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Monday, September 1, 2008
Thanks to Bama, Georgia’s schedule just got tougher
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five things we now know after the first weekend of the 2008 college football season.
1. Thanks to Bama, Georgia’s tough schedule just got even tougher: After back to back road games at South Carolina and Arizona State on Sept. 13 and Sept. 20, Georgia thought it would have a tough, but manageable, game against Alabama at home on Sept. 27. But with the way the Crimson Tide manhandled Clemson on Saturday night, it looks like the Bulldogs will have another 15-round fight on their hands when the Tide rolls into Sanford Stadium. Alabama should be 4-0, coming off a road win at undermanned Arkansas the week before. Alabama will be very motivated after losing to the Bulldogs in overtime last year in Tuscaloosa. After two draining road games, will Georgia have enough juice to take on the Tide in Athens?
2. Clemson’s players should be embarrassed: It’s easy to blame the coaches when a team gets beat the way the Tigers got beat (34-10). And Tommy Bowden and his staff deserve some criticism. Clemson was not ready to play at the level that Alabama played Saturday night at the Georgia Dome. The head coach is responsible for getting his team ready to play and at times Clemson looked like they were going through the motions.
But the Clemson players should be taking a hard look in the mirror this morning. Not to get too dramatic here, but Alabama just basically came out and challenged their manhood in the opening possession of the game. Good teams that aspire to greatness know how to respond. Clemson did not. Clemson backed down.
Having said all that….
3. Clemson can still win the ACC championship: Two reasons: 1) Clemson is not as bad as Alabama made them look on Saturday and 2) it is clear after the first weekend that the ACC is down. Virginia Tech lost to East Carolina. Virginia got embarrassed by Southern Cal. N.C. State was shut out by South Carolina (34-0), a team still having quarterback issues. North Carolina had to struggle to beat McNeese State. Maryland barely got past Delaware, 14-7.
Clemson has too many weapons and too much overall talent to fall apart. The Tigers have the next four games at home: The Citadel, N.C. State, South Carolina State, and Maryland. Clemson should win them all. But then comes the critical Oct. 9 Thursday night game at Wake Forest, which won impressively at Baylor (41-13) last Thursday.
Here’s a game to watch this week if you’re an ACC fan. Wake Forest hosts Ole Miss in Winston-Salem. If the Deacons win that game, they can win the ACC championship.
4. Georgia Tech should be feeling much better about things today: Granted, Jacksonville State didn’t provide the stiffest test, but Josh Nesbitt executed the offense better than I thought he would in a opening game. The Yellow Jackets are on the way to establishing a clear identity of what kind of team they want to be. I saw enough last Thursday night to believe that Georgia Tech will be competitive in every game it plays this season and, at some point, the Yellow Jackets will beat someone they are not supposed to beat.
And it is now clear that there is no team that is going to physically dominate the ACC. In games that come down to coaching and execution, Georgia Tech will be very competitive.
5. The Chick-fil-A College Kickoff was a huge success: The game may have been one-sided, but the idea of putting together a high-profile event to kick off the season is going to stick. At kickoff the atmosphere was electric. No other sport, other than NASCAR with the Daytona 500, can start its season with so much energy.
ESPN has bought in and will bring College Game Day as long as the match-up is strong. Because of the exposure in prime time, teams in the future will be falling all over themselves to get in this game.
I know some Georgia and Georgia Tech fans have expressed concern to me about having such a high-profile game right in their back yard. I say embrace it. If I’m Tech, I play on the Thursday night before, like the Jackets this year. You’ll pick up some fans who want to come in a day early and make it a long weekend. If I’m Tech, with the excitement that is coming along with coach Paul Johnson, I’m going to play in this game if I get a chance.
Shoot. Let’s think outside the box. What about Georgia and Georgia Tech playing EACH OTHER to kick off the season at the Georgia Dome? Sure, it would be different. But wouldn’t it be fun?
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