Friday September 03, 2010

N. Texas Prediction by Rev O.

No I haven’t forgotten there is a football game tomorrow. I’m very excited the season is finally here but it’s hard getting overly excited about playing North Texas University of the Sun Belt. Can you say mismatch?? Anyhow before I get started, I just wanted to say congratulations to Lt Col Tom Saxe upon his retirement from the Air National Guard. After reading his Bio it just shows that no matter who you piss off in life or what you do outside of the “straight and narrow”, you can still succeed. And Tom is also the reason why I didn’t get this out yesterday afternoon because I had to attend his retirement ceremony. Well, I didn’t have to attend but he was buying the beer!!

So here we go. A little different format for the first few games since comparisons of offense vs defense would do little to decide the winner. I think we know who the winner will be. Oh - come on, we know.

The Tigers are beginning the season on a winning note and that is always a good thing. The win over a very good Kentucky team in the bowl game was a great end to a somewhat disappointing regular season end in the ACC Championship game. The Tigers had GT against the wall but couldn’t keep them there. Let’s see if we can repeat as divisional champs and a win this time in the ACC championship game. This is going to be tough to do with the toughest stretch coming after these first two games. Auburn, Miami and UNC will be a tough stretch. Some experts have us going 9-3 with loses to Auburn, Miami and FSU and a berth in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. I see it a little differently of course. But first - The Mean Green of Texas University vs the Tigers:

The Tiger Offense:

The offensive side of the ball is loaded with talent too. Parker, Harper, Ellington and the offensive line, ranked 7th best in the country by Phil Steele, proved themselves last year so now is the time to show what one year of playing together can do. Parker is actually on a preseason watch list for the National Player of the Year – the Maxwell Award!! Now that’s a real complement for a red shirt sophomore. He’s cool under pressure and his arm is like a rocket. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Ellington can do. He was very elusive last year when he did get his hands on the ball. The question is who will step up in the receiving corps. Dwayne Allen (TE) looks to follow in the footsteps of Michael Palmer and be a large part of the passing game. Xavier Dye is being looked at to be the WR go to guy but red- shirt freshman Bryce McNeal and true freshman DeAndre Hopkins could surprise some people if given the chance. With the experienced offensive line and running backs, the running game should be the showcase of this offense and the passing game should come along as the season progresses.

The Tiger Defense:

It’s a new season and with Coach Steele’s defense in its second year I think we are going to see some amazing things out of this unit. Most of the defense is back and several are on pre-season watch lists. DeAndre McDaniel (CB), Jarvis Jenkins (DT, NG), Brandon Thompson (DT, NG) and Da’Quan Bowers are all up for pre-season honors. The defensive line is ranked 2nd best in the country by Phil Steele. Andre Branch will take over at the bandit end where Da’Quan played last year. Marcus Gilchrist (CB) and Rashard Hall (FS) are back after having very successful seasons last year along with Byron Maxwell. The linebacking corps has undergone some change with Corico Hawkins taking over the middle spot while Brandon Maye was moved to weak side linebacker but will not play this game due to some minor surgery on his knee. Tig Willard will fill in and should do a great job. The defense should be very tough and experienced and they are out to prove that they can be counted on to win the tough games and Clemson will need this with the tough schedule they have. Their goal is to have the #1 defense in the country (especially against the run) so they can start by stopping the Mean Green offense in their tracks. If North Texas scores any points it will be in the second half when Clemson starts substituting their starters for second and third team players.

The Mean Green Offense:

It’s all about North Texas junior running back Lance Dunbar, who ran for 1,378 yards and 19 touchdowns a season ago, finishing 14th in the country at 114 rushing yards per game. He had 8 100 yard rushing games to go along with 28 receptions for 300 yards so he is the heart of the offense. I’m just not seeing the Mean Green offensive line making too many holes for Dunbar. And any holes they happen to make should be filled quickly by the linebackers. The speed of the Clemson defense is going to be overwhelming for the North Texas offense.

The Mean Green Defense:

North Texas returns six of their top eight tacklers. Linebacker Craig Robertson anchors the defense. They also return three starters from the secondary but I don’t see this helping them much. The best thing the North Texas defense has going for them is Hall of Famer Mean Joe Green who played at North Texas back in 1966-1968 but for some reason I don’t see this being a factor. Clemson’s offense should be able to open holes for Ellington and Harper often.

Special Teams:

Spiller is gone and doing very well in Buffalo. Marcus Gilchrist is taking over the return duties. On the kicking side, redshirt Freshman Chandler Cantanzaro has won the competition for field goals/extra points. I guess we’ll see how they do.

So let’s see, final score:

Clemson 48

NTU 6