Taking Care of Business
Still making too many mistakes, but the Tigers took care of business against Georgia Southern. We had a solid defensive game, giving up only 80 yards rushing and 3 completed passes for a total of 60 yards. Offensively, we moved the ball up and down the field, but mistakes kept us out of the end zone on the first three drives.
It looks as if using two quarterbacks virtually equally has paid off as Lawrence was more than ready to take the controls when Bryant went down. It doesn’t appear that Bryant’s injury is going to keep him out of the game at Ga Tech, but there’s no guarantee that he will start. All three quarterbacks played very well as we passed for almost 300 yards. But the biggest improvement in this game came with the running game. I’ve always maintained that we need to get the ball in Etienne’s hands more often. Prior to this game, he was averaging about five carries per game; this time he had 16 carries and picked up 162 yards and two touchdowns. That’s pretty efficient. Freshman Justin Ross showed that he may be every bit as good as Tee Higgins. He’s got excellent hands, size, and speed.
The only concern I have coming out of this game is with the offensive line. We’ve got the ability there in my opinion, but they aren’t performing up to their potential. Evidently, the coaches agree, as they sat the starters for a while at a point in the game where they wouldn’t normally start running in the second unit.
The only real surprise with this game was the weather. I certainly feel for those folks in the lower state and in eastern North Carolina, who took an awful beating (I have family there), but I’m grateful that Florence didn’t seem to be interested in participating in this game. She was a no-show in Clemson. What you see in the attached picture is what we had all day – bright sunshine with a nice breeze of 15-20 mph. The only effect it had on the game was to knock down the only punt we tried (a 32 yarder) and it may have hindered Huegel on the two field goal tries that he missed. I anticipated that the weather would have a major adverse effect on the attendance. I know of a few close friends from lower state that did not come up and fully expected to see a half-full stadium. Instead, we had nearly a full house and an announced attendance of 79,844.
I feel pretty good about our upcoming game with Ga Tech, even though it’s being played in Bobby Dodd Stadium. We’ve handled the triple option pretty well this year, and we’ve handled Ga Tech’s version of it for the past couple of years. I’m convinced that for any team to have a chance to beat us, they’re going to have to throw the ball a lot more than Ga Tech’s going to be willing or able to throw it. I look for our front four to absorb the blockers and our linebackers to make a lot of tackles. But still, I hate playing in Atlanta.
GO TIGERS!!!!
Dabo leads ’em out
