This was a tough gritty and ugly win. Usually after these games I feel a slight sense of relief and happiness. I usually go out for a run, or have some drinks with my girlfriend (I'm weird and don't like drinking while watching Clemson on TV).
But last night was different. After the game I didn't really feel that much different than I did when the score was 10-7 Cards...anxious. Something felt off...and after thinking about it overnight, here is why.
1) We all secretly thought Clemson was better than it is. It is extremely hard to temper expectations when Watson looked like a once in a lifetime college player last year and we had so much talent coming in. The Wofford game reinforced the notion that we were outstanding...as did most of the app state game. The truth of the matter is, we are very much a work in progress. Similar to last year, the team has loads of potential but isn't quite up to snuff. We can be very good, but aren't an Ohio state, Oregon, Mich state, or any of the sort currently.
2) Watson looked human. He didn't play outstanding against the cards. Part of me suspects that he was so eager to show off to the nation how awesome he is on a thursday night, he got a little cocky and made errant throws. The truth of the matter is probably somewhere in between....Watson is a really good qb, but a national championship team can't win with just a qb. You have to be balanced and have a defense that can make plays, solid to exceptional special teams, and a run game.
3) All season we made South Carolina out to be a complete dumpster fire. As much as we deny it, South Carolina doing poorly is very important to Clemson fans. It's a rivalry, that's just how it is. Part of the joy of Scar doing poorly was that we were going the exact opposite direction...of the "gap" between us. Scar lost Johnson and Lawing? they are going to be awful. Clemson lost Chad Morris? No big deal at all. Scar lost most of their defense? They will suck. Clemson lost most of their defense? No big deal at all....I could go on and on. There were many cases when we were right against Clemson...and just as many where we were probably wrong. The gap is certainly growing between the programs, but it isn't as high as we wanted. Similar to last year, this team has the personal (barring injury) to be an extremely good top 5 team, but we aren't there and may not get there.
A win is a win, but the type of win we had against cardinal nation showed we MUST improve to be a contender...and most of us were hoping we were already there.
But last night was different. After the game I didn't really feel that much different than I did when the score was 10-7 Cards...anxious. Something felt off...and after thinking about it overnight, here is why.
1) We all secretly thought Clemson was better than it is. It is extremely hard to temper expectations when Watson looked like a once in a lifetime college player last year and we had so much talent coming in. The Wofford game reinforced the notion that we were outstanding...as did most of the app state game. The truth of the matter is, we are very much a work in progress. Similar to last year, the team has loads of potential but isn't quite up to snuff. We can be very good, but aren't an Ohio state, Oregon, Mich state, or any of the sort currently.
2) Watson looked human. He didn't play outstanding against the cards. Part of me suspects that he was so eager to show off to the nation how awesome he is on a thursday night, he got a little cocky and made errant throws. The truth of the matter is probably somewhere in between....Watson is a really good qb, but a national championship team can't win with just a qb. You have to be balanced and have a defense that can make plays, solid to exceptional special teams, and a run game.
3) All season we made South Carolina out to be a complete dumpster fire. As much as we deny it, South Carolina doing poorly is very important to Clemson fans. It's a rivalry, that's just how it is. Part of the joy of Scar doing poorly was that we were going the exact opposite direction...of the "gap" between us. Scar lost Johnson and Lawing? they are going to be awful. Clemson lost Chad Morris? No big deal at all. Scar lost most of their defense? They will suck. Clemson lost most of their defense? No big deal at all....I could go on and on. There were many cases when we were right against Clemson...and just as many where we were probably wrong. The gap is certainly growing between the programs, but it isn't as high as we wanted. Similar to last year, this team has the personal (barring injury) to be an extremely good top 5 team, but we aren't there and may not get there.
A win is a win, but the type of win we had against cardinal nation showed we MUST improve to be a contender...and most of us were hoping we were already there.
