Yay Clemson Girls!! Football season is finally here. Do you know how every year there is a team that flies under the radar? A team that many pick to have a good but not great season and that team turns out to have an extra special year and be one of the top teams in the country? Well this year that team is Clemson! I believe that this will be an extraordinary season and I cannot wait for 3:30 Saturday to kick our season off.
Football is won in the trenches—plain and simple. This year prognosticator Phil Steele ranked Clemson’s defensive line second best in the country and our offensive line seventh best in the country. We have enjoyed a great defensive line for several seasons now but this is without a doubt the best offensive line we have fielded in years. If these two units can stay relatively injury free this season Clemson will have an excellent year.
Many analysts consider the big question marks on the 2010 Tigers to be our linebackers and receivers; however I feel very confident in these two units. The linebackers have significantly improved over last year’s unit and the wide receivers, while young and untested, are extremely talented. They also have a terrific quarterback throwing balls to them. Make no mistake, Tajh Boyd will be an amazing Quarterback at Clemson, but having Kyle Parker return was huge! His first season found him a freshman All-American and leading his team to the conference championship—I cannot wait to see what his second season brings.
The other question that has been asked a million times this off season is how does Clemson replace CJ Spiller? The answer is you don’t. CJ was a once in a lifetime player and you are not going to find any one player to do everything he did as well as he did. But our running game is in excellent shape. Jamie Harper and Andre Ellington will be sharing starts and carries and they will be one of the most explosive one two punches in college football. They will both have break out seasons this year. And backing them up is Roderick McDowell, who has had an outstanding spring and summer. Another player to watch out for this season is Tight End Dwayne Allen. He will leave Clemson as the best Tight End in school history and will be Kyle Parker’s primary target.
Defensively we are loaded this year. As I stated earlier the linebacking corp is much improved and our defensive line and secondary are among the best in football. We return starting All-American safeties DeAndre McDaniel and Rashard Hall. Having McDaniel and tackle Jarvis Jenkins turn down NFL opportunities was huge for our defense. DaQuan Bowers is going to have a sensational season this year. Another name to look out for is Corico Hawkins. He is young but a devastating hitter and a real leader on this defense. Look for him to have a break out sophomore season.
The kicking unit is the big cause of concern for me—if they can be a real asset this year the sky is the limit for this team. Punter Dawson Zimmerman has had an outstanding camp-if he can carry that over into the games he will be putting our defense in great situations. The kicking battle was finally won by walk on Chandler Catanzaro. He has been money in practice from 45 yards and has the leg to kick 50. Seeing consistency in the kicking game this year would guarantee a special year at Clemson.
North Texas brings a talented squad and a great running back to Death Valley this Saturday, but the next two games should be won handily. We should have the starters out by half time and the second and third units should get two halves of quality snaps. I think Dabo has one of the great secrets in college football this year and I cannot wait to watch it revealed! Go Tigers!
- Caroline
Giveaway Week Celebration - Clemson Tigers Necklace
And now for our last giveaway of the week! One lucky reader will win this sterling silver Tigers football necklace - a perfect compliment to your gameday outfit! I love the little football!
To enter this giveaway, post a comment to this blog and tell us your first name, last initial, where you're from - and then tell us which football game this season you are most looking forward to.This is a quick giveaway turnaround (we gotta get on the road to Clemson!), so all entries must be posted by 4pm EST. We will randomly draw a winner and announce it on the blog at 4:30pm EST.
We're super excited about this weekend! We're decked out in our orange with the flags on the car... see you on the interstate! :)
P.S. Please take lots of pictures this weekend (we will be too) and email them to us
at clemsongirlblog@gmail.com. We want to see photos of your Clemson decorated car, your tailgates, your gameday outfits, your little Tiger fans' gameday outfits, views from your Death Valley seats, etc.
Even if you're just having a game viewing party at your house - take pictures of your Clemson gameday decor, gameday outfits, etc. and we'll share them on the blog as well!
No matter what your plans are this weekend... drive safe, be safe, wear orange and cheer on the Tigers!!
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