The "ATL Road Trip" Edition

Former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden joins the show to talk about the Tigers and Yellow Jackets.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time for Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Schwan.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Now finally Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Hello everybody, and Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson
Sports Talk for you each and every afternoon as you
make your way around the great state of South Carolina
and beyond, listening to us on incredible radio stations like
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(01:14):
The website, put the dot com on it all gunnet
that's clympses sports Saul dot com. And the course to
show the shakes of South lamb brought to you in
part by our good friends over at mets Plumbing mets
Plumbing dot com two two six seven one o eight
that's two two six seven one oh eight mets Plumb
and go check them out today. Let them know we

(01:35):
sent you out of the gates. On a Friday, Will
Van Dervoort Hour two. Former Clemson Tiger head coach Tommy Bowden,
What a week and what the season is going to
be with Chad Morris on Wednesdays. Bowden on Fridays. Woo man,
giving it to you real good here on the program.
All right, eight O three four five zero zero eighty six.

(01:58):
That is the text line many of you been taking
advantage of that. You want to talk about Kate Clubnick,
you want to talk about this Clemson Tiger team heading
into this matchup at Georgia Tech. We could certainly do that,
but first, without further ado, Will van Derboart from the
Clemson Insider, Will, what's up, buddy?

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Man? What's up?

Speaker 4 (02:16):
I'm just sitting here getting ready to go to Atlanta
to cover the game tomorrow. So getting the tires all
ready to go and everything like that.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Man, I'll tell you what. I'll be there. It's a
good drive from Columbia. It's an atrocious drive from Clemson.

Speaker 4 (02:35):
Why do you say that?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Just the traffic that you deal with by comparison to
what I deal with.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
Oh yeah, coming in the way, come out.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Oh it's silky, Yeah, it's silky, smooth off I twenty man.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
Oh, well you're very fortunate. Yeah. So I'm going down
today because I gotta do the Tiger pregame show tomorrow,
which you can listen to on up here in the
Upstate and you know. So we've got to be in
position in Atlanta already. So I got to leave tonight,
so I'm ready to go tomorrow morning.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
All well, and that's gonna be early, Bubba, that's gonna
be What about a six o'clock start for y'all.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
That's gonna be a sixt o'clock start me and we're
looking forward to it though.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, the last time you saw six o'clock was probably
right in the end of a story after a long
day in Death Valley.

Speaker 4 (03:19):
I would imagine, uh, yeah, that LSU game I got
done about fifty in the morning, so that sounds about right.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yeah, people don't I mean, I think people don't understand
that aspect of what we do, and certainly you understand
it having a newspaper background as well, where I can't
imagine what those guys go through during a game to
try to be prepared to get something out and up
while you're still waiting on Dabbo Swing and the boys

(03:49):
to finish dancing and celebrating and doing everything they do.
How difficult is it when you're in that position.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
It's difficult, you know. The best thing I always tell
anybody a young writer who's getting in the business to
always go work in a newspaper and cover high school
football on a Friday night because it teaches you how
to write on deadline super fast. So, for instance, I know,
back in the day when I covered high school football,
you know, we'd have most times, not all the time,

(04:17):
but most of the time because the games had starting
around seven thirty or seven o'clock. Deadlines are pushing around eleven,
you know, to get copy in around eleven or eleven thirty,
so you would have at best an hour to get
your story turned in. And that's, by the way, so
people know, it's not like it was now or now

(04:38):
people it seems like everybody does their own stats, and
for the most part, you can get stats easier now,
even in high school. But back in the day, nobody
did high school stats, nobody, and so you had to
do your own as a reporter, and so you had
to get all your stats added up, you had to
do a box score, and write your story, and you'd
have less than an hour to do all of it

(04:58):
and get that turned in on time. And if you weren't,
if you missed deadline, you were in trouble because that
means you're holding up the press, and that's costing the
company money. So there's no better pressure than they covered
a high school football game our product.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
And will how did you submit them back then?

Speaker 4 (05:16):
Well, back then that was funny. So back then, when
I first started the business, you're talking, you're talking late
two thousand, excuse me, late nineties, early two thousands. And
so we did it by we would hook up to
a phone line and we drop it into an FTP server. Uh,
That's how we would do it back in the day.

(05:36):
Until really, you know, they trust emails. Back then, you
couldn't just email it in to somebody, so dowt Today
you got WiFi and a whole lot easier. So it
was more difficult back then when I first started doing it.
But there's a lot of times, like you know, there
was no phone lines in the press boxes, so you
had to go find a McDonald's or something like that,

(05:59):
or you had to go beg the coaches at the
schools you were at could you use a phone line?
So it was always an adventure to get that story
turned in. And sometimes you know, I was out, I
were I started down in South Georgia back in the day,
and we I would have to call sometimes there's a
couple of times I had to call in my story

(06:19):
and dictated over the phone. Did that several times.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
Unbelievable. That's old school, right there. Will Van Dervoort on
Twitter at Steeler Will again, he writes for the Clemson Insider,
he'll be in Atlanta tomorrow where the Tigers and the
Yellowjackets to say face off at noon. From that standpoint, Will,
when I, you know, think about these two teams. Obviously,
the recent dominance in the series by Clemson is certainly

(06:45):
uh the the talking point. But I was fascinated and
some people didn't. Some people thought that it was not
humorous what we saw from Brent Key this week. I
find I found it hilarious. Like the way he handled
that press conference, I couldn't help but laugh. I don't
know if that's because I felt bad for the guys

(07:06):
in Atlanta to have to cover him, whether it was
because it felt a little bit contrived, if you will.
But what was your takeaway from his concise I think
we might put it press conference.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
Yeah, it was different. I think I actually told it up.
It was five minutes and three seconds, and it was
an average of I think five seconds. He spent on
each answer. His longest answer was a van take club
Nickton Dabosweeney and they were nine seconds each, and then
he also had a one second answer in there. So

(07:44):
it was one of the more bizarre things I've seen.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
Now.

Speaker 4 (07:47):
I've talked to my buddies up there, and they said,
you know that he does that every once in a
while when he gets really amped up for a game.
It's not the norm. Normally he'll go from fifteen to
sixteen seventeen minutes or so, but this was one of
those ones where he was just amped up for the
game and really didn't want to talk, and you know,
so it was They.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Said, it's not too abnormal up there.

Speaker 4 (08:12):
That's just who he is. But nonetheless, you know, if
you're trying to do stories and all that, man, and
all you're getting is five minutes and three seconds from
the head coach, that's not that won't be fun to me. Again,
just shows how spoiled we are at Clemson because Debo
even on Wednesday, which is generally his shortest meeting with
the media, because he's pretty much said everything you need

(08:33):
to say about the game, right and he still does
another availability on Wednesday that's still about fifteen minutes long,
and so you know, we're still getting fifteen minutes and
and of course during the week we get you know,
we get and we get Dabbo four times now. I
know he went and he did a presser yesterday also,
or a gathering i should say, with the media yesterday.
So and that one wonder for about sixteen minutes. That

(08:55):
was more normal from what it sounded like. So yeah,
it was interesting. But again, as I've always said, Clemson,
I hear the horror stories around the country about other
media types and what they have to deal with with
their head coaches. You know, I know Bob Suits at
Oklahoma was not very good with the media back in

(09:18):
his day. You know, we hear stories from about Kirby
Smart and how he is with the media. I know
Will Muschamp when he was there in Columbia wasn't very
good with the media. So I think, you know, we
feel very fortunate at Clinton that not only do we
have David Sweety who's really good with the media and
gives us a lot of access. Brad Brownell's good, you know,

(09:39):
package is good. You know, Sean Poppey with the women's
program is good. So like pretty much every coach, John
Whitman with the softball program. Every coach seems to be
really good at Clemson, like they're really media savvy, if
you will. And I don't know how if that's Clemson
saying when you come in, you know, there's a certain
way we do things. I don't know. I know, Georgia

(10:00):
used to be really good until Kirby Smart came with
this football and I mean, Georgia was one of the best,
but then Kirby Smart changed that when he came in,
and so, you know, so I guess it could happen
at Clemson, depending on what kind of coach came in
comes in next. But I know Dabo does a great
job giving us access and I've always been appreciative of that.

(10:21):
Tommy was really good too, and maybe that's where Dabo
learned it from. You know, but Timbray obviously was in
charge of sort of sports infremation. But when Dabo got
the job, and I'm sure he trained Dabbo up. And
then Ross Taylor has done the same thing in his
spot now as football communications director. So got to get

(10:42):
those guys kudos too as well for giving the you know,
kind of coaching up the coaches, if you will in players.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Well, let's turn our attention to this game and maybe
first kind of reset last weekend against Troy. You know
you've covered it longer than I have, but I've been
covering it for twenty years, and I and obviously following
it my whole life much like you, and I've crossed
over into the realm of where I don't really get
panicked about games like the fans do, and I'm watching

(11:09):
it unfolding. I'm going, it's just gonna take one play
to break through. And that's exactly kind of what happened.
Clemson broke through and ends up going on a run
to win that game. I mean, is that kind of
where you were watching it or did you actually have
real like concern where they're down sixteen to nothing, Because
I'm telling you I had no concern at all. Down
sixteen Oh.

Speaker 4 (11:29):
No, I mean, you know, we're up there doing our job.
I'm just you know, writing it and telling them how
I see it. I did write a halftime feature that
this is pretty embarrassing for Clemson the way they look.
So that's kind of where, yeah, I was more focused,
like this is embarrassing for Clemson, you know, not because

(11:50):
Troy was beating them, but how they looked, you know,
and what it meant, Like Clemson was staring at there
for that second, they were staring at being zero to
two for the first time since nineteen seventy four. Okay,
that put that in perspective. Yeah, that's that's what they
were looking at. And they were looking at their first

(12:10):
ever loss to a Sun Belt team something now thirteen
and zero against the Some Belt all time. So there
were some things in there that I think, you know,
would have been embarrassing for the program. And it would
have been their first loss to a group of five
schools since nineteen ninety nine when they lost to Marshall
and the season opener that was Tommy Balden's first game,
if you remember. So there was some a lot of

(12:31):
historical firsts in there. Had that stayed true, But like you,
I didn't think it would stay true. I thought if
Clemsony could score, that would get the mojo going, and
they got the mojo right there before halftime. I think
Kate klub Nick hitting that passed the West go down
the sideline, that went for a big game that will,
that set up that field goal, even though he had

(12:52):
the bad pass of trust to Smith.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
That's that.

Speaker 4 (12:54):
I think it really kind of helped his confidence. It
helped him see the ball. And the more I c
k Clement, the more I think of him like a shooter,
He's like a He's like a you know, a Steph Curry.
He's got to see the ball go in the hoop
one time, and then after that he just he you know,
he's gonna hit nine in a row. Right, And that's
how he was the other day. I mean, as bad

(13:16):
as he started out, go look at his numbers, how
he finished right, you know, you know, and he finished
eighteen of twenty four, which is over seventy percent completion
percentage for one hundred ninety six yards two touchdowns. He
was seven for eight in the fourth quarter. And everybody's like, well, yeah,
it's Troy should do that. That's not what it's about
when you pay attention to a quarterback. It's not about

(13:37):
who he's playing. It's about what he's seen, you know.
And so like he just for whatever reason, I don't
know if he was still just thinking too much because
of what happened against LSU or what, but he just
wasn't seeing the field there for the first two quarters
of the first you know, of that game, and you
know he saw missing people that are wide open, just

(13:59):
like not even seeing them.

Speaker 5 (14:01):
You know.

Speaker 4 (14:01):
I mean there's one play with West Coast running down
the sideline wide open, would have been an easy sixty
yard touchdown pass. You know, Kay didn't see him. He
throws back to the field to the boundary side, and
you know, clows it to the tight end and it
gets David Asume tries to catch it, knocks it up
in the air and it goes out of bounds where
that should have been a sixty yard touchdown pass. You know,

(14:23):
there's a couple of other reads very similar to that
where he had, you know, Antonio Brown for about a
fifteen or twenty yard play. He had more that would
have been like a fifteen or twenty yard play if
he just makes if he just throws the ball.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
I thought anybody didn't. Yeah, I thought the first two passes, well,
I thought the first two passes of the game that
he had, you know, before the rain delay. I can't
imagine they didn't go in there and go, Kay, what
are you looking at?

Speaker 1 (14:49):
Dude?

Speaker 3 (14:49):
Do you not see this guy blitzing off the outside?
There's nobody covering the flat, so you got a man
wide open. Like they they had to rake him over
the coals. During that one hour and thirty two delay.
About what he missed on the first two plays that
he was passing the ball. I wondered that, Yeah, the
first play, yeah, yeah, go ahead, no, no, go ahead
kills in.

Speaker 4 (15:10):
I was to say, on the first play of the game,
if you look once, it's got trips to the boundary
side and he throws the ball over there to more.
But if you look at the defense, the defense has
got four players. Yeah, so you've got three players going
against four. That's not gonna work. Now, they got it
for two yard game. But if you look at that
same play, you see Tyler.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Brown on the bottom side, right.

Speaker 4 (15:32):
On the opposite side, that would have been he was
running a little curl. You hit him, He's probably going
fifteen to twenty yards down the field. And there were
several plays like that in the first half.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, he just missed.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
And but again I.

Speaker 4 (15:46):
Think he was more or less he just wasn't seeing
things for whatever reason. But when you watch the tape
in the second half, it's like, oh my gosh, it's
like it's not even the same quarterback in the second half,
and so is that Kate Klebman that played in the
second half comes out and it's decisive season seasons receivers
seize the field the way the way he has been.

(16:07):
I think Clinton's gonna be fine, Tom Are, but if
the one that comes out against LSU in the first
two quarters against Troy shows up, then it could be
a long day for Clemson. Down at Bobby dodd Sagan.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
Again, Will Van der Bort with us from the Clemson Insider.
Will I was saying, the only thing I will say
is I truly felt like if Clemson did not score
on the opening drive of the second half, I felt
like you had to go to Christopher Vizena. Are you
surprised that with the struggles Kate has had that we

(16:40):
didn't see Zena like give him a chance to I mean,
I know he came here for one play, but I
mean give him a chance to prove that he couldn't
get the job done, because I mean, next year, at
this point, at least the keys belonged to CV.

Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised if they
did that that might have been I mean, Debo obviously
when asked that or didn't say that, But I mean,
I wouldn't have been surprised if they did that, if
he came out and they went one, two, three and
out and they're you know, give the ball back to
Troy in that instance, that they don't maybe do something

(17:17):
just to let him see the game from the sideline,
because sometimes that's what you need to do, you know,
you need to just go off and see the game
over on the side and see what happens. So yeah,
I wouldn't have been surprised at all if that's what happened. Now,
but you know, that's Hindsight's twenty twenty. We don't know,
I will do know this, They're not if they get
behind him this game, I doubt you see CV at

(17:40):
any point because you know, I don't think they want
to put him in a situation on the road and
behind and trying to come back unless they had no
choice to, if that makes sense, because you don't want
to hurt his confidence either, So it's very important how
you handle the situation. But I think I think they
got t and Dabo says it, and it's just a

(18:02):
matter of him just you know, playing to his potential,
and if he does, I mean, I think they're fine.
And I know a lot of people around the country
are down on Clemson and they're saying all of it.
A group of starters come back like this and they
act this way, they're never going to recover. I disagree.
I've seen football way more than these people, and I've
seen teams start slow and get better as the season

(18:25):
goes on. And there's a lot of things going on.
It's just not k when you let everybody know that.
I mean, you got TJ. Morris still dropping passes, right,
You've got the offensive line. They just look like they
don't know what they're doing. They're like the three stooges
out there are the five stooges, I should say at times.
You know, so there's just crazy things that are going on,

(18:46):
and you know, I think one thing that's hurt him
is that, you know, you didn't have Walker Parks and
now you don't have Tristan Lee probably more than likely
this Saturday, and so you're not having that continuity with
those five. Those five guys they thought they were gonna
have they haven't had it yet. And I want to
see I want to grade the offensive line when it's
Tristan Lee, when it's Colin Sadler, when it's Ryan Litticum,

(19:10):
when it's Walker Parks, and when it's Blake Miller. I
want to grate them on that those five because those
are the five that have played together the longest, right,
And so you know, right now we haven't seen that.
We got Colin Sadler playing tackle. We got Elijah Thurman,
who also is questionable by the way, right playing right guard.
You know, you got Sewell who's playing right analyze guard.

(19:33):
You know, so there's no continuity at all on the
offensive line, and I think that's one of the problems
you're seeing.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
Will, do you have some time to stay with us
to talk a little bit more about this matchup?

Speaker 1 (19:42):
Absolutely all right.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
So we're gonna put Will on hold. Will come back
and we'll get his thoughts a little bit more on
this big game over in Atlanta tomorrow. Everybody had it
circled preseason. This was one to watch. It looks even
more enticing than it did before. Stay with us back
at it on a Friday afternoon. Will vandervoordt the Clemson
Insider on Twitter at Steeler Will joins us hero on

(20:07):
the program. So talking about this matchup with Clemson in
Georgia Tech, will it does feel different than a lot
of these games has felt have felt recently, although man,
it was a time this year was spectacular back in
the late nineties or early two thousands, where it's a
three game margin each and every time they get together,
But this one does feel different. What is it, in
your opinion about Brent Key that's kind of made this work?

Speaker 4 (20:30):
Well, he's just, you know, as Vick Easton said this week,
he's just really a kind of tough, physical, you know,
a relentless kind of coach. And he played that way
at Georgia Tech, and they talked about how he played
against them, and he's like, that's the way he played
on the offensive line. And his team has that same
kind of mentality, that same kind of attitude that he has,

(20:53):
And that's what makes them so tough is that they're
not the best players in the world. Like, I mean,
there's not a single guy on that roster, you know,
maybe with the exception of Jamal Haynes, right, maybe that
he's the only one that's better than anybody Clemson has. Right,
Everybody else on that roster is like nowhere in the

(21:14):
same stratosphere as Clemson in the grand scheme of things.
You know what I'm saying, Like when you look at
their you know, five stars, four stars, whatever you want
to say. I mean, Georgia Tech doesn't have the number
of four and five star players that Clemson has on
its roster. And you know, but yet look how they
play like they they really all should have beat Georgia, right,

(21:35):
you know what I'm saying, Like they played Miami, who
was loaded with five stars last year. They beat them
on the planes there in Atlanta, So they know, you know,
they know how to beat teams like Clemson. They know
how to get after teams like Clemson. And the way
they do it is they do it with those three
things that Nick said. They're tough, they're physical, and they're relentless,

(21:57):
and they just keep coming at you whether they're win
or losing the same way the entire game. And they're
well coached for the most part. And when a team
is well coached and plays with those kind of those
kinds of things, they're tough to beat. Those teams are
tough to beat no matter who you are, no matter
how talented you are. And so if you don't go
in there with the right mind sight. Then what you're

(22:20):
doing is you're walking in to play a football game,
and that other team, Georgia Tech's playing, they're the Boxton match, right,
And if you're gonna you're playing the team's in the
boxing match and you're playing a football game, you're not
gonna win. And so Clinton's got to be in the
right mental frame of mind that they get into they
come off the buses knowing that this is gonna be
a physical game and that Georgia Tech's gonna keep coming

(22:40):
at them no matter if Clemson is up thirty points
or Georgia Tech's up twenty points. They're gonna come at
them with the same ferociousness as they did when that
ball is kicked off. And sometimes that's hard for some
teams to wrap around that when they think they're just
better than the team. So probably the best thing Clinton
had is the fact that they went to Georgia last

(23:02):
year and almost beat Georgia. Georgia Tech did, and I
think if you're Dabosweeney, you showed that film to your
team and let them know that's who you're gonna be playing.
They're gonna look at you like they looked at Georgia
and they're gonna come at you just like they did Georgia.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Well, we had a Texter early in the week say this,
and I think it's a great question. I mean we're
still just two games into the season, but are you
surprised at the lack of and this is the exact
terminology that the texture used game wrecking plays that the
Clemson defensive line has made. Are you surprised they haven't

(23:37):
done more this season? Because I think it's a great
point that the Texter made because I look at it
too and I go, yeah, you know what, I don't
know that they are as disruptive as I expected at
this point.

Speaker 4 (23:49):
Well, it's hard to be disruptive when guys are getting
the football out of their hands within two seconds. And
that's what you've seen with Troy and Lsu. I mean
Lsu had in the shotgun the entire game. Well why
they do that? Well because he's not very he's very
flat footed, and they know Clemson's gonna come at him.
But he makes good decisions, like he's really good at

(24:11):
dissecting the defense pre snap. And so Clemson, though also
having the issues they have with health issues at the
safety position. Clemson was playing off and so they played
Troy the same way they played off because they didn't
want anything to get behind them, because you know, they
had some talented receivers and I got a quarterback that
can get the ball to them. I think in this

(24:33):
game you're gonna see Clemson because of style Georgia Tech plays.
Georgia Tech's not coming after. King's not gonna come out
there and start, you know, just doing a quick drop
and throwing the boss's wide receipt. I'll be stunned if
he does, right, I just don't see that happening. I
think Clemson's gonna play press man in this game, and
I think they're gonna let their defensive front go after
them and and so they're gonna their corners. I think

(24:55):
are gonna be on an island in this one. And
I think you're gonna see more of those game changing
kind of games wrecking plays where I think it, you know, TJ.
Parker like, especially the way Georgia Tech wants to run
the ball so Clints they can get him third and long.
If you remember the last time they played Georgia Tech,
they sacked Hainsteen four times. He was thirteen or thirty
one for one hundred and twenty nine yards. I through

(25:16):
four interceptions and they had two touchdowns. So they got
after him the last time. Well why they had. Georgia
Tech hadn't changed the way it plays. It's gonna play
the same way. Well, the reason they got after him
because Clinch's shut down the running game and made him
one dimensional and he's not a quarterback that could beat
you with his arm. He's got to use his leg.
He ran the ball thirteen times for minus three yards
in that game. So it was the worst game of

(25:38):
his career from a rushing standpoint. So Clinton's kind of
got to play that same way. And now, granted a
different defensive coordinator and everything else. But Tom Allen in
the last two games, he was playing off because he
saw immediately what Troy and LSU were doing, and they
were just taking the ball, throwing it and getting the
ball out of their hands. I mean, Troy was just
like LSU. They weren't holding the ball now when they

(26:00):
had to later in the games and they got behind,
and they weren't controlling the line of scrimmage like they
were earlier in the game. Then you saw Clinton do
what Will. Clemson finished the game with three sacks. Will
Help had two of them. So that's you know, those
were the kind of plays you're talking about because they
had to hold the ball a little bit longer early
in the game they weren't. And so you know, pay

(26:21):
attention to the quarterback and how fast he gets the
ball out. And trust me, I see this every Sunday
against my Steelers, because this is how every NFL team
plays against my Steelers because Clinton's I mean, the Steelers
front four is super good with TJ. Watt and Cam
Haywood and Alex eyesbith So teams like get the ball,
their quarterbacks get the ball their hands really fast. And

(26:42):
so I see this every week, and so you just
got to understand, pay attention to what the quarterback is
doing and how fast he's actually getting rid of the football.

Speaker 3 (26:50):
That's Will Van Dervoort hanging out with us yere on
the program on a Friday afternoon. All Right, we're gonna
hit a quick break, and I want to find out
what Will thinks about this game, his prediction on Clemson
and Georgia Tech. When we get back, keep it a
lot right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and
the Midlands. Of course, you can listen to the show
anywhere in the world on the iHeartRadio app. Plus, we

(27:12):
podcast every edition of the show. We've got them on
any podcast feed pretty much that you can get your
grubby little hands on. They're also posted on our website.
I prefer to use overcast on iPhone and I hear
podcast Addict is a great one as well. For Android
device's quick break, we'll get Will van Derwort's prediction on
Clemson and Georgia Tech right around the bend. Will about

(27:36):
thirty five seconds, how do you see this game playing out?

Speaker 4 (27:41):
Man, I'm gonna tell you, if you're a Clemson fan,
you're gonna be stressed. This is not gonna be easy.
But friend, this is not I think even if Cade
comes out there and he's slinging it everywhere, I think
it's still gonna be a tough, physical game. I think
Georgia Tech's gonna get theirs. I think Clempson's gonna get THEIRS.
But I think it's gonna be a low scoring game
because it's gonna be fewer possessions, and because of that,

(28:02):
I think Clemson, though maybe wins this game twenty three
to twenty one, though I do like Clemson's matchup that
wide receiver against that secondary. I think Brian Westcoe and TJ.
Moore can have a big day. If Georgia Tech comes
out there with the same game plan LSU and Troy
had and Cage feeling it like he did in the
second half against Troy, that's the case, and there's gonna

(28:24):
be big plays down the field for them to get.
So we'll see. But right now, I got twenty three
twenty one. It's gonna be a tight game.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
There you go.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
Will 's your field goal?

Speaker 3 (28:32):
Maybe Will Vandvoor on Twitter?

Speaker 4 (28:34):
Yeah, real fast before we get off. I cannot do this.
I gotta have to say this before we get off, Buddy,
because they played their last game, Bamberg Barnwall played their
last game against each other, and my Red Raiders won
twenty nine to fourteen. So I got bragging right forever,
my friend, And so anyway, I couldn't get off there
without without throwing that out there.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
That's outstanding. All right, We'll have a great week, man
and a safe trip to Atlanta.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
All right, Buddy's populator like.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
Giving me some grief about Bamberg beating Barnwell. Yeah, they did.
Barnwell beat Williston and Blackville, both schools that will be
merging and into Barnwell County High School the Barnwell County Bulls.
I'm not sure how I feel about that. The color
is going to be similar to the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets.

(29:26):
There's great hesitation I have because look, I'm a warhorse
through and through, and Williston and Blackville were just a
couple of our rivals. Those are smaller schools. Though I
really felt like Bamberg, because it was a two way
school at the time, was honestly more of the rival
from my high school. Maybe even Wade Hampton felt a

(29:49):
little bit more like a rival. But here's one thing
I want to say about the merging of the school.
So it was Willison Elco Blue Devils, the Blackville Hilda
Fighting Hawks, and the Barnwell war Horses, and they're all

(30:10):
coming together now. All the communities naturally want to keep
their mascots and everything alive, and blue Devils is just
very common. I hate to tell the people from Willison
that the Blue Devils is very common. Hawks is not

(30:35):
overly common, but it's much more common than war horses.
As a matter of fact, I believe there are only
two schools in the entire country with the mascot war Horses,
and Barnwell I believe was the first. So when you
talk about uniqueness of mascots, it's one of the more unique,

(30:57):
not just in South Carolina, but certainly in the country.
And I don't mind that it's going away. I just
hate that that uniqueness is going away. Now Bulls is not.
I don't know that it's overdone. Like I can't think
of another Bulls in the state of South Carolina. I'm

(31:21):
sure there are some high school with bulls as their mascot.
The only one I know is really like the Chicago Bulls.
Either way, I did see some people come up with
some ideas that were pretty cool that would have kept
all of the mascots. Like it was a warrior. So
now that sounds a little bit like warhorses, I get it,

(31:41):
But it was a like the Barmel County Warriors, and
it was a it was a guy riding a war
horse with a devil's pitchfork and a hawk on his shoulder,
and man, it was cool like the like. So you

(32:03):
kind of picture that, right, and so you'd be the Warriors,
and you've got all of the mascots intermingled into the logo.
Now if this group that is putting together the new
Barmell County High School and will might be wrong on this,
there might be another year. I don't know when this
whole thing's gonna change, but hopefully my wool horses will

(32:25):
get another shot to get on the right side of
the rest of history with the Bamberg Earhart Red Raiders.
But one thing you could do with the bull and
if you're gonna actually pay somebody to create it, because
believe me, I threw that bad boy in a chat
gubt and it gave me a beautiful logo. I mean

(32:48):
beautiful I school colors and everything. But if you're gonna
pay somebody to do it, I would have this as
a requirement. And I think this makes sense. Like the
Hawks talon is sort of an image for black Belt,
the Barnwell horseshoe is sort of the image for the

(33:11):
war Horses, and Williston's that Devil's pitchfork deal is sort
of their thing. It would be nice if somewhere in
the wrinkles the nuances of the Bull, all three of
those work their way in like I're if the area
is spending the money on that, that's what I would
want or how I would want it done, so that

(33:35):
all of those schools feel included in this move. So
one of the things that I think is kind of
neat though quite frankly, is that they are going to
the school colors of really the Butler Yellowjackets, which ended

(33:56):
up being getting Yard Butler Middle School where I went
to middle school, and so kind of bringing back those
colors to the area in terms of kind of a
blue and gold. So that's pretty neat. Anyway, will right
now does have a leg up, and I'm hopeful. I'm

(34:20):
hopeful that it's not the last time the war Horses
and the Red Raiders face off and that maybe my
Warhorses can win the final matchup between the two teams.
Either way, I do have bad news for will I
don't think the school when you combine Williston, Blackwell and Barnwell,
because Willison and Blackwell's communities are so small, barn Well

(34:41):
was just gonna be one of the larger two A schools,
which that's probably good for our sports. So that's the
bad news will that's the bad news. The Barnwell County
Bulls might be hoisting the hardware if you're picking up
what I'm putting down all right, with a quick break,
will come back final segment of hour number one, and
then we'll hear from Tommy bowdenis he joins the program

(35:05):
in our number two. Keep it a lot right here
on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred Clemson Sports tal laud
and Swan Tommy Bowden coming up around the bend. Hey,
don't forget about our friends in Alumni Hall on the
corner of campus on College Avenue in downtown Clemson. It's
Alumni Hall for all. You're officially licensed Clemson merchandise. Get
your Clemson hats, your T shirts, your tailgate gear. Take

(35:29):
a look at those Nike dry Fit polos. I keep
telling you about the next time you're in store, and hey,
you never know, you might run into me when you're
in there. Now, remember you got to get there early.
First off, it's gonna be crowded, but I'm there early
because I got to get over to the press box.
So make sure you're there early and often. In Alumni
Hall again, while you're in there, ask him about the

(35:51):
Alumni Hall rewards program and if you are a Clemson
student faculty. Remember or in the military, you get ten
percent off when shopping in store. You can shop online
as well. Get to Alumni Hall's website through our site.
It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. All right, So
college football last night a little matchup in the ACC

(36:14):
and certainly the folks up in Raleigh had to be
worried in the early goings, especially at the half. I
guarantee you I don't know what the Wolfpack message boards
or the Wolfpack social media looked like as they were
trailing wake Forest twenty four to seventeen at the break,

(36:36):
and honestly, I think the fact that they got down
fourteen to nothing pretty quickly a ninety eight yard kickoff
return to spark things for wake Forest out of the gates.
The Demon Deacons would take a fourteen nothing lead with
seven nineteen remaining as DeMont Claiborne, one of the best
running backs in the conference, capped a seven plate night

(37:00):
three yard scoring drive. Now, Wake Forest does come out
on the rough end of the stick, as NC State
would score twice in the final two minutes and thirty
five seconds of the first half, or excuse me, the
first quarter to tie the game at fourteen, wake would
bounce back with ten unanswered before NC State kicked a

(37:23):
twenty four yard field goal with a minute left in
the first half to make it twenty four to seventeen.
Unfortunately for Wake Forest, that would be the last time
they would touch the end zone, and the wolf Pack
would score two touchdowns in a field goal in the
second half to come away with a thirty four to
twenty four victory. Tonight. As I mentioned yesterday, there are

(37:48):
five matchups around the country. Indiana State in Indiana coming
up at six point thirty on the Big Ten Network. Indiana,
by the way, rank number twenty two in the country
and favored by wait for it, forty seven points over
the Sycamores. At seven o'clock, Syracuse will host Colgate on

(38:09):
the ACC Network. In Houston hosts Colorado at seven point
thirty on the ESPN. That one might be worth tuning into.
I'll give you more on that in a minute. At
nine o'clock tonight, Arizona hosts Kansas State on Fox and
then on the Big Ten Network at ten, UCLA host
New Mexico. Here's why I think you should tune in

(38:30):
to Houston and Colorado. It's a bit of a measuring
stick in the sense that Colorado already got beat on
that Haines King touchdown run late by Georgia Tech. And
if Houston, who is favored by four and a half
in this game, sort of controls things, then I think

(38:53):
that makes you feel more comfortable about Clemson tomorrow in Atlanta.
Now that's a noon kickoff at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The
Tiger is still favored by two and a half. That
number has fluctuated back and forth between two and a
half and three and a half, a sort of everywhere
that I've seen it. But that is the noon window

(39:15):
in the noon kickoff for you. Other matchups Tomorrow at noon,
you've got number four Oregon at Northwestern on Fox. You've
got Brent Vinables and thirteenth ranked Oklahoma at Temple. What
a weird road game playing that at Lincoln Financial Field
in Philadelphia. That's a noon kickoff on ESPN.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
Two.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
Number nineteen Alabama hosts Wisconsin at noon on ABC, And
so those are the main noon kickoff games for you
to tune in and watch a little later in the day.
Is that three point thirty start on ABC where you
will get number six Georgia on the road at Tennessee

(39:57):
and Neiland Stadium. The Bulldogs favored by three and a
half on the road. I'm I'm a little surprised, quite frankly,
that george is not favored by more. But you know,
I think there's still so much unknowns, especially off of
last weekend for the Georgia Bulldogs. You might recall as

(40:19):
beat up and frustrated as Clemson fans were with the
way the Tigers played. Georgia only beat Austin p the
Governa's twenty eight to six. So it wasn't like the
Bulldogs just you know, blew the Governors off the field.
And so that's one thing to you know, kind of

(40:41):
keep in mind about maybe not knowing so much about
the Bulldogs just yet. Then at four point thirty, you've
got number five Miami hosting number eighteen South Florida. The
Hurricanes favored by seventeen and a half points in that game.
And if you think about how close the Hurricanes were

(41:01):
a year ago to the ACC Championship game and now
with Carson Beck, can they take that big step forward
or is this a potential upset alert Seventeen and a
half point favorite, South Florida with two victories over top
twenty teams, and you could catch that at four point
thirty on the CW. Then as we get a little

(41:25):
later into the evening, you've got number seventeen Old Miss
hosting Arkansas at seven o'clock. Catch that game on ESPN.
Ole Miss favored by just six and a half in
that ball game, which was a little bit surprising to me,
quite frankly. Then you've got at seven point thirty, you've

(41:47):
got number three LSU hosting Florida, the Gators again off
of a very disappointing losses past weekend to South Florida
and LSU, a team that Clympson fans you've seen up
close and personal. The BYU being is favored by six
and a half. Notre Dame in Texas, A and M
hooking up at seven thirty on NBC and Peacock the

(42:07):
Fighting Irish six and a half point favorites there, And
then of course, for our fine feather friends peeking over
the fence and hanging out with his seven forty five
Williams Price Stadium, the game Cocks favored by three and
a half. They'll face Vanderbilt tomorrow, So that's a look
at some of the big matchups this weekend. Quick Break
Tommy Balden on the Flip Side. Stay with us.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
Each time for clips and sports talk with Lawton Swan.

Speaker 3 (43:08):
It is our number two. That's drivetime right here on
the show The Shakespare Southland Clemson Sports Saloon. Swan, Hey,
no with you. Tommy Bowden coming up in just a minute,
and of course the Show that Shakes thea south Land
brought to you in part by our good friends over
at Mets Plumb Man Mets Plumb and dot Com. Two

(43:28):
two six seven one o eight. Give him a call today,
Mets Plumbing. That's two two six seven to one eight.
Former Clemson Tiger head coach Tommy Bowden joins us on
a Friday coach. Welcome in Hope. You've had a great week.

Speaker 1 (43:44):
Yeah, hell you what you know? Week the weekness college
football stage. The first week was really really good weeks
for college football. Uh, second week kind of modern this
is this is gonna be another good week for college football.
There's a lot of good games across the Mason George
of course being one on the East.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
Yeah, it's it's funny how that is, Like, I don't
know I know they scripted up to get the get
you out of the gates in a hurry, and then
all of a sudden that week two. I can't imagine
there's ever been a Week two that people have gone,
you know what, that was better than Week one. The
sequel is never quite as good.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yeah, you're right. I'm sure you followed for a long
time and you've really study. But your father was very
accurate with that that that second week, So he's good.
That week in college football.

Speaker 3 (44:29):
Well, coach, let's talk about what we.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
Saw except for Florida.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
Well yeah, so, but I mean it's a great comparison.
And it's one of the things I lived with on
Monday to kind of rein in the Clemson fans that
were about to lose their minds with the way the
Tigers played in the opening half against Troy, is that, Look,
sometimes you just have to survive in this sport.

Speaker 6 (44:53):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
Those other guys are on scholarships, they might not be
as well thought of coming out of high school. But yeah,
you weren't Florida. And I said that on Monday. I said, look,
when you're down sixteen to nothing, coach, I just felt
like one play, one momentum shift was going to be
all it took. And and really that was it. That
that drive out of the half where Adam Randall just

(45:15):
looked like what I think we all hoped he would.
That was the moment where I said, well, CLYMPS is
gonna win this game.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
Yeah. You know, sometimes you hear the phrase attitude adjustment,
and I think a lot of us got to and
you're so much you're you're so right about things like
Troy and South Florida. They have good players and there's
a lot of good players out there now, and if
you're really not playing with the right attitude and temperament
in emotion and enthusiasm then and focus, then you could

(45:47):
be behind sixty nothing pretty easier sixty to three than
to Troy because they've got quality players. But when you're
a town as Clemson and you have an attitude adjudgment
like they had, it takes one drive starting that second half,
and then then then the then the explosions start after that.
Momentum always stayed in Cumpson's favor that that second half,

(46:10):
and a lot of had to do with their their their
attitude and their and their pitching detail and their focus
and intensity.

Speaker 3 (46:17):
Well, I know coach Sweeney is pretty adamant about routine
and the timing, Like everything is scripted from the moment
they get on the bus to the moment that they
they pop off at the top of the hill. Everything
is scripted down to the minute. What what games because
I don't remember specifically, but what times have you been
involved in the game where you had like an hour

(46:37):
and a half rain delay? And what does that do?
Especially I mean that was two series into the game.
I mean what does that do to the psychediness? Not
like it just happened to Clemson either, right, I want
to make that clear. I understand Troy was also for
the fans that will say, well Troy also was in
a rain delay, But what is the problem that causes
for a coaching staff and a team in your opinion.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
Well, you had those, but not as long as extended
as this, because sometimes it's it's it's not bad, especially
for Clemson. It maybe didn't start out the game. I
know it really happened early, but if they just didn't
feel like they were focused, it's a chance to go
in there and kind of get there at touching again

(47:19):
like you thought you had before the game started, but
obviously you didn't. But you know, in situations like that,
typically what you do is is is the team goes
in the dress room. The offense, the team, the staff
gets together. First the team separately will stack get together,
and then then Dabbles will say something that that he
has noticed in the in the a little bit that

(47:40):
they played. Then the offensive staff, the defense stacks get together,
and then they get together with their positions running back
coach and get their running backs together and on down
the line to to do the adjustment that they just
talked about. And then they'll come to guns and offense
come to guns and defense, and they come to gun
as a team. Now that's usually what happens. But all

(48:00):
of a sudden, there's an hour and a half or
over an hour, there's a huge dead period. You know,
if there's twenty minutes, can there's there's things to do
and there's things to talk about. After that, man, it's
just dead time, and you never know how, never know
how the team's gonna respond. But obviously Clemson and Troy
came out with a different attitude after that delay.

Speaker 3 (48:23):
We talked at Link last weekend about cave klub Nick
and the way he played, and he finished with pretty
solid numbers in this game, but really the majority of
that happening in the second half in your estimation watching
him coach even this past weekend, what do you think
is kind of going on with a guy that had
such high expectations out of the gates.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
You know, not only were there was there high expectations
for him nationally because he was a national name, he
was a Heisman front runner. But there's also a little
bit of pressure from Tod's boyd, Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence.
There's there's that kind of pressure. Uh that even adds
to it because those those is pretty high standards and

(49:08):
uh players that have not played you know, nationally, but
I played at Clifton, So there's the national uh pressure
for you to perform. There's the end home pressure form
that list of athletes, and then there's the self imposed
pressure that you put on yourself because of both circumstances.
So and a lot of times, you know, uh log

(49:31):
a lot of times and I haven't studied it that much.
It's it's it can be no like l SU that
was a good defense. You know that that's not something
to do with it. Yeah, a lot of times it's
it's play calling. You hate to say that, but I
haven't studied enough to know that's an issue. But you know,
the quarterback response to the play that's called, and then uh,

(49:53):
if there's not liable options open, there's not much for
him to do. So uh, you know, not not every
place called is really really good, especially in the offensive
ascid games. So I don't know that to be a
problem because I hadn't studied that much, but that could
be there. She hadn't protection. I don't think the offensive
line has gett been a strength of his favor right now,

(50:14):
either break the running game. So but almost thinking together
and all of a sudden, you can see why his
performance might be imagined as average.

Speaker 3 (50:22):
Yeah, they got a couple of guys out on the
offensive line obviously, and and Dabo Sweeney. I think coach
Sweeney misspoke this week. I don't know he He previously
had called Cade Clubnick the best player, and then when
he was asking a question about Antonio Williams, he said, well,
he's our best player. I think Antonia Williams is likely
the best play maker that Clemson has, and when you're

(50:45):
without your best play maker, I mean that is a
significant blow as well. And I'm sure at times in
your career coaching you had a game where the best
playmaker was not available.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
Yeah, and you know, the it's it's such a different
position as far as like you say, a playmaker into
being a wide receiver or running back or sometimes made
it tied end. But the quarterback, he's the guy that
starts the playmaking ability from the snap and also but
also from can to protection are changing the protection, are

(51:20):
changing the play to to get the ball to the
to the playmaker. So so I think Cage is what
he meant is maybe the most important here on the offense,
and the other guy would be the playmaker.

Speaker 3 (51:36):
Yeah. Look, I'm with you following him on Twitter at
Tobby Bowden, the former Clips Tiger head coach joining us
here each and every Friday during the college football season.
So on the other side of the field this weekend,
they'll Clips will go down to Atlanta. You had some
great games over the years against the Georgia Tate Yellow Jackets.
You had some heartbreaking losses as well. What's it like

(51:57):
playing in that venue? Bobby Dots Stadium one of the
kind of an order venue, smaller a little more intimate.
What is it like when you go there? Because this
is the first time CAD and Clemson have played in
this venue in a while. Because two years ago when
they faced off, or three years ago whatever that was,
they played them over in Atlanta CAD's freshman year, but

(52:18):
that was in the Mercedes Benz Stadium.

Speaker 1 (52:23):
You know, you're so much especially in the Southeast, and
you know, with Dabbo being exposed to the SEC and
even some great college venues in jac See, you're used
to green space, sprawled out campus. Then you see the
stadium of Arizo, how big it is compared to the
landscape of the strawled out campus George Tech. So much difference.
You know, your players are going downtown, you see all

(52:45):
these tall skyscrapers and all of a sudden, tucked in
there it is a stadium. You don't see the big
parking lots, all the tail getting around it. And it's
not a really impressive stadium compared to Clemson, com played
to the Junior Tech from Claire to Tallaha, Florida State.
You know, it's not as impressive as some of those

(53:07):
the stadiums, and and your players uninspired as they walk
in there. Two hours for the game to get taped
and and prepare themselves for the games. And and the
quarterback for Georgia Tech could really make this gain interesting
because he's he can he can beat you with his
legs in his arms, so you know it's it's the
mindset is different Georgia Tech is. Usually they don't get

(53:30):
the attention because the Braves and couse of Georgia Bulldogs.
So when a team Mike Climpson comes in that has
a national appeal right now and they seem to be
really really fired up.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
Let me ask you a question. I don't think in
all the years a dozen years we've been talking college football,
I don't think I've ever asked you this, what is
the visiting locker room like? Because I know what the
the home team locker rooms look like currently, I don't
know what they look like necessarily when you were coaching,
But what are these visiting locker rooms like? Because from
what I what I understand coach, they're pretty atrocious.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
Yeah they are. It's just amazing, you know. Kind of
trying to look up some notes from meeting with you
this morning, I saw I hadn't see an SEC video
on there, questioning all the head coaches on the visiting them, right,
and none of them, no, I don't know if you saw,
but none of them were complimentary. And and that's just
just the way it goes. If you go invest money
and you're gonna invest it in your own not not

(54:26):
the opponents, and a lot of them make them is
unpleasant as possible because you want the players in there.
You moaning about how poor the locker room is, anything
to get their attention and focus off of the game.
So a lot of them don't. Don't do a lot
of affairs just to make it as bad. The worst
one is due for you had to walk across that
day on one hundred and fifty yard practice field after

(54:49):
you've come out of that locker room. That was the
way it was the weight room when I was there,
And and then walk across to the stadium and walk
all the way back and go at halftime. But they're
not they're usually not very attractive at all, and that's
for a purpose.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
Well, and you guys, when you were coaching at Clemson,
had an even worse situation than one game on the
road out in College station, right where your bus didn't
have air conditioning. What was what was that story.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
Yeah, it seems like it broke down. It what it
did when we played about there. It broke down when
we were standing out there without air conditioning on the
bus and it was hot and the machine and you know,
it's attracting sometimes when you deal with guys nineteen twenty
twenty one and they're catered to anywhere. They go to
the plane and everything's nice and they got the lunches,
maybe on air conditioning. Bust, all of a sudden something

(55:38):
goes haywire and a lot of those guys their their
mind fragments and goes in a bunch of different directions. Uh,
and that's the last thing you need before before a game. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:50):
Who was coaching out there back then? Was that coach Sloka?
Maybe I can't remember.

Speaker 1 (55:53):
I want to say Francion.

Speaker 3 (55:57):
Yeah, yeah, surveillance video shows him out there tinkering with
your bus at night.

Speaker 1 (56:03):
And you know who I think the quarterback we could
not tackle was. His name was Murray and I believe
his that's the father of Kyler Murray. Oh wow, I
believe that was his dad. But we beat him the
next year in Clemson.

Speaker 3 (56:16):
Uh, Dad, Dean, we beat him, but.

Speaker 1 (56:22):
Uh, they we cannot tackle that quarterback Michael Vick when
I first came to and we couldn't tackle Michael Vick either.

Speaker 3 (56:29):
Yeah, Michael Vick, he was something hand. I mean, look,
I know there was more to that Virginia Tech team
that your father faced in the National Championship than just
Michael Vick. But I have a sneaky feeling without Michael Vick,
Virginia Tech not in the National Championship game.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
No, no, no, there's there's there's no way they make
it in Paris. They had a first half, had a
hard time the first half.

Speaker 3 (56:52):
Yeah, maybe I had.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
I think they had Derrick Brooks fining. Derrick Brooks couldn't
have him, But I think it was Eric Brooks they
have as a spy gow On. He couldn't tacklem the
Old Fears. A bunch of guys didn't tackle him.

Speaker 3 (57:04):
I always thought, again, Tommy Balden hanging out with us,
I always thought people underrated how good uh Michael Vick
was throwing the football. Coach. I thought he had a
rocket for an arm. But I mean, maybe you see
the game differently than I do. But what was he
you know, not a great passer? Because I thought he
was spectacular.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
No, No, he was a good fan. I don't think
he would have been drafted as high as he was
in the NFL if he couldn't throw the ball. You
know those guys don't they don't. They don't mess with
it if you can't throw the ball, if you're a
great runner. So I think Michael Vick had really good
throwing skills. You know, I think his the offense he
ran in college might not have prepared him like some
other college offenses that have used to that might have

(57:44):
used him in a in a different way. Had he
been a shotgun like maybe something we were doing in
Tulaine with Sean Keen, he might have had some different statistics.
So I think his preparation going in the NFL wouldn't
maybe his beneficial for him. But no, he could he
could throw the He could throw the ball. There's no
doubt about that.

Speaker 3 (58:01):
A couple more minutes here with Tommy Bowden speaking of
running quarterbacks, that might be the story tomorrow in Bobby
Dodd Stadium. Haines King, you know, he oddly kind of
tied it back. Was a quarterback at Texas A and
M before transferring to Georgia Tech. He's been there for
a while. He struggled against Clemson the last time they
faced off a few years back. I think he threw

(58:23):
four picks in that ballgame, did not do well on
the ground. Clemps's defense has not looked as gnarly as
I think people thought it would at this point. But
they're gonna have to play really well because that kid.
I mean, he's just a gritty, determined quarterback and that
can do a lot for your program. What have you
seen from him and what do you expect to see
in this matchup tomorrow?

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Yeah, I think you hit on all the coaching points
of talking points on him and it can beat you
with his legs. He can extend the play, which makes
really tough on the secondary. He can extend the play
in the past game by scrambling and uh and putting
more pressure on defensive backs. But I think one of
the things in a game like this, he did not

(59:07):
play well the last time versus Clemson. But you know
when these quarterbacks like Haines Steen, when when they played
a guy like cod k club Nick. He's gotten all
the preseason publicity, Heisman Trophy candidate a lot of times
long that elevates their level of play because they're playing
with a hard edge heads, they're playing with a chip
on their block. Hey, this guy gets all and I

(59:27):
believe that's what happened at first game in ness Meyer
versus was k wes Meer really really played well and
all he's heard about is Kay Club all summer from
the national media. So this is gonna be a situation
like that. I don't know if uh Haye kings is
town is Mesmer, but he has the potential too, and
he's had games that get your attention. But he's gonna

(59:51):
be playing with a chip on the shoulders. But the
Florist they pumps of defenses. You will have something to
say about that.

Speaker 3 (59:57):
I know you sometimes watch these press conferences. We only
have about two minutes. Did did you happen to catch
coach keys press conference this week? It was it was
kind of wild coaching. He only talked for like five
minutes total, and I mean maybe maybe less than that.
It was it was really awkward.

Speaker 1 (01:00:15):
No, I didn't see it, you know, And uh sometimes
didn't he work for Nick Saban?

Speaker 3 (01:00:22):
Now that I'd have to look up, I.

Speaker 1 (01:00:25):
Think he did? And uh uh or he played there
or he worked there for him, and I think sometimes
he's got a little bit where he goes and he
tries to set the tempo and tone for the game
by having little hard edge himself in the press to
in short and quick.

Speaker 3 (01:00:41):
Twenty sixteen to twenty eighteen, he was the offensive line
coach with Alabama.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
Yeah, and you know that Nick Saban especially was going.
Belichick does the same thing. He sometimes he'll come in
there be real uh short with his answers and be
real matter of fact and get out of there. I
think he sometimes he tries to set the tone for
his theme that that's gonna be his attitude. That means
to be their attitude. So yeah, coach head coach lock

(01:01:08):
times or long tries to send certain matches his press conference,
sometimes to the fans, sometimes to alumni base, sometimes to
his coaches, and sometimes to his team. So he might
have been doing that to see the best to his
team and coaches.

Speaker 3 (01:01:21):
Well, that's exactly what I called it. I called it
Belichick like is what it looked like. Again, he's Tommy
Balladen coach. Always appreciate you and looking forward to talking
to you next Friday.

Speaker 1 (01:01:33):
They have it. Don't forget about the backyard ball with
Alma Moto, West Virginia versus Pin.

Speaker 3 (01:01:39):
There you go, put that one on the docket, Thank you,
coach West Virginia versus Pin. I did run through some
of those games earlier. I did not have that one
on the list for you. But if you want to
catch at three point thirty on ESPN tomorrow from Morgantown,
Pitt seven and a half points, seven and a half
point favorites in an ACC Big twelve matchup, boy at

(01:02:04):
West Virginia. They always feel like a team that should
be in the Atlantic Coast Conference, don't they? And a
Rich Rodriguez second stint there as the head coach. Rodriguez
was Tommy Balen's offensive coordinator at Clemson. Quick break, we'll
come back with more on a Friday afternoon, Lawton swan

(01:02:24):
back with you on a Thursday afternoon A three four
five h zero zerre eighty six. So we heard a
little bit from k Clubnick earlier, and I did problemse
you that we get you more of it here in
our number two. As Clemson's quarterback tries to shake the funk,
if you will, But he was asked about areas where
he feels like he needs to improve heading into this

(01:02:46):
matchup against the Yellow Jackets.

Speaker 5 (01:02:48):
Being decisive, you know, just have my eyes in the
right place, being decisive. You know, I still had two
plays I wish I could have back with pocket presence,
but you know, I think just getting the right foot
in the ground and triggering the ball, just being decisive
and the word I love, you know, just kind of
going back and watching it was just being convicted by
what I'm doing, you know, not overthinking, just be convicted

(01:03:09):
by what I see.

Speaker 7 (01:03:10):
And triggering it.

Speaker 5 (01:03:10):
And I feel like that's what I do really well,
and just got to go do that in a game.

Speaker 4 (01:03:14):
You know.

Speaker 5 (01:03:15):
I kind of just threw one on the run to
TJ the vertical. I didn't really need to, yeah, start
out to the right and then reset to Getty and
it was p I and I could have just you know,
just quick reset. I mean, like I do every day
a thousand times. I just kind of got into a
little scramble and threw it on the run.

Speaker 7 (01:03:31):
Which just didn't need to do.

Speaker 5 (01:03:33):
Like I said, not like it was a bad play,
but just could have been more efficient and gotten.

Speaker 7 (01:03:37):
You know, I didn't need to move k club.

Speaker 3 (01:03:39):
That was also asked about the offensives focus as they
headed to this matchup in Atlanta.

Speaker 7 (01:03:46):
Some run game.

Speaker 5 (01:03:47):
Stuff, you know, just timing up, you know, just kind
of timing up some of our run games just a
little bit off right now.

Speaker 7 (01:03:52):
I mean we did, we.

Speaker 5 (01:03:54):
Ran the ball really well, but there's still a lot,
you know, we need to be better at, so some
stuff there which is exciting, you know. I remember, I
feel like one of the most exciting things ever is
you know you're going to play a great game and
you go watch the film and there's so much better
that you can get better at.

Speaker 7 (01:04:11):
There's so much more that you can get better at.

Speaker 5 (01:04:12):
And I think that just talking at him, like that's
how he viewed it, was like, hey man, you know
I ran for one hundred and twenty something yards and
there's still so much on you better at.

Speaker 7 (01:04:21):
Like how exciting is that? You know?

Speaker 5 (01:04:23):
For him and that offensive line. So that's just you know,
that's really fun. I feel like that's one of the
big things for us for sure.

Speaker 3 (01:04:29):
Kay club. It was also asked about the fact that
this is his first trip to play at Bobby Dodds Stadium,
because the first time they were supposed to meet his
freshman year. That game was played in Mercedes Benz Stadium.

Speaker 7 (01:04:41):
I've never been down there.

Speaker 5 (01:04:42):
I've heard it's an awesome place, you know, I've heard,
you know, it's kind of downtown. To get a view
of the skyline. Whatever you're in there kind of reminds
me of a stadium that I used to play at
high school. Obviously not comparing the two, but House Park
in Austin was a place we used to play.

Speaker 7 (01:04:59):
Is downtown Austin.

Speaker 5 (01:05:00):
You're kind of on the field and you got all
the skyline, so it'll be cool, you know, kind of
similar Charlotte as well.

Speaker 7 (01:05:06):
So I'm excited to go.

Speaker 5 (01:05:07):
I've heard they got a great atmosphere and they've got
a great team and great offense, great quarterback you know, Hayes,
he's a ball or so, you know, excited to go
down there and play.

Speaker 3 (01:05:18):
That's Clemson quarterback k club Nick talking about playing in
Bobby Dodd Stadium. He was also asked about playing against
this Georgia Tech defense on Saturday.

Speaker 7 (01:05:27):
Yeah. I mean they've got you know, they got talent
all over.

Speaker 5 (01:05:30):
You know, I've got great defensive line, uh, you know
dbs that you know, I've played a lot of ball
and and you know, know the game really well, very instinctual.
You know, they've got a couple of good disguises that
we're gonna have to get ready for. They you know,
they're kind of a been, kind of dope break kind
of team. You know, they're gonna they don't really want
to let up a ton of you know, big plays,

(01:05:51):
a little bit more conservative there, you know, so they're
there's there. DC was at Texas last year as their
safeties coach, so watching obviously some of that game from
last year and some of the stuff that they did,
it's it's not exactly the same, but definitely some similarities
just in some of the disguises and stuff and stuff
that they get too. So it's good tape to buzz through.

(01:06:12):
But it's definitely a little bit different. But you know,
they've got a great coaching staff and kay club.

Speaker 3 (01:06:18):
It was also asked about what it's like to kind
of embrace the atmosphere when you go on the road
and to have to deal with the noise and the
pomp and circumstance it comes along with being a road team.

Speaker 7 (01:06:32):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's great.

Speaker 5 (01:06:34):
You know, I wouldn't want any other way, you know,
I think that That's that's why I came to Clemson
for sure, is to have that.

Speaker 7 (01:06:43):
So I love it and their respective program, and I'm excited.
I love road games.

Speaker 5 (01:06:50):
I'm excited to go have our first road game and
go you know, into somebody else's territory.

Speaker 7 (01:06:54):
So it'll be awesome.

Speaker 4 (01:06:55):
You know.

Speaker 5 (01:06:55):
I've heard I've heard that their atmosphere is great, and
definitely excited to head up there.

Speaker 3 (01:07:01):
So I posed the question. We were kind of looking
at the stats about, you know how Cade's legs have
not been a big part of the game, and Club
Nitt was asked about the use of his legs and
and kind of what he can do to improve on
that front.

Speaker 7 (01:07:15):
Obviously that was a.

Speaker 5 (01:07:16):
Problem in the in Week one. Just at being a
Week one game and you know, not being hit in
a while. So I feel like I you know, we
watched the tape and I feel like I've definitely made
a lot of good shots. There's two plays I wish
I could have back, but I feel like I've definitely
hung in there when I needed to this past game
and we'll continue to get better at it.

Speaker 3 (01:07:36):
So Clubnitt was also asked about the quick strike after
Clemson benefited from a penalty on Troy that allowed the
Tigers to run that little deep on sidekit. We wrote
about it on our website today, Clemson sports saw dot com.
He was asked about the interception in the quick touchdown
to to uh Bryant Westcoat and the impact that the

(01:07:59):
run game had on that play action.

Speaker 5 (01:08:02):
Yeah, you know, we had kind of showed that that
play a few times would bring Brian in motion and
just something that they'd probably seen probably about three times already,
so we had had a play action off it.

Speaker 7 (01:08:14):
We actually ran the same play last.

Speaker 5 (01:08:15):
Year versus Virginia with TJ on the right side, and
we had kind of seen on films sometimes those boundary
safeties will trigger, and I just knew the time was right,
and it's a great play call, great execution.

Speaker 7 (01:08:27):
Bryant sold it.

Speaker 5 (01:08:28):
Really really well, and you know, all I had to
do was just kind of sell it for a little bit,
get the guy triggered and and delivered.

Speaker 7 (01:08:35):
But it was it was a great game plan by
our coaches.

Speaker 3 (01:08:38):
So final thing from Kay Club, it took him back
to his legs and just you know, when he feels
like he can create opportunities with his legs because of
the success he had a year ago.

Speaker 5 (01:08:49):
I think that there's been more opportunities to throw the
ball than for me to you know, scramble and make
something up with my legs so far that that I've
missed than more throwing opportunities I've missed than you know,
running opportunities that I've missed.

Speaker 7 (01:09:03):
So, you know, me being able to.

Speaker 5 (01:09:05):
Sit in there and deliver the ball is something that
I'll continue to get better at and just wasn't good
at Week one. You know, I feel like I was
really good at it last year and just didn't wasn't
very good at it in Week one and just kind.

Speaker 7 (01:09:19):
Of what it was.

Speaker 5 (01:09:19):
And you know, I don't blame my whole play on that.
I don't think that was the whole reason, you know,
but that the game ended up how it was. But
it's definitely something that I need to get better at
and did get better at last week, and I was
proud of that and sitting in there and delivering some
strikes downfield and sitting in there.

Speaker 7 (01:09:37):
So just keep getting better at it.

Speaker 5 (01:09:39):
You know, I don't do that in practice, and those
kind of plays just happened. I think about, you know,
the long scramble last year or Stanford and stuff like that.
Stuff just kind of happens, you know, you don't really
plan for that and stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (01:09:51):
So the club quick breat We'll come out with more clubs.
Sports Talk on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred right after
this Lawton swap back with you on a Friday. That
was Tommy Bowden before the break. So we don't normally
get to hear from the punter, but Clemson punter Jack

(01:10:13):
Smith has been quite the story. And it's been a
busy week. I told you we've upticked the social so
I've put out several things from Jack Smith on the
social media side of things. I do not think we've
talked about him here on the program. I mean, I

(01:10:35):
don't think we've really focused on him here on the program.

Speaker 7 (01:10:39):
That might be.

Speaker 3 (01:10:41):
The better way to kind of say it is Clemson
gets ready for this matchup at noon tomorrow over in
Atlanta against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. But I don't
think there's any question at this point that Jack Smith
as punter has been one of the biggest surprises, you know,

(01:11:04):
biggest surprises we've seen. He's looked really good and he
met with the media and he got to talk for
twenty semid minutes this week. His story is fascinating. If
he hadn't had a scholarship, he wasn't gonna go to college.

(01:11:27):
So I do want you to hear some of Jack Smith.
We were gonna put a story together this week, but
just didn't happen. So we're gonna definitely crush a story
on him, a little longer story with a little more
background and research on Jack Smith, and do it during
the bye week. But he was really good and he

(01:11:49):
had some wonderful answers. He was asked about Jack Smith.
Clemson punter was asked about you know when he found
out this job was his.

Speaker 8 (01:11:56):
Well, I prepared the way that I was gonna be
a start of the whole time, sweety and tell me
for sure, until like Thursday he was like, hey man,
I'm going to give you a shot. And I was like,
all right, man, that's what I came here to do.
So I didn't come here to ride the bench for
four years like I have the past couple So it was, uh,
it's good to hear that. But deep down I knew

(01:12:17):
that I was going to be the guy running out there.
It paid off because if I prepared like the backup guy.
Then I wouldn't be getting the results that I've been
getting right now. It was a lot, but I was prepared.

Speaker 3 (01:12:28):
Jack Smith was also asked how he uses or use
the off season motivation about how the punning situation was
going to be bad at Clemson to sort of fuel
his fire.

Speaker 8 (01:12:40):
Kind of like swhen he says, it's just fuel to
the fire. I know how good I am. I know
my potential and that's nothing anybody can add to or
take away. Kind of just like let off, let never
let what outside infect what's inside. Let what's inside affect
what's outside. But you know, it was obviously you don't

(01:13:02):
want to hear it, but it feels good to kind
of prove people wrong, you know. But yeah, just a
little field of the fire.

Speaker 3 (01:13:12):
Jack Smith, Clemson punter, was also asked about all the
time that he spent over the years preparing for this
moment and sort of the odd part of practices and
things of that nature. How these guys are sort of
loaners a little bit, and is all that worth it
now that you know he's got this opportunity.

Speaker 8 (01:13:29):
I mean, my first three years it was it was
a lot of that. Mainly our first two years mainly
because we didn't have a special teams like an a specialist coach,
because we just had coach Fires and he couldn't coach
us like we can like coach all and can now.
So it's definitely a lot of sitting around, getting in
a lot of getting in your own head kind of thing,
like not not a lot of outside perspective like hey

(01:13:51):
try this, Hey I think your drop's doing this, like
we have now in the past two years. It's it's
been totally different during practice, like I'm always always doing
something and that's like been the joke of the facility
the past couple of years is like, oh, y'all gonna
just go sit on your butt during practice and not
do anything. And I'm like, well, now, we don't like it.

(01:14:13):
But it's definitely been huge having coach Allen for sure.
He's helped out tremendously and off season for sure. Dowson's Immerman.
I don't know if y'all know who that is. He
was a punter here a few years back, but he
I trained with him in Atlanta in the off season
and him those they actually came out together. They trained
with a personal trainer whenever they were both coming out

(01:14:35):
of college, so they both have a pretty cool connection
for sure. A lot of a lot of work going
on during practice, and it's one hundred percent paid off
for sure, and got to keep on earning it every week.
That's been the main thing for me is now that
I'm starting to get results, I can't get complacent and
I gotta earn it every single week and I got
to put in more work and more work and more

(01:14:56):
work every week. That's the main thing for me.

Speaker 3 (01:14:59):
Jack Smith was that if he feels like the thing
that's changed for him is the consistency in how he's
dropping the ball, is that what's made the biggest difference
because he's always had the leg.

Speaker 8 (01:15:09):
The main thing that's changed for me the past, out
of from the five reps I got in three years
to the five reps i've gotten two games, is my mentality.
Like when I went out there in my past the
past three years, I was scared, crapless. I had no
idea what I was doing, And it was mainly because

(01:15:30):
I didn't have a coach who who I could lean on,
who's been to three Super Bowls, who's had two Ray
Guy Awards, who knows success he knows what it looks like.
So having that to lean on and having that, like
him telling me, like, hey, like one of the main
things that we've kind of came up with, or he

(01:15:51):
told me, is just having mental cues. So like when
I'm going in the game my first couple of years,
like I'm not thinking anything. I'm like, all right, I
hope I catch this. I hope I And now it's like,
all right, I already know I'm gonna cook good. I'm
gonna focus on two things. I'm gonna be focused on
being patient and I'm gonna turn the ball and I'm
going to control what I can control and then whatever

(01:16:11):
result it is. And another like the main thing for
me has been just like I prayed so much for
this moment and that it would be stupid of me
to worry about it, Like you know what I'm saying,
Like I have like dove into that so much and
it's one hundred percent paying off. But like I said earlier,
like I can't can't get complacent and I can't be

(01:16:34):
like all right, I got it. Now, I don't need
to I don't really need to worry about that anymore.
I'm gonna kind of worry about do it myself like no,
like I have to dive into it even more and
lean onto it even more, but definitely praying about it
like NonStop continually and then having like the mental cues,
and like when I went in there for the LSU game,
the first punt, I was like, it all hit me

(01:16:55):
at once. I was like, all right, I heard my
name on the big screen. I was like, all right,
I'm the guy.

Speaker 6 (01:17:00):
Wow.

Speaker 8 (01:17:01):
But I didn't feel any like nerves because I knew
I was prepared. And then ever since then, I've just
like I felt a presence and a calmness that I
haven't felt out there before. And it's it's been it's
been very rewarding to say the least.

Speaker 3 (01:17:16):
I mean, what an awesome answer, What an awesome answer.
And you know, it ties back to something that Chad
Morris said on this program when he was talking about quarterbacks.
If you weren't here when Chad Morris joined us on Wednesday,
I'll tell you about it right after this. Keep it
a Loting on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred Lawton Swan
Clempson's Sports Salt Welcome Back on a Friday Again. The

(01:17:37):
website Clemsonsports saw dot com. Don't forget about our friends
at Alumni Hall on the corner of Campus on College Avenue,
right there in downtown Clemson. It's Alumni Hall for all
your officially licensed Clemson merchandise, hats, t shirts, s, tell Gate,
Geary Moore, don't forget to ask him about their Alumni
Hall rewards program. And we absolutely absolutely appreciate you supporting

(01:18:03):
all of the businesses that support us. And when you're
in Tigertown, swing by there. Who knows you might catch
me in store, And don't forget you can also order
online at Alumni Hall dot com. It's Alumni Hall where
Tiger fans shop. All Right, we heard some audio just
a bit ago from Clemson punter Jack Smith, and I

(01:18:25):
couldn't help Like I'd never heard about the these keys, right,
Like remember Chad Morris talked about the A, B and
the C for Deshaun Watson, arm placement, release point, foot,
you know, whatever all the things were, And then you
hear Jack Smith talking about almost verbatim the exact same thing,

(01:18:48):
just in a different way as a Clemson punter. To
kind of get yourself out of hearing your name called
or the loudspeaker and all of that. And so we
did put out several of those videos of Jack Smith
on social media. So make sure you check out our
social media accounts, whether it's TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, We

(01:19:10):
are where you are, believe me, and we're posting all
the time, so make sure you share our work. That
always helps us as well. Ben hits us up from
Charleston listening to the show. I can't remember the last
time we got a text from chuck Town. But Ben

(01:19:30):
says love hearing Jack talk about his journey. Not many
punters can make you lean in for every word, but
his story about chasing his dream was awesome. Yeah, fascinating
really and like I don't think I assume that punters
can't do a good job with the media, but they

(01:19:54):
are sort of in my mind kind of seeing as
he's kind of quiet behind the scene his dudes. But man,
he came across as like leadership quality. I mean, I
thought it was great leadership quality. Laura says, jacksmith story
is incredible. Swannye. From his faith to the way he

(01:20:15):
worked with Ryan Allen, you could tell he's grounded and
built for the moment. Ya. Ryan Allen. That's one. That's
that's one when you know Jack Smith started talking about
him that I actually had to look up because I mean,

(01:20:38):
I knew Clemson had like hired the guy, but I
don't remember like all the deats did you get into
like Ryan Allen's role, and you're like, holy Moley, and
I think it's important, like that was a little bit
of a weakness for Clemson. But Ryan Allen's in the
second season serving as special teams player development and specialist coach.

(01:21:02):
His first season last year was when Nolan Hoosier became
the first player in Clemson history to record one hundred
points in a true freshman season. Hoosier was selected as
a freshman All American and of course kicked that fifty
six yard walk off winner against si Mutison Clemson into
the College Football Playoff and win the ACC Championship. Allen's

(01:21:26):
an eight year NFL veteran. He appeared in one hundred
and seven career regular season games with the Patriots from
twenty thirteen to twenty eighteen, with the Falcons in twenty nineteen,
with the Colts in twenty twenty, and with the Tennessee
Titans in twenty twenty. As well, and he helped the
Patriots to three Super Bowl titles, got named three Super

(01:21:49):
Bowl titles. Punting the Football Ryan Allen garnering selections to
the Patriots All Dynasty Team and All Decade Team for
the twenty ten's I'm like blown away, Like I had
no idea about this guy. He was a walk on
punter at Oregon State. Transferred to LA Tech in twenty ten.

(01:22:15):
Finished his career as one of the sports most decorated punters,
winning the Ray Guy Award in twenty eleven and twenty twelve,
making him the first back to back Ray Guy Award
winner in history, First Team All American in twenty twenty one,
and unanimous All American in his final season of twenty twelve.

(01:22:40):
Excuse be twenty eleven not twenty twenty one and final
the You know that last one was twenty twelve. I
got that one right, I was like, what, Yeah, we
talked about like the great hires, Damos Sweeney's made, He's
gone out, He's brought in Garrett Riley, He's gone out
and brought in Tom Allen. I mean, I don't know

(01:23:03):
who the most decorated punter is in the history of
decorated punters, but in the college football history, Ryan Allen
might very well be the most decorated punter. And he's
on Clemson's payroll. I know. It's bizarre, not in a

(01:23:23):
bad way, in a great way. And then you when
you hear Jack Smith talking about him, you kind of go, man,
that is a pretty big impact to have a guy
like that on the staff. To have a guy like
that impacting the team seems significant, right, So yeah, I

(01:23:45):
wanted to definitely play some of that audio of Jack
Smith for you. And again, we've got our prediction on
Clemson coming up, as the Tigers face off with Georgia
Tech at noon tomorrow. South Carolina in the evening will
give you our game Cock prediction as well as they
take on Vanderbilt and the college football landscape tomorrow. A

(01:24:09):
couple of games out there, they could have a big shift.
That Miami Southern, That Miami South Florida game is certainly
one to watch. Can Miami submitting them cementing themselves or
will this be another year where Mario christobaul And again

(01:24:32):
it's still early, but another year where everybody talks about
the U and everybody expects them to be back but
a team that was previously unranked and has now beat
back to back ranked teams to become ranked. Are they
going to be the ones that play spoiler to the Hurricanes?

(01:24:53):
Good start? We'll see in a huge game between Texas
A and M and and Notre Dame as well. It's
fighting irish or oh and one already? Dare I say
they follow? And two?

Speaker 6 (01:25:06):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:25:06):
My final segment flip side?

Speaker 6 (01:25:11):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately? What have you done?

Speaker 7 (01:25:30):
Always are the same.

Speaker 6 (01:25:37):
We win.

Speaker 3 (01:26:24):
Final segment on a Friday afternoon Clemson Sports Talk, Lawton
Swan getting ready for a little high school football Friday night,
looking forward to being over in the swamp. Checking out
the River Bluff Gators. Last week heartbreaker as the Gators

(01:26:45):
fell in the final moments against Nation Ford painful twenty
to seventeen. The final tonight they'll face Gilbert, so the
Gilbert Indians making their way into town. The Gators are
one in two this season. Disappointing start for sure, new

(01:27:08):
coaching staff. I think it's all gonna work out in
the long haul. But losing the rock Hill out of
the gates thirty one to eighteen and then Nation four
making its way down from Fort Mill, So we'll see
how it goes for the Gators tonight against Gilbert in
the swamp. All right, South Carolina? Who Vanderbilt? I mean,

(01:27:29):
that's not one that rings a lot of bells normally,
but again, here we are in the Midlands and the
game Cocks are a team that many people have making
a run to the college football playoff. As I said,
looking at their schedule out of the gates this season,
I thought South Carolina had a great chance to start

(01:27:52):
off five and oh. I mean I really do think
five and oh for this team is attainable. And this
week will go a long way to determining my thoughts
on next weekend's matchup at Missouri and the following weekend's
game against Kentucky before they get to the meat of
the schedule. But this one ramps up a good bit

(01:28:15):
because of the play of Diego Pavia, quarterback at Vanderbilt.
He is one of the great stories in college football.
Thirty two or forty three five touchdowns at one interception
so far, and a huge come from behind victory last
weekend against Virginia Tech. Mind you, the very same Virginia

(01:28:41):
Tech team that South Carolina faced in the opener and
Vanderbilt beat him by twenty four, So I don't know,
you know again, transitive property or whatever. South Carolina won

(01:29:01):
twenty four to eleven. Vandy scored forty four points on
Virginia Tech, where the game Cocks got twenty four and
some of them were on a punt return, so you
feel like Vanderbilt's got the offense. I'm surprised game Cocks
only three and a half point favorites. I'll take South

(01:29:23):
Carolina to win this game. I think it's closed, like
at twenty eight twenty eight, twenty one type game. But
if it's a high scoring game, I mean, if Vanderbilts
scoring left and right, South Carolina might be in trouble.
Could be a dog fighting Williams Brice. But I'm gonna
take the game Cox to win that one. Ask for Clemson, dude,

(01:29:45):
time for the defensive playmakers to show up. I mean
time for I know the secondary has played well, interceptions
and all that, but I want to see some of
those guys upfront who we've talked about who have been
recognized as top players in the country, be that strip balls,

(01:30:10):
just pounding guys, making it tough on Haynes King, making
it tough on Jamal Haynes, making Georgia Tech earn every
inch on that field. And if Clemson does that, in
the quarterback k Klebnick and the offense play the way
they are supposed to play and if they're in rhythm,

(01:30:32):
I mean, Clemson should win this game like in like
a thirty five seventeen range. I mean, that's that would
be my that would be my comfort zone if Clemson
had played as well as they probably should have. But
they haven't, and that's a problem. I mean, Clempson hadn't

(01:30:55):
been thirty five points good. But I don't think Georgia
Tech's gonna score that many points on Clemson either, So
there's that as a positive. I do think Clemson wins.
I do think things go pretty well for him tomorrow.
I'll take the Tigers to win this ballgame in Atlanta.

(01:31:15):
Thirty one to twenty three. Thirty one to twenty three
feels about right. If the offense struggles this week, you
got something going on, and I know you've got a
couple offensive linemen banged up. Obviously, Clemson will be putting
out another report through the ACC about who's out, who's questionable,

(01:31:37):
and they got several guys questionable, including Antonio Williams. If
you don't follow us on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, all those ways,
please do because we are putting that information out. We're
about to cross thirty six thousand followers. But Clemson in
the ACC did put out that status report questionable players

(01:31:59):
Antonio Williams, Khalil Barnes, Elijah Thurman, and Tristan Lee. So
banged up a little bit on the offensive line. Certainly
your best play maker, best play maker in Antonio Williams out.
That hurts, but I'll take Clemson to win it thirty
one twenty three. All right, we'll be back Monday. Until then,

(01:32:20):
as always, you'll take care now and go Tigers.