Teetering. On the edge. That’s where Clemson’s season is sitting at this very moment and it’s a fair evaluation, given the team’s 3-2 record. That two of those wins are against South Carolina State and The Citadel and the third is over NC State reminds me of the old Paul Simon song “Kodachrome,” in which he declared that, “everything looks worse in black and white.”
If I kept writing this article as planned, the conclusion, after another few hundred words, would be that Clemson’s goal is supposed to be conference titles on a somewhat regular basis and an occasional realistic shot at the crystal football. Another conclusion is that Clemson will never achieve those goals with Tommy Bowden as its head coach.
Disclaimer time to defuse anyone suggesting I hate Clemson or Coach Bowden: I don’t hate Clemson and I like Coach Bowden more than just about anyone else I know in the game. Clemson has the best game-day atmosphere in the ACC and I don’t think it’s even close. As for Bowden, he’s one of the finest people I’ve ever known. Honest, works his tail off, an extremely moral individual, the list could go on. It’s very easy to see why Bowden has been such a positive representative for the university. He’s graduated his players, improved the facilities, brought in high-quality athletes and, for the most part, his players have stayed off the police blotter. However …
The team has simply had too many embarrassing losses and up-and-down performances during his tenure, not to mention a complete lack of championships. It will take a remarkable turnaround by this team to win the conference title and I wouldn’t be surprised if being ACC champions is what it will take for him to keep his job. Believe me when I say that no one off of Exit 19 in South Carolina is holding his or her breath. A lot of crossed fingers, but very few expectations.
A head man in trouble almost always follows the script of firing his coordinators to buy himself some time. Bowden’s already done that. More than once. His current offensive coordinator, Rob Spence, essentially employs a version of the run-and-shoot, and that is extremely ill-conceived for a team that wants to play BCS-level championship football. The zone blocking, reliance on yards-after-catch and having your offensive linemen in two-point stances simply doesn’t fly when facing fast, physical defenses. Clemson’s record against teams fitting this description during the Spence era confirms this, as the Tigers are a combined 1-11 vs. Virginia Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami, Alabama and Auburn while Spence has been calling plays. Clemson has been piling up wins against ACC bottom feeders, FCS teams and playing better than average against usually mediocre FSU and South Carolina squads. This has delivered generally OK, but never overwhelming 8-win seasons, yet they always fall short of playing for titles of any kind.
The general attitude around Clemson right now is quite numb. Not angry, but numb, at the likelihood of another year of unrealized expectations and a bowl trip to Orlando or Nashville or somewhere else before Jan. 1. And that’s if Clemson even qualifies for a bowl. The team will need to win five of its final seven games, and five of those remaining games are toss-ups at best (Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Boston College and South Carolina). That’s simply not good enough for most Clemson fans. And it shouldn’t be.
Oliver can be heard on 790 The Zone’s “Afternoon Saloon” weekdays from 4-7 p.m. and can be reached at king@790thezone.com.
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