Clemson vs. Georgia Tech 2008

On Saturday, September 29th, the orange-clad Clemson Tigers and their fans will come to the "big city" for an ACC showdown. Clutching a well-deserved Top 15 ranking, Clemson brings that vaunted "Thunder & Lightning" backfield of James Davis and speedy C.J. Spiller to Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta to pile on yardage after last year's 31-7 drubbing of Tech.

Tech has a slim hope of winning the game if they can keep these two backs from breaking out on long runs and keeping the score close. Last year's score was a bit of an anomaly since most games in last 10 years have been pretty close (decided by five points or less). Tech's defense if going to have to play their best game of the year, after whipping on the pansy 0-4 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and Div II-A Samford. We were brought back down to earth after getting dismantled by BC and then losing a shocker in Charlottesville last week to Virginia. We are now 0-2 in the ACC and facing probably the best team we'll meet all year!

In order to win, Tech must do the following:

The defensive line has to keep "Thunder and Lightning" to under 100 combined yards rushing

The defensive secondary has to eliminate the big play (no 40+ yard gains)

The defense has to keep Clemson from scoring (if I hear the "Tiger Rag" more than 3 or 4 times - Clemson's band plays this little ditty after every touchdown - we're gonna lose)

The offensive line has to open up the running lanes for Tashard Choice to gain more than 100 yards (when he goes over 100, we usually win)

The wide receivers have to get open down field quickly, so Taylor Bennett get the ball out of his hands and not take any sacks for negative yardage

The offense has to have long time-consuming drives and keep the score close (this way our defense can stay fresh during a hot afternoon in Atlanta)

Over the past two weeks, Taylor Bennett has shown why he was behind Reggie Ball on the depth chart: he hasn't shown the ability to win the close (and BIG) games (see West Virginia in Gator Bowl and last week at UVA).

We have a good defense, but if they are spending well over half of the game on the field backpedaling and running around after Davis & Spiller, we are going to lose. I gotta root for the Yellow Jackets, but I also gotta call 'em as I see 'em!

And if I hear that damn "Tiger Rag" one more time, I'm gonna puke!

GO JACKETS! STING 'EM!