Playing Catch Up

With classes coming to an this past week and finals starting up in a few days, I've been pretty busy which is why I'm just now getting around to last week's and yesterday's games. A lot has happened since I last checked in with you guys so lets take a look back at rivalry week, Championship weekend, Clemson's trip down to Columbia to battle the Gamecocks on the hardwood, and finally, a brief outlook at what's in store for college football fans this bowl season. Shall we? 

It was a huge opportunity for the ACC to make a statement in rivalry week with Georgia Tech facing Georgia, Florida State hosting Florida and Clemson welcoming rival South Carolina under the lights in Death Valley. Everyone knows the SEC is the superior conference, there is no arguing that, but it was a great opportunity for the ACC to get a big win or two over SEC competition. However, it was not meant to be. Florida State couldn't get it done against Florida and fell to the Gators, 37-26. Georgia Tech, winner of the coastal division, got rocked by Georgia 42-10 and Clemson could not get its defense off the field in the 2nd half and lost its fourth straight to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, 27-17. 




Clemson stared off the game pretty well and actually led the Gamecocks at halftime but the offense stalled and the defense could not get off the field in the second half allowing South Carolina to hold the ball for over 20 minutes in the final 30 minutes of play. The Tigers did not contain Clowney and left him  with one-on-one chances that led to 4.5 sacks, they were on the negative side of the turnover margin (2-1) and simply could not get off the field on defense and move the football in the second half. It was a disappointing blow to end the regular season and a missed opportunity with both Conner Shaw and Marcus Lattimore sidelined with injuries. This makes four in a row for the Gamecocks and honestly, the way Clemson played, we didn't deserve to win last weekend. Once again though we were exposed. We MUST get more physical up front and get back to fundamentals. Our defense needs to get more physical and get a swagger to them. Learn the fundamentals and execute...its beyond me why our DB's get beat so often mainly because they simply don't turn around and LOOK for the football. There is no reason why we should have given up some of the Touchdown plays we have this season. That has to change. And you know what else has to change? Coaching. I love Dabo and think he has us POINTED in the right direction but are we moving? We get exposed in big games cause tougher, more physical teams straight up our-man us. That has to change if we want to take the next step. We overcame the "pulling a Clemson" this year but only because our offense scored nearly 40 points every time they stepped on the field. Also, Dabo has got to find a way to beat South Carolina. This is now four in a row and unless you count his interim win in 2008, he hasn't won a game against South Carolina since becoming Head Coach. Usually when that happens, you don't stay in Clemson long. He has done great things, ( Two division titles, 1 co-division title and 1 ACC Championship) but he needs to get a bowl win to end this season on a high note and get the Gamecocks next November or he might see fans posting "For Sale" signs in his yard this time next year. The ACC is weak and winning another title might not be enough to save him if he continues to lose to Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks. Thats the bottom line. 

Championship Weekend 

ACC- 
Florida State survived a late rally and knocked off Georgia Tech 21-15 in the ACC Championship game to punch their ticket to the Orange Bowl in Miami. 

SEC-
In one of the best games I've ever seen, Alabama outlasted a tough qne determined UGA team, 32-28. 


Big 12 Championship-
Kansas State reaffirmed that they were truly one of the best in the country and flew by Texas 42-24 under the leadership of Heisman hopeful, Collin Klein. 

Big 10-
Wisconsin took Nebraska behind the woodshed....(twice) en route to a 70-31 win as they claimed the Big 10 Championship. 

Pac 12-
UCLA couldn't quite get the job done and fell to Stanford as the Cardinals took possession of the Pac 12 crown. 

Now lets shift gears for a moment......

Clemson hit the road for Columbia Sunday to take on Frank Martin and the Gamecocks on the hardwood. The Tigers had lost the previous two meetings to very bad USC teams and desperately needed a win for not only basketball purposes but for the rivalry as a whole. Unlike the football team, the basketball squad got the job done and knocked off South Carolina in Columbia 64-55 in a game that saw the Gamecock Football honored at halftime. It was Brownell's first win over South Carolina and couldn't have come at a better time. The Tigers forced turnovers and took advantage of their chances at the Free Throw line...something they haven't done much in recent years, and were determined to come out on top Sunday. The Tigers were led by K.J. Daniels with 16 points. Daniels also had 7 rebounds and hit all of his free throws (7/7). Rod Hall gave the Gamecocks trouble all afternoon and contributed 15 points of his own, while Devin Booker pitched in 13 points and 8 rebounds in the win. 

Now lets get back to Football......

Where will your team be for the Holidays? 

Steve Spurrier and the (10-2) Gamecocks are headed back to a familiar place as they are set to take on (8-4) Michigan January 1st in Tampa, FL for the Outback Bowl. (8-4) Mississippi State will take on (9-3)Northwestern in the Gator Bowl down in Jacksonville. (10-2) Texas A&M is headed to the Cotton Bowl to face (10-2) Oklahoma. After falling short in the SEC championship, (11-2) UGA will take the Capital One Bowl against (10-3) Nebraska. (8-4) Vanderbilt will take on (7-5) North Carolina State in the Music City Bowl. (6-6) Michigan State has a date with (7-5) TCU at the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. (6-6) Virginia Tech will represent the ACC in the Russell Athletic Bowl against (9-3) Rugters. (10-3) Tulsa will battle (6-6) Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl. (6-6) Duke returns its first bowl game since I can remember when they take on (9-3) Cincinnati in the Belk Bowl. (7-5)West Virginia will take on (7-5) Syracuse in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. (6-6) Purdue and (7-5) Oklahoma State will compete in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. And last but not least, Clemson (10-2) will square off against LSU (10-2) in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl December 31st @ 7:30pm in Atlanta. 

BCS BOWLS: 


Discover Orange Bowl: 

Florida State (11-2) VS. Northern Illinois (12-1) 


Allstate Sugar Bowl:

Florida (11-1) vs Louisville (10-2)

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl:

Kansas St (12-1) vs Oregon (11-1) 

Rose Bowl: 

Stanford (11-2) vs Wisconsin (8-5) 

Discover BCS National Championship Game

Alabama (12-1) vs Notre Dame (12-0)