Rub The Rock- 110% Clemson Football

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2011-05-17T19:12:00.001-04:00

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CLEMSON TIGERS AT NFL COMBINE WRAP UP

2009-02-27T11:43:00.002-05:00

Since Wednesday's article covering Clemson Tigers football safeties Chris Clemons and Michael Hamlin's workouts at the NFL Combine, one additional statistic has been released: The bench press results. This drill is where the player attempts to bench 225 lbs. for as many reps. as possible. Clemons finished with 19 while Hamlin completed 17. The average number of reps. for the 22 participating players at the safety position was 18.27, so Clemons was just above the average and Hamlin just below it.

Clemons was the only one of the six participating Tigers who was listed as a top performer in any of the drills. His 40 yard dash time of 4.41 ranked #1 across every position group at the Combine except for WR's, who only had five players run it faster. It's interesting to note that we didn't hear much about Clemons' speed during his playing days at Clemson. When you think of speed, Jacoby Ford and C.J. Spiller come to mind but both of those guys are also track stars. Clemons definitely made a positive impression with his run and surely helped his draft status.

One of the websites that specializes in NFL mock drafts, Walter Football, has moved Clemons up to an early 3rd round selection. They have Clemons going as the 71st overall player selected by the Oakland Raiders and even said "Oakland may as well begin printing Clemons jerseys". The Raiders evidently have a big need at safety due to the release of veteran Gibril Wilson and the fact that Michael Huff will be a salary cap casualty. I don't give much credibility to these mock drafts but it's still interesting to look at them.

There is a news article in the Boston Herald regarding the Patriots potential interest in Clemson WR Aaron Kelly. New England has Randy Moss and Wes Welker but the Patriots will likely want to add some depth because 3rd stringer Jabar Gaffney is a free agent this year. The article mentions that Kelly indicated at the Combine that he actually had talks with the Pats but it's still a couple of months before the NFL Draft. NFL teams are still ascertaining position needs as the rosters will continue to get shuffled in the off season as a result of free agency.

CBS Sports.com lists the Top Draft 2009 prospects and updated players rankings this morning based on their performance at the NFL Combine. The player's "stock" could have stayed equal, risen or fallen. Here is how the six Clemson Tigers football players are listed:

Dorell Scott
Overall rank: 94
Position rank: 7
Projected round selected: 3
Stock: Up

Michael Hamlin
Overall rank: 96
Position rank: 4
Projected round selected: 3
Stock: Equal

James Davis
Overall rank: 134
Position rank: 11
Projected round selected: 4-5
Stock: Equal

Chris Clemons
Overall rank: 175
Position rank: 8
Projected round selected: 5-6
Stock: Up

Aaron Kelly
Overall rank: 176
Position rank: 22
Projected round selected: 5-6
Stock: Equal

Cullen Harper
Overall rank: 274
Position rank: 15
Projected round selected: 7 or free agent
Stock: Equal

CLEMSON FOOTBALL PLAYERS AT NFL COMBINE PART III

2009-02-25T00:20:00.003-05:00

Tuesday was the final day of the 2009 NFL Combine and Clemson Tigers football safeties Chris Clemons and Michael Hamlin participated in the workouts and drills televised on NFL Network. Going into the combine, Hamlin was the more highly regarded player of the two and in my opinion was the player who would probably be the first of all the six particpating Tigers selected in the draft. This may still hold true but Clemons definitely impressed with his 40 yd. dash time and performed reasonably well in the live drills on Tuesday. This will certainly help improve his status.

First, let's take a look at Chris Clemons. He measured 6'0 1/8 and weighed in at 208 lbs. On the Clemson roster, he is listed at 6'1, 210 lbs. The big news coming out of today's workouts at the Combine was Clemons' 40 yard dash time of 4.41. He actually ran an unofficial 4.41 on his first attempt and a 4.40 on his second. There were a couple of players in the 4.3's ahead of him but evidently those times did not hold up, as he is listed on NFL.com as the fastest of all safeties and defensive backs who participated.

Michael Hamlin measured 6'2 and weighed in at 214 lbs. He is listed at 6'3 205 lbs. on both the depth chart and the last regular season game roster, so he evidently packed on about 10 lbs. at some point between the two measurements. He may have lost an inch in height as well but I doubt it. Perhaps the most recent measurement at Clemson was just inaccurate. You can rest assured that if a player's height is inaccurate on the roster or depth chart, it will be on the high side and not the low.

Clemons was also one of five safeties who participated in the broad jump and was measured at 10'7". This distance was right in the middle of the five with the two longer ones at 10'9" and 11'0" and two shorter ones at 10'6" and 10'5". At this point, it does not appear that Chris participated in any of the other timed or measured events. In fact, only 6 of the 23 players participated in any timed/measured drills besides the 40 yd. dash and broad jump.

Hamlin ran a 4.60 in the 40 yard dash, which was slightly higher than the 4.57 average of the 23 participating players. The announcers on the NFL Network and especially Deion Sanders made reference to the speed of the WR group at the Combine this year. Sanders mentioned that if the player ran over a 4.50, they would have a very difficult time against wide receivers in the NFL. Therefore, I think this is one area that Hamlin can impove on in the weeks leading up to the Pro Day at Clemson in March.

In the first field drill, players lined up and had to backpedal 10 yards and then watch a coach in the middle of the field with a football holding it to the right or left and turn accordingly. Times did not matter in the drill. The object was to stay low, make the right/left transitions fluid and quick and try to stay on the same vertical line. I noticed that Clemons was the only player who took very big backsteps. In fact, he only took 8 steps back to cover 10 yards whereas every other player I observed took 10-12. Hamlin was not featured in this drill as NFL Network went to commercial.

In the second drill, players lined up and backpedaled while again watching a coach in the middle of the field moving the football to their left or right. The object was to turn the hips in a fluid motion and stay low. At the end of the drill, the player makes a break to the sideline, tries to catch a pass at its highest point, remain inbounds and then sprint towards the end zone. Clemons was only shown completing the last half of the drill due to a breakaway for film study but he did catch the ball. Hamlin looked good backpedaling, made good, fluid left/right transitions and caught the pass.

The next drill was the same as the previous one except it was run to the opposite sideline. This and the previous drill were designed to simulate defending a post corner route. Clemons again looked somewhat awkward in his backpedal by taking such large steps. He also looked to be a little too upright but he made good direction changes and caught the pass. Hamlin had the faster, shorter backsteps and looked more natural in the drill. He stayed low and used good body mechanics and technique.

The final drill basically simulated defending a hitch and go. The player backpedaled 10 yards, immediately had to reverse direction and come forward five yards, then immediately reverse direction again into a full sprint and catch a pass that was floated slightly over their heads. Clemons was not featured in this drill due to a commercial break. Deion Sanders criticized Hamlin for planting his back foot instead of his front and also for stopping his feet during the direction change. One of the other announcers mentioned that this could be due to the way that he was coached.

Overall, I believe Clemons improved his standing with the 40 time alone. I'm not sure if the NFL teams see the large backsteps as a weakness. I think with him playing S instead of CB, it's not as much of an issue because his job is not to play press man but to provide help over the top. His closing speed will obviously be a big benefit there. I doubt Hamlin hurt himself too much but working on his 40 yd. dash times is a must before the Pro Day. Today concluded the NFL Combine coverage but I will do a final wrap up on all six participating players coming up in the next couple of days.

CLEMSON FOOTBALL PLAYERS AT NFL COMBINE PART II

2009-02-24T01:38:00.006-05:00

The NFL combine featured Clemson Tigers football DT Dorell Scott participating in drills on Monday. Scott measured at 6'3 1/4 and weighed in at 312 lbs. He was listed on the CU roster and the last regular season game depth chart at 6'3, 310. While neither of Dorell's two 40 yard dash drills were televised, he ran a blazing (for a DT) 4.95. This was the 3rd quickest time out of all 24 participating DT's, with two players ahead of him tying at 4.89. Scott's time was one of only 4 in the entire group that was under 5 seconds.

Dorell was not listed in the NFL.com's top performers in the drill because DT's are lumped in with DE's, who are typically faster, under the broader DL category. Just a side note here: The reason that Scott's dashes were not part of the NFL Network's featured coverage was because he was player #45 and BC's B.J. Raji was player #43. Raji is one of the more acclaimed DT's at the combine and both times after his dashes, the network went to commercial. So, it was just an unfortunate luck of the draw with respect to Scott's player number being right behind him.

In the bench press drill, Scott completed 29 reps with 225 lbs. The average of the 19 participating DT's was 28.4, which put him right in the middle of the group. Ga. Tech's Darryl Richards only completed 17 reps and finished at the bottom, while Michigan's Terrance Taylor completed the most with 37. Scott obviously didn't hurt his "stock" with this performance and combined with his speed in the 40 yd. dash, probably impressed the scouts and NFL personnel in attendance.

Dorell did get some "face time" on tv in three other drills. The first was an agility drill that required a lateral shuffle over a set of bags and then running forward and back through the lanes in the bags before finishing with a short sprint. I thought Scott looked good in this one. Next was a pass-rushing drill that featured two "dummy" bags that the players used a rip or swim technique on while trying maintain a tight arc around the second bag. Again, I thought Dorell performed well.

In the next drill, I thought Scott did fantastic. This drill required the players to stay low and keep good form while delivering a blow to three standing dummy bags and then tapping another bag on the turf that was in betweent those. It sounds odd and it looked odd but nevertheless, Dorell performed as well as anyone in the drill and again I think again could have only helped his stock rise. There were many players bobbing up and down who were using poor technique and body mechanics.

The final drill was another one emphasizing agility and footwork. The player lines up in a 3 point stance and has a coach five yards in front of him. The player fires off the line and has to make a hard cut either left or right but doesn't know which way until the coach points in that direction. The player then makes another hard cut between a set of cones and then finishes with a 20 yard dash. I sound like a broken record but in my opinion, I thought Scott did great in this drill as well.

Please click below where you see "comments" and post any additional information, statistics, questions, comments or anything relevant. Today is the final day of NFL Combine coverage and I will post an article later on how Michael Hamlin and Chris Clemons performed.

CLEMSON'S PRO DAY ANNOUNCED

2009-02-24T01:37:00.005-05:00

The NFL announced on Monday that Clemson's Pro Day workout will be held on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. If you are unfamiliar with the term, a Pro Day is basically where NFL scouts and coaches are allowed to come to various college and university campuses around the country and observe players participating in the drills that are featured at the Combine.

The difference between a Pro Day and the NFL Combine is that the Combine is held in a central location and is by invitation only. Therefore, the Pro Day gives both uninvited players along with players who participated in the Combine the opportunity to work out. The Pro Days generally have a huge turnout at the major universities and are some players' only opportunity to get an "interview" before the NFL Draft.

CLEMSON FOOTBALL PLAYERS AT NFL COMBINE

2009-02-23T03:17:00.004-05:00

As a Clemson Tigers football fan, I was anxiously awaiting the NFL Network's coverage of the NFL Combine workouts for QB's, WR's and RB's on Sunday. My sole purpose in tuning in to the three hour segment was to see how QB Cullen Harper, WR Aaron Kelly and RB James Davis performed in the workouts. I must say that I was very disappointed in how miniscule the coverage was for the entire group of RB's. As a matter of fact, the only RB drills that were even shown were a couple of long and vertical jumps and Beanie Wells of Ohio St. was featured in both.

Let me say that I am a big fan of the NFL Network and couldn't live without it. However, I am bewildered by the fact that they devoted perhaps 10 minutes of the entire segment to RB coverage. 5 minutes was on Beanie Wells falling backwards and forwards trying to complete a long jump. The other 5 minutes was Beanie Wells and another player in the vertical jump drill. I'm biased about wanting to see Davis but there were 32 RB's present. Surely UGA fans wanted to see Moreno, 'Bama fans wanted to see Coffee and UConn fans wanted to see the nation's leading rusher, Donald Brown.

Moving on, QB Cullen Harper was measured at 6'3 and weighed in at 225 lbs. He is listed on the Clemson roster at 6'4, 225 lbs. Harper received the most "face time" of any of the three players. Early in the segment, he was shown in live drills throwing two passes to different WR's running a deep post corner route. Harper completed the first pass although it was slightly underthrown. The second pass was also a completion and hit the receiver in stride. Both passes also allowed the WR's to stay in bounds and turn upfield instead of leading the receiver out of bounds. Harper's 40 yd. dash time was one of the slower among QB's at 5.01 and he bench pressed 225 lbs. 19 times.

WR Aaron Kelly measured 6'4 1/2 and weighed 204 lbs. He packed on some weight for the combine since the Clemson roster lists him as 6'5, 190 lbs. Kelly got some face time running that deep post corner route and catching a ball thrown by Fresno St. QB Tom Brandstater. Aaron ran a decent route and had to really stretch out for the ball, catch it on his fingertips and pull it in. He also had the presence of mind to drag his toe to get two feet in before his momentum carried him out of bounds. Kelly was a top performer among WR's in the 40 yard dash, posting a 4.49 time. He had a 38'' vertical jump, which was in the middle of his group. Aaron bench pressed 225 lbs. 11 times, which was near the bottom of the 21 participating WR's.

RB James Davis measured 5'11 and weighed in at 218 lbs. He is listed at 5'11 and 215 lbs. on the Clemson roster. As I mentioned earlier, it's unfortunate that we didn't even catch a glimpse of him in the NFL Network's coverage. I do know that Davis ran a 4.61 40 yd. dash and the average among the 23 participating RB's was 4.58. James also bench pressed 225 lbs. 17 times while the average among the 23 participating RB's in that drill was 21. I've read an unconfirmed report that his vertical jump was 33''. If this is true, it would put him in a tie for worst out of the 15 participating RB's.

Keep in mind that some of these players' drill performance statistics are subject to change as they become "official". It's also important to note that not all players in each position group elected to participate in all of the drills. The players' performance statistics are therefore relative only to the number of players who did participate but it's subjective in terms of comparing them to the entire group who will be eligible for the draft. There is such a limited amount of information available at this time that it's impossible to know how the NFL personnal have "graded" our guys and whether they helped our hurt their "stock". I will do an update as more info. becomes available.

UPCOMING INTERVIEW WITH DEXTER McCLEON

2009-02-20T15:34:00.001-05:00

The good news just keeps on coming! I'm very excited to announce that an interview with former Clemson Tiger football All-American, NFL star and Super Bowl Champion Dexter McCleon will be coming up next week! Be sure to check it out and let all of your friends, relatives and co-workers who are Clemson Tigers football fans know about it. It should be a very interesting interview. I'm really looking forward to it. Go Tigers!

20,000 PAGE LOADS FOR RUB THE ROCK-110% CLEMSON FOOTBALL!

2009-02-20T15:06:00.006-05:00

I'm excited to announce that RubTheRock has now had 20,000 page loads since I started tracking it just over 11 weeks ago! The site itself is only 13 weeks old, so it's still in its infancy and will hopefully continue to grow. Many thanks to all the loyal readers and especially to those who have helped spread the word about the site to all of these Tiger Football fans.

RUB THE ROCK- 110% CLEMSON FOOTBALL IS NOW ON FACEBOOK

2009-02-20T14:41:00.004-05:00

Rub The Rock-110% Clemson Football is now on Facebook! If you are a member, you can now view the page and become a fan. You can post on the wall, start a discussion and become friends with other fans of Rub The Rock. If you are not already a member of Facebook, it's easy to join. Just go to http://www.facebook.com/ and click on "sign up".

CLEMSON FOOTBALL TRIVIA QUIZ

2009-02-18T19:37:00.005-05:00

Here is a trivia quiz designed to test your knowledge of the history of Clemson Tigers Football. The questions begin with the foundation of the program and end with the modern era. Some of the questions are fairly easy while others you may find extremely difficult. The answers are posted at the bottom of the quiz. Good luck!

1. In what year was the first Clemson football game played?
2. What color were the original uniforms?
3. Which Clemson head football coach originated the center snap, handoff, double lateral and the "flea-flicker" while leading Clemson to a 19-3-2 record during his four seasons from 1900-1903?
4. True or False: Clemson and SC suspended their rivalry in football for six years due to an altercation between fans after a game in the early 1900's.
5. Name the four positions that the legendary Banks McFadden played for Clemson
6. Who was the only head coach in Clemson football history to win the conference championship in his first year?
7. What did Clemson football head coach Frank Howard throw into each of the four corners of Memorial Stadium as it was being built?
8. In a game against Boston College in 1948, this LB that Clemson head football coach Frank Howard called "Dumb Dumb" hit a BC player so hard it knocked him out of his shoes and out of the game. He went on to knock three other BC players out of the game and prompted the BC QB to plead with the ref to do something about it. Name him.
9. True or False: It is SC state law that the Clemson Tigers and SC Gamecocks must play each other in football every year.
10. Clemson was one of the seven original members of the ACC formed in 1953. Name the other six.
11. What was the rivalry between the Clemson and SC football teams referred to up until 1960?
12. The ACC passed a rule in 1960 which required ACC student athletes to have a minimum SAT score of what?
13. In what year did the Clemson football team begin rubbing Howard's Rock before their home games?
14. True or False: During Clemson head football coach Hootie Ingram's (Howard's successor) tenure for three seasons from 1970-1972, the Tigers only ran down The Hill one time.
15. Who caught the TD pass in 1977 which ended the Tigers' 18-year bowl drought and gave them a victory over the Gamecocks 31-27?
16. In Danny Ford's first game as head football coach at Clemson, his team defeated Ohio State University in the Gator Bowl. Who was the Clemson player who intercepted a pass and then got punched by OSU coach Woody Hayes?
17. True or False: SC's Heisman Trophy winning RB, George Rogers, never scored a TD against the Tigers defense in his entire career.
18. During the Clemson Tigers' 1981 National Championship season, the Tigers defense set the school record (which still stands to this day) for what category or statistic?
19. What was the name of the infamous gadget play that FSU coach Bobby Bowden used against Clemson in 1988?
20. Prior to Ken Hatfield's first year as Clemson head football coach in 1990, the Tigers had never lost a game on the gridiron to what conference opponent?
21. Tommy West was the head football coach of what university before coming to Clemson?
22. Who holds the Clemson record for rushing yards by a QB?
23. There was only one team which shutout Clemson during Tommy Bowden's career as head football coach. Name the team.
24. Name the Clemson QB who never lost to the Gamecocks during his entire four year playing career.
25. Gaines Adams was selected by what team as the fourth overall selection in the 2007 NFL Draft?

Answers: 1.1896 2. Purple+gold 3. John Heisman 4. True 5. QB, RB, DB, P 6. Frank Howard 7. Chewing tobacco 8. Stephen "Wyndie" Wyndham 9. True 10. MD, Duke, UNC, NCSU, WF, SC 11. Big Thursday 12. 800 13. 1967 14. True 15. Jerry Butler 16. Charlie Bauman 17. True 18. Turnovers 19. Puntrooskie 20. UVA 21. Univ. Tenn. Chattanooga 22. Woodrow Dantzler 23. UGA 24. Charlie Whitehurst 25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

How did you score?

0-10: Not too good

11-15: Not too bad

16-20: Impressive

21-25: The CU Sports Information office wants to speak with you about a job

Click on COMMENT to let everyone know how you did!

UPDATE ON AARON KELLY AND NFL COMBINE

2009-02-17T01:35:00.005-05:00

In the article on Clemson football players in the 2009 NFL Draft that I posted on Sunday and updated yesterday, I mentioned that Aaron Kelly's name was mysteriously absent from the list of participating players at the 2009 NFL Combine which begins this week. After I checked the list at the NFL's official website, I went to a Clemson msg. board and inquired whether anyone had information on Kelly and/or why his name was missing. I then received a link to an affiliated NFL Combine website that showed Kelly on the official invite list.

Since it was an invite list and not the list of participating players, I thought maybe he had chosen not to attend, gotten injured recently when working out, who knows. In order to clear the matter up once and for all, I sent Kelly an email and told him of the confusion. Aaron did reply to me and confirmed that he will in fact be in Indianapolis on Thursday and will participate. Good news. Perhaps it was just an error on the webmaster's part.

Although I will be covering how Tigers (Hamlin, Scott, Davis, Harper, Kelly and Clemmons) are doing at the NFL Combine in upcoming articles, you can tune in to the NFL Network and watch live coverage of the event beginning on Thursday. Note: RubTheRock is not affiliated with, does not endorse and is not compensated (although I wish I was) by the NFL in any way.

As far as our players are concerned, Thursday through Saturday are designated for things like orientation, x-rays, measurements, meetings, exams and interviews. The real action is Sunday through Tuesday with the workouts, featuring the 40 yd. dash, bench press, vertical/broad jump and position drills. Here is the NFL Network's broadcast schedule for the workouts by position and here's wishing the best of luck to our guys:

Sunday- starting at 11 a.m. E.S.T.
QB (Harper)
WR (Kelly)
RB (Davis)
Monday- starting at 11 a.m. E.S.T.
DL (Scott)
Tuesday- starting at 11 a.m. E.S.T.
DB (Hamlin and Clemmons)

Want to add a comment, ask a question or start a discussion? Please click on COMMENT. Aaron Kelly photo courtesy of: Jonathan Jordan- thank you!

CLEMSON FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN NFL DRAFT

2009-02-15T19:05:00.008-05:00

The 2009 NFL Draft is coming up in about two months and several Tigers that played on the 2008 team have a chance of being selected by one of the 32 NFL teams. I posted an article back in late December with projections from several popular websites with mock NFL drafts. Since that time, many NFL draft prospects have played in a bowl game (all of our players) and many also participated in the East West All Star Game (Kelly) or the Under Armour Senior Bowl (Hamlin, Davis and Harper).

Therefore, I thought it would be interesting to look at updated projections that take those games and other factors such as injuries, etc. into account. Based on my research on these sites and the fact that four out of the five following players were invited to a post season all-star type of game, I believe the Clemson players who probably have the best chance of being drafted are (in no particular order): Michael Hamlin, James Davis, Dorrell Scott, Aaron Kelly, Cullen Harper and Chris Clemmons.

It's important to note that between now and the draft which begins April 24, there are two other important events that take place. The first is the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine, which begins this Wednesday, Feb.18. This event, according to NFL.com, is "the annual job fair for prospective new NFL players" where they're put through tests, drills and interviews. Over 300 of the very best college football players across the nation are invited to the event.

The second event is the college "Pro Day" workouts. These take place at various college and university campuses across the nation between March 1-April 2. While these are one-day events that are not as thorough nor exhaustive as the Combine, they are still very important and give NFL personnel the chance to evaluate prospects. Given that these two events have yet to take place, I will update the projections once more in mid-April.

One interesting sidenote is that Aaron Kelly is not listed as an invited participant in the NFL Combine on the NFL.com website. Furthermore, I checked their site for the NFL Pro Day workout participants at the university closest to Clemson (Furman) and his hometown (Georgia Tech) as well as every other location across the country. Aaron is not listed anywhere. I've sent him a message, hope to get a reply soon and will post an update if and when I do.

As for my personal projections, I believe Hamlin will be the first Clemson player taken- probably in the 2nd or 3rd round. Scott will likely go in the 3rd round, Davis in the 4th or 5th and Harper in the 5th or 6th. The wild card is Kelly. He could go as early as the 4th, as late as the 7th or not at all. It's hard to believe, considering his stats and accolades but I think his size (190 lbs.) is what NFL teams are questioning.

These draft sites only have the first 3 rounds projected thus far, with the exception of NFL Draft Site. Here's how our players are projected:

MICHAEL HAMLIN- S
Walter Football- early 3rd round pick, 66th overall
NFL Draft Source- late 3rd round pick, 87th overall
Consensus Draft Services- late 3rd round pick, 87th overall
NFL Draft Site- mid 3rd round pick- 71st overall

JAMES DAVIS- RB
Walter Football- late 3rd round pick, 92nd overall
NFL Draft Source- not listed in any of their 3 rounds
Consensus Draft Services- not listed in any of their 3 rounds
NFL Draft Site- early 4th round pick, 99th overall

DORRELL SCOTT- DT
Walter Football- mid 3rd round pick, 82nd overall
NFL Draft Source- not listed in any of their 3 rounds
Consensus Draft Services- early 3rd round pick, 68th overall
NFL Draft Site- early 4th round pick, 103rd overall

CULLEN HARPER- QB
Walter Football- not listed in their first 4 rounds
NFL Draft Source- not listed in any of their 3 rounds
Consensus Draft Services- not listed in any of their 3 rounds
NFL Draft Site- mid 6th round pick, 177th overall

AARON KELLY- WR
Walter Football- not listed in any of their 4 rounds
NFL Draft Source- not listed in any of their 3 rounds
Consensus Draft Services- not listed in any of their 3 rounds
NFL Draft Site- not listed in any of their 7 rounds

CHRIS CLEMMONS- S

Walter Football- not listed in any of their 4 rounds

NFL Draft Source- not listed in any of their 3 rounds

Consensus Draft Services- not listed in any of their 3 rounds

NFL Draft Site- late 6th round pick, 186th overall

Do you have comments, questions, or want to post your own projections? Have any info. on Aaron Kelly? Click on "comments" at the bottom of the article and get a discussion started!

CHECK OUT ALL THE NEW PHOTOS!

2009-02-13T18:40:00.004-05:00

Take a look at the left side of the page and scroll down to view all of the new photos added today! If you have photos of Clemson football players, game action, Death Valley, Rally Cats, CU Cheerleaders, etc. that you would like for me to consider using, please send them to: jmesser4@gmail.com. Please only send photos that you have taken PERSONALLY. Many thanks to all the photographers who have allowed me to use their photos for the site. Enjoy!

TIGERS 2009 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE- ACTUAL

2009-02-12T15:54:00.004-05:00

It turns out that my schedule projection yesterday was off the mark. One usually reliable source indicated that Louisiana Tech and Pittsburgh were locked as 2009 non-conference opponents. It turned out not to be the case, although the source was correct about Middle Tennessee State. I projected that in addition to Georgia Tech, the two ACC Coastal division opponents would be Duke and Virginia. Had I take the time to dig a little deeper on the ACC's website, I would have found the future conference schedule through 2015 which showed the 2009 Tigers facing Miami and Virginia.

Speaking of the ACC's football scheduling procedure, I learned some other things on their website as well. Of course I knew that we played Georgia Tech every year but I didn't know why. It turns out that each ACC team has been assigned one primary crossover opponent from the opposite division, meaning those two teams will play every year. Clemson's primary crossover opponent is Georgia Tech. This makes sense considering that before the Tigers and Yellowjackets were split into the separate divisions in 2004, there was a tremendous history and rivalry between these two teams dating back to 1898.

Now, here is another fact from the ACC's website: Each year from 2006 to 2015 (10 seasons), one non-divisional opponent will rotate on, and off, each conference team's schedule so that each team will play their non-divisional opponents an equal number of times with the exception of their primary crossover opponent. The "equal number of times" ends up being 4. So, at the end of the 10 year period, the Tigers will have played every one of the five Coastal division opponents (besides Georgia Tech) a total of 4 times each.

For example, the Tigers have not faced Miami since 2005, which is outside the 2006-2015 schedule in question. So, Clemson will play Miami away in 2009 and at home in 2010. They will then play Miami away in 2014 and at home in 2015, covering four games total. The Tigers played Va. Tech away in 2006 and at home in 2007. They face Va. Tech on the road in 2011 and at home in 2012, covering four games total. The only exception to the home/away series in consecutive years is the UNC, which the Tigers faced at home in 2006 but will not play again until an away game in 2010. This is followed by a home game in 2011 and then a final matchup away in 2015, covering four games total.

Clemson played Duke away in 2007 and at home in 2008. They face the Blue Devils away in 2012 and at home in 2013, covering the four total games. Finally, the Tigers played Virginia away in 2008 and face them at home in 2009. They play again in Charlottesville in 2013 and in Clemson in 2014, covering four games total. So, now that we have all of that straight, here is the 2009 Clemson Tigers Football Schedule with home games in CAPS:

09/05 MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIV.
09/10 at Georgia Tech
09/19 BOSTON COLLEGE
09/26 CENTRAL MICHIGAN
10/03 at Maryland
10/17 WAKE FOREST
10/24 at Miami
10/31 COASTAL CAROLINA
11/07 FLORIDA STATE
11/14 at NC State
11/21 VIRGINIA
11/28 at South Carolina

GO TIGERS!

TIGERS 2009 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE- PROJECTED

2009-02-11T16:48:00.007-05:00

The ACC announced that it will release the 2009 ACC football season schedule on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 11 a.m. We already know 10 of 12 opponents on the Tigers' 2009 schedule. Conference opponents in the Atlantic division include Florida State, Boston College, North Carolina State, Maryland and Wake Forest. The conference opponent in the Coastal division that the Tigers play annually is Georgia Tech. Since there are eight total conference games but only six known conference opponents at this time, the only "mystery" is who the two other conference opponents will be. The non-conference opponents this year are Middle Tenn. State, Pitt, La. Tech and SC.

Obviously, the two "mystery" conference opponents will be from the Coastal division since the Tigers cannot face an Atlantic opponent twice in a season. Last year, the Tigers faced Duke at home and Virginia away. Typically, the Tigers play Duke every year. In the past 45 years, there have been only two that Clemson and Duke did not face each other: Once in 1963 and most recently in 2006. If Duke and Virginia are on the schedule again this year, then Virginia would likely be a home game and Duke would be away. This would give the Tigers four home conference games and four away and seven total home games based on my projections. Here is how I see it:

HOME GAMES:
1. Middle Tennessee State
2. Pittsburgh
3. Louisiana Tech
4. Florida State
5. Boston College
6. Wake Forest
7. Virginia

AWAY GAMES:
1. North Carolina State
2. Maryland
3. Georgia Tech
4. Duke
5. South Carolina

RECRUITING WRAP UP (photo: WR Bryce McNeal)

2009-02-09T13:30:00.004-05:00

THE HIGHEST STAR RATED CLASS EVER- Coach Swinney mentioned that despite the low number of recruits signed, Sports Information Director Tim Bouret told him that this is the highest average star rating of any recruting class Clemson has ever had. It is not, however, anywhere near the highest ranked class in polls by scouting services or ESPN. Rivals ranked Clemson's recruiting class as 37th best in the nation, Scout ranked it 42nd and ESPN ranked it 19th.

HOWEVER, STAR RATINGS DON'T MATTER- Coach Swinney also mentioned that the rankings are over-rated and an inexact science. He said that the true test is four years later. I agree that they're somewhat over-rated and an inexact science but I do not believe it takes four years to determine whether a player was productive or effective. In other words, the coaches can see a hit or a miss way before the end of a player's senior year. Some recruits will play below the coaches', and for that matter, fans' expectations, while others will far exceed them. Some players hit the ground running as true freshmen and make an immediate impact, whereas others take longer to develop.

HITS & MISSES- The overall class ranking really means far less than the individual player rankings because the overall ranking counts players signed in the class who may be academically ineligible. If the player never steps foot on campus and never plays a down, then why would their individual star ranking even be considered cumulatively in the overall ranking of the class? As far as individual rankings, here are a few examples of hits and misses by recruiting services (either Rivals or Scout) in Clemson's classes over the past few years:

HIT: C.J. Spiller was rated as a five star recruit in the 2006 class. Care to disagree with that one? I think not. If there was a six star rating, C.J. may have lived up to that as well.
MISS: Kavell Conner was rated as a two star recruit in the 2005 class but last season as a Jr. , started all 13 games, led the tigers in tackles with 125, including six for loss and also had a sack.

HIT: Phillip Merling was rated as a four star recruit in the 2005 class, left after his Jr. season and was the first player selected in the 2nd round of the '08 NFL Draft.
MISS: Aaron Kelly was rated as a two star recruit in the 2004 class, yet went on to become Clemson's all-time leader in reception TD's and the ACC's all time reception leader.
HIT: DeAndre' McDaniel was rated as a four star recruit in the 2007 class and has become one of the Tigers' biggest play-makers on defense in just two years.
MISS: Gaines Adams was rated as a two star recruit in the 2002 class, yet tied the school record for career sacks and was the 4th player selected in the '07 NFL draft.

CURRENT RECRUIT AS RECRUITER- Coach Swinney remarked about how our current players are a big part of the recruiting process and can have a huge impact on new recruits. You hear many recruits talk about how current players made them feel welcome on campus when they visited and how the Clemson team felt like a family. If a recruit senses that camraderie while on campus and believes they can fit in, it goes a long way in getting that player to commit. In the case of Tajh Boyd, he may have even been recruited by a fellow recruit, WR Bryce McNeal. Several reports have indicated that McNeal and Boyd may have struck up a friendship at the All American game in San Antonio this year and postulated that it was one more reason for Boyd to come to Clemson.

A DIFFICULT YEAR FOR RECRUITING- Coach Swinney alluded to how difficult of a year it was in recruiting after the disarray that the program was in mid-season. Coach Bowden was out and although Swinney was named interim coach, there was no guarantee who the permanent coach would be since Clemson was interviewing several candidates. Combined with the debacle at the Georgia Dome and losses against MD and WF early on in the season, other programs had plenty of ammunition to use against our prospects, whether they were verbally committed or not. We did in fact "lose" a few recruits but Coach Swinney gave kudos to all the ones who hung in there with us through all of the turbulent times.

JEFF SCOTT IS NEW RECRUITING COORDINATOR- Jeff Scott will now hold the title of Recruiting Coordinator in addition to being Wide Receivers Coach. Billy Napier previously held the Recruiting Coordinator title but will now focus more on his duties as the newly promoted Offensive Coordinator. Scott played for the Tigers from '99-'02. In 2003, he became a graduate assistant, working with the defense. In 2006, he became the head football coach at Blythewood High School (SC), whom he led to the state championship in his first year. He was then hired as Wide Receivers Coach at Presbyterian in 2007 and then returned to Clemson.

RECRUITING CLASS: CRITICAL NEEDS BY POSITION

2009-02-06T04:05:00.006-05:00

On National Signing Day, after the Tigers had received all 12 Letters of Intent from recruits by a little after 2 p.m., head football coach Dabo Swinney held a press conference to discuss the class. One of the most interesting things that he brought up was that he and the staff were focused on filling the critical needs: "We were very, very calculated in what we have done the past five to six weeks. The focus was really on quality, really trying to sign top notch kids, great players that fit Clemson and trying to do that while filling a critical need at each position where they felt like we had that. We felt like we did that."

Coach Swinney mentioned several positions that were specified as being a critical need: DE; Safety; depth at LB; RB; WR and QB . Let's take a quick look at each of these positions and where things stand:

DE- Swinney felt it was important to get a couple of end guys because both Ricky Sapp and Kevin Alexander are seniors this year. Malliciah Goodman is a very highly rated recruit that Dabo described as having a high motor and being a phenomenal young man. It's exciting to think about how well Bowers is developing and having both of these guys on the field together next year could spell big trouble for opposing offenses. New signee Darrell Smith is a DE that also played TE in high school. Returning players are Andre' Branch, a RS sophomore, senior Jeremy Campbell and junior Kourtnei Brown. All three have playing experience and will provide some depth.

SAFETY- Replacing Michael Hamlin will be hard to do but Andre' McDaniel has experience at the CAT safety position and will move back there to try and fill those big shoes. McDaniel is one of the best players the Tigers have on defense and I hope that he continues to play well at this "new" position. Chris Clemmons is gone and Sadat Chambers will therefore almost certainly be the starting free safety. RS freshmen Spencer Adams, Rashard Hall and Carlton Lewis will also compete for playing time. New signee Jonathan Meeks is also a free safety and probably has the best shot at playing as a true freshman along with J.K. Jay and Malliciah Goodman.

LB- All three LB's signed in this class are highly rated, especially Corico Hawkins. Hawkins and Spencer Shuey play inside and Quandon Christian is an outside LB. The only outgoing senior LB on the 2008 team was Josh Miller, who was not a starter. Returning starters are Kavelle Connor and Brandon Maye, who gained a reputation as a big-time hitter last year. McDaniel did start at LB last year but is changing positions as previously mentioned. Scotty Cooper is a returning Jr. and Stanley Hunter is a returning Soph. that will also compete for playing time. Swinney mentioned that he may shuffle these guys up a little bit with respect to sam, mike and will positions.

RB- C.J. Spiller deciding to return for his senior season gives the Tigers a monumental boost going into 2009. With Davis gone, it will be up to sophomore Jamie Harper and redshirt freshman Andre' Ellington to step up and show why they were such highly rated recruits a year ago. New signee Roderick McDowell is another very highly rated recruit from Sumter, SC that will likely redshirt and join Harper and Ellington in the backfield next year. Redshirt senior Ronald Watson is the only other RB on the 2008 and has seen hardly any playing time.

WR- Aaron Kelly is another record-setting player who will be difficult to replace. Tyler Grisham will be missed because he always picked up tough yards and blocked well. Faerber is also gone. The top returning receiver is senior speedster Jacoby Ford. This year it's time for underclassmen like Xavier Dye, Marquan Jones, Jaron Brown, Terrance Ashe, Brandon Clear and Brandon Ford to become the next Tigers catching touchdown passes and breaking records. The new WR signee is Bryce McNeal, all the way from the state of Minnesota. McNeal is another player who is very highly rated and will add to the depth at this position next year.

QB- Tajh Boyd is the crown jewel of this recruiting class and we're very fortunate that he chose to come to Clemson even though we already have two very talented QB's in Willy Korn and Kyle Parker battling for the starting position this spring. Korn has suffered injuries to his throwing shoulder two years in a row and had surgery on it last December. Hopefully, the shoulder heals completely and Willy is 100%. It would be great to see the healthy player that had Tiger nation so excited coming into 2007. Parker was a highly ranked recruit at QB who is also playing baseball but has not played a down in a football game for the Tigers. Since neither has staked their claim to the QB position, I believe getting Boyd was huge. However, since Tajh is coming off of very recent acl surgery on his knee, it's highly unlikely he would be ready to start this year as a true freshman.

Coach Swinney also mentioned that preferred walk-ons will play into the mix of filling the critical need at the PK position and admitted it's one of the biggest question marks going into this year. Richard Jackson, according to my interview with Jimmy Maners, has a big leg and a lot of distance but is very inconsistent. The PK is such an important position on the team because making FG's wins games. Missing FG's loses games. Even an extra point can be the difference between losing and winning. Six out of the top 7 top scorers in Clemson football history have been PK's. So, it's imperative that we get someone who can deliver in the clutch and be consistent.

A final wrap up of National Signing Day and commentary on other announcements and information Coach Swinney discussed in the press conference is upcoming.

TIGERS RECRUITING CLASS: IT'S ALL IN THE NUMBERS

2009-02-05T20:19:00.009-05:00

Head football coach Dabo Swinney referred to the 2009 recruiting class, consisting of twelve signed players, as the "Dandy Dozen" yesterday. There certainly has been a lot of talk about how small the class is in terms of the number of players and indeed it is an unusually low number. Of all the recruiting classes listed in ESPN's Top 25, on which Clemson's is ranked 19th, it is by far the smallest. In fact, defending national champion Florida had the next smallest class with 16. Ole Miss signed the largest class with 38 and the average class size of the Top 25 was 22.6.

The NCAA allows D-1 football programs to sign up to 25 scholarship athletes during a particular season. However, programs "oversign" (more than 25) on signing day usually for two reasons: One, they suspect some players will not qualify academically and therefore never enroll. Two, they didn't sign 25 the previous year and are trying to make up for it during the current year. If the allotment of 25 is not used in a given year, additional signees can be included the following year provided they enroll in December and are on campus for the spring semester. The number allowed still cannot exceed the max. 25 for that previous year's class. Any additional players that exceed the 25 limit from the year before count against the current class.

In Clemson's case, not only did we not oversign, we didn't sign the 25 allowed by the rules. Therefore, some speculated the low number was due to recruits de-committing after Bowden's departure. This is only partially true. Coach Swinney mentioned yesterday that two other numbers played into things: 85 and 15. The NCAA rules allow Div. 1 programs to have no more than 85 players on scholarship in total at any given time, so the 85 rule trumps the 25 rule. In essence, we only had 15 scholarships to offer and still fit under the 85 total, regardless of the 25 allowable.

One other thing that played into the 15 we had to offer is what Coach Swinney referred to yesterday as "grey shirts" Spencer Benton (PK) and Terrence Ashe (WR) being promised scholarships this year. Grey shirt players commit to a team that is over-signed and then either doesn't go to school in the fall or enrolls part-time and pays their own way. They are not officially on the team. In January of the following year, the player enrolls full-time and officially joins the team. They are technically part of the recruiting class for the current year, not the year they committed. Once they join the team, they still have the full five year window to play four years and the ability to red-shirt if they so choose.

In conclusion, we really had 17 scholarships to offer but 2 were reserved for Benton and Ashe, leaving only 15 for the new recruits. We only signed 12, so we will carry those three over to next year. Over-signing in past years "caught up to us", if you will, this year. If things had unfolded differently where 3 of the players we offered had signed with us as opposed to signing with other programs, then we would have used all our scholarships and still had the smallest number of signees of the top 25 recruiting classes. We just didn't have a huge number of outgoing seniors/graduate students and thankfully the Tigers don't have a lot of attrition due to transfers, academic casualties and players getting in trouble.

More recruiting class news and discussion of comments made by Coach Swinney regarding the future of the program coming up shortly.

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY- Dabo press conference moved to 3:30 p.m.

2009-02-04T10:16:00.000-05:00

Today is National Signing Day for college football teams across the country. I will be attending the 3rd Annual Fort Hill Clemson Club Recruiting Wrap-Up event later today on the university campus and look forward to hearing Coach Swinney discuss each recruit and introduce the coaching staff with all of its new members. I will provide a report on this tomorrow (more info. on meeting below).

Here is the updated list of players that the Tigers have already received a National Letter of Intent from as of 2:22 p.m:

1. Jonathan Meeks- S from Rock Hill HS in Rock Hill, SC
2. Tyler Shatley- FB from East Burke HS in Valdese, NC
3. Brandon Thomas- OL from Dorman HS in Spartanburg, SC
4. Bryce McNeal- WR from Breck HS in Minneapolis, MN
5. Roderick McDowell- RB from Sumter HS in Sumter, SC
6. Tajh Boyd- QB from Phoebus HS in Hampton, VA

7. Spencer Shuey- LB/DE from South Mecklenburg HS in Charlotte, NC

8. Quandon Christian- LB from Lake View HS in Lake View, NC

9. Corico Hawkins- LB from Baldwin HS in Milledgeville, GA

10.Darrel Smith- DE from Gadsden City High School in Gadsden, AL

Two players in the class of 2009 are already enrolled at Clemson and will participate in spring practice:

1. J.K. Jay- OL from Christ Church Espiscopal School in Greenville, SC
2. Malliciah Goodman from West Florence HS in Florence, SC

Clemson Tigers head football coach Dabo Swinney will hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. E.S.T. today to discuss the incoming 2009 recruiting class. The press conference can be viewed through the official Clemson athletics website by signing up for a free All-Access account on the website's home page beforehand.

Swinney will also discuss each individual recruit and introduce the coaching staff tonight (Feb. 4) at the Fort Hill Clemson Club's 3rd Annual Recruiting Wrap-up. This event takes place at Jervey Gym on the university campus, starting with a BBQ dinner at 6 p.m. Coach Swinney will speak at 7 p.m. Tickets are available for $25 in advance (at the university athletics office, Mr. Knickerbocker locations and Kinnucan's in Anderson) and $30 at the door. There is also a silent auction with cash or check as the only accepted forms of payment.

A CLOSER LOOK AT HOW NICK EASON BECAME A SUPER BOWL CHAMP

2009-02-03T16:48:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, Nick Eason became the 21st former Clemson Tiger football player to become a Super Bowl champion when his Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23. Eason, whose Steelers jersey number is 93, did play as a backup defensive end in Super Bowl 43 but did not record any tackles, sacks or other stats., according to NFL.com.

Eason's career path to the Super Bowl Championship is interesting. For any NFL player, winning the Super Bowl championship is the penultimate goal but very few ever attain it and most never even play in the big game. Consider these facts: There are 32 NFL teams and each team has 53 players on its roster for a total of 1696 players. Only 2 teams or 106 players make it to the Super Bowl each year, which is equal to only 6.25% of the total teams and players in the league. Ultimately, there is only 1 team and 53 players who will be champions each year.

When you consider those odds, don't forget about just how difficult it is to make it into the NFL in the first place. Of all the thousands of eligible college football players across the nation, only a total of 262 were selected by NFL teams in the 2003 draft. Of that total number, only 26 defensive ends- Eason's position- were selected. The percentage of NCAA players who are drafted into the NFL is miniscule- less than 2%.

Once a player makes it into the NFL, staying in the league can be a challenge as well. The NFL is also referred to as Not For Long. Of the 262 drafted in 2003, some players didn't even make it past training camp because they were cut. Some suffered career-ending injuries. Some were waived or cut by the team during or after the season. It's tough enough just getting drafted but Eason's experiences afterwards also show just how difficult things can be to remain in the NFL.

After his final season at Clemson, Nick was chosen as one of three players, including Carson Palmer and Jeff Roehl (no longer in the NFL), to be featured on the 2003 ESPN tv program "Hey Rookie, Welcome To The NFL". The show was designed to give viewers a behind the scenes look at the players through the draft process and their experiences as a rookie in the league. Eason appeared stressed as cameras rolled while he sat with family in his parents' home in Lyons, GA watching the draft on television. Finally, relief came over his face when his name was called by the Denver Broncos in the 4th round, the 114th overall player chosen as his family celebrated.

Things did not go so well in the beginning. Right off the bat, Nick suffered an achilles injury in Broncos training camp that kept him sidelined for the entire first season. After rehabilitating, the Broncos sent Eason to Scotland in early 2004 to play for the NFL Europe's Scottish Claymores. Upon returning to Denver after the 10 week season, he was relegated to the Broncos' practice squad. Then, on Sept. 24, 2004, Eason was waived by Denver. He never played in a single NFL game for the Broncos. This could have been the end of the road- there was just no way to know if another NFL team would be willing to sign Eason.

With the regular season underway and NFL rosters set, many weeks went by before Nick was signed by the Cleveland Browns in mid-November. He played in one game during that 2004 season and recorded two tackles. He must have showed enough promise. In 2005, he played in all 16 games for the Browns as a backup, recording 19 tackles and 2 sacks. Eason then played in 13 games for the Browns during the 2006 season. In 2007, the Steelers signed Eason as an unrestricted free agent for one year, in which he played in all 16 regular season games. This past year, he signed a two-year contract with the Steelers to play through the 2009 season.

Congratulations to Nick Eason for being a Super Bowl Champion and for continuing to work hard, persevere and believe in himself in spite of the odds. He was one of the fortunate few who overcame the setbacks and obstacles he had to deal with early on. For more information on Nick Eason, please see the previous article dated Jan. 19, 2009 located further down on this page.

JIMMY MANERS INTERVIEW

2009-01-29T13:46:00.000-05:00

Jimmy Maners is from Rock Hill, SC and played both the QB and P positions for the Northwestern High School Trojans under coach Jimmy "Moose" Wallace. Northwestern is consistently ranked among the top 10 high school football teams in the state and just this past year made it all the way to the state championship game played in Death Valley. During his playing days there, he lettered three times in football and twice in golf. He was named an all-area QB and all-region P by the Rock Hill Herald and averaged 42 yards per punt in his junior and senior seasons.

Maners walked on to the Tigers team in the spring of 2005 and became the starter in 2007, averaging 42.8 yards per punt and booting a career-long 71 yarder. He punted 49 times (his jersey number) in 2008-09 and averaged 40.5 yards per punt, with seven going for 50+ yards. Off the field, Jimmy holds the distinction of being the first Tiger football player inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He consistently made the Dean's list as a student and had a perfect 4.0 GPA in the spring semester of 2008 before graduating with a degree in history.

JM: You graduated in May, 2008 with a degree in history. Now that the season is over, what are you up to and what are your future plans? Are you planning on attending the NFL Pro Day or combine and trying to gauge whether you have a shot at making it to the pro level?

Maners: Yes I am going to attend the Pro Day and see what happens from there. Hopefully, I’ll get a shot if all goes well. Right now, I am finishing up a second degree in philosophy. If the NFL does not happen over the next two years, then I am going to attend law school. If I go to law school, I am planning on enrolling in the fall of 2010.

JM: I don't know if you will remember this or not but it was pretty funny. It happened at the NC State game this past year: During a tv timeout when it was pretty quiet, a teenage girl who was sitting right behind my wife and me (10 rows up behind the Clemson bench on about the 30 yard line nearest the West Zone) suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs: "I LOVE YOU JIMMY MANERS!" You turned around but I'm not sure if you heard anything other than your name. Any recollection and do the young ladies profess their love to you publicly on a regular basis?

Maners: During the games I hear a lot of people yelling my name. I am over by the wall a lot catching snaps and swinging my leg, so I am closer to the fans than any of the other players. I have a lot of friends that yell at me during games and I try to shout back or least let them know that I heard them. I never really have too many teenage girls come up to me and profess their love but I’m guessing the days like that are over. Not too many teenage girls profess their love to NFL punters and I am guessing that slim to none profess their love to lawyers but maybe I still have a chance. Recognizing fans during the game is usually frowned upon by many of the coaches but I enjoy it. I think it makes the games a lot more fun for both me and the fans.

JM: You played both the QB and P positions at Northwestern High in Rock Hill and earned All-Region honors as a punter your senior year. You averaged 42 yards per punt in both your junior and senior seasons, yet you had to walk on to the team in the spring of 2005. Were you recruited and offered a scholarship by other schools and were you invited to walk-on by Clemson or did you request the opportunity?

Maners: I was kind of an invited walk-on. Tommy Bowden came to visit my high school teammate Jamie Robinson (now a DB at FSU) at Northwestern and my coach happened to mention to him that I was a good punter. Bowden invited me to come out if I chose to attend Clemson. I had a full ride to Wofford to play QB and punt but I just didn’t feel like that was the place for me. I was also heavily recruited by D3 schools like Washington and Lee and Sewanee, but they could offer no scholarship money. At the end of the day, I really felt like I was fully capable of playing at Clemson and I think that influenced my decision most of all. Not to degrade smaller schools, I just thought it would be more exciting to play for a large number of fans, although I do think playing at a smaller school would have certain advantages.

JM: Your career punting average with the Tigers is about 41.8, which is very solid. I looked up stats. on the 32 active punters in the NFL and the average is about 42.7. It's interesting to consider that some of those punters get to kick in domes a lot of the time. How much do the weather conditions play into a punt's distance/placement and what other factors can make a difference?

Maners: Weather plays a huge factor in punting, especially wind. Wind can screw punting up more than anything. Rain and cold always negatively affect punting as well. On the other hand, a slight favorable breeze and warm temperatures affect punting in a positive way. Being able to punt in a dome is a huge advantage and it certainly decreases the chance of hitting a ball that will be affected by those outside factors beyond technique. Bad weather also requires me to think more. Usually, it's just a motion and reaction deal but in bad weather I have to think more and that can have its pros and cons. Usually more cons than pros.

JM: I know you were a two-time letterman in golf at Northwestern High School. It seems like there could be a strong correlation with golf and punting because of the feeling you get when you connect with the ball in the sweet spot versus a shank, the mechanics and focus required and the strategy of ball placement. The only obvious difference would be that you've only got one leg and not 14 clubs to do it all with. Do you find any similarities?

Maners: Golf and punting are quite similar. Almost any saying that you have heard in golf, you can apply to punting as well. There are so analogous it isn’t even funny. Staying smooth, following through and being consistent are crucial to both sports. In a weird way, they are almost exactly the same.

JM: Two punts in your career stand out to me: The first was in this past year's (2008) game against SC. We're up 10-0 early in the 2nd quarter but SC drives to our 40 yard line before stalling. SC punter Spencer Lanning pins us deep on our own 3 and after a 3 and out, you're punting about two feet from the back line of the end zone. You know they're probably coming after it and yet you boom a 54 yarder that is angled to the right sideline, bounces on the SC 44 and then goes out of bounds at the 40, a huge play in terms of the change in field possession and doesn't allow Kenny McKinley a chance at a return. I've never seen you so fired up after a punt and rightfully so. What was going through your mind beforehand and how much does adrenaline play a factor in a punt like that, given the circumstances?

Maners: Adrenaline plays a huge factor in hitting good punts, along with confidence. I knew if I hit a good punt that it could be a game-changer. I was having so much fun that day; I knew every punt I hit was going to be a good one. I felt it that day and I wish all days could be like that. We called a right angle punt and the wind was favorable in that direction, so I knew if I hit it well it would take off. They didn’t bring much pressure and I had a great snap. The timing was perfect and it just took off. I was pumped because of the situation and I figured I’d better take advantage of it while I could. It was my last game in Death Valley and I did something that I will always remember. Situations like that don’t happen every day, so I figured I would make it truly worthwhile by getting the fans to cheer and laugh simultaneously.

JM: The second punt that stands out to me was in 2007 against Louisiana-Monroe. It was mid-4th quarter and you had only punted twice up to that point because we were scoring on most possessions, up 49-19. Korn gets sacked on 3rd down on our own 17, forcing the punt. You come in and boom one 71 yards, your career longest. Tell us about that one.

Maners: The career long was a punt that I wanted to kick over the guy’s head and I did. The returner was lined up at like 35 yards, so I knew I could bomb it over his head. I purposely kept it low so he wouldn’t be able to get back to it fast enough. In that situation in the game, being in the 4th quarter with us killing them, it kind of set up the opportunity to hit a long punt. The weather was perfect and the stadium was practically empty, so it was good time to hit a solid punt. I only wish it would have rolled further!

JM: What team win during your career as a Tiger will you look back on as the most gratifying and what team loss do you think will always sting the most and why?

Maners: The best team win will most definitely be the USC game of 2008. That was the most fun I have had playing football in a real long time and it being my last game in Clemson made it that much sweeter. The worst loss would have to be VT in 2007. We got killed and it was freezing cold. It was absolutely miserable.

JM: Do you think Dawson Zimmerman has a lock on the punting job going into spring practice and Richard Jackson will be the place kicker going into the 2009 season? I'm assuming that if Zimmerman got hurt, Jackson could pull double-duty but what kind of depth do we have at these two positions? Will Spencer Benton play any kind of role or do we need someone else to try and walk on like you did to provide both competition and depth?

Maners: Yes, I’m sure that Dawson will be the starting punter next year. He has solid technique and he will do well. He may be the best punter in Clemson history if he gets a full steam of confidence and the coaches support him 100%. If they tell him "you are the guy and we give you liberty to mess up once in a while", then he will be awesome. I have questions about the PK situation though. Jackson and Benton both have really, really strong legs but they aren’t very consistent. It might be the most competitive fight for a position over the spring. I do think a talented walk-on could come in and start and PK next season if the coaches give him an opportunity. I think Richard is fully capable of playing at Clemson but he needs to focus and improve over the summer. Richard could be deadly if he completely dedicates himself to kicking over the next 8 months.

JM: Last question: There's been a significant number of coaching staff changes over the past few weeks. In addition, for the 2009 season, the Tigers will be without a dozen key players including yourself, Buccholz, Harper, Davis, Kelly, Grisham, Faerber, Hamlin, Scott, Clemmons, Rashaad Jackson and McKissick. Do you think fans should temper their expectations and consider this a rebuilding year or is there a chance that new coaches and new starters could gel, step up and win the Atlantic division?

Maners: There is always a chance that the Tigers could win the Atlantic division and I think it is a truly attainable goal next season. Although we lost a lot, they still have and are getting much more in return. I think they can win the Atlantic division but expectations are a funny thing. I think fans' preseason expectations are too high. Last year, people were talking sure-fire ACC champions and maybe a national championship. Yes, those are great goals but if you truly expect that then you are setting yourself up for disappointment. You have to expect to win but sometimes funny things happen. I think Clemson can win the ACC but it has to go one game at a time. That is the key- one game at a time. It is all about playing the best you can every game and that has to be the focus. Some fans seem to create some sort of fantasy-land ideal picture of a season and that’s well and fine if they know it is a dream season. Dream seasons almost never happen in college football. Teams lose games but the focus needs to be on the reality of how the team is playing at a particular point in time, not the fantasized expectations.

JM: I would just like to finish by saying thank you for your contributions to the team and I'm glad that you chose to come to Clemson. I wish you the best in your future endeavors whether it be the NFL or law school. Good luck and take care.

UPDATE: TAJH BOYD COMMITS TO CLEMSON.

2009-01-28T16:25:00.000-05:00

GAME COVERAGE OF TIGERS AT SENIOR BOWL

2009-01-26T14:58:00.000-05:00

The Under Armour Senior Bowl, played this past Saturday, featured three Clemson Tigers who all have hopes of being selected in the 2009 NFL Draft: S Michael Hamlin, RB James Davis and QB Cullen Harper. All three players were on the South roster, who won the game by a score of 35-18 over the North and each of the three made contributions in the win. Below is a look at their individual performances:

MICHAEL HAMLIN
Hamlin received a very substantial amount of playing time, participating on special teams as well as playing safety for the defensive team. Hamlin accounted for five total tackles, two on special teams and three from his safety position. He was consistently one of the first players down the field to cover the return man on every kickoff and he provided good downfield pass coverage. His special teams play was very impressive and I'm betting that NFL scouts were impressed as well and take this into strong consideration come draft day. His game highlights:

* On the kickoff following the South's first scoring drive, Hamlin made a great solo tackle on special teams. The hit on the return man, Oregon DB Patrick Chung, garnered "ooooh's" from the crowd.
* Hamlin evidently liked hitting Oregon players in this game. His second tackle was made on the Ducks' RB Jeremiah Johnson on the North's fourth offensive series.
* The South team kicked off to open the second half and Hamlin, for the second time on a kickoff, made the special teams tackle on Penn State WR Derrick Williams.
* On a 1st down play, Hamlin makes the tackle on a rushing play by Oregon RB Jeremiah Johnson, his third tackle of an Oregon player out of four total tackles thus far in the game.
* On the very next play, Hamlin again makes the tackle on OSU's Brian Robiskie after a 2nd down pass completion from Texas Tech's Graham Harrell.

JAMES DAVIS
James had 9 carries in the game for a total of 32 yards and an average gain of 3.55 yards per rush. His longest gain was 11 yards. While these are not stellar numbers at first glance, it must be noted that the South's leading rusher (Liberty's Rashad Jennings) also had nine carries for 41 yards and the RB who received the most "hype" during the week was NCSU's Andre' Brown, who had 10 carries for 31 yards.

Davis was not thrown to and therefore had no receptions. Earlier in the week during practice, Davis dropped a couple of balls thrown his way. I wonder if QB's were reluctant to throw to Davis for this reason even when WR's and TE's were covered on passing plays and they had to check down. I do believe Davis will need to work on catching the ball out of the backfield in order to improve his draft status. He only caught 14 passes in seven of thirteen games for Clemson in 2008-09 and NFL teams are going to want more production. His game highlights:

* Davis entered the game on the South's second offensive series and received two straight handoffs from Bama QB John Parker Wilson, taking each carry for a 2 yard gain. (2-4)
* In the same series, Davis got the carry on 1st and goal and made a 1 yard gain. (3-5)
* On Cullen Harper's first series as the South's QB, he handed off to Davis who ran for an 8 yard gain. (4-13)
* In the same series, on 1st and goal from the 6 yard line, Harper hands off to Davis for a 3 yard gain. (5-16)
* On the very next play (2nd and goal), Harper again hands off to Davis for a 2 yard gain to the 1 yard line. (6-18)
* Davis came in the game in the 4th quarter and had a 2 yard carry on 2nd and 10. (7-20)
* Later in the 4th quarter, Davis takes a handoff from WVU QB Pat White for a gain of 11 yards. (8-31)
* On the very next play, Davis carries for a gain of 1 yard. (9-32)

CULLEN HARPER
Harper officially played in four offensive series in the game. He entered the game late in the 1st half and played the entire offensive series, which resulted in an 8 play, 59 yard scoring drive that put the South up 21-3. Cullen was 2-3 for 44 yards on this drive. He came in again on the South's next offensive series with only 0:49 left in the 1st half and went 0-2. On the South's 2nd offensive series of the 2nd half, Harper played the first three downs of the series, going 0-1. His fourth series was inconsequential because he came in the game with 0:44 remaining and took a knee. His final numbers were 2-6 for 44 yards, 0 TD's and 0 INT's. His game highlights:

* On his first play of the game, Harper threw about 5 yards behind the receiver on a deep route. (0-1)
* On 3rd and 9, Harper threw what the announcers said was one of the best throws of the night to Arizona WR Mike Thomas, which went for 32 yards. (1-2)
* On 2nd and 2, Harper completes a slant pass to Southern Cal WR Patrick Turner that hits him right between the numbers and goes for 10 yards and a 1st down. The announcers again said Cullen threw the ball right where it needed to be. (2-3)
* On Harper's 2nd offensive series of the game, he threw incomplete on 1st down. Although the ball was caught by OSU's Briscoe, the ref. called him out of bounds. One of the NFL Network's announcers, Mike Mayock, is ultra-critical but said after the throw that Harper was getting the ball out of his hands efficiently. (2-4)
* On the very next play, Harper threw a screen pass incompete over FSU's Antone Smith's head due to having it to loft it high over the outstretched arms of a North DL that got pressure. After this play announcer Maylock and fellow announcer Charles Davis went on to talk at length about Harper's season being affected by a sprained a/c joint in the 1st game against 'Bama and then having to get his non-throwing shoulder cleaned out after the GT game but leading the team to a 4-1 mark down the stretch in the reg. season afterwards. (2-5)
* On his last throw of the game, Harper though the receiver was going to break outside and the receiver turned inside on the route, so the ball fell incomplete. (2-6)

Overall, I thought Harper played well in the game. He led the team on a scoring drive, made some nice throws and did not turn the ball over or take a sack. He did throw the ball way behind the receiver on the first play of the game and perhaps could have delivered the ball just a split second sooner on the catch that was ruled out but I don't think he did anything to hurt his chances in the draft. His play was solid enough all week that I think if anything it helped him.

UPDATE ON TIGERS IN THE SENIOR BOWL

2009-01-23T17:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the last day of practice for Saturday's Under Armour Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL which features three Tigers on the South team coached by the Jacksonville Jaguars' staff: S Michael Hamlin, RB James Davis and QB Cullen Harper. Thursday's practice was in half-pads and included position drills along with live scrimmages featuring the offense going against the defensive in various down and distance situations with liberal substitutions.

All three players wearing Clemson helmets made some very good plays in Thursday's live scrimmage segment. The QB's and RB's as a group received a fair amount of camera time while the DB's received none other than during the live offense vs. defense scrimmages if they were involved in making a play on the ball or the stop. The practice was not all positive for Davis and Harper. There were some things that Jacksonville RB coach Kennedy Pola instructed Davis to improve on and a couple of Harper's throws were off. Let's look at both the areas and plays that were good and the ones that were not so good.

MICHAEL HAMLIN

Good: In the live scrimmage on a red zone play made a terrific break on a pass thrown by WVU QB Pat White and knocked it down in the end zone. The play almost certainly would have resulted in a TD otherwise. The announcers/analysts for the NFL network praised Hamlin afterwards, saying that it was an especially difficult play to make because two different routes were being run right in front of him, "hitting him high and low" but he watched the QB's eyes and didn't bite on the other route/receiver.

Good: Hamlin nearly made an interception on a ball that hit FSU WR Greg Carr's hands and popped off but fell just inches short of Michael's outstretched hands as he dove for it.

Not so good: Nothing. Again, television coverage did not feature DB position drills nor any live comments made to Hamlin by the coaches who were "mic'd up". However, I didn't observe a player he was defending even catch a pass.

JAMES DAVIS
Good: In a red zone situation during the live scrimmage, Davis ran a wheel route and was wide open when he caught a pass from Alabama QB John Parker Wilson and took it into the end zone for a TD. Davis also caught a pass from WVU QB White and had several carries in which he looked good. It is hard to say whether he would have broken any long runs on the carries because there was no tackling allowed.

Not so good: In one RB position drill, Jacksonville RB coach told Davis that his "base" at impact when blocking a defender was too wide and therefore he doesn't have any power. He told James that he needed to get a "power step", which I understood to mean that Davis has his legs so far apart at impact that he isn't forcing the defender backward. If he keeps a more narrow stance and steps into the blocker at impact rather than keeping his legs stationary while moving his upper body forward, it would provide more power.

Not so good: On a situational play where the offense faced 2nd and 2 on the defense's 30 yard line, Davis took the pitch 7 yards deep in the backfield from WVU QB White and ran wide to the left for 7 yards but was met by a LB at the line of scrimmage and the play was called dead. Coach Pola can be heard screaming in the background "Get the 1st down, beat him there". After the play, Pola called James over and asked him if he knew the down and distance on the play. James answered "yes" and started to trot off the field when Pola called him back and said that if he was aware of it, then sooner or later he would have to plant his foot in the ground, lower his shoulder and get the 1st.

Not so good: Davis had two other balls thrown his way- both by 'Bama QB Wilson that hit him on the hands but he did not catch either one. The first was a slightly high throw that James had to leap for but it popped up in the air off his hands. The other was also slightly high and James leaped for this one and had it hit his hands again but he fell to the turf and couldn't bring it in. The balls weren't necessarily uncatchable. It was just a situation where if Davis had been 6' 1 instead of 5' 11, he probably makes the catch on both. Had he shown enough vertical jump and balance to haul both in, it would have certainly been impressive to NFL scouts in attendance.

CULLEN HARPER
Good: Cullen Harper threw a TD pass to Southern Miss TE Shawn Nelson on a red zone drill play. Harper threaded the ball between three defenders, one of whom made a break on the ball to try for an interception. The pass definitely was only where only Nelson could catch it and had a lot of velocity on it. On another series in the live scrimmage, he completed a pass to Southern Cal WR Patrick Turner. On a another play in the live scrimmage, Cullen rolled left and made a short completion to a player whose team/name I did not get.

Not so good: NFL Network announcers/analysts criticized Harper for throwing a ball high and late to FSU WR Greg Carr. It was a curl route and Cullen was slightly late with the ball, taking a three step drop instead of two but Carr had dropped every ball thrown to him previusly in the scrimmage and he is 6' 5 and can jump. Even the announcers were criticizing him later in the game when he dropped another pass from WVU QB White, so I don't know if you can pin all of this incompetion on Harper but he was in fact a little late with the throw.

Not so good: On the next series after his TD pass, Harper threw an incompletion that appeared to be very low and way behind the Southern Cal receiver who reached down and back for it. What was curious to me is whether there was some confusion on the play about just who the intended receiver was. There was another receiver running across the field who it looked like Harper was trying to hit because the ball went about five feet in front of him but the player didn't even make an attempt to catch the ball. It may have been a bad throw either way.

The Senior Bowl game takes place on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the NFL Network. Here's wishing Hamlin, Davis and Harper the best of luck in the game. Hopefully they will impress the NFL scouts in attendance with their play.

FULL INTERVIEW WITH LEVON KIRKLAND, PARTS I and II

2009-01-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

Levon Kirkland is a familiar name to Tigers football fans. It's also a familiar name to Steelers fans, since he spent the vast majority of his successful 11 year NFL career with Pittsburgh. I recently spoke to a couple of people that I know who had seen Levon (his full name is Lorenzo Levon Kirkland) at church and the gym here in the upstate of SC. I was very excited to hear this and my immediate thoughts were to try and secure an interview with him. Sometimes, it is much more difficult than you may think to get an interview with a former player, regardless of their "star-status". In this case, to me, Mr. Kirkland represented an "icon" and a living legend and so I was a little unsure of my chances. However, I was able to speak with him yesterday and he graciously agreed.

Levon is from Lamar, SC, which is in Darlington County and very near Florence. He played football (also ran track and high-jumped) at Lamar High School, which is a small, Division 1 class A school with three state football titles over the last decade. He came to Clemson in 1987 and red-shirted his freshman year. As a RS freshman, he made an immediate impact at LB and had his best game against Maryland, accounting for 13 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. As a sophomore, he was named all-ACC and was also MVP of the Gator Bowl after recording 9 tackles, a sack and 3 QB pressures. As a junior, he was again all-ACC, named second-team All American, was a finalist for the Butkus award and a key part of the nation's #1 defense. In his senior season, Kirkland was again all-ACC, a first-team All American, a semi-finalist for the Lombardi award and a member of the team which most recently won the ACC championship.

After his senior season, Levon was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2nd round of the 1992 draft. After moving from outside to inside LB, he learned the ropes as a rookie but became the starter the following year and every year thereafter. 1996 is considered by many to be his "breakout" year, in which he recorded 114 tackles, 4 sacks and 4 interceptions. After both the 1996 and 1997 seasons, he was selected to the Pro Bowl. Kirkland played a total of 9 years for the Steelers and was waived in 2001 due to salary cap pressure. He was signed by Seattle for the 2003 season and recorded 100 tackles and one sack. In 2004, he was signed by Philadelphia and retired after the season.

Upon retirement, Levon returned to Clemson to finish his degreee in sociology and was looking for an opportunity to give back to the University. The opportunity presented itself and he was subsequently hired as Coordinator of Minority Recruitment at Clemson. Kirkland was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 2001 and in 2008 was indcucted into the SC Athletic Hall of Fame.

JM: You played high school football in your hometown of Lamar, SC for the Lamar Silver Foxes. You've mentioned over the years that you were not heavily recruited, so considering your success at Clemson, there must have been a lot of college coaches who regretted overlooking you. Do you believe it puts kids at a disadvantage from a recruiting standpoint- coming from a small town and high school program?

LK: I believe back then it was a big disadvantage for most kids from small towns. The State and the Greenville News just didn’t cover kids from the Pee Dee or surrounding areas. You had to be discovered. I was lucky because I was basically discovered by Clemson University. I still think that some kids get overlooked, not because of the lack of information but because of their size or the size of the high school programs and most universities don’t have the time or man-power to recruit under every rock.

JM: Who recruited you for Clemson and what other programs did you receive offers from? Did you grow up a Clemson fan or what sealed your decision to play for the Tigers?

LK: I was recruited by Miles Aldridge and he was the inside linebacker coach at the time. He looked a little like Nick Nolte, the actor from 48 hours with Eddie Murphy. I received offers from University of South Carolina, South Carolina State and Appalachian State. My one college visit to Clemson is what sealed the deal for me. I saw the campus, met the Clemson family and that's all it took. I didn’t even visit another school because I knew I found what I was looking for in a university.

JM: You had some great accomplishments during your playing days at Clemson, including being named MVP of the Gator Bowl, All-ACC for three straight years, first team All-American your senior year, a seminfinalist for the Lombardi and finalist for the Butkus awards. What or who motivated you to play at such a high level and when did you realize that the prospect of playing in the NFL could be a reality?

LK: I’ve always gotten encouragement in every level that I played on. My initial motivation was to be better than my older brothers because I heard all of their war stories (laughs). Seriously, I had mentors that saw more in me than I saw in myself and encouraged me to be the very best. I was also blessed enough to play for some outstanding programs. You don’t get much better than Clemson University, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Lamar Silver Foxes when it comes to class and the development of athletes. It wasn’t until after the Gator Bowl (against West Va. in 1989) that I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I always thought I could play professional football but running after Major Harris and winning the MVP of the Gator Bowl really gave me the boost I needed to take it to the next level.

JM: Looking back on all of the games you played in during your Tiger career, are there memories that stand out to you now about your personal peformance and/or the team's performance in some of them? How about fond and/or fun memories you have of Clemson off the field?

LK: The best memories I have about Clemson University is the fact that I got to run down the hill on most Saturdays during my college career. That was the best! I loved the fact I played for a great program and was a member of the number one defense in 1990. As far as off the field memories- take your pick, I was at a university that loved football.

JM: You did go on to play in the NFL and had a successful career for eleven years, most of which was with the Steelers. Describe what was going through your head at the start of your rookie season when you arrived in Pittsburgh and meet all of these veterans you've watched on TV. Was it like deja' vu coming to Clemson from Lamar and wondering if you can play at that level?

LK: It was actually like coming to Clemson from Lamar. The biggest surprise for me was that everyone on that team was very good, worked hard and wanted to be the best. As a rookie, you have to earn the respect of the players and most players on that level can recognize a fraud or a player when they see one. So, it was back to the drawing board but it was a dream to be playing at the highest level.

JM: Not to get too personal here but seven years after leaving Clemson, you were the highest paid linebacker in the NFL. Without question, your accomplishments on the field allowed you to earn it. I think most people wonder what it would be like to be an athlete getting paid millions of dollars. What goes through your mind when the checks are rolling in? Were you thinking, "I've made it, I can buy mansions and Ferraris" or were you worried about injuries and trying to live conservatively?

LK: To tell you the truth, the day I signed that contract was the most humbling day of my life. In one way I couldn’t believe it that I was the highest paid linebacker and in other ways it gave me hope that with hard work and faith that anything is possible. No Ferraris or mansions, maybe one day.

JM: You played at a very high level during your entire eleven-year NFL career, even including the last season with the Seattle Seahawks in which you started 15 games and had 74 tackles. Why did you choose to retire after that 2002 season when it seems that statistically you had proven you were still capable of continuing to play at that high level?

LK: I just really didn’t love it as much as much as I once did. Now, I will always love the game of football and I would love to coach one day and share the knowledge that I have but I didn’t love playing it anymore. Plus, I had just gotten married and wanted to spend some time with my wife and new baby girl.

JM: After your NFL career, you returned to Clemson and received your degree in sociology. You then expressed a desire to give back to the University and were subsequently hired as Coordinator of Minority Recruitment Initiatives. What exactly is it that you do?

LK: I basically go out and share my experience of being an Clemson alum. and try to share the educational and social opportunities here at Clemson University. I know what it means to be a first-generation student and I want those students to know that there is someone here that they can relate to and be comfortable with.

JM: In your senior season, you played on the last football team to win an ACC championship for the Tigers, which was in 1991. Give us your thoughts on the current state of the Clemson Tigers football program, the coaching changes and what needs to happen in order to bring another conference championship to Death Valley. Are you currently involved with the football program in any way?

LK: I think Clemson is headed in the right direction now. I believe that Coach Swinney will do a great job as head coach. I think it will take some time but Rome wasn’t built in a day. We as fans can become so impatient and want a national championship right now. It doesn’t happen that way and that’s a fact. He will lead the troops in the way of an ACC Championship and after that, the sky is the limit. I’m not currently involved with the program, but I would like to be. I know I could make a difference with my knowledge of the game and being a positive mentor for the athletes.

JM: I'm assuming that since you spent the majority of your NFL career with the Steelers that you're happy they're playing in the Super Bowl this year. Will you be jealous of Nick Eason if he ends up with a Super Bowl ring?

LK: I’m very happy for the Pittsburgh Steelers and course I’m thrilled for Nick Eason and the great opportunity he has to become a member of a Super Bowl Championship team. I will never be jealous of another person's success. In fact, I celebrate when good things happen to people.

JM: Levon, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to allow Tigers fans to catch up with you. I am proud that you are a Clemson Tiger and for all you have done and are doing for the university, students and fans.

C.J. SPILLER IS GOING TO SET AN EXAMPLE

2009-01-20T09:42:00.000-05:00

Words cannot describe how overjoyed I was when I learned the news that C.J. Spiller would be remaining at Clemson for his senior football season. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Spiller is one of the best and most exciting players to ever put on a Tigers uniform and one of the most fun to watch in all of college football. He's a superstar that's loaded with talent, skill and ability. He is a fiery competitor that gives his all on the field. However, there is one thing about Spiller that appeals to me equally as much: He's got class.

There are many talented players on the college and pro levels today who care nothing about being a role model or setting a good example. These athletes only care about themselves, their statistics, their fame and money. Having such a selfish and arrogant attitude is usually detrimental to both the player and the team that they play for but their behavior is tolerated because of their abilities. Sometimes, it seems that the media wants to promote these very players and puts the spotlight on them, which to me is a kind of endorsement and sends the wrong message to our youth. It's a sad state of affairs that so many of football's great athletes are selfish egomaniacs or thugs but yet their on-field performance is the measure by which they are judged.

Back to Spiller. The reason that I say he has class is not simply because he elected to stay for his senior season. Class, to me, is defined by the reasons he was motivated to stay. Spiller mentioned previous to his press conference that he desires to be an example for his little sister and get his degree. Then at the press conference announcing his decision, he mentioned that he also wants to set an example to both the younger players and future players on the team by getting his degree. C.J. was more concerned with having regret for not accomplishing his goals that he set when he came to Clemson than he was with signing a contract this spring for millions of dollars. Maybe class is not the best word. Perhaps character is.

DAWKINS AND PRYCE CONCLUDE THEIR SEASONS

2009-01-19T14:18:00.000-05:00

Former Tiger Brian Dawkins concluded a stellar postseason in which his Philadelphia Eagles made it all the way to the NFC Championship game before falling to Arizona on Sunday. Dawkins recorded 6 tackles in the game. In the previous playoff game against the defending champion NY Giants, he had 10 tackles. In the wild card game against Minnesota, he accounted for 6 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. During the regular season, Brian had 75 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 forced fumbles and an interception. Dawkins will play in his seventh Pro Bowl on Feb. 8, 2009. He is a free agent and has not yet signed a contract to play with Philadelphia for the 2009 season.

Former Tiger Trevor Pryce also concluded the postseason when his Baltimore Ravens were defeated by the Steelers in the AFC Championship game on Sunday. Pryce accounted for two tackles in the game. In the previous playoff game against the Tennessee Titans, he had no tackles. In the wildcard game against the Miami Dolphins, he recorded 1 tackle and 1 sack. Trevor had 27 tackles and 4.5 sacks during the regular season. A two-time Super Bowl Champion (one with the Broncos and one with the Ravens) and four-time Pro Bowl selection, Pryce is under contract with the Ravens through the 2010 season.

FORMER TIGER NICK EASON IN SUPER BOWL 43

2009-01-19T14:17:00.000-05:00

The NFL conference championship games are over and Super Bowl 43 will match the AFC champ Pittsburgh Steelers against the NFC champ Arizona Cardinals. The only former Tiger on the roster of either team is #93, DE Nick Eason of the Steelers. Eason, from Lyons, GA, played football and basketball for Toombs Co. High School (GA). He was a star in both sports, being named Georgia's 2A Basketball Player of the Year and lettering four years in football. Nick was recruited by Clemson to play defensive end.

After red-shirting his freshman year, he played DE at Clemson during the 1999-2000 seasons and was then moved to defensive tackle for the 2001-2002 seasons. For his career, Eason recorded 155 tackles, 30 tackles for loss, 15 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Eason was named the team Defensive MVP in 2000 and was an all-ACC first team selection his senior year in 2002. During his Clemson career, he also spent a great deal of time involved in community service and was honored with a Top Six Award for four straight years, presented by the ACC to the top six student-athletes at each school recognizing them for their community service. Nick also holds the distinction of being the first athlete at Clemson to graduate in three years and have two years of eligibility remaining.

Upon completion of his career as a Tiger, Eason was then selected by the Denver Broncos in the 4th round of the 2003 NFL draft. Eason suffered an achilles injury (one that had bothered him greatly during his Sr. season at Clemson) during his first year and did not play. In 2004, he was waived by the Broncos and signed by the Cleveland Browns, appearing in one game. In 2005, Eason played in all 16 games for the Browns, recording 19 tackles and 2 sacks. In 2006, he started 3 games for the Browns and played in 13, recording 23 tackles. In 2007, he was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Steelers and played in all 16 games, making 14 tackles. Pittsburgh signed Eason to a 2 year contract in 2008 and he finished the regular season with 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Although I am a Tampa Bay Bucs fan and have Gaines Adams to pull for as a bonus, I always pull for the NFL teams that have former Tigers on their roster as long as they're not playing the Bucs. So, during this year's Super Bowl, I will be cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the hopes that Nick Eason will be added to the list of former Tigers with an NFL Super Bowl ring.

THREE FORMER TIGERS IN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

2009-01-12T10:26:00.000-05:00

And then there were four. In Saturday's NFL games, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Tennessee Titans 13-10 and the Arizona Cardinals put the smackdown on the Carolina Panthers, 33-13. In Sunday's action, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Diego Chargers 35-24 and the Philadelphia Eagles got the victory over the the New York Giants by a score of 23-11.

Three of the four remaining teams each have a former Tiger player on the roster: Baltimore has DE Trevor Pryce, already a two-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowl player. The Pittsburgh Steelers have DE Nick Eason, who has been in the league six years. The Philadelphia Eagles have S Brian Dawkins, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection who was the leading tackler in the Eagles' win over the Giants on Sunday with ten. Dawkins has been in the league for thirteen years and is widely respected as one of the game's greatest defensive players.

So, there is at least a 50% chance that one of these three players will be wearing a Super Bowl ring because the NFC Championship game matches the Philadelphia Eagles against the Arizona Cardinals (the only team without a former Tiger on the roster) on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. The AFC Championship game matches the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Baltimore Ravens, who both have former Tigers. So, unless the Cardinals defeat both the Eagles and the winner of the AFC Championship game in the Super Bowl, a former Tiger will be a Super Bowl Champion. In the event that the Ravens win it all, Trevor Pryce will have this third Championship ring- one with the Broncos, and his second with the Ravens.

PHOTOS FROM THE GATOR BOWL

2009-01-09T15:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Candy Turner for providing these shots.

FINAL WRAP-UP OF THE GATOR BOWL

2009-01-09T13:22:00.000-05:00

As painful as it was, I finally watched the replay of the second half of the Gator Bowl. It took me a little over four hours to watch 30 minutes of football because I watched plays over and over and over, making over five pages of notes in a spiral notebook I had sitting in my lap. I watched most plays in slow motion in order to watch the offensive and defensive line, pass routes, tackling and so forth.

After watching both halves the same way, DVR remote in one hand and a notebook in the other, I can tell you in my honest opinion that Cullen Harper is not the reason we lost this game. I admit that I have been a little on edge over the past week because many of my fellow Tigers fans have blamed the loss on Harper and I couldn't see it. I reserved my judgment until I could take my time, watch the replay, and really break the game down.

Now that I've done that, I think there is plenty of blame to go around as to why we lost. Trying to put the loss on the shoulders of one member of the team in this case is very short-sighted. Mistakes were made by lots of individuals that are part of the team and you win or lose as a team. If the team learns from these mistakes and corrects them, then we've taken something positive out of the loss instead of dwelling on a bunch of negativity. Let's take a look at the second half highlights and lowlights:

HIGHLIGHTS:
Chad Diehl fumble recovery
Diehl is one of those guys who is kind of like an offensive lineman from the standpoint that he does not get a lot of publicity. He just does what he is asked to do, which is block and play special teams. In this instance he made a big play on special teams by recovering a fumbled punt by Nebraksa that gave the Tigers the ball back with great field position.

Cullen Harper/Jacoby Ford
Jacoby Ford and Cullen Harper had already connected for 3 catches and 55 yards in the first half, the key play being the 46 yard pass reception on 3rd and a mile to get the Tigers from their own 3 to mid-field. Ford and Harper followed up with two fantastic plays in the second half: The first one came in the third quarter as the offensive line did a great job of blocking and giving Harper time to throw. Jacoby ran a great route and Harper lofted a beautiful 41 yard pass right down the middle that Ford caught for a TD. The second play was on 4th and 4 late in the 4th quarter, when Harper hit Jacoby for a 16 yard strike that kept the drive going. On a side note, even Steve Beuerlein toned down his criticism of Harper in the second half and gave him credit for standing in the pocket with the corner blitzing and hitting him after he threw on this play.

Da'Quan Bowers
Bowers had a great first half with two tackles for loss and three QB pressures. He came out in the second half and followed that up with two more tackles for loss and two more QB pressures and was credited with a tackle assist. The official stats. only credit Bowers with three TFL's but according to my eyes and notes, he had four. In any event, it was Bowers' most dominating performance all season. As he continues to develop and mature, it is going to be fun to watch him wreak havoc on our opponents.

Andre' McDaniel
McDaniel is another Tiger that continued to make plays in the second half (with one exception) after forcing the Ganz fumble and returning it for a TD in the first half. Andre' had three tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the second half and finished the game with 6.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a QB pressure, a forced fumble and a TD.

LOWLIGHTS
Tackling (or lack thereof)
In the second half, there were a lot of missed tackles that resulted in Nebraska turning what should have been short to medium gains into big plays. Just a few: On Nebraska's 2nd series of the 2nd half, Chris Clemmons was in perfect position to make a tackle after the whole defensive line (except for Bowers) was blown off the ball but let RB Castille run right by him. The play went for 58 yards. Three plays later, Nebraska scored a TD.

More failure to tackle
In the 4th quarter, with Nebraska facing 3rd and 13, Ganz completed a short pass over the middle and McDaniel was in position to make the tackle and missed it. Instead of the Tigers holding on 3rd down and giving the ball back to the offense, the play went for 20 yards and Nebraska was able to chew up more time off the clock. Later in the 4th quarter, on Nebraska's second to last offensive series of the game with time winding down, RB Castille takes the handoff on their own 41 up the middle and Brandon Maye just flat out misses the tackle. Clemmons also misses him and Castille is off to the races, barely being pushed out of bounds before the goal line. This results in a FG and a five point lead for Nebraska instead of a 2 point lead when the Tigers get the ball on their final possession. A stop by the defense with no points allowed on that drive and a FG on Clemson's drive would have resulted in a win.

Offensive line
Once again in the second half, the Tigers struggled to run the ball. James Davis had 3 attempts for 3 yards, Spiller had 3 attempts for 4 yards and Ford had 1 attempt for 3 yards on an end-around. For the entire game, these three players accounted for a net 46 yards rushing on 20 attempts for an average of 2.3 yards per carry. Let's face it: Nebraska has an outstanding defensive line and their nose tackle Suh would certainly go in the 1st round of the NFL draft if he were to declare himself eligible this year. He almost single-handedly controlled the line of scrimmage and was dominant throughout the entire game, even moreso than Bama's Cody.

Suh practically lined up against everyone on the offensive line and no one could really block him one on one. He constantly crashed through the line and either sacked Harper, made a tackle for loss or just made a "normal" tackle. When we double teamed him, sometimes it didn't matter but other times it provided blitz opportunities or allowed someone else to go free. Suh finished the game with two sacks, four tackles for loss, six solo tackles, two assists and Lord only knows how many QB pressures. Nebraska had a total of five sacks and eleven tackles for loss in the game.

There were so many plays where offensive lineman missed their blocks in the second half that resulted in their man either making the tackle or getting pressure or a sack on the QB that I don't want to take the time and space to list them all. Here is just an overview: Bobby Hutchinson missed two, both on Suh and also had an illegal procedure penalty on third down. Landon Walker also missed on Suh. Mason Cloy missed a block on Suh, Antoine McClain missed a block on Suh and Chris Hairston missed a block but I couldn't get the player's number. The only offensive lineman that I did not note missing a block that resulted in a tackle for loss, QB pressure, sack, etc. is Thomas Austin.

Dropped passes
Midway in the 3rd quarter, Harper threw an accurate bubble screen pass to Jacoby Ford that hit him right in the hands. In my opinion, after watching the replay numerous times and in slow motion, Jacoby lost his focus because in his peripheral vision he could see the Nebraksa defender Amukamra (#21) was closing quick. The ball popped up in the air off of Ford's hands and was then intercepted. Despite what the announcers said, Nebraska really didn't make a great play. Ford just didn't catch the ball.

On next series in the 3rd quarter, facing 3rd and 6, Harper threw an accurate swing pass to a wide open C.J. Spiller that hit him right in the hands but was dropped. Spiller had open field in front of him. On the next play, Maners' punt was blocked, Nebraska got great field position and scored a FG.

In the 4th quarter with a little over eight minutes remaining, Clemson faced 3rd and 4 and Harper threw a pass to Aaron Kelly which hit him in the hands but was dropped. It would have resulted in a first down but instead the Tigers had to punt. The announcer (Beuerlein) said Harper did not make a good throw. It appeared that the ball might have been slightly off line but it hit Kelly in the hands. As soon as Kelly made his break on the slant route, the ball was there and I'm not sure he was ready for it. Another possibility is that like Ford, it could be that Kelly saw the defender coming to put a hit on him and lost focus momentarily. I think if the ball hits you in the hands, you should catch it.

On Clemson's last drive of the game with time winding down and no time outs, the Tigers faced 3rd and goal from the 26 after Harper's sack. The pass from Harper to C.J. Spiller was perfect but the Nebraska defender made a great play on the ball and knocked it away. I don't know if you can really call this one a dropped pass. It was more of a pass break up or pass defended. It could have been caught and maybe it could have even been called pass interference since the defender's body came into Spiller from the back and his hand was on Spiller's helmet.

Blocked punt
In the 3rd quarter, Jimmy Maners' punt was blocked when Sadat Chambers didn't get a good block on the Nebraska player who was rushing in from his right side. It looked like he attempted to just give the guy a push to knock him off balance rather than slide over and get in front of him to get on his pads.

GATOR BOWL 1st HALF HIGHLIGHTS & LOWLIGHTS

2009-01-08T13:01:00.000-05:00

HIGHLIGHTS
C.J. Spiller

Lightning struck in Jacksonville, FL on New Year's Day and as always, it was an awesome sight to behold. How about C.J.'s 33 yard return on the game's opening kickoff? Even better was Spiller's punt return later in the first quarter, also for 33 yards. After catching the punt near the left sideline on the 19, he worked his way all the way over to the right sideline, making six different Nebraska defenders miss him in the process and ended up finally getting tackled on the Cornhuskers' 48 yard line. He had a 10 yard rush on the first play of the 2nd quarter, breaking two tackles along the way.

James Davis

With 1:35 remaining in the 1st quarter, James had a gain of nine yards. On the last play of the 1st quarter, Davis broke two tackles and had a nice gain of gain of 11 yards.

Jacoby Ford
On Clemson's third series of the game, they were on their own 3 yard line and facing 3rd down and 17. Ford caught a short pass from Harper and made the most of it, racing for 46 yards to give the Tigers plenty of breathing room at midfield. Jacoby caught 3 passes for 55 yards in the first half and also returned a Nebraksa punt for 20 yards.

Aaron Kelly/Cullen Harper
Certainly one of the biggest plays of the first half was the 25 yard Cullen Harper pass and the TD catch by Aaron Kelly just before halftime to put the Tigers up 14-3. Harper did a great job of throwing the ball where only Kelly could catch it and Kelly did a great job of positioning himself for the catch. Aaron finished the first half with 3 catches for 39 yards and set the Clemson career reception yards record.

Da'Quan Bowers

Bowers had a great first half and was getting off his blocks and getting in the backfield regularly. He had two tackles for loss on the first downs of Nebraska's first and second offensive series. He also had 3 QB pressures of Nebraska QB Joe Ganz. It is good to see #93 making some plays and I look forward to watching him over the next two (hopefully three) years.

Chris Chancellor
The best hit of the first half goes to Chris Chancellor, hands down. On Nebraska's second offensive series in the first quarter, Nebraksa QB Joe Ganz threw a pass to RB Helu Jr. and Chancellor saw it coming all the way. It was reminiscent of the hit Byron Maxwell put on the UVA WR earlier in the season in that respect. As soon as the ball touched the fingers of Helu Jr., Chancellor arrived instantly and just crushed him. He rang his bell so hard that the whole Gator Bowl crowd let out a big "ooooohhhh".

Andre' McDaniel
Where would Clemson be if not for the big plays of Andre' McDaniel this season? The guy is a play-maker. Nebrasaka QB Ganz rushed to his left on an option play and pitched it out to RB Castille. McDaniel read it all the way and got between the two of them, tipped the pitch, picked it up and took it to the house for a 28 yard TD. What is interesting to note is that McDaniel was red-hot on this defensive series. On the previous play to the TD, McDaniel was right in Ganz's face when he threw the ball that Michael Hamlin nearly intercepted. On the previous play to that one, McDaniel tackled Ganz on a QB keeper and Ganz got up limping. In the first half, McDaniel accounted for a special teams tackle, the tackle on Ganz, the fumble recovery, a TD and a QB pressure.

Crezdon Butler
Butler tackled Nebraska RB Helu Jr. early in the 2nd quarter. Late in the 2nd quarter, after Harper's tipped pass was intercepted by Nebraska deep in Clemson territory, Crezdon returned the favor and intercepted Nebraska QB Ganz on Clemson' s 28 yard line. He returned it 59 yards to the Nebraska 13 to set up Clemson's next TD before halftime.

LOWLIGHTS
First play from scrimmage
On Clemson's first offensive play of the game, they lined up and then shifted into a different formation but had to burn a timeout to avoid a 5 yard penalty for delay of game. This is hard to accept after all the prep. time but it didn't end up hurting us, per se'. It just didn't help. It is questionable if they should have run the exact same play after the timeout as it seems Nebraska was well prepared and had James Davis double covered, so the pass from Harper fell incomplete for no gain.

James Davis fumble
On Clemson's 2nd offensive series, facing 2nd and 8, Davis took the handoff but fumbled the ball. Thankfully, Mason Cloy was alert and recovered it but it resulted in a 3 yard loss and put the Tigers in a 3rd and long which they did not convert.

Offensive line
A lot of fans complained bitterly about Cullen Harper's play and perhaps some complaining is justified. However, Harper was pressured, hit and sacked in the first half due to some mistakes that were not his- breakdowns in protection by the line. I am not naming names to make these guys look bad. Mistakes are going to happen. I appreciate all of the times they make the blocks and protect well but here is what I observed:

Prior to the huge 3rd down conversion where Jacoby was off to the races for 46 yards, Harper was sacked on Clemson's own 1 yard line when Thomas Austin gave up the inside to Nebraska's Steinkuhler. It almost went for a safety.

On 4th and 1, when Clemson elected to go for it on Nebraska's 32 yard line in the 1st quarter, James Davis was tackled by the defender that Bobby Hutchinson was supposed to block and didn't.

On 3rd and 8 with Clemson on Nebraksa's 39 yard line, Landon Walker and Antoine McClain double teamed Nebraska's #93 (Suh) and still let him plow right through both of them to get pressure on Harper. Granted, Harper held on to the ball for a while and Suh's a beast but two on one should be enough to keep this guy out of the backfield.

Late in the 2nd half, after Butler's interception and Clemson on the Nebraska 13 yard line, Mason Cloy just got manhandled by Suh and ended up sacking Harper and throwing him to the turf for a 17 yard loss.

Davis had 8 carries in the first half for 22 yards, an average of 2.75. Spiller had 4 carries for 13 yards, an average of 3.25. Of the 12 carries, only three were for more than 2 yards.

Failure to take advantage of excellent field position and opportunities on offense

It's a shame that the Tigers could do nothing with the excellent field position they had on nearly every offensive series in the first half. On the first series, Clemson started on their own 43 and went 3 and out. On the second series, they started on their own 41 and again went 3 and out. On the third series, they drove from their own 10 to the Nebraska 32, chose to go for it on 4th and 1 and had a timeout to discuss and prepare and still didn't convert. On the fourth series, the Tigers started on Nebraska's 48, had 1st and goal from the 5 and ended up with a 3rd and goal from the 9. Buccholz then had the FG blocked. On the fifth series, Clemson started on the Nebraska 41 and went 3 and out. This makes me sick just to think about all of these missed opportunities.

HARPER VS. BEUERLEIN, ROUND 1

2009-01-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

Although I was at the Gator Bowl, I always enjoy watching the replay on TV because you get a closer view and multiple angles to see the plays from. Having a DVR is even better because you can rewind a play and watch it in slow motion. I just watched the first half on TV for the first and I was struck by the fact that listening to the tv announcers can potentially change your perspective on the game and the players you are watching if you let their opinions influence you. For those of you who were not able to attend and watched the game at home, imagine if you could have used a special remote control that allowed you to hear the game action (crowd, pads popping, whistles, referees calls, etc.) but muted the announcers' comments throughout the entire game. How might your perspective, opinions and experience of watching the game be different?

One of the announcers for this game was Steve Beuerlein, a former QB for Notre Dame and six different NFL teams, who continuously criticized Cullen Harper throughout the first half. Now, let me make it clear that I have not watched the replay of the second half yet, so I am only going to discuss the first. Let me also make it clear that I am not going to try and defend Cullen Harper's play in the first half as perfect. However, I do think Beuerlein was overly critical of Harper and at first I thought it was because being a former QB, he was more prone to do that. However, Beurerlein didn't seem to let up even though he should know that no QB is perfect throughout an entire game. Certainly if you look back at the stats. on his own career, just from 1996-2000 and the 59 games he played as a Carolina Panther, he was sacked 191 times, threw 50 interceptions and fumbled 44 times. His overall pass completion percentage for his NFL career is 56.9. In his career, over 147 games played, he was sacked 332 times, threw 112 interceptions (to 147 TD's) and fumbled 70 times. (All stats from NFL.com). Do these stats. look like those of a perfect QB that avoided pressure, always threw the ball out of bounds and never made a poor decision?

It's also interesting to note that Beuerlein did not criticize Ganz during the first half but just for comparison's sake, he was 9 for 20 with 0 TD's, had one fumble that was returned by Andre' McDaniel for a Tigers touchdown, threw one interception right to Crezdon Butler that should have been returned for a touchdown and his team was down 14-3. Moving on, let's look more closely at Cullen's numbers for the first half: 8 of 19 with one interception and one TD. Let's break down those numbers further below. Harper's completions/attempts (0/0) are listed after each passing play:

1st QUARTER

On the first play of the game, the "trick" play after changing formations, Davis was double-covered and the pass from Harper fell incomplete. 0/1. On 2nd down, Harper was flushed out of the pocket and threw the ball away. 0/2. On 3rd down, he completed a pass to Ford. 1/3. On the second series, he missed Aaron Kelly, who was open. 1/4. On the third series, he completed a pass to Ford, who broke it for 46 yards. 2/5. On 1st down, he threw a screen to Spiller that fell incomplete. 2/6. On 2nd down, pass completed to Ford. 3/7. On 3rd down, he completed a pass to Faerber for the first. 4/8. On 1st down, he led Grisham too far and underthrew it. 4/9. On 2nd down, completion to Spiller. 5/10. On 3rd down, completion to Kelly for 8 yards. 6/11. On the fourth series, with receivers covered and Clemson facing 2nd and goal, he scrambled and then attempted a "push pass"- a Favre-like flick that was a little dangerous. 6/12

2nd QUARTER

On 3rd down, completion to Kelly. 7/13. On the fifth series, Harper threw to Jacoby Ford on 1st down, who let the ball go through his hands. 7/14. On 3rd down, he was criticized by Beuerlein for running to his right out of the pocket into pressure and throwing the ball away when Nebraska was only rushing four. Here is the situation on that play: #93 for Nebraska- Suh- was double teamed by Landon Walker and Antoine McClain and plowed through both of them. The safety blitzed from the right corner and James Davis was responsible for the block but let him get around his left side on the back side of Harper, which usually results in either a sack or a stripped ball. The pocket was collapsing due to pressure from these two defenders and Harper chose to run right, which is the general direction the pressure was coming from Suh but he could not have rolled to his left because that is the direction the safety was getting pressure from. Now, it's easy for someone sitting up in the booth or on a seat or couch to say he should have done something different. Maybe he should have stepped up two steps into the pocket away from the pressure. However, if everyone is covered, then what? Throw the ball away or scramble. Harper, as we all know, does not scramble well. So, whether he rolled into Suh's pressure and threw it away or stepped up in the pocket and threw it away, he threw it away. He didn't get stripped or sacked and he didn't try to force the ball into coverage and have it picked. 7/15

On the sixth series, on 2nd down the pass attempt was batted down and even if completed would have resulted in Aaron Kelly getting killed on a bubble screen. 7/16. On 3rd down, a Nebraska defender came through untouched and Harper was hit as he threw- incomplete. 7/17. On the seventh series, on 1st down, Harper's pass was tipped on a great defensive play by Nebraksa's Steinkuhler and intercepted. 7/18. On the 8th series, on 1st down from the Nebraska 13, Harper was sacked for a 17 yard loss. Once again, let's look a little closer at what happened: The beast known as Suh- #93 for Nebraska, manhandled Mason Cloy by getting Cloy moving to his left and then Suh just simply changed direction, gave him a swat-and-swim move to get by before wrapping Cullen up and slinging him like a ragdoll. Beuerlein again was very critical of Harper for not getting rid of the ball and this time, the criticism was a little more deserved because Cullen was looking for Grisham all the way. Grisham's ran what looked like a hook route and was open for a split second but it was a dangerous throw. Harper pumped towards and held the ball but he did have a screen to Spiller wide open, who was running right out of the backfield. It was too late because Suh was on him at that point. On the very next play, Harper throws a TD to Kelly in the end zone. 8/19. Beuerlein says he thought the pass was late and that Kelly had to turn 360 degrees to catch it. Clearly, while running the route, Kelly turned to look for the ball over his right shoulder, then turned his back toward the end zone when the ball was in the air and then turned left because Harper threw the ball over to the left side of the end zone so that Kelly could shield himself and the ball from the defender and make the catch.

TIGERS IN THE NFL- WILD CARD WEEKEND UPDATE

2009-01-06T12:13:00.000-05:00

Trevor Pryce- DE Baltimore Ravens
Two-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowl player Trevor Pryce had one sack and one tackle in the Ravens 27-9 win over the Miami Dolphins in the wild card playoff game on Sunday. Pryce now has 27 tackles and 4.5 sacks for the 2008-09 season. The Ravens now face the Tennessee Titans in the AFC divisional playoffs on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Phillip Merling- DE Miami Dolphins
Merling had two tackles in the 27-9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. In his rookie season, Merling registered 26 tackles, one sack and one interception which he returned for a TD. The loss ended the Dolphins' season.

Brian Dawkins- S Philadelphia Eagles
Seven-time Pro Bowl selection Brian Dawkins continues to have a stellar 2008-09 season. In the wild card playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Dawkins accounted for six tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. For the year, B-Dawk has 75 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 forced fumbles and an interception. The Eagles beat the Vikings 26-14 and play the defending Super Bowl champion NY Giants on Sunday in the NFC divisional playoff game at the Meadowlands. Game time is 1 p.m.

Jamaal Fudge- DB Atlanta Falcons
Fudge had one tackle in the wild card playoff game Saturday versus the Arizona Cardinals. The Falcons lost 30-24 and their season is now over. Fudge joined the Falcons late in the year after spending most of this season and all of his three-year pro career with the Jacksonville Jaguars seeing very limited playing time. He tallied 13 tackles this season.

Charlie Whitehurst and Anthony Waters- QB and LB San Diego Chargers
The Chargers beat the Colts 23-17 in OT in the AFC wild card playoff game on Saturday. The Chargers move on to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC divisional playoff game on Sunday at 4:45 p.m.

Nick Eason- DE Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers had a bye in the first round of the playoffs last weekend but now face the San Diego Chargers in the AFC divisional playoffs on Sunday.

BACK FROM JACKSONVILLE!

2009-01-05T17:04:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since the last post but I am now back in the saddle after a few days in Jacksonville and Savannah enjoying some time off. The Gator Bowl was a lot of fun despite my disappointment in the final outcome of the game. My hotel room at the Hyatt overlooked the St. Johns River and was very close to Jacksonville Landing where there was a live band playing after the game and all kinds of festivities in addition to shops, restaurants and bars/clubs. I got to see quite a few of the Clemson players out and about, including Cullen Harper who I photographed riding a mechanical bull.

I also took some photos of a car that pulled up in front of the Hyatt after the game. You may have seen it on the live television broadcast when they showed it in the parking lot at the stadium. The owner is obviously a diehard Clemson Tigers fan but I could not believe all stuff all over it. If you look closely at some of the hundreds of tiger paws on the car, you will see where many Tiger football team members have signed inside of them. Even the interior of the car was customized in orange. I am not sure if this will be a collectors item you'll see at Barrett Jackson anytime soon but it was great entertainment.

The weather, except maybe for some cool winds on the morning of the game, was great. There were Clemson Tigers fans and orange everywhere but a lot of Nebraska fans, too. Every Nebraska fan that I encountered and/or spoke to was extremely nice and were very good sports before, during and after the game. I think they were just happy to be there and supported their football team by chanting "Go big red" a lot. The Jacksonville Jaguars stadium is first class with everything you would expect in an NFL stadium- comfortable seats, cup holders, escalators, a jumbotron on each end of the field, Outback Steakhouse takeout and so on. The one deficiency that I noticed about it was that the concourses are not very wide and therefore the crowds do not flow through well at all. However, the overall experience was fantastic and I would definitely go back again.

I'm looking forward to watching the game again in HD on the wide screen with DVR remote in-hand to get a little better perspective on things than the one I had from my seat. I know the game has been covered seven ways to Sunday by now but I will post a wrap-up of my own tomorrow. I will also be covering how the former Tigers playing in the NFL did in the first round of the playoffs.

BEST OF TIGER FOOTBALL 2008- PART II

2008-12-31T13:43:00.000-05:00

BEST KICKOFF RETURN
C.J. Spiller's 64 yard kickoff return against BC. With about nine minutes to go in the 4th quarter, BC had just scored a TD and taken a 21-17 lead after Clemson led 17-0 at halftime. It seemed as though history might repeat itself with Clemson having lost the last three close games against BC. On the ensuing kickoff return, Spiller carved and diced his way through defenders for 64 yards, all the way to the Eagles 15 yard line, giving the offense great field position. Four plays later, the Tigers found the end zone, regained the lead and went on to win 27-21. Check the 3 minute mark in the following clip:

Honorable mention: C.J. Spiller's 96 yard kickoff return against Alabama at the beginning of the second half in the Georgia Dome finally gave Tigers fans something to cheer about in this otherwise dismal game. While it had no effect on the final outcome, 34-10 looks much better than 34-3 on the scoreboard and it was a fantastic play.

BEST TRICK PLAY- TIE
1. C.J. Spiller pass to Tyler Grisham vs. UVA. Dabo Swinney had made it clear on day one that he was going to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers. Of course, C.J. Spiller fits the bill and had been on a roll over the past few games after having to sit out the Ga. Tech game. So, when Clemson visited Charlottesville, VA. you can rest assured that the Cavs defensive mindset was to limit his big plays as much as possible. With the game scoreless in the 1st quarter, Clemson had driven to the UVA 15 yard line and had 1st and 5 after a Cavs penalty. Harper pitched the ball to Spiller in the backfield as he ran right. There were literally nine UVA players all pursuing Spiller toward the sideline, with one DB in man coverage on the receiver lined up on the opposite sideline. This left Grisham completely uncovered in the corner of the end zone and Spiller lofted a perfect pass to put the Tigers up by 7 after the extra point. Once again, the Tigers had momentum on their side and never looked back, winning 13-3.
2. Cullen Harper pass to Jacoby Ford vs. SC. I watched this play unfold and had no idea it was a trick play until the following day when I read about it in the news. The play was called "cock-a-doodle-doo" and was designed to have WR Jacoby Ford appear to come off the field with two other players after a one yard run by Spiller on 1st down. However, the trick was that he was going to actually remain on the field of play as an eligible receiver. Ford jogged towards the sideline with the two other players, bent down just on the edge of the field and pretended to tie his shoes while supposedly getting chewed out by receivers coach Jeff Scott. It worked. SC did not catch on that Ford was the 11th Tiger player on the field and left him uncovered. What really made this play even more special was the fact that Harper was in the grasp of a SC defender with both knees just inches from the ground about to be sacked and still made the throw 27 yards downfield.

BEST PUNT
Jimmy Maners vs. SC. Yes, this is a weird category and once again, this play happened during the SC game. However, Jimmy Maners, who averages about 40 yards per kick, came through in a clutch situation and I believe it is worth mentioning. Clemson held a 10-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter but SC drove the ball into Tigers territory, eventually stalling on the Clemson 40 yard line after failing to convert on 3rd down. SC punter Lanning pinned Clemson deep in their own territory, with the Tigers taking over on their own 3 yard line. After James Davis gave them a little breathing room with a 7 yard rush on 1st down, Harper was sacked on consecutive plays and Clemson was pushed back to their own 6, forcing 4th down. With Maners standing at the back of his own end zone, he unleashed a booming 54 yarder that pushed the gamecocks back to their own 40 yard line and had fans, players and coaches alike applauding.

BEST FG
Mark Buccholz vs. BC. Buccholz did not have the opportunity to kick a FG for a win in a game 2008 as he had done in 2007 against SC. The most crucial field goal was actually one to double the Tigers' 3 point lead over BC late in the game. Clemson held a 17 point lead up until about the 10 minute mark in the 3rd quarter, watched it all slip away as they went down 21-17 in the 4th, only to come back and regain the lead 24-21. Knowing the history of this series, 3 points did not seem like enough of a lead when kicking the ball back to BC after the go-ahead TD. All BC needed was a FG to tie and a TD/PAT to go ahead by 4, the latter scenario forcing the Tigers to score a TD to win with very little time left. However, the Eagles fumbled and Clemson recovered. Clemson's drive stalled but Buchholz lined up for a 43 yard FG to put CU up by six. It was good and now the tables were turned in that BC had to score a TD/PAT to win. Clemson went on to stop BC's next drive and run out the clock.

BEST INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE EFFORT- TIE
1. DeAndre' McDaniel vs. SC. McDaniel had his most impressive overall game of the season against, of course, the gamecocks. #2 was all over the field in this game, making 11 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and forced a fumble.
2. Kavelle Connor vs. UVA. Connor ended up as the Tigers' leading tackler on the team after the final regular season game but really had a dominant performance against the Cavaliers. Kavelle had 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery after the big hit by Byron Maxwell on Cavs FB Rashawn Jackson

BEST OF TIGER FOOTBALL 2008- PART I of II

2008-12-30T03:01:00.001-05:00

BEST BIG HIT- TIE
1. Byron Maxwell on UVA FB Rashawn Jackson. This category is about collisions, not just tackles. There were relatively few really big hits delivered by Clemson defenders during the 2008 season but this one definitely stands out. After catching a 4 yard pass from Cavaliers QB Mark Verica, the Cavaliers' Jackson turned his eyes upfield and was run over by the Mack truck that was Byron Maxwell. It was over for poor Jackson before it started as Maxwell read the play and timed his arrival perfectly with the ball. The hit knocked Jackson off his feet and separated him from the ball, which LB Kavelle Connor recovered. Clemson went on to get 3 points as a result of the turnover and kept the momentum going with a 10-0 lead.
2. DeAndre' McDaniel on BC WR Clarence Megwa. McDaniel's hit on Megwa happened with about six minutes left in the 4th quarter of a close game. BC was facing a crucial 3rd and 3 and the Tigers were clinging to a 24-21 lead on the road. Keep in mind that BC has a history of winning these close games against Clemson, having won the last 3 by a total of 7 points. The defense had to step up and fortunately for the Tigers, Andre's hit caused Megwa to fumble the ball and Clemson recovered. The Tigers ran some time off the clock, got 3 points as a result of the turnover and the defense held on 4th down of BC's final possession to seal the win. Unforunately for Megwa, his leg was badly broken and he may never play football again.

BEST WIN
The win against the gamecocks. The conference win against BC on the road was big, given the fact that the Eagles had become the Tigers' division nemesis after beating them three years in a row since joining the ACC. However, getting a win in the SC game was actually more important this year than it usually is to the Tigers. Make no mistake, it is always important but more so this year for several reasons: First of all, a win resulted in the Tigers becoming bowl-eligible. Next, at that time, Dabo Swinney held the title of interim head coach and a win over the gamecocks would surely help propel him into the permanent position. Finally, the SC defense was considered to be the team's strength and there was a lot of talk and pregame hype about them. The fact that Florida hung 56 on them was an aberration because they were doing that to everybody and Clemson is no Florida, they said. After allowing 383 yards of offense, the old ball coach and SC players later admitted that they weren't as good as they thought and that Clemson was in fact the better team. I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

BEST RUSHING PLAY
C.J. Spiller in the 1st quarter of the SC game. It is nearly impossible to select just one out of all the great runs by Davis and Spiller this season but this run by C.J. Spiller stands out to me. It didn't even go for a TD but after taking the handoff from Harper, Spiller made five different SC defenders miss, juking two of them out of their shoes and causing all of them to grasp at air before he was finally taken down at the gamecock 1 yard line after a 39 yard gain. Davis punched it in on the next play, Clemson went up 7-0 and never looked back. It firmly put the momentum on the Tigers' side. In addition, it was one of those plays where you can just rewind it over and over and watch in awe at the athleticism and talent. We as Tiger fans are fortunate to see C.J. in orange on Saturdays and plays like this is why he is one of the best ever at Clemson U.

BEST INDIVIDUAL EFFORT ON A SINGLE PLAY
C.J. Spiller in the MD game on 3rd and 18. I believe we got robbed on this play, despite the fact that it was reviewed afterwards and the spot was upheld. My seats are in the South stands, 10 rows up from the field on about the 33 yard line closest to the West Zone, so I had a really good view of the play in person. While getting looks that seemed to question my sanity from both my wife and dogs, I took about thirty minutes and watched it about a dozen times in frame-by-frame slow motion after the game. I still thought he made it. Spiller took a short pass out of the backfield and from there I observed him make what I consider almost a superhuman effort to get the first down in a crucial situation. He jumped sideways up and over the first defender who read the play beautifully and then faked the second defender out. He then had four Terrapins crash in on him and still went forward five more yards as they bounced off. It looked as though he willing himself to get it, pushing off one, then both feet backwards through the air, twisting sideways with one last effort before going out of bounds and then stretching the ball out to the marker. The players and coaches on the Clemson sideline went crazy over what they had just witnessed but the ball was spotted a little over a yard short even after review. Short or not, I witnessed amazing heart and sheer determination.

BEST PUNT/KICK BLOCK
Jamie Harper's block of gamecock Spencer Lanning's punt. Jamie Harper was a heralded recruit coming into the 2008 season. He just happened to be playing behind two of the best backs in the country and didn't get his number called at RB too many times. So in 2008, playing on special teams during the SC game, it was a nice surprise to see the gamecock punt being blocked but a bigger surprise to find out who blocked it. In 2007, during the game against the gamecocks in Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, the Tigers had two huge momentum-changing special teams plays when Nelson Faerber blocked one Ryan Succop punt that LaDonte' Harris returned for a TD and then Harris blocked another Succop punt later in the first half. It's a very demoralizing thing for the punting team and pushes huge momentum onto the side of the blocking team when it happens. Jamie Harper's block of Lanning's punt in the 1st quarter of this year's SC game reminded me of thetwo last year and that these big plays often come from guys who are not in the limelight all the time. The block resulted in great field position for the Tigers, 3 points from Buchholz's FG, a 10-0 lead and continuation of the momentum for the Tigers.

Part II upcoming......check back soon.

TIGERS IN THE NFL- WEEK 17 RECAP

2008-12-29T11:06:00.001-05:00

Jamaal Fudge- DB Atlanta Falcons
In his first career start with the Atlanta Falcons, 3rd year player Jamaal Fudge had his best performance since turning pro, finishing with 10 tackles in a 31-27 win over the St. Louis Rams. Fudge started in place of the injured Lawyer Milloy. Atlanta now faces the Arizona Cardinals in the playoffs this Saturday.

Phillip Merling- DE Miami Dolphins
Rookie Phillip Merling had his first career interception and also returned it 25 yards for his first career TD (click here for the clip) on Sunday against the NY Jets. Merling picked off QB Brett Favre late in the 2nd quarter and upon his arrival in the end zone, the game announcers immediately announced that he was a rookie from Clemson. Phillip also had one tackle in the game which Miami won 24-17. Merling finished the regular season with 26 tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception. The Dolphins clinched their division and now face the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs on Sunday.

Brian Dawkins- SS Philadelphia Eagles
7 time Pro Bowl selection Brian Dawkins had a dominating performance on Sunday as the Eagles destroyed the Dallas Cowboys 44-6. Dawkins had 5 tackles, a sack and 2 forced fumbles, both of which teammates returned for TD's. Dawkins now has 75 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 forced fumbles and an interception at the conclusion of the regular season. The Eagles clinched a wild card playoff spot as a result of the win and now will face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Justin Miller- KR Oakland Raiders
Kickoff return specialist Justin Miller had a 41 yard return on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 31-24 win. Miller fielded four kicks and averaged 22 yards per return. Miller's career was revived after being signed by the Raiders in November of this year. After the NY Jets drafted Justin in 2005, he had two stellar seasons in a row and earned a spot as a kick returner on the 2007 Pro Bowl team. Miller then suffered a season ending injury in the early part of the 2007 season and only returned one kick for the Jets in 2008 before being waived. After signing with the Raiders, he returned kickoffs for TD's in back to back games and his overall average was 24.7 per return.

Gaines Adams- DE Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2nd year pro Gaines Adams had 2 tackles and a sack but the Bucs lost to the Oakland Raiders 31-24 on Sunday. The Bucs needed to win the game in order to have a shot at the playoffs but finished the season by losing four games in a row. The Tampa D allowed an average of 30 points per game in those four losses and in three of the four allowed an opponent RB 150+ yards rushing. Adams finished the season with 38 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 2 interceptions and 1 TD.

Chansi Stuckey- WR NY Jets
2nd year pro Chansi Stuckey had 4 receptions for 50 yards on Sunday in a loss to the Miami Dolphins, 31-24. Stuckey started two games, played in 15 and finished the season with 32 receptions for 359 yards and 3 TD's. The Jets did not make the playoffs as a result of the loss. Eric Mangini was fired as the NY Jets head coach after the loss.

Nick Eason- DE Pittsburgh Steelers
6th year pro Nick Eason had one tackle in the Steelers 31-0 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Eason now has 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks for the season. Pittsburgh is one of the top seeds in the AFC and has a first round bye in the playoffs.

Did not play or no stats available:
Charlie Whitehurst- QB San Diego Chargers
Anthony Waters- LB San Diego Chargers
Barry Richardson- OT Kansas City Chiefs
Tye Hill- CB St. Louis Rams (injury)
Trevor Pryce- DE Baltimore Ravens (illness)
Leroy Hill- LB Seattle Seahawks

FROM 3-4 TO THE GATOR BOWL!

2008-12-26T15:54:00.000-05:00

The kickoff of the 2009 Konica Minolta Gator Bowl between the Clemson Tigers and Nebraska Cornhuskers is less than 7 days away! I can think of no better way to spend New Year's Day than watching the Tigers play. Even though the expectations were very high coming into this season, I think all Tigers fans would agree that we are very fortunate to be playing in a prestigious New Year's Day bowl game after the way things unfolded in the beginning and middle part of the schedule. I think back to the feeling I had while sitting in the Georgia Dome at halftime of the Alabama game and after the game. I remember how I felt numb sitting in Death Valley after the Maryland game, almost in a state of shock. I recall being in Winston-Salem and thinking to myself that Tommy Bowden had just sealed his fate with that loss to Wake. The media talked about how the mighty had fallen and Bowden's hot seat was the hottest it had ever been. At this point, it began to get tiresome listening to reports about our offensive line problems, division among the team, how Harper was playing hurt and it just wasn't a fun time to be a Clemson Tigers fan.

However, next up on the roller-coaster ride was a mixture of surprise and relief when it was announced that Bowden was "stepping down". After the announcement of Dabo Swinney as interim coach and listening to his press conference, I felt excitement and pride to the point that tears came to my eyes. I am proud of the way that the team responded afterwards. I am proud of the way coach Swinney unified not only the team but the university and the fans. After the Ga. Tech loss, I didn't have so much of a sick feeling afterwards. I did hate that the 8 year old who sat behind me with his dad and screamed "Go Jackets" seemingly for the ENTIRE game left satisfied. I will never understand why some CU fans sell their tickets to just anybody and force their fellow fans to have to listen to the opposing fans carrying on but I digress. I always hate losing but during the Ga. Tech game, I began to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I had hope. It was great to finally get a win against BC and to do it on the road was even better. Then, we just demolished Duke. Detractors can say whatever they want but I was as nervous about playing Duke this year as I have ever been. We got a great win over Virginia on the road even though I still heard the detractors say how our offense was anemic and this and that. I looked at it as a W. Sure, it's always nice to put up points but when the clock hits 0:00, the W is what counts and it was just a good, old-fashioned, grind-it-out defensive battle. Then, in the annual rivalry against the gamecocks in Death Valley it was, well, just pure bliss. I was wet and cold but jumping for joy the entire game. The only time I was nervous was when SC came out and drove the the length of the field for a TD after the second half kickoff and made it 24-14. We ended up scoring another TD and making big play after big play and the game was never in doubt again. Swinney was then named the head coach and shortly thereafter it was announced that we were playing Nebraska in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day. Now, I ask you- how cool is that after sitting at 3-4 after the Tech game?

The only way to make this turnaround story even better is to get a win in the Gator Bowl game. Most of the national sportscasters are predicting a Nebraska win but I think the Tigers can pull it off, although it will certainly not be easy. I have studied Nebraska quite a bit since the announcement that they will be our opponent. I have a lot of respect for their offense and they too are having a similar turnaround season. They score a lot of points and have some great weapons on offense. They have a great coach and a strong fan base. It should be an exciting game and I believe we will need to score a minimum of 30 points to get a victory.

The team was scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. today at the team hotel in Jacksonville, their first since the Christmas holiday break. The Tigers should have good weather for their practices with the exception of Monday. According to the Weather Channel, the current weather in Jacksonville is party sunny and 78 degrees. The extended forecast calls for similar weather through the weekend but a 40% chance of rain on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday are both expected to be mostly sunny, although the highs will drop to around 69-70 degrees. On game day, the forecast is for a high of 69 with scattered showers with the chance of precipitation at only 30%. I can't wait until kickoff. Let's finish off this wild season with a win against Nebraksa. GO TIGERS!!!

FULL INTERVIEW WITH REGGIE MERRIWEATHER

2008-12-24T03:01:00.000-05:00

Reggie Merriweather is a familiar name to Tigers football fans. In 2006, most of Death Valley was chanting "Reggie, Reggie" as the 4th quarter was winding down and Clemson was driving deep into SC territory. However, for the benefit of those who may be new Tigers football fans and to refresh the memory of the long-time fans, here is a brief bio: Reggie played for North Augusta High School (S.C.) and came to Clemson as a highly rated recruit after an outstanding senior season in which he rushed for 2580 yards and 29 TD's. Merriweather was named Player-of-the-year by several state newspapers and listed as the #27 RB in the nation by Superprep. After redshirting in 2002, he played in all 13 games in 2003 on special teams and had 16 carries as a tailback. In 2004, despite having only started six games, he finished the season with the most carries (136) and led the team in rushing yards (670), averaging 4.9 per carry. Merriweather scored 11 TD's in 2004, 3 of which came in a OT victory against then #10 Miami in the Orange Bowl and 3 more against South Carolina in the year of the infamous brawl.

In 2005, Reggie again started six games while James Davis started the other six. He gained 736 yards on 149 carries, averaging 4.8 per carry and had 7 TD's. Notable games included three 100+ yard performances in a row against Temple, Duke and Georgia Tech. Merriweather scored two TD's against MD that year with a 7.5 average yard per carry and 3 TD's against Duke. In 2006, Davis was the starter in all 13 games and freshman C.J. Spiller was also on the field along with Demerick Chancellor. However, despite the decreased workload, Merriweather averaged 4.2 yards per carry over the first 3 1/2 games and scored two TD's. It was in the second half of the fourth game against UNC that he suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of action for the next five games and even after healing, he had only five carries the rest of the way.

I got in touch with Reggie to speak with him about a variety of subjects, including "the" burning question about him being taken out of the game against SC in 2006 after three of those five carries mentioned above went for 23 yards. Here is the conversation:

JM: Following your senior year, you were signed as a free agent by the NFL's San Diego Chargers, reuniting with Clemson teammates LB Anthony Waters and QB Charlie Whitehurst. Tell us about that experience.

RM: It was a real honor and a privilege. Anytime you have a chance to do what you've dreamed about for fifteen some-odd years, it's an awesome feeling. To come in and play with some of the best players in the NFL, not to mention three of the best running backs you've ever seen, it's just kind of overwhelming. Being around Charlie and Anthony was great. Anthony and I played in the Shrine Bowl together, so we've known each other for a while. Charlie and I hit it off real good when we first met back in 2002 because he was dating one of my friends and so we had a lot to talk about. Actually, when I got there (San Diego), I knew half the rookies because I either played with them in the Hula Bowl or knew them from ACC or SEC games that Clemson played in. So it was fun and a tremendous honor. The only bad thing about it was that I was playing behind two Pro Bowl RB's and one of the fastest cats in the league in Darren Sprolles. I was there for about 6 months then got released the day before the first preseason game.

JM: Bring us up to speed on what you have been doing lately. You're living in Charleston now?
RM: I've basically been trying out for different teams and trying to figure out what I want to do as far as coaching, playing ball and what I want to do with my Human Resources degree. I am currently living in Charleston but will probably move back to Augusta at beginning of the year to follow up on some other options. In Charleston, I was coaching and teaching at James Island High school. Being a running back and knowing a lot of defensive schemes, I coached outside linebackers. I enjoyed being around younger kids and coaching them. I also enjoyed sharing old high school and college stories with them as well. I also coached with DeAngelo Bryant from Wake, Sean Grant from Citadel, and Marcus Lawrence from God-awful usc (laughs) but it was enjoyable and even though we were 3-9 we had a ball. Now that football season is over, I'm trying to figure out the next step. I still plan on trying out for the Canadian league. I actually had a contract but I turned it down for that AAFL deal that folded, so just trying to figure my next step.

JM: David Dunham mentioned that you and he still stay in contact and hang out. Are there any other former teammates that you are still tight with?

RM: I keep in touch with a lot of guys and try to stay updated with the team as much as possible. I still talk to C.J. Spiller, Chansi Stuckey, Sergio Gilliam, Will Proctor and a bunch of the guys. It's funny how people change with the times and lose contact but I'm one of those guys that if I know you then I know you. It's kind of like being in the army and having war buddies.

JM: Have you had the opportunity to attend games in Death Valley or follow the Tigers on the road since your playing days at Clemson?

RM: I've been to several games this year but none more memorable than Dabo's first win against the cocks! But yes, I've been to a few games to watch Spiller and Davis do their thing.

JM: You had countless big plays and big games during your playing career as a Tiger including 3 TD's against SC and 3 TD's against then #10 Miami in the Orange Bowl, both in 2004. What game stands out to you as your personal best and what win means the most to you?

RM: Every game was one to remember and I can't really think of one that meant more than the other. My whole career was a great one and I wouldn't change a thing. If I had to choose one to dwell on it would probably be the SC game in 2004. That game was so hyped up and it was really my first game against SC since I had gotten to Clemson and actually got a chance to show my stuff. It was the most memorable because of trash talk and a bunch of folks who said I couldn't play for Carolina and I'd never compare to SEC talent, so yeah it was a touchy game.

JM: I'm sure there were a few disappointing losses to you along the way as well. Any that stand out to you?

RM: That's one to dwell on. We lost a lot of games in my career but there are two that stick out the most: VT and SC- both in my senior season (2006). The only reason I say these games is because I didn't play. [Note: Merriweather in fact did not play against VT due to injury. However, he did have three carries in the SC game. I'm sure what he meant was that he didn't play much - he went in late in the 4th quarter and was yanked after 3 rushes gained an average of 7.7 yards per carry] I'm not saying if I did play, we would have won but when I signed with Clemson, I told Rick Stockstill [who recruited him] that I would give my all to Clemson- mind, body and heart. Just seeing my team struggle and knowing that I can contribute......it cut me even deeper when he [Bowden] took me out of the Carolina game. When we got into the locker room, he gave a speech and at the end he goes , "Can't win them all, guys". I about lost it. I forgive him for that but will never forget.

JM: Okay, since you brought it up, I have been wondering about this for over two years, so let's go back in time: You are a senior playing against SC in your final game in Death Valley. The Gamecocks have just kicked a FG to go up by 3 with just under eight minutes left in the game. The kickoff goes for a touchback. At this moment, you have no carries in the game. Sophomore James Davis has seven carries for 14 yards for a 2.0 yard average and Freshman C.J. Spiller has six carries for 116 yards for a 19.33 yard average. Finally, you get an opportunity and on the first play of this final, crucial series you run for 10 yards and a first down. On the very next play, you run for seven yards. C.J. then gets the next four carries, for 23, 9, -1 and 8 yards but on that last run has to leave the game with an ankle injury. On 1st and 10, you get the carry and run for six yards to the SC 17 yard line. So, at this moment, we have momentum, the crowd is going crazy and chanting your name and you have rushed three times for 10, 7 and 6 yards. You are then taken out of the game and replaced by James Davis, who gets four straight handoffs for 1, 3, 2 and -1 yards. Facing 3rd and 9 with only 27 seconds left, Proctor gets sacked for a 10 yard loss, which forced the failed FG attempt. After the game, there was a huge uproar by the fans who said you should have never been taken out. My question is, given the circumstances, did you question being taken out of the game and were you upset about it afterwards?

RM: The oh so dreaded question. Well, first off, the season for me was kind of a bust from the coaches stand point. When I signed with Clemson, they said I was going to be the only back they took but they ended up taking Duane Coleman also. For as long as I played at Clemson, I was behind some good backs but never got a chance to start a whole bunch. Not that it means a whole lot but when you're a senior and it's your last go-round, it has an affect on you. So, going into my senior year, coaches told me to lose 10 lbs. and come back to camp in the best shape of your life! I did that and more. I reported to camp weighing 203 lbs, running a 4.40 yard 40, benching 415 and squatting about 590! So I was amped. We had, to me, the best back-field in the nation. Imagine Reggie Bush, Mike Turner, and Edgerrin James in one backfield- (laughs) just nasty! That's how I viewed us. I had a great camp but sat in the back seat every game and didn't mind much because we are a team. I contributed and we won, so life was good. I didn't mind much until mid-season and the run game was non-existent. I mean, VT shut us down and so did a few other teams. After my injury earlier in the season, I cried and thought this was it. They tried to rush me back but my ankle was no good. I got healthy about the VT game but we got crushed and it was a long flight back to Clemson. That Monday morning I went and talked to Bowden about the running game and told him I felt hurt and wanted to help my team get out of this hole. After that, nothing changed. We still didn't run the ball, just put everything on Proctor's back and that didn't work out too well. But the Carolina game was hard. I dislike those guys with a passion. When he [Bowden] put me in, I was a man on a mission to conquer and win. When he took me out, I thought it was just for a breather and it surely wasn't. I tugged and pulled on his shirt a few times but he never turned around and looked at me. In the locker room after the game, after he was talking all week about winning and all that stuff, he says," Well, guys, we can't win them all." I about lost it! I was like, "Wow"! I can't believe he just said this, but who knows what would have happened if I would have stayed in. Ever since I was little, I just wanted a chance to prove that me, this little half-pint of a guy could do something big- that I could put Clemson football on my broad "Joey Batson-made" shoulders and take them to the promise land! I'd like to think I was a super hero or something. But yes, it was a heart-breaking game and a bad moment for me and I forgive but won't forget, so all is well.

JM: In 2005, you were credited with making the following quote: "They (fans and media) are seeing James Davis and other freshmen coming in and making a direct impact and forgetting about us". You went on to say that you hoped he and other freshman did have an impact because it would mean you were a better team. You were always a team player and an ambassador for the program but was there ever any tension, jealousy or resentment coming from either side between you and James Davis?

There has always been fight in me and I've always had something that I had to accomplish. The funny thing about life is that there is only a few special ingredients: hard work; perseverance, compassion and tenacity. I learned this when I was young from my dad. We have a wood furnace at home that we burn during the winter, so we'd always have to cut wood and stuff during the summer to get ready for winter. Sometimes we'd have to split the wood because it was too big for the furnance, so my dad is like cock diesel and can split wood with ease. I was a shrimp back in the day and couldn't even lift an axe. Once I could, he let me split a piece of hickory and it was so hard I couldn't crack it. He told me, once you start keep chipping away and if you are persistent, you will break it soon enough. I love competition and it's always been in our group. Burton Burns has always kept it in our room because competition breeds excellence! I love them boys, especially C.J. He's a man after Gods own heart and he's an awesome friend but no there no animosity there.

JM: This is somewhat of a follow up question: In 2006, Tommy Bowden was quoted as saying this about you: "He's in a position where it is tough to get three guys a whole bunch of work, but he's a guy that I would like to get more work, because there is not a lot of separation between him and the others (Davis and Spiller)". However, in looking back at just the first three games of your senior season before your injury, you had 17 carries while Davis had 57 and Spiller had 13. Did you express frustration or let Bowden or any of the other coaches know that you wanted the ball more or were you content to just try and make an impact when you did get it?

RM: I'm not a complainer and I don't say much. I let my playing and my attitude do my walking and talking. However, just as Jeff Davis told me one time: " You have four tires on your car and one of them is squeeking really bad. Which one are you going to pay more attention to? No, I didn't say much to the coaches- just Bowden.

JM: Give us your thoughts and opinions on the announcement of Dabo Swinney as Clemson University's new head football coach.

RM: I know it's a great fit for Dabo. Clemson needed change and he's the man with the plan. I have witnessed him first hand take control of the team and he's brought so much to the program already.

JM: Well, thank you, Reggie. I appreciate you taking the time to let all the Tigers fans catch up with you and we certainly wish you the best in whatever you decide to do in the future.

TUESDAY TRIVIA- ANSWER: TERRENCE FLAGLER

2008-12-23T21:38:00.000-05:00

Can you name this former Tiger football player? Here are ten hints:

1. Born in New York, NY

2. Played for same high school as former OC Rick Stockstill, Fernandina Beach High School (FL)

3. Set a FL state record with 408 rushing yards and 7 TD's in one game

4. Third Clemson player to score four TD's in one game

5. Holds Clemson record for all-purpose running yards in a game with 274

6. Played for head coach Danny Ford

7. Took handoffs from QB Rodney Williams

8. All-American and All ACC his senior year

9. Selected in the 1st round of the NFL draft, 25th overall pick

10. Won two Super Bowl Championship rings with the San Franciso 49ers.

Check back on Wednesday for the answer.

POLL RESULTS- TIGERS vs. THE ECONOMY

2008-12-23T17:22:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who voted in the most recent poll. The question was: Will your 2009 season game attendance and/or IPTAY donations be affected by the current state of the economy? As much as we all love tailgating and attending games on Saturdays in Death Valley and following the Tigers on the road and to bowl games, I began to wonder if the sad state of financial affairs we find ourselves in would affect the average fan's ability to continue to paying IPTAY dues and/or ticket costs and all the other expenses associated with game days. So, I decided to ask. The majority of the respondents, 45%, said it's a priority no matter what the economy is doing. However, 23% said that the economy would definitely affect their game attendance and/or dues. Another 4% said that they were planning on attending/donating less and another 26% said that their plans for 2009 would possibly be affected unless the economy improved soon.

So, in essence, the results indicate that roughly half the respondents are going to continue to carry on with business as usual while the other half are either possibly or definitely going to have to alter their plans unless things improve soon. It's hard to define exactly what "improvement of the economy" means to all people. For some, it may mean that they're gainfully employed or have a reasonable assurance of continued employment. For others, it may be easier access to credit that has tightened substantially this year or recouping losses suffered in the stock market decline. I want Death Valley to be filled to capacity for every 2009 game, so my Christmas wish is that we see the overall economic turnaround necessary.

Be sure to vote in the new poll regarding your favorite content on this site. If you have suggestions about specific content that you would like to see on the site in the future, just send me an email: jmesser4@gmail.com

TRIBUTE VIDEO- REGGIE MERRIWEATHER

2008-12-23T02:10:00.000-05:00

TIGERS IN THE NFL- WEEK 16 UPDATE

2008-12-22T11:54:00.000-05:00

Nick Eason- DE Pittsburgh Steelers
Nick Eason had one tackle in limited playing time in a 31-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday night. Eason now has 16 tackles and 1.5 sacks in the 2008 season. Pittsburgh has already clinched their division title and now finish up the regular season against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

Phillip Merling- DE Miami Dolphins
NFL rookie Phillip Merling had two tackles and sacked Kansas City QB Tyler Thigpen in a win over the Chiefs, 38-31. Merling now has 26 tackles and two sacks in the 2008 season. In order to secure a playoff spot, the Dolphins need to win the regular season finale against division rival NY Jets.

Gaines Adams- DE Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Gaines Adams had two tackles in a crushing 41-24 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday. For the season, Adams now has 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 2 interceptions, one returned for a TD. The Bucs have now dropped three games in a row and must win their final regular season game against Oakland and have help by Philadelphia beating Dallas in order to make the playoffs.

Justin Miller- KR Oakland Raiders
Kickoff return specialist Justin Miller fielded 4 returns for a 23 yard average in a 27-16 win over the Houston Texans. Miller is the only player in the NFL to return two kickoffs for touchdowns this season. He is averaging 25 yards per return and that average is 14th in the league among players who have returned 25 or more kickoffs. The Raiders finish up the regular season on the road against the Tampa Bay Bucs but are out of the playoff picture.

Jamaal Fudge- DB Atlanta Falcons
3rd year player Jamaal Fudge got on the field Sunday and had one tackle in the Falcons 24-17 win over the Vikings. The Falcons are assured of a wild card playoff berth but can also win the NFC South division if they win at home against St. Louis this Sunday and the Panthers lose on the road to the Saints.

Brian Dawkins- S Philadelphia Eagles
7-time Pro Bowl selection Brian Dawkins had five tackles on Sunday in a 10-3 loss to the Redskins that severely hurt their playoff chances. Dawkins now has 70 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and an interception in the 2008 season. The Eagles must beat Dallas on Sunday and hope that both Tampa Bay and Chicago both lose in order to get a wild card berth into the playoffs.

Did not play or no stats available:
Leroy Hill- LB Seattle Seahawks (neck injury)
Tye Hill- CB St. Louis Rams (injured reserve)
Chansi Stuckey- WR NY Jets
Barry Richardson- OT Kansas City Chiefs
Anthony Waters- LB San Diego Chargers
Charlie Whitehurst- QB San Diego Chargers

TIGERS IN THE 2009 NFL DRAFT

2008-12-21T01:55:00.000-05:00

There are several seniors on the Tigers football team who will declare themselves eligible for the 2009 NFL draft. Even though it is a few months away before the actual draft dates in April, I thought it would be interesting to find out where the current "mock drafts" have some of those Tigers projected to be drafted or how they are ranked according to the number of players expected to be in the draft at their playing position. If you are not familiar with how the draft works, each of the 32 NFL teams has a certain number of selections or "picks" of the players in the draft. There are seven total rounds and somewhere between 30 and 45 selections within each round. Last year's draft had 252 total players selected, which means that each team drafts about 8 players.

Typically, the most talented players are taken early in the draft and command bigger dollar value contracts. Earlier round picks are obviously considered more desirable and these are allotted according to a variety of factors such as the team's win-loss record the previous year. However, a top 10 draft pick that seems like a "sure thing" can be a bust for the team if the player doesn't perform up to expections (example: Ryan Leaf). On the flip side, there are also "hidden gems" found in the later rounds (example: Tom Brady). Below is a list of the Tigers (Seniors only) and the round/pick/team projections and/or their ranking within the number of players expected to be in the draft at their playing position, such as RB.

JAMES DAVIS, RB
NFL Draft Source: #2 RB in the draft
Draft Countdown: #1 RB in the draft, 32nd overall pick
Consensus Draft Services: #1 RB in the draft
New Era Scouting: 2nd Round, 63rd overall pick, NY Giants

DORELL SCOTT, DT
Walter Football: 2nd Round, 62nd overall pick, Carolina
New Era Scouting: #8 DT in the draft
Consensus Draft Services: #6 DT in the draft
Draft Countdown: #14 DT in the draft, 98th overall pick

MICHAEL HAMLIN, SS
New Era Scouting: 2nd Round, 51st overall pick, Dallas
Walter Football: 3rd Round, 91st overall pick, Atlanta
Consensus Draft Services: #1 SS in the draft
New Era Scouting: #2 SS in the draft
NFL Draft Source: #6 S in the draft
Draft Countdown: #5 SS in the draft, 53rd overall pick

CULLEN HARPER, QB
NFL Draft Source: #7 QB in the draft
New Era Scouting: #11 QB in the draft
Consensus Draft Services: #4 QB in the draft
Draft Countdown: #2 QB in the draft, 66th overall pick

AARON KELLY, WR
Consensus Draft Services: #2 WR in the draft
NFL Draft Source: #14 WR in the draft
Draft Countdown: #18 WR in the draft
New Era Scouting: #19 WR in the draft

TYLER GRISHAM, WR
NFL Draft Source: #37 WR in the draft
Draft Countdown: #44 WR in the draft

CHRIS CLEMONS, FS
Draft Countdown: #23 S in the draft
NFL Draft Source: #15 S in the draft
New Era Scouting: #9 FS in the draft
Consensus Draft Services: #10 FS in the draft

RASHAAD JACKSON, DT
Consensus Draft Services: #25 DT in the draft
New Era Scouting: #16 DT in the draft
NFL Draft Source: #25 DT in the draft

UPDATE ON BOWL NEWS

2008-12-20T16:03:00.000-05:00

It's always a good idea to know your enemy, I mean opponent. Here are some links to articles of interest from Nebraska Cornhuskers sports sites. First, an article on Nebraska's game plan from Husker Locker. Next, an article from the HuskerExtra site on the Cornhuskers' bowl practices, injury update on RB Marlon Lucky and Clemson info. Another article on the HuskerExtra site discusses Clemson receivers Aaron Kelly and Jacoby Ford. One more interesting article from HuskerExtra here.

ESPNU.com has a nice preview of the upcoming Konica Minolta Gator Bowl matchup with stats. for both teams that you can see by clicking here. Another preview article from College-sportsfans picking Nebraska over Clemson can be viewed by clicking here (not sure why they're terming it the 2008 Gator Bowl when it's being played in 2009). Here is a link to the Nebraska's depth chart and another link to Clemson's depth chart to compare the matchups.

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID "HITMAN" DUNHAM

2008-12-18T15:10:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to get in touch with former Tiger LB David Dunham today and he graciously accepted my request for an interview. Dunham always made the most of his opportunities on the field and while his stats. don't necessarily dazzle you, his big plays do. I'm going to hit some highlights on Dunham's playing career at Clemson but don't want to give away too much because some of these are discussed in the interview below: Dunham came to Clemson as a highly rated recruit out of Columbia High School in Lake City, FL. In his redshirt freshman year, he played a limited role at LB but mostly on special teams, earning a letter in each. In David's sophomore year, he played on special teams in every game and very quickly earned playing time as a LB. He made it clear to the coaches and fans why he was so highly recruited, contributing with some big plays in games against FSU, UNC, SC and was named special teams player of the game against MTSU. The playing time at LB increased even more as a junior in 2004 and so did the big plays in games against against VA, MD, SC and FSU. In his senior season, Dunham made the hit that many Clemson fans and football fans around the nation will always remember.

JM: What have you been up to since your Clemson playing days- are you back in Lake City, FL now?

DD: Following my career at Clemson, i was fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to continue playing, I went on to camp with the Jets briefly and played some arena football thereafter. I currently reside in Valdosta,Georgia.

JM: Do you still keep up with any of your former teammates?

DD: I still keep up with a few members of my recruiting class (Cliff Harrell, Jamaal Fudge, Kyle Browning, Airese Curry, Tye Hill and Lionel Richardson). In addition to those guys, I am still close friends with Reggie and in fact am heading to Tampa this weekend to watch Gaines play. I also try to keep up with a few of the guys that are still playing now, like Chris Chancellor and Kavell Conner.

JM: You were known as the "Hitman" at Clemson for obvious reasons. You knew this would come up because right or wrong, it seems to be the one play that defined your career at Clemson. I was at the BC game and really thought you had killed Matt Ryan. It's been seen about 35,000 times on youtube and was voted #1 college play of that weekend by ESPN. Give us your thoughts on it now.

DD: The reason that play sticks out in my mind is not for the glory or notoriety that was associated with it but for the fact that my "man"(in man coverage) caught the pass for a first down on a crucial third and long! But nevertheless, the hit still gives me chills; I can only imagine the impact if I had not pulled up.

JM: You had several other big plays as a Tiger including the hit and forced fumble against the Gamecocks Cory Boyd on the opening kickoff in 2004 and the fumble recovery in the end zone against UNC in 2003. Is the Ryan hit the one play you personally thought was your best play or do you have another overall performance in a game that you are most proud of?

DD: I believe that my most memorable moment would be my sack on Chris Rix at home in our first "Bowden Bowl" victory, or hitting T.A. McClendon on the goal line and knocking him out of the game in 2004! That is one not alot of people talk about but probably made the most impact on that game.

JM: Moving on now from your personal accomplishments to those of the teams you played on, is there one team victory that stands out to you as being the best?

DD: My favorite without a doubt was that intial win against FSU. It was huge to beat FSU being from Florida. I was playing against two of my high school teammates, Jerome Carter and Kendyll Pope, and my two favorite high school coaches came to watch the three of us play. I recorded my first sack and had another memorable hit when I pushed my blocker into the return man. It was the first time in my career that we played "in the zone" as a team, the crowd was absolutely fanatical and it meant the most to Coach Bowden. I mean FSU had to know what was coming as Radio preceded us running down the hill!

JM: How about one team loss that stands out as the worst?

DD: The worst lost I witnessed would have to be the loss to Matt Ryan and Boston College following the hit. To lose in OT- given the fact that the loss took us out of ACC championship contention and placed FSU in the ACC Championship game after we beat them convincingly on our "Senior Day"-they ended up playing in a BCS game and we played in the Champs Sports Bowl.

JM: You never lost to the Gamecocks the entire four years that you played but witnessed a rare loss during your redshirt freshman year. Coming from the state of Florida, how long did it take you to realize the intensity behind the rivalry?

DD: I did not play, but still traveled to every away game that year, I remember the coldness from the fans and in the air of that stadium and Coach Bowden vowing to not lose again to USC to all of the underclassmen. I grew up accustomed to the FSU vs.Miami rivalry and in that game the fans and players are civil. In our contest, it was about who turned that hatred into motivation to get a win. I will never forget watching USuCks Brewer and Pinnock laugh at us for losing! That was always my motivation!

JM: Have you kept up with the Tigers football program since your playing days were completed and if so, give us your thoughts on the recent staff shakeup and the 2008 season. Also, share your thoughts and/or opinions about the program in general going forward.

DD: I still keep up with the program as much as I can. I have been to a few games the past couple of seasons and expect great things in the future. Coach Swinney and the rest of the staff will do a marvelous job from this point and beyond. As long as he keeps surrounding himself with great coaches, the sky is the limit for our program. In my opinion, we are building something truly special here; the foundation has been layed for greatness.

JM: Thank you again for taking the time to let Tigers fans catch up with you! Your hometown is a short drive from Jacksonville- will we see you at the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl on New Year's Day?

DD: Hopefully so. I was on the sideline for the FSU game and may try to do the same when we take the field against Nebraska. I truly appreciate the opportunity to catch up and GO TIGERS!!

DAVID DUNHAM'S HIT ON MATT RYAN

2008-12-18T15:09:00.000-05:00

TRIBUTE VIDEO TO DAVID DUNHAM

2008-12-18T15:08:00.000-05:00

FORMER TIGER DAWKINS VOTED TO 7TH PRO BOWL

2008-12-17T19:18:00.000-05:00

The 2009 NFL Pro Bowl selections have been announced and former Tiger Brian Dawkins, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, will represent the NFC at the safety position. This is Dawkins' seventh Pro Bowl selection over his stellar thirteen year NFL career. Since being drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 1996 draft, Brian has played all thirteen of those years in Philly. He has become an icon among the Eagles fans, which is a feat in itself considering that many players, coaches and media consider them the toughest in the league. This pretty much tells you what you need to know about Dawkins. He is definitely all-in and what you see now is the same thing you saw when you watched him play for Clemson. Even at age 35, he still plays with reckless abandon and has always been known for his fierceness, intensity and competitive spirit. He has also been named one of the NFL's top ten hardest hitters and filled many highlight reels over the years, some of which can be seen in the video on this page. Earlier this week, he broke the Eagles franchise record by playing in his 181st game and can break the franchise career interception record with only one more pick.

During Dawkins' career at Clemson, he led the Tigers with 21 special-teams tackles as a freshman. As a sophomore, he became the starting safety and earned second-team all ACC honors that year and the following year as a junior. During his senior season, Dawkins was named a second-team All American by the AP; made first team all ACC; was named defensive player of the week by Sports Illustrated and finished tied as the 1995 ACC leader in interceptions.

BRIAN DAWKINS HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO (5:42)

2008-12-17T19:17:00.000-05:00

2008 TIGERS DEFENSIVE STATS- TOP 5

2008-12-17T11:39:00.000-05:00

TACKLES

1. Kavell Connor, LB- 114

2. Michael Hamlin, S- 102

3. Chris Clemons, S- 84

4. Brandon Maye, LB- 83

5. DeAndre McDaniel, LB- 69

TACKLES FOR LOSS

1. Ricky Sapp, DE- 10

2. Jarvis Jenkins- DT- 10

3. Dorrell Scott, DT- 6.5

4. Kavell Connor, LB- 6

5. Da'Quan Bowers, DE- 5 and Brandon Thompson, DT- 5

SACKS

1. Brandon Maye, LB- 2/19 yd. loss

2. Jarvis Jenkins, DT- 2/17 yd. loss

3. Rashaad Jackson, DT- 2/16 yd. loss

4. Ricky Sapp, DE- 2/11 yd. loss

5. Crezdon Butler- 1/18 yd. loss

PASSES BROKEN UP (PBU)

1. Michael Hamlin, S- 9

2. Chris Chancellor, CB- 8

3. Chris Clemons, S- 7

4. DeAndre McDaniel, LB- 6

5. Crezdon Butler- CB- 5

QUARTERBACK PRESSURES

1. Da'Quan Bowers, DE- 14

2. Dorrell Scott, DT- 9

3. Brandon Maye, LB- 8

4. Jarvis Jenkins, DT-7 and Kourtnei Brown, DE- 7

5. Kevin Alexander, DE-6 and Ricky Sapp, DE-6

INTERCEPTIONS

1. Michael Hamlin, S- 6

2. Chris Chancellor, CB- 4

3. Crezdon Butler, CB- 3

4. Chris Clemons, S-2

5. Coty Sensabaugh, CB- 1; DeAndre McDaniel, LB- 1 and Kavell Connor, LB- 1

FORCED FUMBLES

1. Crezdon Butler, CB- 2

2. Byron Maxwell, CB- 2

3. Michael Hamlin, S- 2

4. Kavell Connor, LB-1; Andre McDaniel, LB- 1; Dorrell Scott, DT- 1

5. Brandon Thompson, DT-1; Brandon Maye, LB- 1

UT RECRUIT NOW WANTS TO CONSIDER TIGERS

2008-12-16T16:03:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine who is a University of Tennessee graduate and huge Vols football fan sent me the following link today about an offensive lineman from South Aiken High School in S.C. who had originally committed to UT and has backed off since the staff shakeup.

NEBRASKA FOOTBALL NEWS AND BOWL UPDATE

2008-12-16T09:30:00.000-05:00

The matchup between the Clemson Tigers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Konica-Minolta Gator Bowl kicks off in just 16 days and I'm still surprised at the lack of Nebraska football news and on the matchup in general. The Nebraska football program has a strong tradition and quite a large fan base that I presume wants to keep up with the latest on their team's bowl preparations, how they match up with Clemson and so on. I certainly understand that both teams are going to keep things close to the vest and not give the opponent any advantage but it seems odd that there is so very little coming out of Nebraska or from the national media. So, for your enjoyment and to save you the time it takes to search dozens of sites covering Nebraska football and national sports sites, here is a couple of things to check out: (Note- links do not open in a new page, so use your back button to return to this page). Follow this link to HuskerExtra.com for an article and this link to Huskers.com for an article. NBC Sports also has a set of team stats for comparison which you can view by clicking here.

ESPN GATOR BOWL PREVIEW CLIP

2008-12-16T09:22:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY TRIVIA ANSWER: LB KEITH ADAMS

2008-12-16T03:00:00.000-05:00

Hint 1: Born in 1979

Hint 2: Played RB and LB in high school in Atlanta, GA

Hint 3: All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore

Hint 4: As a sophomore also won the ACC defensive triple crown of statistics (tackles, sacks, tfl)

Hint 5: Holds the Clemson record for most tackles in a game (among others) with 27

Hint 6: His father was a 15 year NFL veteran

Hint 7: Chose to enter the NFL draft after his junior year at Clemson

Hint 8: Played for four different teams in his NFL career, including Dallas and Philadelphia

Hint 9: Nicknamed "Teeth" "Toothinator" and "Termite"

RESULTS OF THE LATEST POLL

2008-12-16T01:05:00.001-05:00

Thank you to everyone who voted in the most recent poll concerning the ideal kickoff time for a home conference game. The overwhelming majority voted for 3:30 p.m., while 7:30 p.m. came in second. Not surprisingly, 1 p.m. and noon kickoffs were not very popular, combining for a grand total of only 10% of the overall vote. Be sure to check out the newest poll on how the current state of the economy may affect your 2009 game attendance and donor contributions.

CLEMSON PLAYERS IN THE NFL- WEEK 15 RECAP

2008-12-15T08:06:00.000-05:00

Brian Dawkins- S Philadelphia Eagles-

Six time Pro Bowl player Brian Dawkins had four tackles on Monday night in a win over the Cleveland Browns. Dawkins, age 35, now has 65 tackles for the year, along with 2 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and an interception. This is his 13th NFL season. The Eagles finish the season with two huge division games vs. the Redskins and the Cowboys to try and secure a playoff spot.

Justin Miller- KR Oakland Raiders

The move from the New York Jets to the Oakland Raiders seems to be working out well for former Tiger Justin Miller, at least from a personal performance standpoint. Although Oakland is a franchise in a state of disarray, the talent that earned Miller a trip to the 2006 Pro Bowl as a KR is clearly on display. Justin followed up last week's 92 yard kickoff return for a TD against San Diego by returning one 91 yards for a TD against the New England Patriots in a 49-26 loss on Sunday. Miller now has five career kickoff return TD's in his fourth season in the NFL and is averaging 25.36 yards per return in 2008.

Trevor Pryce- DE Baltimore Ravens

Two-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowl player Trevor Pryce had two tackles in a 13-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Pryce now has 27 tackles and 4.5 sacks for the 2008 season. Baltimore allowed Pittsburgh to clinch the AFC North with the loss and now must finish strong to get a wildcard berth into the playoffs. The Ravens' next opponent is the Dallas Cowboys in a Saturday night game.

Gaines Adams- DE Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Second-year player Gaines Adams had three tackles in a 13-10 OT loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome on Sunday afternoon. Adams now has 34 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 2 interceptions in 2008. This was the Bucs. second-straight loss to a division opponent and most likely will result in the NFC South title going to the Carolina Panthers. The Bucs. can still make the playoffs with a wildcard berth. The Bucs. will face the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

Phillip Merling- DE Miami Dolphins

Rookie Phillip Merling had one tackle in the Dolphins' 14-9 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Merling now has 24 tackles in two starts, although he has received playing time in each of the 14 games so far as well as pre-season games. According to a Miami Herald article, Merling is pushing himself to get through the "rookie wall"- the onset of fatigue from having to play so many more games and at a higher intensity compared to college. The Dolphins are not completely out of the wild-card playoff picture and face Kansas City next.

Did not play or no stats available

Leroy Hill- LB Seattle Seahawks (neck injury)

Tye Hill- CB St. Louis Rams (injured reserve)

Nick Eason- DE Pittsburgh Steelers

Chansi Stuckey- WR New York Jets

Barry Richardson- OT Kansas City Chiefs

Anthony Waters- LB San Diego Chargers

Charlie Whitehurst- QB San Diego Chargers

Jamaal Fudge- DB Atlanta Falcons

SWINNEY vs BOWDEN ROUND 2 - C.J. SPILLER

2008-12-12T13:32:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that Clemson Jr. C.J. Spiller, voted first-team All-ACC as both a RB and Specialist in 2008, is one of the most talented and exciting players in all of college football. However, you may remember that Spiller was the target of some criticism during the 2007 season for his tendency to bounce outside or reverse field if he didn't immediately find daylight on a running play. C.J., or "Lightning" as he is known, would at times turn and use his blazing speed to try and outrun the defense to the edge instead of putting his head down and grinding out 2 or 3 yards running north and south yards like his backfield partner, "Thunder" RB James Davis is famous for. Speed versus power. The play would sometimes end up for a loss but other times it would turn into a big gain. Barry Sanders, whom you may have heard of, received the same exact criticism as Spiller during his NFL career in which he earned the league rushing title four separate times. The point is that sometimes great players with phenomenal speed, balance and pure talent just try to make something out of nothing and it doesn't always work out. What was vexing at times to us as fans was why he didn't get more touches, given the fact that he was such a playmaker. Sanders and Spiller are going to make up for that loss and then some if you keep getting them the ball.

When coach Swinney took over at the halfway point in the season, he seemed to understand this better than former coach Bowden did. Swinney stressed that he was going to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers. So, let's look at how C.J. Spiller was utilized and his stats. in the five division 1 games played under coach Swinney (he did not play against Ga. Tech due to injury) versus the four division 1 games under former coach Bowden (stats vs. FBS opponents Citadel and SC State were not considered). Stats on the left are C.J. under Swinney, stats on the right are C.J. under Bowden.

AVG. NUMBER OF RECEPTIONS PER GAME- 4.2 versus 1.75

AVG. RECEPTION YARDS PER GAME- 63.8 versus 15.9

AVG. YARDS PER RECEPTION- 15.2 versus 15.9

NUMBER OF TOTAL RECEIVING TD'S- 2 versus 1

AVG. NUMBER OF CARRIES PER GAME- 12.2 versus 7

AVG. NUMBER OF RUSHING YARDS PER GAME- 59.6 versus 44.0

AVG. RUSHING YARDS PER CARRY- 4.89 versus 6.29

NUMBER OF TOTAL RUSHING TD's- 2 under both

NUMBER OF PASSING TD's- 1 versus 0

A couple of things to keep in mind: One, these stats reflect mostly averages to compensate for the fact that the comparison is over five games with Swinney as coach versus four with Bowden. Second, it's worth considering that the offensive line issues were perhaps more pronounced under Bowden's tenure Third, C.J. came off the field and didn't return to the game against Wake due to injury. Although I was in Winston-Salem for the game, I do not recall how much time was left in the game but this must be considered. Still, it's clear that Swinney made good on his word because Spiller's catches and carries increased significantly and his avg. gains for both stayed fairly close. So, up for debate is whether the win-loss record of 1-3 in the four games played under Bowden would have been more like the 4-1 under Swinney if C.J. got the ball more. We'll never know but it's interesting to see the numbers after the fact.

SWINNEY VS. BOWDEN- ROUND 1- OFFENSE

2008-12-11T10:26:00.000-05:00

Here are some interesting statistics comparing offensive categories under former head football coach Tommy Bowden to the offense under current head football coach Swinney. Although each was the coach for exactly half the season or six games, the games against FBS opponents (Citadel and S.C. State) coached by Bowden were excluded. Consequently, there are only four games of statistics under Bowden ('Bama, NCSU, MD, WF against which Bowden went 1-3) but six games under Swinney (GT,BC, FSU, Duke, UVA, SC against which Swinney went 4-2). Swinney's stats. are on the left, Bowden's stats. are on the right.

AVG. POINTS SCORED: 24.3, 15.6

AVG. YARDS OF OFFENSE: 324.2, 296.5

AVG. # OF FIRST DOWNS: 17.7, 15.5

AVG. # OF TOUCHDOWNS: 2.83, 1.75

AVG. # OF PLAYS: 67, 56.5

AVG. # OF YARDS PER PLAY: 4.82, 5.18

AVG. # OF RUSHING YARDS: 99.5, 102

AVG. # OF CARRIES: 36.3, 26.7

AVG. # OF PASSING YARDS: 224.7, 194.5

AVG. PASS COMPLETION %: 64.55, 60.32

AVG. # OF PASS ATTEMPTS: 30.7, 29.7

AVG. # OF INTERCEPTIONS: 1.3, 1.0

AVG. # OF TOTAL TURNOVERS: 2.5, 2.5

AVG. 3RD DOWN CONVERSION %: 33.3, 25

AVG. # OF PENALTIES/AVG. YARDS PER: 4.67/8.61, 6.25/9.08

So, what's it all mean? First, to be fair, Bowden did not actually run the offense himself. He left that job to former offensive coordinator Rob Spence, the so-called "mad genius" who was fired about thirty seven seconds after Swinney was named interim head coach. However, Bowden was the head coach and therefore is ultimately responsible for offensive production or lack thereof. An examination of these statistics reveals that under coach Swinney, the Tigers offense averaged more points, more total yards, more first downs, more touchdowns, more plays, more carries, more passes, more passing yards, a higher pass completion percentage, a higher third down conversion and less penalties and yards per penalty than it did under Bowden.

Three of the categories look better under Bowden: The Tigers offense averaged more yards per play and more rushing yards even though it averaged less carries. There was also less average interceptions. Statistics don't tell always tell the whole story and in some cases, teams can dominate a game statistically and lose it. However, in this case there is clearly a marked improvement offensively across the board under Coach Swinney and the win-loss record also improved.

12/12 UPDATE- NEW TIGERS FOOTBALL COACHES

2008-12-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Clemson Tigers head football coach Dabo Swinney has officially announced the hiring of new staff members Danny Pearman; Charlie Harbison and Woody McCorvey along with their respective titles. Pearman has been named tackles and tight ends coach, Harbison has been named defensive backs coach and McCorvey will serve as an administrator within the football program. Below is a summary of the coaching careers of all three new staff members:

Danny Pearman
2008 MD Tight Ends, Special Teams, Halfbacks
2007 DUKE Tight Ends, Special Teams
2006 UNC Tight Ends, Special Teams Asst.
1998-2005 VA TECH Tight ends, Special Teams Asst. and Offensive Tackles
1997 ALABAMA Special Teams, Defensive Tackles
1991-1996 ALABAMA Special Teams, Offensive Tackles
1990 ALABAMA Graduate Assistant
1988-1989 CLEMSON Graduate Assistant
Played Tight End at CLEMSON 1984-1987

Charlie Harbison

2007-2008 MSU Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs
2003-2006 ALABAMA Wide Receivers
2001-2002 LSU Running Backs
1998-2000 ALABAMA Defensive Backs
1995-1997 CLEMSON Defensive Backs

Woody McCorvey

2004-2008 MSU Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks

1999-2003 UT Running Backs

1998 SC Wide Receivers

1990-1997 ALABAMA Wide Receivers (coached Dabo Swinney)

1983-1989 CLEMSON Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

NEBRASKA NEWS CHANNEL SPORTS

2008-12-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

GATOR BOWL MATCHUP- NEBRASKA ARTICLES

2008-12-10T12:44:00.000-05:00

I've been scanning every Nebraska football website I can find for interesting articles about their bowl game preparations, player interviews or news, injury reports, trash-talking and so on. As of right now, there really isn't a whole lot of information out there. I've created some links to what I've come up with so far. (Note- links do not open in a new window, so use your back button to return to this page). Click here for Nebraska coach Bo Pelini's comment about red and orange. Click here for an article on Nebraska's RB Marion Lucky. Finally, click here for an article on Nebraka's bowl preparation.

BLAST FROM THE PAST- CLEMSON VS. NEBRASKA

2008-12-10T12:18:00.000-05:00

TIGERS VS. GAMECOCKS HIGHLIGHTS 2008

2008-12-09T20:34:00.000-05:00

WEEK 14 RECAP OF CLEMSON PLAYERS IN NFL

2008-12-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

JUSTIN MILLER-KR OAKLAND RAIDERS

Pro Bowl kick returner Justin Miller, who was recently waived by the N.Y. Jets and picked up by the Oakland Raiders, raced 92 yards for a touchdown after receiving a kickoff in the Thursday night game against the San Diego Chargers. Miller fielded 6 kickoffs and averaged 29 yards per return.

TREVOR PRYCE-DE Baltimore Ravens

Two-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowler Trevor Pryce had one tackle in a win against the Washington Redskins on Sunday night, 24-10. Pryce now has 25 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2008 and the Ravens are 9-4, one game behind the Steelers in the AFC North. The next game is against the Steelers in a battle of two of the league's best defenses.

BRIAN DAWKINS- S Philadelphia Eagles

Six-time Pro Bowler Brian Dawkins made four tackles in a road win over the defending Super Bowl champion N.Y. Giants on Sunday, 20-14. This week, Dawkins tied the team record for career games with 180 and last week tied the team record for interceptions with 34. Brian has 61 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and an interception so far this season. The Eagles are 7-5-1 and need to win out to have a good shot at the playoffs. Next opponent- Cleveland Browns.

CHANSI STUCKEY- WR N.Y. Jets

Chansi Stuckey had 4 receptions for 43 yards, leading the Jets in receiving yards on Sunday in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers. It was the Jets (8-5) second straight loss and puts them in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC East with the Patriots and Dolphins. The Jets play division rival Buffalo next.

PHILIP MERLING- DE Miami Dolphins

Merling had one tackle in the Dolphins 16-3 win against their NFC East division rival, the Buffalo Bills. Merling now has 23 tackles and one sack in his rookie year. The Dolphins are 8-5 along with the Patriots and Jets in the NFC East division. They face the 49ers next.

DID NOT PLAY OR NO STATS-

Gaines Adams- DE Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jamaal Fudge- DB Atlanta Falcons

Barry Richardson- OT Kansas City Chiefs

Charlie Whitehurst- QB San Diego Chargers

Anthony Waters- LB San Diego Chiefs

Nick Eason- DE Pittsburgh Steelers

Tye Hill- CB St. Louis Rams

GATOR BOWL- CLEMSON vs. NEBRASKA

2008-12-04T13:29:00.001-05:00

Since taking over as interim head coach halfway into the 2008 season, Dabo Swinney has twice faced the daunting task of going against opponents whose head coaches had recognizable and respected names, established reputations and NFL experience on their resume'. So far, so good. Both Virginia's Al Groh and South Carolina's Steve Spurrier are former head coaches in the NFL whose teams lost to the Swinney-coached Tigers. In the upcoming Gator Bowl, Swinney and the Tigers will again face a team whose head coach has a ton of coaching experience, including nine years in the NFL and six years as DC of three major college programs with both Super Bowl and BCS National Championship rings to show for it. The Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach, Bo Pelini, served as DB coach with the San Francisco 49ers under George Seifert and won a Super Bowl. Pelini also served as LB coach for the New England Patriots under current USC Trojans coach Pete Carroll and finished up his NFL career as LB coach for the Packers, going 33-15 under coach Mike Sherman. Pelini then served one year as DC for Nebraska, another year as co-DC for Oklahoma and spent the most recent two years as the DC for LSU, winning a BCS national championship in 2007.

The Nebraska football program has a rich championship tradition, having won five national championships, including back-to-back titles in 1970 and 1971. The Cornhuskers also had back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995, with their most recent title coming in 1997. As all Tigers fans know, there is a little history between these two teams where national championships are concerned. Clemson defeated Nebraska 22-15 in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1982 and won the 1981 national championship as a result. Since the Cornhuskers' perfect season in 1997, they have had some successful seasons- going 12-1 in 1999, 10-2 in 2000, 11-2 in 2001 and 10-3 in 2003. Lately, there has not been as much to cheer about. In 2004, they lost 6 games, lost 4 in 2005, lost 5 in 2006 and lost 7 in 2007. Nebraska's AD was fired last year and replaced with former Cornhuskers' head coach Tom Osborne, who in turn promptly fired then-head coach Bill Callahan one day after the final game of a 5-7 season. Osborne then hired Bo Pelini, who in his first season provided a bigger turn around than most expected and improved the regular season record to 8-4. As mentioned in a previous article, the losses came to some tough competition in Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech. The future again looks bright for the program and the Nebraska football fans are excited. Here's hoping Clemson dampens their enthusiasm just a bit with a win over the Cornhuskers in 2008. MORE ON THIS MATCHUP TO COME. Go Tigers!

GATOR BOWL BOUND- CLEMSON vs. NEBRASKA

2008-12-03T14:29:00.001-05:00

NEBRASKA'S RECORD Nebraska is 8-4 this season and like the Tigers, come in riding a three game winning streak. The Cornhuskers' four losses came against very tough opponents: #8 Texas Tech in OT, #4 Oklahoma, ACC Coastal division winner Virginia Tech and #19 Missouri. The wins came against Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado.

NEBRASKA'S OFFENSE During the current three game winning streak, the Cornhuskers have scored 141 points for an average of 47 points per game. Nebraska seems to have no problem scoring points even against quality opponents: They put up 31 against Texas Tech, 28 against Oklahoma and 30 against Virginia Tech. They have averaged a little more than 36 points per game over the entire season. Nebraska's QB Joe Ganz has thrown for 3332 yards, completed 69.3% of his passes and has 23 TD's and 10 INT's. The Huskers' top two rushers are Roy Helu and Marlon Lucky, who have combined for 1321 yards and have 7 TD's each. Lucky has suffered from turf toe of late but is expected to play. The top receiver is 6'2 Nate Swift with 60 catches for 909 yards and 9 TD's, including 4 games in which he had 100+ yards. Swift is also the career receptions record holder at Nebraska. Todd Peterson is a 6'4 WR with 58 receptions for 690 yards and 3 TD's. Peterson's stats seem to indicate that he plays best in the "big" games. TE Mike McNeill has scored 6 TD's, one shy of the Nebraska school record. Kicker Alex Henery is solid at 14 out of 17 FG's and booted a record setting 57 yarder in the last game.

NEBRASKA'S DEFENSE The good news for Clemson is that Nebraska's defense is nearly giving up the same number of points as the offense is scoring, to the tune of almost 30 points per game. The Cornhuskers' defense is led by nose tackle Ndamukong Suh, who is the top tackler with 68. Suh also has 15 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 2 INT's both of which he returned for TD's and a forced fumble. 6'7, 280 lb. DE Zach Potter is also a key defensive player whose stats with the exception of tackles almost mirror Suh's: 43 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 2 INT's and a forced fumble. DE Pierre Allen's stats are impressive as well: 50 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and a forced fumble. The Cornhuskers have 30 total sacks on the year and forced 15 turnovers.

MORE ON THE GATOR BOWL MATCHUP COMING SOON

C.J. SPILLER- WILL LIGHTNING BOLT FOR NFL?

2008-12-02T09:43:00.000-05:00

Every time I think about Clemson RB C.J. Spiller lately, the Clash song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" keeps playing in my head. Spiller has a big decision to make: Declare himself eligible for the 2009 NFL draft which will take place sometime in April or remain at Clemson for his senior season and get his degree. C.J. made previous statements which indicated he would almost certainly return to CU, especially if Dabo Swinney was hired full-time as head coach. On October 21, 2008, he was quoted in an article by Ed McGranahan of the Greenville News as saying "My decision right now is I'm coming back. I pray to God that Coach Swinney gets this job. I'm looking forward to the 2009 season, to play for him and to see how much we can grow as a team." It wasn't a guarantee, of course. However, in addition to playing one last year for the coach who recruited him, he also mentioned the importance of receiving his degree because he has a younger sister who looks up to him and wants to be a good role model.

The flip side of this equation is that there is a lot of talk around the NFL about implementing a salary cap for rookies under a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement- which is the central document that governs all negotiation of NFL players contracts) as early as March 2010. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been quoted as saying "There is something wrong about the system. The money should go to people who perform." The issue that has created such controversy is that under the current CBA, the compensation packages for NFL rookies who have never played a down can be higher than the veteran players who have proven they're worth the money. NFL franchise owners and veterans, for the most part, do not like it and feel it's getting out of hand, especially with the current economic conditions. While there is a lot that has to happen in order for this rookie salary cap to actually become policy by 2010, Spiller will certainly have to take these developments into consideration. There is at least a chance that coming back could end up potentially costing him a lot of money.

SWINNEY OFFICIALLY NAMED HEAD COACH

2008-12-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

Clemson University made the announcement at a news conference on Monday afternoon: Dabo Swinney is no longer the interim head football coach of the Clemson Tigers. He is now the "official" head coach. While the specifics of the compensation package have yet to be revealed, Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips did state that the contract length will be five years. Swinney does not plan to discuss any changes he may make to the coaching staff until after the Tigers' bowl game.

Coach Swinney has done a fantastic job after accepting the interim head coach position, especially considering the circumstances. He guided the team to a 4-2 record, winning on the road against ACC Atlantic Division winner Boston College as well as defeating Virginia in Charlottesville. The Tigers also routed Duke by 24 and closed out the regular season with a three game win streak by whipping in-state rival South Carolina at Death Valley by 17. Under Swinney's watch, the offense made tremendous strides and the ferocity and attitude of the defense was much improved.

As impressive as the play and the wins have been, Dabo's leadership qualities stand out as well. Many folks were inspired by the speech he gave at the press conference announcing his new position as interim head coach and wanted to go "all in". A few said it was gimmicky, just like Tiger Walk and "One Clemson" and having players lock arms side by side before every game. Well, leaders lead and they move forward with a purpose and a vision. People wanted to follow because they believed in the vision, because they were inspired. Dabo managed in just a few weeks to inject unity into the team, the university and the fans. His enthusiasm both on the field and off has been contagious. Yet, you get the sense that the guy is both genuine and humble. When you consider that he has a six year history with the program, is widely considered one of the top recruiters in the country and just proved himself capable of coaching his team to wins against guys like Al Groh and Steve Spurrier, one can understand why he got the job. Congratulations.

SPURRIER, SC PLAYERS POST GAME COMMENTS

2008-12-01T13:36:00.000-05:00

Here are several quotes from gamecock head coach Steve Spurrier and gamecock players in post-game interviews:

STEVE SPURRIER:

"Give Clemson credit. They made a bunch of third downs. They made more third downs on us than I think about anybody this year. That's how you play the game; their guys made plays."

"Give Clemson credit......they got a dang good team......they're a better team than us right now this year, simple as that and hopefully someday we'll be on a level with them. We're not there yet."

"We just got smashed instead of trying to learn how to compete, I think, yep, yeah. You can sugar coat it all you want but uh, they got two big-time running backs, they got a big-time quarterback. They got some big time ball players on that team o' ere and we gotta get us some big time ball players......and play better."

"Yeah, I'm frustrated too. I thought we could play with these guys but it turned out we couldn't. They're better than us, okay? That's all you can say right now. Got a better team. Better coach, better team."

CAPTAIN MUNNERLYN

"I felt like we were the better team but they came out today and proved they were better than us."

"We were 7-3 [prior to FLA AND CU] and headed for a great year. Now it seems like it's all gone down the drain."

"I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's happening. We're just not playing as good as we were in the beginning."

KENNY MCKINLEY

"They got on us today. It's Clemson. It's supposed to be a hard-fought game and really, it was one-sided."

I LOVE A COLD, WET ORANGE CRUSH

2008-12-01T11:33:00.000-05:00

It was worth fighting the traffic. It was worth the cold and rain. It was worth losing my voice. It was even worth having my binoculars stolen. I found out later that two upset gamecocks fans sitting behind me swiped them off the bleachers when they inexplicably left early in the 2nd quarter. The Tigers mauled the gamecocks 31-14 on Saturday at Death Valley, winning their third straight game and becoming bowl eligible. It was the 10th victory in the last 12 games of the rivalry with SC.

There were so many highlights in this game, so many game changing plays on both sides of the ball. My defensive game ball goes to Andre' McDaniel: 11 tackles, a forced fumble and 0.5 tackle for loss. #2 was just all over the field, finding the ball and making big hits. The offensive game ball goes to the RB combo of Davis/Spiller: 183 yards rushing, 52 yards receiving. Davis had 3 TD's and crucial short yardage runs. Thunder and Lightning in the rain were fantastic.

Here is my Clemson Tigers highlight-reel list, key plays and big hits of the game:

1st QUARTER

13:23 C.J. Spiller 28 yard reception from Harper

9:01 Chris Chancellor intercepts a long throw from Smelley on 3rd and 20

6:41 Jacoby Ford runs for 21 yards

4:41 C.J. Spiller takes handoff, makes 5 different defenders miss, gains 39 yards to the 1

4:14 James Davis 1 yard TD run

3:19 Jamie Harper blocks Succop's punt which leads to a Buccholz FG

2:31 James Davis knocks CB Woodson out of the game after 11 yd. reception

2ND QUARTER

14:31 Just as Smelley gets an incomplete pass attempt off, Brandon Maye absolutely levels him

13:45 Chris Clemmons and Michael Hamlin converge on a Smelley pass and knock it down

13:34 After a Succop punt pins Clemson on its own 3, James Davis runs for 7 yards on 1st down

11:20 Clemson drive stalls deep in own territory but Jimmy Maners booms a 54 yard punt

10:32 Dorell Scott tackles RB Mike Davis for a loss

9:09 Chris Clemmons intercepts Smelley pass; DaQuan Bowers lays out TE Cook with a block

8:33 Cullen Harper is all but sacked, with both knees inches from the ground and somehow

throws a perfect spiral 27 yards to Jacoby Ford, who takes it in the rest of the way for TD

7:14 Chris Chancellor drills WR McKinley and sends him flying out of bounds after 21 yd. rec.

Gamecock players immediately call for trainers as McKinley looks badly hurt

5:42 Michael Hamlin picks off Smelley pass. TE Cook immediately goes to gamecock sideline

and expresses his frustration to coaches and Smelley

4:31 James Davis takes handoff, makes 2 defenders miss and rumbles in for 20 yd. TD. ESPN

cameras show gamecocks fans hiding their face or shaking head in amazement

3:15 Scotty Cooper puts a huge hit on RB Maddox after 2 yd. reception

:23 C.J. Spiller 39 yard kickoff return

:16 Aaron Kelly 42 yard pass reception

3RD QUARTER

13:24 Andre' McDaniel and Brandon Maye tackle WR McKinley for 5 yard loss

7:35 Aaron Kelly key 3rd down conversion on short pass from Harper to keep drive going

5:52 Tyler Grisham key 3rd down conversion on short pass from Harper to keep drive going

4:38 James Davis on 3rd and 2 picks up 5 yards for another key conversion to keep drive alive

3:38 James Davis 2 yard run for TD

1:44 Crezdon Butler blitzes from the left corner, sacks Smelley and forces fumble (SC recovers)

:37 Andre' McDaniel and Kavelle Connor hit RB Davis and force fumble (SC recovers)

4TH QUARTER

6:52 Andre' McDaniel breaks up Smelley pass

4:25 Chris Chancellor intercepts Smelley deep in gamecock territory

2:41 James Davis, on 3rd and 6 pinned back on Clemson 11 yd. line has 8 yard run to convert

WEEK 13 RECAP OF CLEMSON PLAYERS IN NFL

2008-12-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

Gaines Adams- DE Tampa Bay Bucs

Gaines Adams had one tackle and 0.5 sack in the Buccaneers 23-20 win over division rival New Orleans Saints. He also had a key QB pressure on Drew Brees that contributed to a drive killing interception with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Adams now has 31 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 2 interceptions and one TD this season. The Bucs are 9-3 and NFC South division leaders.

Trevor Pryce- DE Baltimore Ravens

Pryce, a two-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro-Bowler, had three tackles in the Ravens blowout of the Cincinnati Bengals 34-3. Trevor's stats for 2008 include 24 tackles and 4.5 sacks. The Ravens are 8-4 and one game behind the Steelers in the NFC North.

Brian Dawkins- FS Philadelphia Eagles

Brian Dawkins, a six time Pro Bowl player, had a huge game against the Arizona Cardinals on Thanksgiving day. Dawkins recorded five solo tackles, an interception and a forced fumble in the Eagles rout of Arizona 48-20. For the 2008 season, Brian has 57 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and an interception. The Eagles are 6-5-1.

Philip Merling- DE Miami Dolphins

NFL rookie Philip Merling (1st selection, 2nd round) had four tackles in the Dolphins 16-12 victory over the St. Louis Rams. Merling has 22 tackles and a sack so far this year. The Dolphins are 7-5 and still in contention in the AFC East.

Chansi Stuckey- WR New York Jets

Stuckey had three receptions on Sunday for 30 yards in a loss to the Denver Broncos 34-17. Through 12 games, Stuckey has 24 receptions for 266 yards and 3 TD's. The Jets are leading the AFC East division race at 8-4.

Justin Miller- KR Oakland Raiders

Pro Bowl player Justin Miller returned 5 kickoffs for an average of 20 yards per return in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders were beaten 20-13 and are currently 3-9.

Nick Eason- DE Pittsburgh Steelers

Eason had two tackles in a blowout win over the New England Patriots, 33-10. Eason has 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2008.

Did not play or no stats available

Barry Richardson- OT Kansas City Chiefs

Tye Hill- CB St. Louis Rams

Charlie Whitehurst- QB San Diego Chargers

Jamaal Fudge- DB Atlanta Falcons

Anthony Waters- LB San Diego Chargers

SENIORS RUB THE ROCK ONE LAST TIME

2008-11-25T11:55:00.000-05:00

Saturday marks the last time the Seniors and Graduates on the Clemson Tiger football team will rub the rock and run down the hill at Death Valley. This is a very talented group of players and includes some guys who have made huge contributions to the program in their careers at Clemson. Below is a partial list in random order.

There is a strong chance that at least a couple or more of these players move on to a professional career in football. Rub The Rock will be following the 2009 NFL draft and keep everyone updated. Let's show our appreciation and support Sat.

WR Nelson Faerber

S Michael Hamlin
WR Aaron Kelly
DT Rashaad Jackson

RB James Davis
P Jimmy Maners
QB Cullen Harper
S Chris Clemmons
DT Dorell Scott
K Mark Buccholz
S Haydrian Lewis
WR Tyler Grisham
C Bobby Hutchinson
RB Rendrick Taylor
TE Akeem Robinson
DT Jock McKissic
LB Josh Miller

SPURRIER'S FIRST YEAR

2008-11-25T09:33:00.000-05:00

The Tigers go to Williams Brice Stadium in 2005 and beat the #19 gamecocks 13-9.

REMEMBER THIS FROM LAST YEAR?

2008-11-25T09:18:00.000-05:00

The infamous billboard that caused such a stir after Clemson beat the gamecocks in Williams Brice Stadium in 2007. The billboard was located on I-26 in Columbia, SC.

IT"S A CONSPIRACY!

2008-11-25T09:13:00.000-05:00

Since it's rivalry week, I thought I would post the SC automobile license plate since it contains purple and orange and therefore represents Clemson.

2003 TIGERS vs. GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS

2008-11-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

Of course, no one on either side of the rivalry who watched or attended this game will ever forget it. The 2003 63-17 beatdown ranks up there as one of my favorite games of all time and I still admire Charlie Whitehurst for going 4-0 against the gamecocks during his Clemson career. The video isn't the greatest (but what youtube video is?)but it's worth watching. Thanks to clemson342 for the video and Todd Ellis for announcing "touchdown Clemson" nine times.

2007 TIGERS vs. GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS

2008-11-24T16:36:00.000-05:00

Just a little something to get you in the mood for this coming Saturday's showdown. The music is by Sammy Hagar and thanks to gotigers2005 for the video.

WEEK 12 RECAP OF CLEMSON PLAYERS IN NFL

2008-11-24T12:33:00.000-05:00

Each week I will give a brief update on game stats of Clemson players in the NFL.

Gaines Adams- DE Tampa Bay Bucs
Gaines Adams had 3 solo tackles and a sack for the Bucs D. Tampa Bay overcame a 17 point 1st quarter deficit to rally for a road win against the Lions and reclaim the NFC South division lead. Adams now has 30 tackles, 5 sacks and 2 INT's for the 2008 season.

Leroy Hill- LB Seattle Seahawks
Leroy Hill had 2 solo tackles in a losing effort as the Washington Redskins defeated the Seahawks 20-17. Hill has 83 tackles on the year, 63 of which are solo tackles.

Trevor Pryce- DE Baltimore Ravens
Two time Super Bowl Champion and four time Pro Bowl player Trevor Pryce had 3 solo tackles and was credited with 0.5 sack in an obliteration of the Philadelphia Eagles. Pryce now has 21 tackles and 4.5 sacks for the season.

Brian Dawkins- FS Philadelphia Eagles
Six time Pro Bowl player Brian Dawkins had 2 tackles, one solo, in a loss to the Ravens. Dawkins is credited with 52 tackles, 3 forced fumbles and 2 sacks so far in 2008.

Phillip Merling- DE Miami Dolphins
Rookie Phillip Merling had 3 solo tackles in a loss to the Patriots on Sunday. Merling now has 18 tackles and a sack for the year.

Chansi Stuckey- WR New York Jets
Second year player Chansi Stuckey made one reception in a blowout win over the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans. Stuckey now has 21 receptions for 236 yards and 3 TD's for the 2008 NFL season.

Justin Miller- KR Oakland Raiders
Justin Miller, who spent the past 3 1/2 seasons with the NY Jets, was recently acquired by the Raiders as a kick return specialist. He had 3 returns, averaging 21.0 yards, in a win over the Broncos on Sunday.

*note- did not play or no stats:
Tye Hill CB St. Louis Rams
Charlie Whitehurst QB San Diego Chargers
Anthony Waters LB San Diego Chargers
Barry Richardson OT Kansas City Chiefs
Jamaal Fudge DB Atlanta Falcons

TIGERS 13 CAVS 3

2008-11-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Charlottesville, VA

The Tigers came away with a big road win on Saturday, defeating UVA in a low scoring, hard fought battle 13-3. The Tiger D played lights-out, intercepting Cavs QB Mark Verica three times and sacking him twice. Michael Hamlin, Crezdon Butler and DeAndre' Mc Daniel each had a pick and Hamlin actually had a second INT that was nullified due to a penalty. Hamlin is now tied with former Tiger Justin Miller with 13 in his Clemson career. There were plenty of big plays on defense but my defensive game ball goes to Byron Maxwell. 7 solo tackles, 2 tackles for loss and a forced fumble caused when he laid Virginia's FB Rashawn Jackson out like he had been run over by a Mack truck. Here is what Maxwell had to say: “I thought, ‘This is going to be a big hit,’ because I knew he didn’t see me coming and I knew I was going to get there right when the pass came in. Then, I just hit him, really hard.” Yes, he did and it was a highlight reel hit. There were so many great plays on defense. Rashaad Jackson and Kavelle Connor each had a sack and tackles for loss. Jarvis Jenkins and DaQuan Bowers also had tackles for loss and the overall intensity of the defense was awesome.

On the offensive side of the ball, the only touchdown of the day came on a trick play: C.J. Spiller lined up in the backfield; Grisham at receiver. Spiller took the pitch from Harper and ran right while Grisham headed straight up field and then broke into the right side of the end zone. The safety moved up to provide run support, leaving Grisham uncovered and Spiller lofted his first career TD pass to make it a 7-0 game. Buccholz kicked two field goals, one from 32 and another from 23 to continue his stellar year. His only miss was from a ridiculously long 58 yards. QB Cullen Harper went 18-28 for 139 yards and continues to look much better than he did earlier in the year. He did not throw a TD but neither did he throw an INT or make poor decisions. Jacoby Ford had a nice 19 yd. catch and run, Aaron Kelly padded his ACC reception record by 5 more and Spiller, Davis and Grisham caught passes for some decent gains as well. The offensive stats don't jump out at you but the important thing is the "W".

The offensive line held up well and although neither Davis nor Spiller's rushing stats are impressive, two things must be noted. First, James Davis took full advantage of the holes that were there and gained some tough, grinding yards, averaging 3.6 per carry. Late in the game, with Clemson facing a 3rd and 6 and holding a 7 point lead, Davis gained seven yards. Here is what JD had to say: “I told them to give me the ball and let me and the offensive line put this game on our backs and we will take it home". The entire VA defense was committed to stopping Spiller at all costs and did a good job, holding him to 31 yards on 14 carries but their strategy also resulted in the TD pass to Grisham. Second, coming into this game the Cavs were second in the ACC with 28 sacks, only one behind FSU. VA's LB Chris Sinton received a lot of press coming into the matchup and rightfully so since he racked up 11 sacks in his previous 10 games. I'm sure the Cavs D was salivating after watching Clemson give up 5 sacks to Duke the previous week but Sinton and the rest of the VA defense did not register a single sack in the game.

Overall, it was a great win for coach Dabo Swinney and the team. The Tigers are playing inspired football and have a chance to win their seventh game this Saturday against their state rival. With coach Swinney trying to lock up the head coaching position for 2009, a bowl game and bragging rights, a lot is riding on the game. Go Tigers!