big, physical quarterbacks who could take a pounding. Garcia was one of those -- essentially a fullback who could lower his shoulder and plow linebackers and safeties. Shaw is not one of those, and he's going to take a lot of shots.

-- Looks like South Carolina's offensive line has a long way to go, particularly at left tackle. Brandon Shell was beaten repeatedly before getting benched in the second half. When you're having to replace your starting left tackle with your starting right tackle in the middle of an opener, there has to be concern there. And Vanderbilt was getting regular penetration with a four-man rush.

-- Jadeveon Clowney is a man among babies. And there were a lot of babies trying to block him. He toyed with them in the first half, doing just about everything he wanted.

Sammy Watkins and Jadeveon Clowney might be exhibits A and B for college players being NFL-ready as freshmen and sophomores.

And South Carolina's defensive line as a whole looks darned stoudt even without Melvin Ingram and Travian Robertson.

-- Lattimore looked good to me, but I agree with David Pollack that the presence of a bulky knee brace creates some doubts.

-- Alshon Jeffery was a tremendous weapon, even last year when he seemed overweight and out of shape. His size and playmaking ability downfield made it imperative for defenses to devote extra attention to him, and his biggest strength -- lunging and ripping down passes that were thrown in his general vicinity -- made life so much easier on his quarterbacks. They don't have that option anymore, and it hurts them.

-- A little surprised South Carolina didn't do more to get Bruce Ellington involved.

-- Big fan of James Franklin, and looking forward to the day that he presides over a program with maximum resources. But it looked like Vandy got a bit too cute with its play-calling at times, particularly the throwback pass that resulted in an interception when the 'Dores were poised to score in the first quarter.

-- Player South Carolina's defense misses most from last season: Antonio Allen.

-- Pretty good first run by Pollack. Anyone is better than Craig James, and Pollack is knowledgeable. But a major point deduction for saying "peel their ears back" at one point last night.

-- We knew Mike Leach had a tough task at Washington State, but raise your hand if you thought his team would go without a touchdown last night at BYU.

That had happened just twice in his 10 years as a head coach before last night.

-- Our Rivals friends in Auburn present an optimistic view and pessimistic view of Saturday and beyond.

Some of the former:

The defensive front: Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder has established an entirely new paradigm along the line of scrimmage and it has nothing to do with allowing opponents to dictate tempo.

Auburn will aim to dictate tempo by challenging the offense at every turn. There will be blitzes, sure, but opponents will be feeling heat most of the time regardless. VanGorder will play the guys who get up the field and undermine the opponent's plan.

If that happens with any semblance of consistency, the Tigers will surprise people this season. A proper pass rush, not one that begins and ends with Corey Lemonier, will lower rushing yards allowed and will help the secondary cut pass yards allowed by a significant margin.

The depth is there. The strength is there. The belief is there. The numbers will be there, too.


Some of the latter:

Scot Loeffler will be learning on the fly. Prior to landing a job at Auburn earlier this year, Loeffler had less than one full season of experience as a coordinator.

It was at Temple, where he had a dominating back named Bernard Pierce. The junior rushed for 1,481 yards, 27 touchdowns and parlayed that performance into an NFL contract worth $2.65 million.

Loeffler knew he had a star in Pierce, knew he lacked front-line talent at quarterback and didn't overthink anything. Temple ran the ball 77 percent of the time and went 9-4.

It was a great season.

Loeffler has experience in the NFL (one season as a quarterbacks coach with the Detroit Lions) and worked closely with Tim Tebow at Florida, so it's not like he's a newcomer to the world of coaching. The more pressing issue is that he hasn't been a play-caller for very long and it's reasonable to assume that he's going to make mistakes along the way - particularly during his first month in that role.

It's easy to simulate situations in an office. Making adjustments on the fly in a crowded stadium with every player hanging on your words presents a far more challenging obstacle.

The truth is that nobody knows if Loeffler has what it takes to be a cunning strategist. At this point, he's a quarterback guru with the aptitude, experience and confidence to become a sharp play-caller.


-- Special thanks to the folks at the Cherokee, Anderson and Columbia Clemson clubs. Did speaking engagements at all three this week, and a lot of good folks at each stop. Flattering to see how many people out there are loyal, longtime subscribers to TI. Thank you all for the support, and hope I didn't put anyone to sleep.

LW



Thursday, August 30, 2012

Checking in with Auburn


By Thursday morning of game week, most of the game-week preparation is done. Players and coaches get to decompress, relax and freshen up for Saturday.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Catching up with Brownell


Here we are, three days away from the season opener, and basketball isn't on the minds of many Clemson fans. That's usually the way it works here; football is king, and only when it is over do people really start talking about and thinking about basketball.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Petrino's next move, and links


I'm far from the first person who's speculated that Bobby Petrino could end up at Kentucky if the Joker Phillips regime continues to tank.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Checking up on Virginia Tech


Clemson doesn't get enough credit for the utter destruction it brought on Virginia Tech last year.

Urban and The Chad


As we all know, Urban Meyer developed a pretty strong man crush on Chad Morris last year.

Meyer was in town on back-to-back weekends serving as an ESPN analyst for Clemson's wins over Auburn and Florida State, and he gushed about Morris' offense.

Start the presses


It seems newspaper sports columnists aren't what they used to be.

Auburn's QB quandary


Certainly there are reasons for concern on Clemson's side as it gears up for the opener against Auburn.

The Hog Kool-Aid, and links


Spit out a little of my coffee yesterday when reading predictions from AP national college football writer Ralph Russo, who picked Arkansas to reach the BCS title game in 2012.

Copycats, and links


In the article on Brent Venables posted a little while ago, we talked about the daunting task of defensive coordinators who happen to be trying to make a living during the era of offensive innovation we've seen for the past decade or so.

Bold words from Tallahassee, and links

(Photo by The Orlando Sentinel)

The actual value of bulletin-board material is questionable, because how long can the motivation from such things last over a three-hour game?

VanGorder's concerns, and links


We've recently touched on Brian VanGorder's task at Auburn, so pardon if some of this is an overdose.

But his hair is simply irresistible...

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Monday, August 13, 2012

On 40 times, and links


For years and years and years, an assortment of routines in college football have remained the same because, well, that's the way they've always been done.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Virginia Tech's injury woes, and links


Tariq Edwards and D.J. Coles are viewed as key components to the 2012 season at Virginia Tech, but right now it looks like the linebacker and receiver are still hobbled a bit.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Brian VanGorder's thinking cap


Auburn fans are excited about the addition of defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, and not just because of the slick 'do he brings to The Plains.

Urban's renewal, and links

(Photo by USA Today)

A lot of people don't like Urban Meyer, fair or not.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Television and college football


For a while now I've believed Andy Staples is among the best at analyzing college football and all the forces that shape it.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Will Maryland stink again? And other camp musings







On a Saturday last October, the ACC's worst team (10 losses) was up 18 on the ACC's best team (10 wins). Twice.

Clemson ended up roaring back to win at Maryland 56-45, and the fact that the Terps were up big on the Tigers at two points in the game probably said as much about college football as Clemson football. Crazy things like that happen, and that's what makes it such a compelling sport.

Half of the ACC begins August camp today -- Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, Virginia, Wake Forest -- and to many the Seminoles are the most intriguing story to follow because they're once again facing great expectations.

But FSU's paper dynasty is a bit old. What of Maryland? How in the holy heck does a team finish 2-10? How in the holy heck does an ACC team win just one ACC game?

It was their second 2-10 season in three years, by the way. Ralph Friedgen served up the first clunker in 2009, then rebounded with nine wins in 2010, only to be fired. Doesn't make much sense.

Randy Edsall's honeymoon didn't last long, evidenced by his decision to can both coordinators after his first season in College Park.

But Sammy Watkins showed at Clemson last year how much one sensational player can transform a program, and there are some hopes of Stefon Diggs doing something similar at Maryland.

He has not played a snap in a college game, won't be chatting with reporters during camp after today's media day and the history of highly touted wide receivers making an instant impact is spotty at best. There's reason to doubt Diggs will be the dominant on-field story for the Terps.

He'll still likely be a constant subject. Maryland landed only one other top-10 recruit in the last decade (Melvin Alaeze), and he didn't even make it to College Park. For those who obsess over recruiting rankings, Diggs' presence dwarfs everything else. For those who care more about Saturdays than Signing Day ...


Patrick Stevens did some really interesting research on just how realistic it is to expect blue-chip receivers to make an instant splash. And the history makes Watkins' 2011 feats all the more remarkable.

In Tallahassee, one of the objectives is to get Karlos Williams onto the field. At the risk of hyperbole, Williams seems like a pretty close approximation of a freak of nature.

Heather Dinich gives her take on Boston College entering camp.

In Winston-Salem, my man Dan Collins gives some thoughts on the Deacons.

And finally, ESPN shuffles its college football announcing lineup after the departure of Urban Meyer and Bob Davie.

One of those guys will be sorely missed. One will not.

LW

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This post was edited on 8/6 11:02 AM by Larry_Williams

Friday, August 3, 2012

Georgia Tech's WR question, and Friday links


One of the most memorable stats of the 2012 college football preseason is this one:

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Meanwhile, back in Norman...


Invariably when there's a coaching change, whether it's a head guy or an assistant, the new guy gets the benefit of the doubt while the old guy gets the benefit of, well, nothing.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The mysterious Mustafa Greene


Two years ago, Mustafa Greene quickly became one of the more intriguing figures in the ACC for what he was doing on the field. Now his story is intriguing for its mystery and uncertainty.