Clemson

I wake up tired.

I do not want to read the paper, and never do on days like this. So, I stumble into the kitchen and grab my jethro bowl and pour myself a ginormous helping of chocolate frosted sugar bombs. No Milk. Crrrap. Store is only a mile down the street, so with flops on and convincing myself that my pj's really do look like normal clothes, I grab my keys and head out. My trusty steed rumbles to a start and stops. No gas. Urrrggh. So, I go inside and root through my mate's purse and discover the 4 pound keyring that she must share with the stadium maintenance man, nab a fiver from my wallet and I head out for round two. A little angry with the direction my morning has progressed thus far, I may have exceeded the residential street posted placards recommended mph sign a tad. I am either in the promised land at Kmart or this dude has just pulled me over. Shhhhugar. He wants my license and registration. Zip for 2. $276 in fines later I convince officer friendly that if he lets me walk home "just 1/2 mile around that corner" - I will deliver the goods in question in return for not giving me a one way e-ticket to the station for some pillow talk. Because he is nothing if not a saint, he lets me drive home and accommodate his requests. Sun is up. Kids are up, and the grass apparently grew again this week.

I am not hungry anymore, just tired.

They say that all sports are cyclical. Some cycles are longer than others, and thank gawd I was not born a Detroit Lions fan who last smelled a title before Ann Bowden had kids in 1957. In truth, the developments Saturday evening in the South Carolina upstate probably will speed up our upward cycle in the end. The lingering questions of whether soon-to-be Dr. Ponder will be in the NFL next season will disappear. We will get some tremendously valuable experience for our future star signalcaller EJ Manuel which will lessen any transitionary issues when he takes over in 2011. Our defense - whose game plan was simply to force 1 punt a game and watch our guys win by 3 - now knows that tackling is not optional. And, if we do not find a way to win our last two ACC games, it is altogether likely that the complete coaching carousel that many have requested will be hastened by a 5-7 record...

I have spent much of the season throwing Myhrr at the feet of Jimbo Fisher, but Saturday night he had a few hiccups. Christian was obviously struggling with any throws that required any torque. Makes sense. His ribs were hurting and anything that required him to really rear back or if he had pressure and had to use his torso more than his arms went awry. Twice we had the ball and a 3 point lead with a chance to take control. The running game was clicking and the Tigers front 7 was tired. We forced a huge punt and had the ball on the 35. The next call was a killer. A completely ill-advised deep out to should-have-been redshirted freshman Rodney Smith was picked off and we never recovered. The other turning point in the game was the failed reverse to Bert Reed at the 50. A drive that began inside the 10 and had Clemson on their heels ended with a 14 yard bobble and loss. The unwritten story here was that Kevin Steele - guessing right on the playcall - had sent in a special superheated football. When this ball is touched, chemicals inside are activated and only seconds later, the pigskin is a scorching 180 degrees. Bert had no chance. The Clemon DC tried this tactic one other time late, but the results were not as prolific as Tavares Pressley simply dropped an easy screen pass. Gotta give them credit. It is a shame that the FSU Magnet Lab has never stepped up in the same way. How about a Tebow pass that when it approaches a wide open Aaron Hernandez seemingly shoots in the other direction when it gets close to his negatively charged hand and magically caroms back to a positively charged Patrick Robinson. Ahh, if only Snape was a Seminole.

JT was awesome again this week, and we are gonna lean on him like your Aunt Mable on her tennis ball bottomed walker against Wake. He is exploding through holes and runs so hard, it is amazing that he does not get gassed more. Unfortunately, Jimbo tried to give him a rest twice. First carry for Chris Thompson - fumble. First play in the game for Tavares Pressley - dropped screen. Back to Jermaine. Offensive line played terrific again and Rod Owens and Taiwan Easterling had a number of great grabs in traffic over the middle. Jarmon Fortson has the athletic skills of Bo Jackson and the acumen of Mongo from Blazing Saddles. How many consecutive games can he run a wrong route and cause an interception? LD, sit him until he can figure this out.

The defense was not completely awful. CJ Spiller is a little quicker than a sneeze and we kinda had the feeling that he might get behind our heroes. But, we forced a number of third and longs, but for the most part the "Prowler" was a mess and teams have figured out that our back 7 can not play zone. So, the QB just waits until his guy is wide-ass open in the middle of the field in between 4 Noles growing roots in the turf and first downs inevitably result. Why we do not just put P-Rob on an island and cover the other two eligible wideouts with the rest of the boys is beyond my limited thinking...I do like the new philosophy that we installed for poor Korey Magnum this week. Make sure your back is always turned to the football. That way, they can not blame you for not seeing the action or making a play. Nice adjustment.

On the plus side for the defense, Nigel Bradham continues to improve as the game slows down for him. I also thought that when Kevin McNeil lined up in the right spot, which was about 1/3 of the time, he made some nice plays. I am still not clear why we have our ends on the inside of the OT's. Can we make ourselves any easier to seal off on outside plays? What is Jody Allen doing over there, besides Twittering his resume to the Mountain West Coaches Association. Nick Moody, in his brief appearances also continues to make plays, or at least be in the right spot to make plays.

I was also very disappointed in the Cabal of Clemson boosters lurking outside our locker room after the game who apparently tried to bribe Dustin Hopkins to transfer as he walked to the bus. Unfortunately, the massive stack of orange-pawed $2 bills only totaled $100, so our smart young kicker was able to refuse this kind offer and board our traveling roadshow with little guilt. My understanding is that Clemson engineers are working quietly on widening the goal posts using Kevin Steele's geothermic techniques this week.

On to our personal nightmare - Wake Forest - who are looking for their 4th win in a row over our boys. Unthinkable. C'mon EJ - say it ain't so. Get us to Boise in December (the classic Nole rallying cry)!!