Expectations

I actually slept very well last night after watching that ugly loss to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.   I felt a little guilty about that (sleeping well) for about five minutes this morning, until I thought  back to my expectations for this team at the beginning of the year.  I felt back in August that this team had a chance to be pretty good, maybe real good, especially on defense; but I had no expectations of them repeating as national champions, or even getting into the playoffs.  I had hopes, but certainly no real expectations.  After all, this was obviously a rebuilding year.

I’ve been somewhat amused today reading Facebook posts and listening to local talk radio at people arguing over all the ways and reasons we lost the game and trying to pinpoint the blame.  I also have thought back to a previous post (The Case for a Six or Eight-Team Playoff) where I questioned whether Alabama should even be in the playoffs.  Don’t get me wrong, now.  I never said that Alabama was not one of the four best teams in the country – I was merely pointing out that they benefited by losing to Auburn and not having to play in the SEC Championship game.  Alabama is clearly the premier football program in the country, and they played like it last night.  They were a better team than Clemson.  But, you know, we’re getting pretty darn close.

If you just look at the final score (24-6), it would seem that Alabama ate our grits last night.  I’m not going to try to lay blame, certainly not at any individual; but if you think about how the game transpired, it’s rather interesting.  Clemson played very poorly on special teams last night.  We couldn’t block them on kickoff returns, which led to excellent field position for Alabama throughout the game.  We also did not punt very well, which helped to create the disparity in field position.  Clemson’s offensive line was over-matched; they were badly beaten on just about every play.  Our running backs were unable to block the blitzes, especially those coming off the edge.  BUT, with all that negativity, Clemson was still two plays away from a 10-6 game coming down to that last drive where we were in position to do exactly what we did last year in the national championship game.  The two plays I’m referring to are the two turnovers off tipped passes that resulted in or directly led to 14 points.  Our defense played well enough to win last night; we just didn’t have it in other areas.

So, I’m encouraged by the belief that Clemson’s football program is in a very good place right now.  Does anyone who knows this team not believe that they will be a better team next year?  With what we have coming back and the new recruits coming in, Clemson is establishing itself as one of the premier four or five programs in the country for several years to come.  That doesn’t mean we’re going to replace Alabama at the top, but I firmly believe that we will be battling with them again in playoffs to come, and we haven’t won our last national championship.

Looking forward to Spring practice to see how some of these new players will fit in.

Go Tigers!!