First things first, a quick recap of the Presbyterian game:
ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz....
OK, now that that's done, let me just say that this game was virtually unwatchable and what could be watched was simply embarrassing. By all means, let's have our two cupcakes and our two automatic, record-padding "W"s, but let's not make a farce of the idea of competition in the process. I know that pummelling a markedly inferior foe is better than losing to James Madison, but there is little to be gained in bullying the best players from South Carolina's independent Christian schools. And if we truly want to help our state financially, let's schedule someone halfway decent from out-of-state and put fans in the seats and extra dollars in the economy. End of rant.
As for the Clemson D, what answers did we receive to the lurking questions in my preseason primer? From North Texas, nothing good and from PC, nothing at all. Well, that's not entirely true. The secondary has confirmed itself as our obvious strength, with Byron Maxwell looking like the kind of unexpected All-Star that I was hoping would emerge this year. The line play and the linebackers are still practical unknowns at this point. The line was mostly capable with some troubling breakdowns against North Texas, and didn't seem quite as dominant as one would like against PC (for the 50 seconds the starters played). The linebackers, when not absent due to DB-heavy formations, seemed absent half the time they were on the field. I imagine all this is secretly gnawing at the back of the mind of even the most sunshine-pumping of Tigers fans. If we couldn't dominate the cupcakes' offenses, how well can we expect to fare against the Presbysterian times infinity level of the "SEC speed" Auburn O.
We'll know on Saturday. On "Gameday". In a "Blue-Out" (Go ahead, Auburn, cede us the color orange! Cowards.) After two weeks of warm-up, it's big boy football time and all the lingering questions will have their first real answers. After some good receiver play against PC (FBS-real or FCS-mirage?) and a less than awesome performance by the other Tigers, a shootout victory seems like a real possibilty. If the defense can do better than that, we'll get our first glimpse of it on Sept. 18.
