The "Eggs Laid" Edition

As Clemson prepares to face Syracuse, the Tigers hope to avoid another disappointing weekend of football.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time, or Climpson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time. Hell,
everybody low and Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is d 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,

(01:02):
and be I listening to us on incredible radio stations
like Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and the Midlands heard
around the world on the iHeart Radio application. Download today,
It's free the website, put the dot com on it,
dog on it. That's Clemson Sports Talk dot Com A
three four five oh zero zero eighty six. And of

(01:24):
course the Show that shakespare South halland 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 Mets Plumbing two two six seven to one. Oh wait,
all right, out of the gates on a Monday hour
two Tommy Balden joins us. But out of the gates

(01:44):
Jason Priester from The Clemson Insider are gonna be a
part of the program today. JP. What's up, Bubba I'm
doing well.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
How about yourself?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Man, I'm good. I'd be better if Clemson was three
and oh, but one and two certainly gives us a
lot to talk about on the program, and so I
do want to begin there. Like, at this point, heading
into the fourth week of the season, do you think
where Clemson sits is a byproduct of the expectations from
the outside, the noise that maybe the players were hearing,

(02:16):
or do you think that maybe this team just isn't
as good as people thought they were.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
I'm gonna go with the number three there, man, I
think maybe they just aren't as good as people thought
they were. Maybe the outside noise factors in a little bit.
Maybe guys are pressing trying to live up to some
of those expectations. But through three games, they just had
not looked like the team many of us thought they
would be at this point. I don't you know. I

(02:42):
think Dabo even thought they were gonna have a pretty
good team. He always made sure to say we still
got to go out and do it, But listening to
his preseason comments, I think he even was convinced that
they were gonna be pretty good. So far, this offense
has kind of been anything. But you know, you got
a third year offensive coordinator, a senior order back, production
returning everywhere, and it's not looked like an offense that's

(03:05):
littered with experience. It's looked like an offense that's littered
with underclassmen. And that's just not the case at this point.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Are you surprised that there's what feels like at least
a lack of creativity offensively? I mean, I think when
Clemson went out and brought in Garrett Riley, and I'm
not trying to put him on the hot seat right now,
but I think it's got to be close because when
Dabos when he landed him, it felt like they were
getting a new wave offense, and dude, it just feels

(03:35):
like the same old thing. Like if you told me
that Brandon Streeter were calling the plays, I would say, yeah,
that makes sense.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, I mean, at least the results are kind of
the same. You know, I think everybody kind of thought
when they brought in Garrett Riley, you know it was
gonna be this new, you know, exciting, new offense and
you know, a lot of creativity to use the words
you just used, and it's just not really been the case.
The results have kind of been the same with what

(04:06):
you got with Brandon Streeter there the last couple of
years with Tony Elliott, and when you get the same results,
everything looks the same. For whatever reason, whatever they're doing,
it's just not working. Like you said, there's not a
lot of creativity, there's not a lot of motion, there's
not a lot of misdirection. And when you run an
offense that doesn't have those things, you better be good

(04:27):
at the execution part, and so far Clemson has not been.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Jason Precher with us here on the program, talking a
little bit about the Clemson Tigers, and you kind of
alluded to this, the players pressing a little bit. I
think that's kind of the thing that I really see
with ka Clubne, Like it feels like a part of
his issue is he's just not playing the game. It's
almost like he's stressing so much. And I felt like

(04:51):
at times he played better with tempo. And you know,
I can't remember if it was Chad Morris or it
was Tommy Bowden. Somebody that I was talking to earlier
this week said, man, you just you just answered your question,
Like maybe it's Timba Ray. You just answered your question.
Like quarterbacks play better with tempo, and if that's the case,
why don't we see more of that? I Mean, I

(05:13):
get it, you can't go three and out and put
your defense right back on the field. But I do
feel like this team has a chance to play fast
at times, and they just don't.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
That was kind of one thing I expected with when
Garrett Riley was hired. Did they play a little bit
faster sometimes? And so far they just haven't. I think
Clubnick's absolutely been better when he's going a little faster.
It gets less time to think and he's just reacting,
and I think he plays better. I think that's a
very good question. While we've not seen that utilized more,

(05:48):
I see a lot of people in the fan base
saying the same thing that they'd like to see some
more tempo. It just things run smoother when they're running faster.
Right now, they're doing things, everything just seems so hard.
Even when they go on a score and drive, it
just something feels off, you know. I mean that it's
an offense right now that just has no identity. Maybe

(06:11):
adding a little tempo to that thing would give you one.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
And we also look at the running back situation. Obviously,
Adam Randall. We all kind of knew that he would
have a chance to have an impact. I think he's
been a really you know good I think he's been
a bright spot to steal Dabo's were when I ask
him the question about him after the Georgia Tech game.
But just in general, like, are you surprised that there

(06:40):
is more development from guys like David ziemume, even if
you talk about the situation with Gideon Davidson, who we
know as a freshman. But is it surprising to you,
as a guy that covers recruiting that they don't have
more confidence maybe in those guys.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
I absolutely thought we would have seen more of those
guys at this point in the season. But when you're
only running fifty to fifty five sixty plays a game,
it makes it a little bit harder to work those
guys into the rotation. But to your point, you know,
after last year when they relied so heavily on Phil MafA,
you'd think you would have thought that they would have
come into this season putting some stress on wanting to

(07:22):
be able to rely on more than one guy. We
saw what happened last year when MafA went down there
just wasn't anybody there ready to pick up the slack.
And if Randall were to get hurt for whatever reason,
you know, tomorrow, next week, whenever, and you don't have
any of these guys that really have any experience, you're
gonna find yourself in a world of hurt.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
No.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
Look, I agree one hundred percent with you again, Jason
Priescher hanging out with us here on the program today
talking about this Clemson Tiger football team. The other thing
that still is sort of shocking is on the defensive
side of the ball, because I know that those guys
are elite. They've played elite throughout their time at Clemson,

(08:04):
and I don't want to compare some of their play
to what I think game Cock fans witnessed in the
final year of Jadavion Clowney in Columbia. But it feels
a little bit like that these guys aren't jumping off
the page. They're not popping you know where I go. Man,
That dude looks good. Will help looks really good right now.
And maybe that's just because the other guys aren't showing
up the way I expect them to. But I mean,

(08:26):
I'm stunned by what I'm seeing from the Clemson defensive line.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
Yeah, you would have thought they would have been, you know,
a little bit more of a factor three games in.
I do think the way LSU played offensively kind of
you know, plays a part in that that. I think
Garrett ms Meyer was getting it out in less than
two and a half seconds. It's hard to get out
of the quarterback when you do that. Troy did a
lot of the same stuff. Georgia Tech ran their quarterback

(08:51):
a lot, but I'm surprised they haven't been better upfront
against a run. They're still getting gas with some of
these cutback runs. Been soft on the edge. You know
that that's where I expected them to be a little
bit better.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
You know.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
I guess on the in the bright side, they're better
than what they were last year. They're not giving up
close to five yards carry. But man, are they having
a hard time getting off the field. I think oposposing
offenses are converting like forty four percent of their third
downs against that defense. That's not winning football, man, That's
that's not winning football. That is not the recipe. Georgia

(09:27):
Tech conferred an eight of fifteen last week. Eight of fifteen.
I mean that that's as bad. As your offense is playing, man,
your defense need to be a little bit better than that.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
He is on Twitter at JP Underscore Priester Jason Priestreet
covers recruiting and the clips of Tigers for the Clipson
inside are filling it for Will Van Dervoort today and
speaking of recruiting, I know, look, when you have a
marquee game like LSU out of the gate and you
don't win, that you take a little bit of a

(09:58):
hit when you you don't have maybe a top marquee
slate of games perhaps the rest of the way. I
guess Florida State beginning to present themselves as an ample
opportunity for Clemson. But you get a game like Syracuse
Cooper Witton sort of surprising people. The son of Jason
Witten gonna be making his way over for this game.

(10:19):
He's a linebacker from the state of Texas on a
bye week this week. I know you love recruiting, man,
what do you make of this kid, because dude, he
looks put together for a twenty twenty seven football player.

Speaker 3 (10:32):
Oh yeah, he absolutely looks the board. I got to
see Matdabo's camp back into summer. You know, he is
everything you want in a linebacker, and you know, being
as highly rated as he is, every marquee program in
the country is after this kid. Daddy Jason Witten, the
former start tight end for the Cowboys. You know, he

(10:54):
went to Tennessee, so you know, Tennessee's got some sentimental
pool there, but his clips has turned to take their
shot here at least you know, early on in the process.
As you alluded to, it's not the marquee game, say
that LSU was, or maybe that SSU might be later
in the year. But you got to roll that the
red carpet and take your swing and see if you

(11:16):
can be one of those schools that ends up having
kind of a see at the table, so to speak.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, and I wonder too, right, like if I mean,
I don't know what all the guys Clypson Is gonna
have there, but like if you have, like the LSU game,
there's a ton of top tier players, Maybe some guys
feel like they get caught, you know, kind of lost
in the wash. Maybe this is a situation where he
really gets a chance to feel like the guy and

(11:45):
maybe presents Clemson as a bigger and better option for him.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
That's that's actually absolutely what this weekend will be. You're
not gonna have the star studded guest lists with all
the five stars that you did for the LSU game.
He will be the highlight visitor. You can put a
bak of the attention on him, particularly with those position
coaches where they don't have to be spread out amongst
other guys. So yeah, you really can literally kind of

(12:12):
roll out the red carp for him this weekend while
he's there.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
Again, following him on Twitter at JP Underscore priest Jason
Priester hanging out with us here on the program, and
speaking of Tennessee and recruiting, we do have to talk
about the fact that Drake Quinn did go on a visit. Now,
in the olden days, if you were committed to Clemson
and you went and visited somewhere else, unless your name
was Deshaun Watson and you did it under the cover

(12:38):
of night to Auburn, most of the time those guys
were kind of forced to decommit, either before or after
they went. Clemson would just say, hey, look, if you're
not committed to us, we're not committed to you. It's
a new era nil transfer portal and all of that
how do you think that whole thing shapes up for
Clemson in terms of Drake Quinn and his recruitment.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
Well, he's obviously not fully locked in if he's taken
other visits. I mean, let's get that right out of
the way. Dad Boat was actually asked about the no
visit policy hearing his weekly pressure earlier in the week,
and he wouldn't really get into it other than to
say it's still a policy. Well, we all know Quinn
took that visit last weekend. Did a pretty good job

(13:23):
of keeping that thing under raft because it didn't really
get out until he was actually seen on campus. But
some of the interesting things came in some of his
comments he made after that visit and some of the
some of the media there that covers Tennessee talking about
coming back and taking another visit. You know, he still
committed as of this time. Like you said, it's a

(13:44):
new era. It's a different world than it was just
five short years ago. It's gonna be interesting to see
how the clips and coaching staff handles this thing going forward.
Because because he's kind of the best defensive end you've
got committed in this class, it's kind of a position
of need in the twenty sixth class. You need to

(14:04):
hit on one of those guys and have one of
them be able to come in and maybe contribute a
little bit early.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
You know, he's a guy that can do that well.
And I think these changes Jason to college football have
almost made that policy that Daboswenia and Clemson could run
with for so many years almost irrelevant because even if
a guy like an Aj Hoffler commits and comes to
your school, he might only be there for one year anyway,
So like, what is commitment? Like it doesn't exist at

(14:33):
the once he's got signed anyway. So why would a
high school kid feel like they should be beholden to
Clemson as a commit right now just in high school? Like,
I don't see the logic in it. Like I think
these players to all look at Daboswenia say look, we're
taking visits, We're going to other places. I mean, unless
you just want to come to Clemson. But if you

(14:55):
have any reason to go look somewhere else, why wouldn't you?
And at this point, with the way it goes, if
I'm Clemson, heck for those kids, I might say go
for it, Go check those other schools out. If you
think they're better than us, Hey, good luck with that.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
I was about to say the same thing in this
new landscape. If you're Dabbo and Clemson, why not say, hey,
go check out these other schools. We want you to
be sure. We don't want you wondering if you made
the right decision. We want you to know you made
the right decision. And let's not lose sight of the
fact that that some of these schools are actually paying

(15:31):
recruits just to come visit. Yeah, so that's some money
they're leaving on the table if they don't go take
these visits. There's a lot of new layers involved in
this thing, and it's gonna be hard to kind of
keep that no visit policy, you know, intact and enforce
it the way he's enforced it of during his tenure.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
There again, Jason Priester with us here for a few
more minutes as we get ready for this matchup between
Clemson and Syracuse. It will be a noon kickoff in
Death Valley. I had a chance to sit down to
one on one with Fran Brown that the AC kickoff.
Absolutely love him as a coach, Love the way that
he runs his program. I mean, I thought it was
incredible after that Yukon game that went to overtime and

(16:12):
the Orange came out with a victory. He had those
guys running while the fans are in the stands. And
I'll be honest, I wish Dabo had the moxie to
turn around after Clems's poor performance against Troy and do
the same. What do you think about fran Brown. I
know he's an excellent recruiter, one of the top recruiters
in the country before he became a head coach, But
what do you make of the job that he's done

(16:33):
there at Syracuse.

Speaker 3 (16:35):
Oh, I love fran Brown, man. I've seen countless people
saying the same thing and that maybe Dabo needs to
start making some of his players do the same thing
fran Brown did after that You God game. You know
when it comes to you know, the accountability standpoint. But
I think right now he is the perfect fit over there.

(16:56):
I saw him kind of him and Mike Reid go
ahead the head while he was the defensive backs coach
over there at Georgia. They went ahead to head so
many times on some cornerback recruits there, man, and he
won more than his fair share of him. Man he's
an excellent recruiter. I think they've got the right guy
in place there right now, man, and probably at exactly

(17:16):
the right time.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, I get the feeling, you know that he's destined
for a bigger job when one comes open. I don't
know that he would just flat out leave, but if
the right situation did open up in the ACC or
the SEC, I think I could even see him jumping
in conference to somewhere at some point if it was
the right spot. But anyway, we'll see how it all

(17:38):
shakes out this weekend. Their team, I mean, he's a
defensive minded guy, but man, they throw the ball all
over the field. One of my buddies texted me this
earlier today, so I'll give him credit for it. Super
fan Lee Hannah, who's been up at Clempson boy, I
think since Moses part of the Red Sea. He texted
me and he said, Hey, Syracuse has more passing yards
that Clemson has total yards this season, and Steve Angeli,

(18:02):
they'll spin the ball around the field.

Speaker 3 (18:05):
They are absolutely gonna sling it all over the field.
Those corners for Clipson are gonna be put to the
test that this Saturday. They better be a lot better
tackling against this Syracuse team than they were against Georgia Tech.
But at the same time, maybe it gives this defensive
line finally an opportunity to really get after the quarterback.

(18:27):
They've not been all that great at protecting him so
far this season. I think they've given up like eight
sacks so far, so that has been a point of weakness.
Maybe this is the weekend they can get that defensive
front finally getting out of the quarterback because they're gonna
have some opportunity to do that the way Syracuse.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
Like to throw it now. I don't know if you've
put out a prediction yet they're on the Clemson inside
or not chasing, But we got about a minute. I'll
give you a chance if you want to give either
your prediction or some keys to look for.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
You know, I think think Clips has got a stab.
Run early, stick with it, don't abandon it. Just just
seed Adam Randle the ball, kind of take some of
the pressure off k club Nick. That's seventeen and a
half point line scares me a little bit. I think
it's way too high considering the way Clempson has been playing.
But I think Clips is gonna win it might be ugly.

(19:21):
I just think they're the better team, and I think
they're gonna do enough to come away with a win.
A much need to win at that. That's that's really
what they need. They need to find a way to win,
whether it's pretty or not. They just need to win.
I had a twenty four to sixteen.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
I think it was my buddy said, hey, Clemson's barely
averaging the amount of points to you know, the punit
think they'll win by He's like, I don't really believe
in that too much anyway, exactly Safe travels, Jason Man.
Always appreciate you, buddy.

Speaker 3 (19:52):
Hey, thanks, wealk take care again.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
Follow Jason on Twitter at JP Underscore Priester Stay with
us Lawton Swan Clemson Sports Talk on a Friday. That
was Jason Priester from the Clemson Insider before the Break.
Earlier this week, Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown, who I know
everybody loves when they get a chance to hear from
Sammy Brown. But you know, the circumstances of this season

(20:18):
have been rather disappointing, quite frankly, all aspects. I mean,
I think bright spot again. Adam Randall, Bryant West co
I think Ronan Hannafin, but linebackers overrunning plays, getting out
of position, defensive lineman not having a huge impact. I mean,

(20:40):
the offensive line has been a bit of a bugaboo,
but there've been some guys banged up. Fortunately with that
press release or that release that came out from Clemson yesterday,
and we didn't mention this yet in the program, but
you're getting Khalil Barnes back listed as probable. You're getting
Antonio Williams back at wide receiver listed as probable. You're

(21:03):
getting Tristan Lee back at left tackle listed as probable.
You're getting Elijah Thurman back as a backup offensive lineman
listed as probable. You say, well, how you know you're
getting them back? Well, I don't for sure. There'll be
another update tonight. But every player in the ACC last
week that was listed as probable on the Wednesday evening
official release from the league, every one of those guys played.

(21:26):
Every one of them or was at least listed as
active on Saturday. So I would expect those guys to
be back. But there were a lot of errors, and
some of those errors have come from Sammy Brown at linebacker,
Wade wood Ass at linebacker overrunning plays. And here's Sammy

(21:47):
Brown being asked about some of the errors that Clempson
made in that matchup against Georgia Tech when you really
couldn't afford to do it because Haines King is a baller.
And as a matter of fact, I believe Haines King
is the first quarterback since Lamar Jackson to pass for
two hundred yards and rush for one hundred yards against
Clemson almost decade since that happened. That's happened, all right,

(22:11):
here's Sammy Brown talking about the errors against Georgia Tech.

Speaker 4 (22:14):
You know, we just got to really focus on small things.

Speaker 5 (22:16):
I just feel like there's a couple really small things
within the game that would have changed the outcome. But
at the end of the day, we just we got
to get better. And that's that's kind of the driving
home point is we just we have.

Speaker 4 (22:27):
To get better.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
Brown was also asked to give his thoughts on Georgia
Tech quarterback Haines King.

Speaker 5 (22:33):
You know, I got a lot of respect for him.
He's a he's a ballplayer. Now he's he's a man.
He loves a game, he loves he plays it the
right way. But you know, we just we got to
be technically sound on defense. We got to fit our
gaps right and just just do our job.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Sammy Brown was also asking about the frustration of giving
up a ninety yard drive to Georgia Tech late in
that game.

Speaker 5 (22:57):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's tough when you're out there
for I don't know how many players I drive was,
but it is really frustrating in the in the middle
of it, you're.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
Like, we got to get a stop, but we just
we got to keep playing.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
That's Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown. He was also asked to
give his thoughts on what he's seen from Syracuse's offense
and the way they like to pass the football.

Speaker 5 (23:16):
They're a good team, that's a that's an NFL style
style offense. They're gonna throw the ball around, misdirection, motion shifts.
I mean, we got to be really on our stuff
this week and make sure that we're practicing at a
high level.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
Brown was also asked to give some insight into the
communication that takes place on the defensive side of the
ball and how he feels like that's going so far.

Speaker 5 (23:35):
I feel like, you know, especially with the with the
back seven, it's been pretty good. Obviously, we can improve
each week on it, but I just feel like, you know,
communicating with the safeties and you know, communicating the calls
and all that has been pretty good.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Brown was also asked to expound upon his relationship with
fellow Clemson linebacker Wave would Ass.

Speaker 6 (23:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (23:53):
I definitely feel like me and Wade have built a
connection on and off the field, and I feel like
that's kind.

Speaker 4 (23:57):
Of what drives is we're really good buddy as will.

Speaker 5 (24:00):
Hang out all the time, So you know, having that connection,
you're able to communicate easier with him on the field.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
Well, almost said would ask. Sammy Brown was also asked
about his relationship with Wave would Ass off the field
and what those guys do, you know, on a regular basis.

Speaker 5 (24:15):
We just hang out. It's not even really anything crazy.
We're just we're really good buddies. Every time I see
him in the facility, we're just we just smile and
look at each other.

Speaker 4 (24:23):
It's just kind of a funny, little little relationship.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
Back to Syracuse, the former five star linebacker Sammy Brown
was asked about his thoughts on the play of Steve Angelique,
quarterback of the Syracuse Orange.

Speaker 5 (24:37):
He's good now, he's a ballplayer, he's going to throw
the ball around, he makes the right throws.

Speaker 4 (24:41):
I'm really excited to play against him.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
Brown was also asked if he feels pressure from you know,
outside opinions about Clemson's play or his play, you know,
does any of that kind of stuff affect him.

Speaker 5 (24:55):
There's no pressure from that. We at the end of
the day, we have to get better. And it starts
in practice. It starts to day on Wednesday practice and
we had a good practice yesterday, But how can we
build off of yesterday? How can we stack days to
keep getting better. It's trying to live our lives from
the inside out and not worry about what everybody on
the outside is saying about us. Just you know, living
living inside out and just being able to, you know,

(25:16):
build a relationship with my brothers and just have great practices,
great games.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Brown was also asked about tackling and whether or not
he feels like Clemson's kind of lived up to the standard.
That was an off season issue that they wanted to
focus on, and Dabosweeny's called the group soft on the edges.
Here's Sammy Brown kind of giving his take about the
way Clempson has been tackling.

Speaker 5 (25:38):
I mean it's good, but we can always get better.
I think, you know, the more that we do the
tackling drills that we do, the better it'll get.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
One of the guys we mentioned Clympses likely to get
back this week is Khalil Barnes. He was named probable
yesterday before that news came out. Though here Sammy Brown
talking about what he feels like Khalil Barnes brings to
the table.

Speaker 5 (25:56):
The biggest thing that he brings is just energy. He's
a great guy. He grew up thirty minutes for me.
We played each other in high school, so I've known
him for a long time. But he's he's a great
ball player. He's gonna be really good to get back
when we get him. But you know, he just brings
energy and he's a really, really good communicator.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
He's a great ballplayer.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
Brown was also asked about his workload and whether or
not he feels like that's sort of I don't want
to call it a burden, but you know, where they are,
they overwork.

Speaker 5 (26:23):
Maybe I'm just blessed to play as many snaps as
I am. I'm thankful for the opportunity to play, you know,
seventy snaps a game.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
That's Clipson linebacker Sammy Brown from his time with the
media earlier this week. All right, don't forget hour number two.
Tommy Bowden, former Clipson Tiger head coach, joins us. We'll
talk with him about what he's seen from the Tigers
one and two start stumbling out of the gates. Certainly
a frustrating, frustrating way for the year to begin for

(26:53):
the Tiger football team, certainly the coaching staff. And I
know it's been frustrating for you fans. I've heard from you,
You've texted me, You've commented over on Facebook. Not happy
with the situation as it currently sits. I know some
of you. I wish Clemson would pull the old parachute
on Dabosweeny. But as Dabo Sweeney said earlier earlier this week, heck,

(27:14):
I'm only fifty five. I'll just go somewhere else and coach.
And maybe that's pumped the brakes for some Tiger fans
out there. But if it hasn't pumped the brakes for you,
I will present a reason to pump the brakes on
that conversation when we get back. Keep it a lot
right here, on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred, Clemson's Sports

(27:35):
tal Law and Swann rolling along with you on a
Friday afternoon. All right, So before the break, we talked about,
like the fans out there that are commenting on our
social media pages when we put out the videos and
the clips of Dabo Sweeney. You know, people saying, oh,
he's out of touch, can't coach in this era. You know,
all of that We hear all the time from people. Well,
here's what I would say to those people. We just

(27:57):
talked earlier about Clem's hiring Garrett Riley, and it seemed
like a home run higher given the way things were
working at TCU. And yet here we sit today still
wondering when this Clemson offense is finally going to get
back to what people thought it would be when Garrett

(28:18):
Riley arrived, and we haven't seen it. We really haven't
seen it. Creativity, you know, utilizing. I think Adam Randall,
who should be as a former wide receiver, should be
one of the best weapons you have. Line up in
five wide, make the defense sort of shift the way
they're playing you, motion him into the backfield, have him

(28:39):
in the backfield, motion him out, take advantage of what
Adam Randall gives you. Where's all the misdirection? I mean,
all these teams play Clemson with what appears like boatloads
of creativity, and Clemson rolls up and things they're just
going to run the ball down somebody's throat and they
can't do it and they don't commit to it. But
you thought the Garrett Riley higher was a great one.

(29:01):
At this point, people are watching this Clemson defense and
people have commented on things that we have posted and said, Dude,
this Tom Allen defense looks just like Wes Goodwin's defense.
Maybe just maybe the hiring of Garrett Riley. And it's
still very early for Tom Allen, but the hiring of

(29:21):
Tom Allen will or won't work out. And so what
makes you think that if you were to go out
and be able to pick anybody in America to run
Clemson's program today, that you would pick anybody that could
do it better than Dabos when he's already done it
or potentially. And if you heard Chad Morris on the
program yesterday, you recognize Morris, who's the same age as

(29:46):
Dabos when he essentially saying, hey, Dabos still got it
left in the tank. Dabos is fired up about this
as I've ever seen him, and he feels good about
that for Clemson. So why shouldn't you like who else
would you go get? Who would you bring in that
you think is going to be the maestro and it's
going to make it work perfectly for you? You can
name the person, and I can say to you there's

(30:08):
no guarantee and what you at least have with Dabo Sweeney,
whether or not it's been in this nil transfer portal
era or not, it is a guy with a proven
track record and currently coaching in college football. There are
two guys with two national titles, Dabo Sweeney and Kirby Smart,
and everybody else is trying to play catch up. So

(30:31):
I think you've just got to recognize that even if
Dabosweeney occasionally sounds completely disconnected from what you want to
hear him say that he's earned the right to say
some of the stuff that he's saying. I don't love
him living in the rearview mirror when he talks to
you about having a windshield mentality, but the fact remains,

(30:52):
the things that he's done in the past are what
he's done in the past, and it didn't really have
anything to do with what you've done or whether you've
shown up. It's been about him, his program and his
ability to get the most out of his players. They
haven't always recruited the best players in the country, but
they've gotten players to work harder than other people. The

(31:14):
question we've asked is can he continue to do that
in a nil era where there's this whole money being
involved in driving things. I think that's still up for debate.
But I can't tell you who would be better at Clemson,
could you? I mean, I think that's the thing. You
have to ask yourself who you gonna get Who's gonna

(31:37):
be better than Dabo Sweeney at Clemson. You could say, well,
there's plenty of names I'd like to throw out there, Swanee,
and I would tell you that none of those names
would have done more than Dabo Sweeney. Now, when Clemson
hired Dabo, I get it, there were bigger names out there.
Brent Villibles was the name out there that people were

(31:58):
talking about when Clemson was looking to hire a new
head coach. Will must Champ's name was one that was
out there. Yeah, that's a fact. You guys wanted to
hire Will must Champ. At one point, Clemson fans, while
Dabo Sweeney was an interim head coach, people thought that
maybe it would be Brentvinnables, maybe it would be Will

(32:20):
muss Champ. Both of those guys were sort of proven
in their capacity as defensive coordinators. And Dabo got the
opportunity and ran with it and didn't just deliver you
to the greatest era in your life. He delivered you
to the greatest era in the history of Clemson football.

(32:44):
I mean, he surpassed danny Ford. I hate, I can't,
I cannot believe I'm about to say this. Dabo Sweeney
probably did more for danny Ford's kind of freedom than
anybody's ever done it. He didn't make danny Ford insignificant,

(33:05):
but he definitely took a ton of the shine off
of danny Ford. I mean, danny Ford before Dabo Sweeney,
danny Ford was the goat, was the greatest head coach
of all time at Clemson. I mean he's the goat,

(33:28):
not anymore, not anymore. Dabo Sweeney put danny Ford's records
and everything in the rear view, and he's just kept
the pedal to the medal. He's just continued to pull away.
And that is something that Tiger fans I think have

(33:49):
to recognize is that while yes, you want what you
had from twenty f fifteen to twenty twenty, you are
no different than those Clemson fans in the late eighties,
early nineties and just one of what they had in
nineteen eighty one. The difference is you've still got a

(34:14):
coach at this point that is certainly young enough, is
well thought of enough, and I think personally is savvy
enough to still figure this thing out. Is this one
and two start where they wanted to be?

Speaker 6 (34:33):
No?

Speaker 2 (34:34):
Does this one and two start mean they can't make
the College football Playoff? Absolutely not. Flip the switch this weekend,
play well against Syracuse, carry that momentum forward, and then
take the opportunities that are in front of you and
win those games. Clemson, I think is more talented than

(34:57):
most of the teams they face, even if CLEMPS is
not as talented as we thought they were. So how
do you like those apples? Final segment of our one
right after this Welcome Back Climpson Sports Talk on a Friday.
Tommy Bowden, former Clympson head coach, joins us in our
number two of the program. We'll talk with him about

(35:20):
all of the goings on in Tigertown and his thoughts
on Rich Rodriguez. Rodriguez and West Virginia last week got
a big victory and that backyard brawl, that match up
with Pitt. The Atlantic Coast Conference taking it on the
chin right now, not doing itself really any favors. Obviously,

(35:44):
you got to put the weight of the league at
this point in the hands of Miami, Florida State and
Georgia Tech. And I do say Georgia Tech because that
schedule is favorable. Haynes King is a dude and could

(36:07):
certainly give teams fits this season with his ability to
run the ball, sort of that extra hat in the
box like we saw when Clemson had a guy like
Woodrow Danceler, which Tommy Balden who's coming up in just
a little bit coach. But I mean, that's kind of
my thoughts on like why there's gonna be so difficult
because short third convert, short third down and fourth down

(36:30):
conversions will I think play in their favor. You look
out good they did against Clemson on third downs, and
I think maybe if we talk about like one of
the problems that you see comparing Taj, Trevor and DeShawn
to Cad clemnit right now is and maybe it's the
coordinating or maybe it's cade the lack of size that

(36:51):
he has when you're running the ball. That's That's one
thing I would say, the lack of size. You felt
really good with Taj Boyd running the ball. He felt
really good. I think with Deshaun Watson running the football
and Trevor, I mean you didn't want him to run it,
but I mean he was big enough to do the

(37:11):
job and certainly did it well. But you know, those guys,
all three of those quarterbacks bigger than kay Clubnick. And
you know, I don't remember what Deshaun Wade his senior
year of college. I wish I could find that out.

(37:33):
I might try to look it up real quick. But
Kay Clubnick checks in about six two two ten. Deshaun
Watson was six three or six three two twenty and
I'm thinking when he was in college he was about
that same size too, maybe bigger, and you know, it

(37:54):
just added some size to him where I think the
coaching staff was more confident with those guys running now,
I would say, no, they aren't as comfortable running k Klubnich,
in my opinion, as they should be. And I think
if his legs aren't going to be a part of

(38:14):
the game, then you're kind of painting yourself into a corner.
This team's offense is not versatile enough. It's not versatile
enough at this point and until this group becomes more versatile,
I mean, scoring ten points, twenty seven points, and twenty

(38:37):
one points, that's not good enough. That is not cutting
the mustard. Sixty eight points in three games for a
team that should be averaging thirty forty points a game.
I know Troy, I mean, I know LSU. Excuse me,

(38:59):
that's a tough one. But against Troy you should have
lied up the scoreboard. Against Georgia Tech, you should have
scored thirty five thirty eight points. But man, what we've
seen from this group offensively just disappointment. Disappointment A zero

(39:22):
three four five Z zero zero eighty six. That is
the text line in the phone line kke clubnet right now.
Fifty two of eighty eight for six hundred and thirty
three yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. I mean he
threw six interceptions. The entire season a year ago. He's

(39:49):
got to go on a thirty three and three run
here to match those numbers. It's it's before. Hopefully with
the return of Antonio Williams, that'll get Kate a little
more confident. Hopefully with the return of Tristan Lee, the

(40:12):
offensive line will be shored up a little bit more.
I have really thought the offensive line was all that bad.
Quite frankly, I really haven't thought the offensive line was
all that bad. But then the other thing, and I
guess the final thing I would say about this is
in addition to to what we just talked about, I

(40:37):
would say the other thing that sort of makes me
feel better, as if Khalil Barnes is healthy and can play,
maybe you're getting the ball back more, You're getting off
the field, You're letting the offense get in a better rhythm.
Cause that's what it's gonna take. That's what it's going
to take. Syracuse and fran Brown are they are not

(40:59):
going to come into death Alley and just roll over.

Speaker 1 (41:04):
That.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
Syracuse has a coach that's scary enough in terms of
his motivation and the drive that he'll have for his team.
He kind of reminds me of brient Key. Quite frankly,
there are coaches in this league that when you look
at him, you think, man, they got it going on.

(41:26):
And fran Brown's got it going on, that's for sure.
A zero three four five zero zero eighty six. All right,
Well hit a quick break when we come back. Tommy
Valden joyce. Just don't forgive our friends in Alumni Hall
right there on the corner of campus on College Avenue
of downtown Clemson. I can't be there this weekend, but
you can stop by, ask him about their Alumni Hall

(41:49):
Rewards past program and check out those sweet new Nike
drive fits right there in store. Speaking of in store,
Clemson students, faculty, all military get ten percent off when
you're shot in there at Alumni Hall and let them
know that Swanny sent you. If you say Swanny sent me,
they'll say, who's say Clemson Sports Talk. All right, We're

(42:09):
a break. That's Alumni Hall online at Alumni Hall dot com.
And right there it's just the stones throw away from
historic Riggs Field and downtown Clipson Alumni Hall where Tiger
fans shop. Quick break. Tommy Bowden on the flip side,
keep it locked.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
Each time for Clipson Sports Talk with Luton Swan.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
It is our number two. That's drivetime right here on
the Show that Shakes the south Land, Clemson Sports tal
Log and Swine hang out with you. Tommy Bowden, former
Clemson head coach, joining us in just a minute, and
remember the Show That Shakes the south Land brought to
you in partmer our good friends over at METS Plumbing
mets Plumbing dot Com two two six seven one o

(43:27):
wait give them a call a day for all your
plumbing needs. METS Plumbing two two six seven to one
oh eight. How the Gates Hour two. Tommy Balden joins
US coach. Welcome in.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
How are you doing good down here in Florida? Looking
at the water at my back door? But excited about
this season's U slate of games and especially about for
instance Batch El Syracuse.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
Well, listen, I want to talk to you about, you know,
sitting there and looking at the water at your back
door for a minute. Because I am a backdoor or
at the beach kind of guy.

Speaker 6 (44:02):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
I put on the old school beach music hits. You'd
probably be surprised at what I listened to. Swinging medallions,
the four Tops and all that. What do you what's
your kind of flavor? If you're just sitting there chilling
in the back porch hanging out, what are you doing?

Speaker 6 (44:16):
Like?

Speaker 2 (44:17):
What who's Tommy A. Boalden? Is just you know the guy.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
Four Tops, the Temptations, the Spremes, Eagles, you know, Beach Boys,
the Beatles. You know, it's got the old time stuff.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
Yeah, that's good.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
I said, I'm afraid if I said, the carpenters would
run me off the ship.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
All right, So what's what's your favorite beach music song?
And after you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine.
What's your favorite beach music song?

Speaker 1 (44:42):
You know, I don't listen to music enough to have
a favorite. Yeah, I really don't. There's somebody that there's
there's somebody the Eagles, really well, I take that back.
The Beach Boys. I had to probably pick one of
those that were famous in the sixties when I was
you know, pro I stay twelve years.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
Old, so you're more of a West Coast kind of
you know, California girls, that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
You're twelve years old, that's all you dreamed about back
in California girls when you're twelve.

Speaker 2 (45:15):
All right, Well, my My favorite is up on the
Roof by the Drifters. That's my top beach music's a
good Yeah, that's a good one. Tommy Bowden with U
Shore on the program. All right, let's talk football coach. Yeah,
you know, we talked last week about Brent Key in
that short for US Conference. It seemed like his team

(45:35):
was focusing, ready to go. They gave Clemson, uh, you know,
all they can handle, and then some what were kind
of your key takeaways from the way things shook out
there in Atlanta.

Speaker 1 (45:45):
Now, that's one of those games long when you're on
the West Coast and you pick up the paper on
Sunday mornings and you look at it and you're running
down the scores. You see at Climpson beat Georgia Tech. Okay,
you keep going, and all of a sudden you stroll
down and you see Georgia Tech beat Clempson. You know
that that gets your stitching. You might read some of

(46:05):
the bylines on what happened in the game, and unfortunately,
sometimes that's how your players approach the game. You know,
for Georgia Tech to upset Clumps, it's a big deal.
It gets everybody's attention. The players know that for clumpson. Unfortunately,
their players also know is not a big deal for
them to be Georgia Tech. So you know, and sometimes
your players go out and perform like that. And now

(46:28):
I don't I haven't studied the film enough to know
where it was. You know, what the play holden was,
run pass ratios and things of that nature, and so
uh and and along those lines long and I thought
about mentioning this. A typical fan might not know from
a you know, kind of a detail perspective, what goes
on so much after right, just three and four game

(46:48):
uh time in their schedule. This is where you're sere
if self scouting takes place, you really can't accumulate a
lot of data after one or two games. Once you
get to three and four, or you can start to
self scouting yourself and developing if you're developing peniencies, this
is where they'll start becoming to the top and you'll

(47:09):
be able to recognize them. And also when you're running
you know, first and ten? What am I doing on
first and ten? But you've got enough data. You've got
enough data now, so there'll be some serious self scouting
going on by Clemson's office and defense. But this is
where you can start accumulating enough data to start making
some decisions based on what you've been doing after three games.

(47:32):
I know that's a little bit off track for worse
for us, I was thinking about that what the fans,
typical fan might not know at this time. This is
when you get into the SERI self scout and find
them out, you know, looking at yourself and seeing what
exactly you're doing and when you're doing it, and do
my owns know.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
This One of the things that I think stood out
about this ballgame and maybe about that LSU game is
I think in both games, Kid club Nick Unfortunately for
Kid has been out played by the opposition at quarterback,
which is a surprise kind of given his profile and
even given the way he played last season. You feel

(48:09):
like he's pressing right now to try to make every
single plays.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
At least of things. I think that would be one
he's pressing because and we've talked about this a little
bit early on the earlier show you made a couple
of weeks ago with Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. There
is a great I keep throwing Todd's boy there because
he kind of got it started there's a great tradition
of not good quarterbacks the great quarterback. He knows that,

(48:36):
and he's inherited that position with similar accolades of those
two guys. So there's that pressure. And then I think
you have to look at the opposition of the LSU
defense in that first game that really had a lot
to do with him getting off on a good start.
Then I think he can you go back and look,
I hadn't studied to play calling, but I think I

(48:56):
don't know if he's been given a lot of opportunities
in that area. I don't know. I'm just saying that
could be a potential to add on to it along
with the so of the performance of the skill guys
around him. Running game being number one, and you know,
you know, I think they're home twenty first in the
nation and rushing there's one hundred and thirty teams. So

(49:18):
he's not thinking there's been no further offense that could
take the burden off his shoulders and let him get
his breath. He's had to perform at the highest level
and right now that hadn't happened.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Now here's another thing that people ask me about, and
that's Garrett Riley and you kind of talked about the
play calling, et cetera. So when you're interviewing a coach,
a coordinator, how do you know when his head coach
is a guy like Sonny Dike's who's kind of an
offensive minded guy as well. How do you truly know

(49:52):
if what you saw at TCU when they were doing
the things they were doing a few years ago and
making a run to the National Championship game, if that
was the offensive coordinator who got a lot of credit
for it, right and Garrett Riley, or whether that was
Sonny Dikes. Because I know you coaches. I know coaches
like each other. But if Sonny Dikes knows that the

(50:12):
real gym is not Garrett Riley, then he may not
even be willing to you do not really care if
he has to hang on to him or not. I mean,
is it possible that what you saw at TCU was
not Garrett Riley and that maybe it was more Sunny Dikes.

Speaker 1 (50:30):
That's that's another good observation on your part because that
actually happens, and in the selection process of the head coach,
that's one of the things these headhunters go through. But
I was trying to get a job.

Speaker 7 (50:45):
One of the I asked eight e's I said, listen,
I didn't get what are the things y'all look at?
They said, we don't know who's calling of plays, whether
you or your brother chair. They said, David.

Speaker 1 (50:56):
Fuck, it's the same time. They don't know whether this
was when he was at ten the oh with David,
who is called him plays or Phil former is calling
the plays. So you're exactly right that that is a
that is a question mark when you have a head
coach that's his background. It's like Bob Stup's and brent Vinnables.
How much was Bob Steuch's involved in Brenton Vinnables? Right

(51:17):
then the other Stu Stoop's brother that was there. So yeah,
that is something that definitely goes through your mind. And
a lot of times, I know sometimes when I would
look for one, I would look for one that go
the n CUAA statistics and see how the offense is rated.
And then I think you have to look at the
participation of the head coach. Now you can tell if

(51:37):
you've ever called players or been a head coach on
the sideline. You can tell by the by the mannerisms
of the head coach. If he's got a headset on
how much he's involved in PLAYTI hard and you can
usually tell. But that's a big question. That's a good
point you bring up, because you never you never know.

Speaker 2 (51:54):
Tommy Bowden with us here on the program today, of course,
the former clips the Tiger Head coach, hanging out with
us as he's done for nearly a dozen years. It's
hard to believe how fast time has gone by here.
But you mentioned last week right at the end of
the show, the backyard Brawl and West Virginia and your
former offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez now back there in Morgantown

(52:15):
coaching again talking about the transition. They get the win
this past weekend, but talking about the transition of the
sport over the years and a guy that was offensive guru,
kind of minded guy when you brought him in with you.
What or how, I guess maybe is the best question.
How has his sort of offense changed over the years

(52:36):
and adapted in your opinion, and how similar is anything
that he's still doing to maybe what you guys were
doing that was man at the time at Clemson. Coach
y'all were doing things. The NCAA said, hey, we got
to change these substitution rules. I mean, you guys were
you guys were really pushing the limits.

Speaker 1 (52:54):
We were on the cutting edge back then. But some
ways he has changed. You know, when I hired and
you know, he was a head coach of small college
when I hired him, and I just looked at the
points scored and the passing productivity and said, hey, I'm
working with my hands tied behind my back at Tulane
a little bit with some academic requirements. Let's let's let's

(53:16):
let's go for the moon and see if we can
create something a little bit different. But the way he's
changed is he got more involved in the running game
along with that fat faced offense. He tried to go
some games as a head coach, he throw the ball.
He said, I'm gonna try to throw the ball everything
and down, not run. At one time, Mike Leach was
kind of like that a little bit. And then when

(53:36):
we were at Tulane. I remember when I took the
job here, we were in the top twenty five and
rushing and passing, so we tried to be a little
bit more less dominant in the passing game. And Rich's
offense has evolved in that regard like you said, there's
the RPOs, the run options, and that has the cornerback

(53:58):
chief ergon, the the read option. All those things they
have to change every three or four years because the
defense catches up with him maybe four or five years.
So he's migrated from different things. The thing that he
has never changed laws and has been the speed of
his offense on the no huddle. Those haven't changed. But
I think the philosophy of his toward for the running game.

(54:21):
And then he's really incorporated with the guy named Pat
White at West Virginia great cornerback that the run options
of the quarterback become more prevalent. And so that's pretty
much how he's involved. Is his coaching hard edge, You
know he's you don't like to take it easy on

(54:41):
the cornerback. My father was a young coach. I'd watch
him coach quarterbacks and full a quarterback off the side
if he did something wrong, putting an arm around his
neck and whispering inside of his held. Hey, listen, make
sure Gene is He didn't want to embarrass his quarterback
or get on his quarterback and let the rest of
his team hostily see that. We don't have confidence in yet.

(55:04):
Rich rich went like he treated the quarterback like a
handy step child.

Speaker 2 (55:11):
Well, the other thing I think that's interesting about uh
rich Rod is the fact that, you know, he was
a defensive guy at the start of his career in
terms of playing and coaching, and then transitioned to to
being that offensive coordinator when he got there with you.
I think prior to that coach he had only coached
on the defensive side of the ball. When you guys

(55:34):
were like behind closed doors and talking about his advancement
of offense and offensive play, where did that kind of
happen for him? Because I mean, you were an offensive player,
you were you did coach one year with your father,
I think defensive backs. But what is it about him
that helped him transition from being a defensive minded guy?

(55:54):
I guess too one of the you know, one of
the best offensive minds in the game.

Speaker 1 (56:00):
I think the fact that he played in the secondary,
and when you play in the secondary, there's sometimes you'll
you'll see you'll look over as a player and you
see a certain formation and you said, maam, especially if
you're going to go into coaching where you're your your
high intellect toward xens and those and some players like that,
some some aren't. Some got strictly other other ideas after

(56:21):
after college. But a guy like him don't want to
be a coach. Sometimes he'll sit there on defensive backs
of man, I hope they don't throw this route because
I know this defense. If they do this, if God
does this, so all of a sudden you become you
become a head chase and you say, hey, all those
things I feared as defensive back, I'm gonna drip them
on offense. And then the other thing I used to sit.

(56:42):
I remember sitting in college in class and drawing up
and back then long, and everything's a two receiver offense.
You had a flanker, you had a splinting, you had
a tiring, you had two backs, split backs, right formation.

Speaker 2 (56:52):
That that was it.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
I used to sit in class in college and right
up offensive passes with four or five receivers, just you know,
crazy stuff. Never nobody ever do this stuff. I'm sure
Rich did that Fame Force. That was a couple of
years later. That if he sat there as a defensive
player and said, man, Aliud, if we ever do it,
says this and then becomes a head coach, he's his

(57:15):
own guy. He can do what he wants to. And
he says, hey, I'm letting loose all those things I
dreamed about as a player, what would hurt me on defense?
I'm gonna do them. And I think that's how he
because when I hired him, his offense was really setting
all kind of record Division three. But it was the
things that I was interested in doing that I had done,
no huddle, fast paced things I did at Alabama under

(57:35):
Homer Smith. I said I wanted to incorporate at Tulaney.
He was the perfect He was a perfect sense what
I was trying to do.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
Tommy Bowden with us here on the program for about
five more minutes talking about this Clemson Tiger football team
and his history and coaching, and so that takes me
to my next question. When you guys had a guy
like Woodrow Danceler, the a quarterback that could run the ball,
really gave you that extra hat in the box where
you kind of have a you know, a man for
man versus maybe being playing down a man with the

(58:03):
quarterback with the ball in his hand. And I think
about what Clempson's got right now with Adam Randall coach,
and it drives me insane. I don't know much about
coaching football, but I just feel like Adam Randall's versatility
to be able to come out in like a five
wide set maybe force the defense to play, you know.
And I guess these nickel hybrid guys can kind of

(58:24):
play in between both a five wide looking in just
you know, having a running back in the backfield. But
I'm just shocked that we haven't seen more versatility from
Clemson with Adam Randall as their running back. It just
seems like something you would do naturally.

Speaker 3 (58:40):
Well, you know a lot of us.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
Guy. I think his throwing skills, I don't know much
about his throwing skills, what he danced Aroun had some
really good throwing skills, and he was beyonest me. He ran.
His body type was more of a of a hell
back than a long, tall, lanky quarterback that that could
that could run so but he could throw it. And

(59:05):
what he really was on the cutting edge. That's when
the quarterback running place was just now starting to be
incorporated in the college football run, the counter running, an
off tackle play, things of that nature that that's uh
fell back. The whole wood is constructed to be as

(59:26):
is more of a tailt back running lane than a
than a quarterback. But the Woody Dasher was a guy
that could do it. I don't know much about the
guy Clempson and his pashing skills to say, Okay, when
we goes in there, is it gonna be one hundred
and ninety five percent run as you're gonna be passed
and at least from what he it was you could
you couldn't tell. He's a very effective passer and just

(59:48):
a great runner.

Speaker 2 (59:50):
And then defensively, coach, when you look at this Clemson team,
it still feels like those guys on that defensive line
aren't aren't having the impact that that people would have expected.
And I know teams and their strategies get the ball
out quick, try to neutralize those guys as much as
you can, but it is surprising because I feel like
if it was easy to neutralize all the great ones,

(01:00:10):
there wouldn't be great ones. And that I think is
the problem that I see from Clemson's defense right now.
Up front, those guys, if you're great, you should be
showing up regardless of what's thrown at you. Do you agree?

Speaker 7 (01:00:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:00:24):
When those guys dominate, you know, it really helps because
what it does. It frees up linebackers, and when those
four guys up front can make you you've got five
offensive linemen usually have four down linemens, and you've got
five block and four which is about three one on
ones and one double team. So, man, they're too good.
We're gonna have to keep it tight end in. We're
gonna have to keep it back in. And when they

(01:00:45):
do that and get maybe forced two double teams and
a single block, then you have more restrictions on offensive opportunities.
And I think that Climp's if I mistaken the seven
to seventh in the nation maybe in tow defensive score
and defense, but usually they were more dominant. The more
dominant could be up front, just like you mentioned Lawton,

(01:01:07):
then it gives you less opportunities offensively to get routes
out and put pressure on the rest of the defense
at the second and third level. And they have been
that dominance yet, and that that that that has heard
they've had some dominant fronts right now that that's not shown.

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
To be one coach, enjoy that view off the back porch,
and we will talk to you next week up on
the roof off.

Speaker 1 (01:01:33):
I'm putting it on.

Speaker 2 (01:01:36):
Tommy val take care, yes, sir, that's Tommy Baldon. All right, man,
that was awesome. So I think he misunderstood my question
about Adam Randall, and that's okay. I think he thought
I was talking about I think he may have thought
I mentioned the maybe Christopher Vezina. But anyway, I mean, look,

(01:01:58):
it is what it is. And I know sometimes his
cell phone breaks up on his end, could have been
on my end, so who knows. But either way, good
stuff there though, with Tommy bout in the day as
we get your rolling along here on a Friday afternoon
a three four five zero zero eighty six text line
phone line and get keep it a lot right here
on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and on the iHeartRadio

(01:02:21):
app Lawton Swan back with you. That was Tommy Ballen
before the break, all right. Last night in Charlotte, the
forty nine ers got knocked off by the rice Als
twenty eight to seventeen. Couple of college football games tonight,
Oklahoma State hosts Tulsa Tulsa's without their starting quarterback. Oklahoma

(01:02:41):
State is an intriguing situation to watch simply because of
the longevity of their head coach Mike Gundy and how
long he's been there after me, I'm a man, I'm.

Speaker 6 (01:03:02):
Not a kid.

Speaker 2 (01:03:04):
Yeah, he's definitely not a kid now he's been there forever.
As bad as they were a year ago getting absolutely
just blasted by Oregon two weeks ago, sixty nine to three.
This is a game they should win against Tulsa, But

(01:03:24):
then how does it go from there once they get
into Big twelve play? And will Mike Gundy make it
through the year. If you haven't been here, remember last
season they finished the year with nine goonsecutive losses, nine

(01:03:49):
and somehow they beat Arkansas, So take that for what
it's worth. Anyway, this feels like this feels like a
week slated games. Remember how we kind of felt about
Week two of the college football season. I kind of
feel the same about this one. It just doesn't have

(01:04:11):
that punch. There are, however, a couple of big games
on the docket. Number sixteen Utah hosts Number seventeen Texas
Tech at noon on Fox tomorrow. You've also obviously local,
little local flavor Clemson hosting Syracuse at noon. Then you've

(01:04:32):
also got Virginia Tech Winless hosting Walford Winless at noon
on ESPN Plus. I bring that game up one because
my dad is a terrier dog, but number two because
we've talked a lot about Virginia Tech this week, and
we did mention how close Wafford is to be in
three and zero, like Dabo Sweeney talks about how close

(01:04:55):
Clemson is to win in these games. Walford has three
losses by combined six points. Can't you can't to one
point losses. You can't hardly be closer to being undefeated
than Walford is, and yet they're winless. Also, we got
the Sunny Dike's Bowl as TCU host SMU at noon.

(01:05:15):
Kind of a big game for the ACC's resume. Obviously,
SMU a couple of weeks ago losing forty eight forty
five to Baylor in a loss that just never should
have happened and really put a blemish on the ACC.
I think SMU at one point was up twenty four
to fourteen. They led thirty eight twenty four two times

(01:05:39):
in that game. They had a fourteen point advantage and
yet lose it in double overtime. And that was a
that was a hit to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Other
games this weekend, though worth tuning in to watch kind
of get the juices flowing three point thirty on ABC,
Number eleven Oka home in Brint Vinibles. You gotta be

(01:06:01):
rooting for this guy, right They host number twenty two Auburn,
A consequential game, I would say for both teams. Auburn
obviously at this point not really tested. Oklahoma, on the
other hand, a little bit more of a test earlier

(01:06:22):
in the season with their matchup when they hosted ESPN's
College Game Day as Michigan came to town. This is
one though, that certainly Hugh Freeze needs, you know, Brent
Vinibles needs it, and the eyes of college football will
be on Norman for sure at three point thirty tomorrow
as that game gets underway on ABC. Nebraska and Michigan's

(01:06:45):
got some intrigue Get three thirty on CBS. Remember what
I told you about Nebraska the only team in the
country that has not given up a passing play over
twenty yards. Michigan, Look, we know the scandal that surrounded
that program. I don't know that anybody roots against Michigan
more at this point than I do. Whenever you have
something like that happen and you win a championship or whatever.

(01:07:07):
I'm quick to root against you for the long haul,
so I'll be rooting against Michigan for the foreseeable future,
unless there are certain circumstances where the Wolverines, by virtue
of beating somebody, would maybe enhance Clemson's chances to get
to the college football playoff or a goal. But at
this point, I'm all in with the Cornhuskers there, and

(01:07:30):
I hope they find a way to beat the Michigan
Wolverines because I think Michigan cheated to win their national championship.
I know they didn't cheat in the national championship, but
I think they cheated to get into the playoffs. And
to me, if you're cheating to get to the dance,
then that's just like cheating while you're at the dance.

(01:07:50):
At seven o'clock tomorrow night, Missouri and South Carolina face off.
That game is still a nine and a half point
spread in Missouri's favor. Sellers has been listed as questionable.
The word is that he reportedly is they are leaning

(01:08:11):
trending maybe the bear word towards him playing this weekend.
But either way, if and when we find out if
indeed he can play or will play. How does that
number move? Nine and a half point favorites are the
Missouri Tigers at home against South Carolina seven o'clock on

(01:08:32):
the ESPN. We've also got a battle in the state
of Florida. We're tuning into number four Florida, excuse me,
number four Miami hosting Florida seven point thirty down at
Miami Gardens Stadium on ABC. So those are really the
games that I'm most in tune with this weekend. There
is a super late night affair at eleven on Fox

(01:08:52):
as Southern cal the twenty fifth rate team in the country,
host Michigan State. But other than that, sort of kind
of a lightlifting, if you will, this weekend not a
not a ton to get geared up about. You're not
battling in a bunch of games, battling to watch a
bunch of games in a bunch of windows. It's a

(01:09:13):
pretty free flowing after nude if you got if you
got that honeyde list laying around, this might be a
weekend to get some honey dues knocked out, because it's
just not an overly overly appealing weekend. Hard to believe
I'm saying that just four weeks into the season, because
eight weeks ago, man, I would have loved to have

(01:09:35):
college football. There are some good games, so they are
spread out, but nothing that just jumps off of the page.
Per se. All Right, win a quick break. We'll come
back with more as we get you ready for our
prediction on Clemson and Syracuse in just a little bit
right here on Clemson Sports Talk called Fox Sports Radio
fourteen hundred and on the iHeartRadio app Clemson Sports Tal

(01:09:58):
Lawton Swan to show the Shake to south Land. So,
talking earlier with Jason Priester, I thought he made a
great point, and I think it is one that is
somehow lost on this Clemson offense at this point. The

(01:10:18):
running game. And I'm not just talking about Adam Randall.
I'm talking about just strictly being willing to run the football,
to dedicate yourself to run vertically. You're not all this
horizontal mumbo jumbo. I'm okay with eye candy, I'm okay

(01:10:42):
with running things outside of the tackles, but I want
the eye candy. And this is what I really remember
about a lot of the Tony Elliott offenses at Clemson.
A lot of the a lot of the Chad Morris
offenses at Clemson. Is that guy coming in mo given
the look of the speed sweep so that the defense

(01:11:03):
has to respect that aspect of the play and then
boom hitting them in between the tackles, or maybe you
do run a little pop pass and get the ball
out if you feel like you got numbers or leverage.
Like to me, there's no reason with the talent Clemson
has that that's not a larger aspect of this game

(01:11:25):
or of this team not to mention the ability to
do some of that. Let's take a weekend where Antonio
Williams didn't playing okay, and let's talk about a guy
like Tyler Brown coming across in motion, pretty full speed

(01:11:50):
motion here snap to k Klubnick can fake the pop
pass or pop pass if he feels like they got
the numbers there right kind of a read. Let's say
he fakes the pop pass that gets the linebacker's flowing
a little bit to the left, and then you get
a guy like Adam Randall coming downhill lead blocking for

(01:12:13):
K Clubnick, take advantage, be more creative. Garrett Riley, Like,
I know we want to pin so much of this
on K Clubnick, and I agree a lot of it
is on k Clubnick, but I am not sure that

(01:12:38):
Garrett Riley is doing the job.

Speaker 3 (01:12:42):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:12:42):
I mean, I know he's doing the job but I
don't know that he's doing the job successfully. To me,
there is a lot more offensively in Clemson's tank that
we're not seeing, And I don't know what it's gonna take.
Like does he feel like k Clubnic just mentally can't
handle all that? Like is this really the coordinator wants

(01:13:05):
to do a lot but doesn't think a quarterback can
do it. I don't think that's the case. Kid Clubnick
doesn't come across as some kind of simpleton. I mean,
I think kid Clubnick is has a a you know,
a depth to him. The quarterback spot. Now, I certainly

(01:13:28):
think kid Clubnick is pressing. I certainly think that Caid
Clubnick is trying to to to make every big play.
Every chance he gets, he's gotta get, he's gotta shake that.
Just play the game, kid, Just play the game. Don't

(01:13:49):
get so wrapped up in your you know, your your
mental spider web. But more than anything, I want to
see creativity offensively from Garrett Riley. I want to see
situations where you put the defense in conflict because personally,

(01:14:12):
I think if you do that, it makes the game
easier for k Clubnick as well. Not to mention the
little pop passes and things like that get the ball
to some of your best players while they're nearly running
full speed. And you know what's strange about Kid to me,
this is not a good look for Kay Clubnick. Quite frankly,

(01:14:33):
do you know what's strange to me about k Clubnick?
Like we watched LSU run the same little screen to
the outside three consecutive times. That ball was snapped and fired,
snap fired, snap fired, boom boom boom, no problem. Flip
it to what it looked like when clymps is running

(01:14:55):
something similar and it's Kid in this It takes forever, dude,
get the ball out. Get the ball out. It's like
Kate Clubnick thinks that the rest of the field is

(01:15:20):
playing his slow motion like he's in the matrix or something. Dude,
these guys are playing full speed. You gotta play full speed.
Kate at times looks so slow with his decision making.
Freaking spin the ball man, spin it, you know. And

(01:15:42):
here's the thing, this is what's gonna happen. And you
could see it from like a mile away, right, I
mean you could almost see this from a mile away.
With Kate Clubnick. He's gonna come out tomorrow and play
lights out, and you're going to go, where has this been?
Where has this been? And here's what I think bothers

(01:16:04):
me more than anything about it all. He's likely to
come out there and do that for two or three,
maybe even four weeks, and then all of a sudden
you get into a game where you feel like you
should cruise, and then here it is, this version reappears.

Speaker 6 (01:16:26):
I guess that's your theory.

Speaker 2 (01:16:28):
And I don't want it to be the thing, but
I'm afraid that's the case. I think k Klubnik is
more dj Ui ungla lay between his ears than he
is any of those other quarterbacks at Clemson. I think
it's as mental as anything for k Clubnick. And I

(01:16:48):
hate that because I think if we were talking about
pure talent, he's probably third on that list, but I
think the mental aspect he slightly behind. You know, if
you're ranking those top guys, he's slightly behind TODJ Boyd,
and he's ahead of DJ Okay, but not by much.

(01:17:11):
And here's what you really don't want to do. I
know you booed DJ out of town. Basically we all did.

Speaker 3 (01:17:19):
Go.

Speaker 2 (01:17:19):
Look at DJ's record at Clemson compared to Cage's record
at Clemson. That will make you feel a little sick
to the stomach. Final segment, Our prediction next, what have
you done for me lately?

Speaker 6 (01:17:34):
It's a fair question. Just don't lose sight of the
bigger picture. Don't forget history. Looky for us at Clemson.
The answer to the questions what have you done for
me lately?

Speaker 4 (01:17:49):
And what have you done? Always are the same.

Speaker 6 (01:17:57):
We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:44):
Final segment on a Friday afternoon, Clemson Sports Talk. Our
prediction coming up eight zero three four five O zero
zero eighty six text line, phone line, And uh sorry
if I didn't get to any of your texts today,
My bad. I got a little ranty, got a little

(01:19:05):
RANTI ranty. All right, well here goes nothing. You know,
this team, this team is an enigma wrapped up in
a riddle for me at this point, Like I say,

(01:19:28):
they could come out and just blitz Syracuse. I mean,
you just it feels like it's in there somewhere. It's
like when I guess Moulin or something's looking in the mirror.
Who is that girl? I see like staring straight backet

(01:19:51):
be like, when will my reflection show who I am inside? Baby?
That's what I'm talking about. When will my reflec e show?
I think those are the words who I am inside?
Because so far that reflection is not of what I

(01:20:12):
think we all thought. Now I'm gonna say this, I
think collectively the national media missed it on Clemson, and
I think tragically I was influenced, and so too were
my counterparts that cover the Tigers. I think we were

(01:20:33):
all influenced in a bad way. I hate it, but
I think it's true. But here's what I am almost
certain of. This team is still collectively better than I
think all of the teams remaining on their schedule save

(01:20:58):
for probably Florida State and maybe South Carolina, and probably
both of those teams at this point the way Clempsones played.
But I'll say this, I think if Clemson plays to
the level where they should play, there's probably not a
team in front of him that they still shouldn't beat.
You know, the problem is, though, in the rear view,
you know what you got out there? Three eggs laid

(01:21:25):
three of them. I mean Clemson is doing more work
than Eggland's best in terms of laying eggs this year.
It is atrocious, embarrassing. The coaching ridiculously poor, and I

(01:21:46):
do I have a lot of concerns with Garrett Riley,
Like I don't know if those glasses then he wears
those sunglasses are prescription lenses or not. But man, I'll
tell you what he needs to get that vision check
because if he's reading that place sheet, it ain't twenty twenty.
Good gracious. I'm just stunned at what we've seen from

(01:22:12):
this Clemson team in terms of its just the effort defensively,
and what I fear more than anything is these guys
checking out. This is the game, man, this is the game.
This is that moment where we're at the hotel and
my wife's like, well, we gotta be out by eleven,
you know. I'm like, it doesn't matter if we walk

(01:22:34):
out here to eleven twenty, Like nobody at the front
desk is coming. We're fine, we can hang in this room.
You know, we got a soccer match at twelve thirty.
But my wife wants to get out of the room
at eleven cause that's the rule. I'm like, they're not
gonna bill us. We turn in all the stuff. We'll
just chill right here for a minute. We were quote

(01:22:54):
packing the car. Well, this is it for Clemson. It's
check out time. You either go out there and deliver
this weekend or I'm afraid these dudes might check out
on your debo. You get beat in this game, and
you think eight would Tommy Balden was bad three and three.

(01:23:17):
That eight team did not have expectations of the national championship.
Maybe it was kind of muttered, but it wasn't what
it is now with the college football playoff, you have
no margin for er, no room, no games that you
can lose. You legitimately have to win out and if
you lose this game, I mean unless these dudes decide

(01:23:40):
they're coming back, And that might be the scarier prospect
of all this as we get a little further in
the season talking about this group that may be coming back,
or who's coming back, or what's left in the cupboard.
Old mother Hubbard wouldn't like what's in this cupboard. I
got a bad feeling about the future right now if

(01:24:00):
I'm watching what's supposed to be greatness delivered dud after
doun after dud, so duds are done. Tigers get it
right this weekend. Somehow, someway, Clemson wins it. It's hard
for me to press this thing to thirty one, but

(01:24:22):
I'm gonna do it anyway. Clemson beat Syracuse thirty one
seventeen this weekend in Death Valley. If not, might be
checkout Tom Mentally for a ton of these guys. Thirty
one seventeen. Tigers win it. We'll talk to you Monday.
Until then, always, I'll take care now, Andy, Go Tigers