Clemson

 Fair games are amazing. You know you are probably going to lose but they are as addicting as post surgery opioids. The basketball is about a millimeter bigger than the hoop, but your 9th grade ego completely takes over your Id and you have no idea how you can miss 10 straight. Wander down the midway and after tossing rings that were made by a team of East German scientists designed to bounce four feet whenever they touch a glass bottle top, you grab the darts. Yes, in an Irish bar with 9 Harp and three Guinness in your gut, you can still hit a 19 with your off hand. But, these balloons are made of Trumpian teflon and are absolutely impenetrable. No trouble, the only way to win that 6 foot panda is down to the best game on the strip - Wack-a-mole. Your reflexes are incredible and when combined with the finely tuned government noted weapons that are your upper limbs, this game is toast. You grab the mallets, and softly chuckle as you think about how easy this contest really is. One hideous brown character pops up out of only six holes and you have the speed of a ninja to attack it. Pop! Damn. Pop, Pop! Whap, sideshot...didn't count. Pop...Pop...Pop. Blam. Game over. Aargh! What happened?

The above is how the entire 2025 season has transpired for Coach Norvell. This year has been a gigantic run down the midway. The entry into the park was glorious and everything looked shiny and new. Then after trying all kinds of games and methodologies, familiar failure ensued only to be entirely encapsulated by a ginormous game of wack-a-mole as every single game another issue pops up with no way to knock that gopher back into the hole. Defense fails to even compete at Virginia. Miami outmans you. With Pitt, you decide to not have any idea how to handle a mobile qb and your receiving corps takes the second half off. At Stanford, penalties and discipline lead the way, but the offense looks lost as well. Then you go to Clemson, and every single issue mentioned above takes their turn popping up with a mallet resounding a miss all night. This Seminole team has not won a true away game in over 700 days and this scribe is just flat worn out with opposing fans doing the warchant in our face in the fourth quarter. 

We arrived at our tailgate spot early on Saturday, but we were not quick enough to beat the bevy of RV's that occupied our lot. They had commandeered their designated spaces and had leaked into not a small part of the row I was designated. I was able to maneuver the garnet spear adorned F-150 into my space with a 27 point turn, but erecting a tent seemed like a reach. Popping out of these quarter million dollar mobile parties were numerous orange and purple clad southerners that had solutions aplenty for our forlorn visiting tailgaters. They steered us into two previously unmarked spaces and with a secret wink, we had room for the family truckster, two Nole tents and a full afternoon of fun. These are our people. They understand us and what we are dealing with in this basketball loving conference. In this season like no other for our two programs. they were even extra gracious with their combined weekend hospitality. When a cadre of students decided to be classless morons in the 4th, a lovely lady came over and expressed her sorrow for their behavior. Doesn't make losing for the zillionth time in a row on the road any easier, but it is better than any other less gracious group of ACC fans. 

One of the new moles popping up this week was our receivers being allergic to pigskin for much of the first half. The trainers hit the entire corps with Benadryl at the break, and unfortunately that resulted in an outbreak of penalties. Lawayne McCoy - who is making strides as a legit third threat broke out in flag hives late with 25 yards of game ending idiocy on the last meaningful drive. Clemson is a team that gave up over 80 points in the last two home game to Duke and SMU and their issues were not a mystery. Their safeties were unable to cover fast guys wearing the other jerseys - especially in the middle of the field. That presented an issue for us, as Tommy can't see the middle of the field unless our very talented center can pancake the DT. So, we had to run a series of receiver and TE twists so that Duce and Pittman could come out of the slot to get paired with a safety. Pittman dropped the only decent downfield throw Tommy sent, and Duce made about 9 contested catches but it was never enough. We got Squirrel signed up for a safety field trip once and he was so open it was like he was the first one out to practice. He literally had 10 yards on his guy, and anything but a gross overthrow was a sure tuddy. Pop, Damn! 

The Desir twins each delivered a sack and although it was finger cut painful at times, I do think the defense may have turned the corner with Tony's system. Clemson has a legit offense and Cade can sling it when he has a moment. After giving up our mandatory 13 play opening eight minute drive, we made life difficult the rest of the day for the Tigers. The boys may get beat, but they are in the right places and filling the right run fits. Omar Graham may have had his best game, and even when Rawls went out, the two freshman Arnoux and Lester played unscared (is that a word?) in the 4th. May want to teach young Shamar how to complete a sack, as his inability to knock Klubnik down when unblocked resulted in the long TD after the much aforementioned Pittman hand vomit. 

We know that the coaches are literally working for their collective jobs, and as such have zero interest in the long term health of the program. But in our house, we are about done with the TC experience. Burn a redshirt on young Sperry and see if these three games set him up for a special 2026. The off platform screens that look like the start of a double play more than a practiced form toss are driving me to distraction. The Pittman touchdown that wasn't was preceded by a 95 mph four seamer to Kromah that if he caught would have burned his hands. I actually think this is the most well coached offensive line in the last 12 years, and we are wasting them with this mess behind center. 

This leads me to the subject of practice. One of the mysteries of the Norvell era is the translation of what happens during the week to the weekend. I can assure you that if I eat sausage McMuffins and lasagna for every meal all week, I am going to flat out impress the scale on Saturday. Somehow, the only practices that matter during MIke's tenure all happen before the first game. If you went back and listened to midweek notes during the season and then compared that to the weekend tests, the differences are inexplicable. That is what I ultimately believe will be the issue that ties his shoes together. What he absolutely believes to be the proper prep is not making it into the kids psyches. How do you explain losing on the road for  eight consecutive middling to horrific ACC road teams. How do you publicly proclaim that this week we will see the very best version of the FSU offense only to see Roberto Duran hands at WR? Having a wildly inconsistent quarterback is one issue, but this practice problem precedes 2025. We are more bipolar than Jeckyl and Hyde and God Bless the writers who predict the weekly scores for this team. If I were in Vegas, I would take us off the board. 

Welp, no more long roadies this season. Our trips to NC and Hogtown are both 2 hour sojourns and this week will feature our last home game with a special annual appearance from the entire Sickmon clan. SL is making her contractual showing and joining the cause like Rhett in fire strewn Atlanta. Let's go Noles!