A Few Notes about Thursday

After watching the game on Thursday and getting off the emotional roller coaster that the Clemson Tigers took me on (which happens really, really often), I think there are some positives to take home. There are some glaring negatives, too. Let's look at them.

Good

1. Kyle Parker looks like our quarterback. As a RS Freshman this was really his first game to speak of and he acquitted himself well. If he doesn't opt for the baseball contract, we'll be in good shape.
2. The defense is scary good. To start the game, a pooch punt return, a fake field goal, and a blown coverage led to scoring. Only one of those really falls on the defense proper, and after that, they only allowed 3 field goals. In a game like this, if the defense only allows 16, you expect to win. Johnathan Dwyer, ACCOPoY, was basically a non-factor in the game.
3. The coaching staff looks competent. This time last year, I could not say that. It is extremely encouraging to be able to walk away from the game and not feel like the other team was better at us in every aspect of the game, like Alabama was last year. The game plan was good, the playcalling was improved over last year, and and there were halftime adjustments on both sides of the ball. Not only that, but the team toughed its way back to a lead after going into halftime down 24-7
4. Individual players, CJ Spiller and Jacoby Ford, are ridiculous. It is a shame that they have to go next year, but they have been special players for us.

Bad

1. Looking at #4 above, there weren't a lot of other offensive contributions. Hopefully against a weaker opponent next week (BC at home) we can get other players involved.
2. Gadget plays as a playcalling option from this team has not been super productive. Sure, there was the CJ Spiller pass for the only TD scored against UVa last year, but other that that, it has not turned out well for us. The pooch kick and a WR pass from Tyler Grisham have given GT 14 points. Without those plays, Clemson wins both games. We also ran a reverse last night, and while it wasn't successful on its own, that is a direction of trickery that has better potential to succeed.
3. Offensive line still isn't great. Everyone points to the 3 tries from like the 4 where we couldn't punch it in. That needs to get better.
4. Next year, it looks like we will have a quarterback controversy. Willy Korn probably won't go away as an issue, because the fans love him. If Parker continues to play like he has, he's not going anywhere. But Tajh Boyd takes his redshirt off next year, and by all accounts he is an extraordinary talent. It's a good problem to have, I suppose.

Another thing I noticed was that it seems like the "magic formula" to stop this offense is to have dominating DTs that can control the dive on their own. Obviously that's easier said than done, but there are a few teams on Tech's schedule that can achieve that. Their next game at Miami will be a very interesting one to watch.

I don't know how much the whiteout contributed, but with CPJ, Tech is building a meaningful home field advantage. The fans were loud when they were supposed to be in ways I haven't seen in my other trips to Bobby Dodd. Good for them.

I hope next year the game winning drive is not stalled due to a questionable holding call.