Roaring Back!
Hot seat? What hot seat?
“Dabo” Swinney certainly isn’t feeling it anymore …
A month ago, it appeared that Clemson University’s 2009 football season was on the brink of imploding, with Swinney coming off of an embarrassing loss to Maryland and facing some of the same internal issues that doomed his predecessor, Tommy Bowden, a year ago.
Since then, the Tigers have reeled off four impressive wins – including a thrashing of Wake Forest, a clutch road victory over then No. 10 Miami and Saturday night’s impressive 40-24 win over Florida State.
Trailing the Seminoles by a field goal in the fourth quarter, Clemson exploded for nineteen unanswered points in the game’s final nine minutes – sealing a fourth consecutive victory and putting the Tigers in the driver’s seat for the ACC’s Atlantic Division title.
It was also a night of redemption for Clemson’s all-everything Senior running back, CJ Spiller.
After being viewed as an afterthought in the race for college football’s top individual honor for much of the year, Spiller showed Heisman form Saturday, rushing for a career-high 165 yards and a touchdown and catching three passes for another 68 yards and a touchdown.
Spiller had 312 all-purpose yards – breaking a record he set two weeks ago against Miami.
Freshman quarterback Kyle Parker, meanwhile, threw for 242 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
With two ACC games left on its schedule, Clemson controls its own destiny. Beat N.C. State next week and Virginia on Nov. 21 and the Tigers will punch their ticket to the ACC championship game in Tampa, Florida.
(click on the thumbnails below for larger images)
Pics: Travis Bell, Sideline Carolina
Comments
By Liberty For Me on November 8th, 2009 at 9:31 am
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ….. All Crap Conference…Good thing they dont play in the SEC!!
By CNSYD on November 8th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Wait! This can’t be. Dabo is just a failed salesman. Spurrier is a genius. Clemson plays in a pansy league. The ACC is equivalent to Division II. Spiller couldn’t start on a SEC team. How do I know all this? I read it from reader’s comments on FITSNEWS, The State web site and Cockytalk.com. So it must be true.
By CNSYD on November 8th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Liberty For Me, Clemson plays a SEC team at the end of every year. How has that been working out?
By Steve Jr on November 8th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Clemson showed heart, desire and pride to come back from an 11 point deficit to win going away. Too bad we do not see any of those qualities in Columbia.
By Steve V on November 8th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
As a Carolina fan, it pains me to say that we won’t win another game for the rest of the year. Sure, we have a young team with great potential, but if you load potential in one hand and shit in the other hand, which one fills up fastest? Here comes another season ending skid.
By Liberty For Me on November 8th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
CNSYD….beating the basement dweller does not prove much(sorry gamecocks)
Beside Vanderbilt..no ACC team could touch any other SEC team on a good day.
By Liberty For Me on November 8th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
OHH I forgot…SEC 25 championships – ACC 3
By Law on November 9th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
‘Ignorance’ For Me…who won one of those 3 National Championships? Oh yeah…I remember.
It amazes me that Gamecock fans so heavily use the fact that they are the doormat of the SEC to validate their otherwise worthless existence as a football program. Maybe USC should have stuck with the Metro Conference/Independent set up.
By Andrew on November 9th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Liberty For Me:
64-37-4
What do you think that proves?
By CNSYD on November 9th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Liberty for me, in order for you to come up with 25 championships you have to use the nebulous ones that Alabama claims. Ony those awarded by the AP, UPI or the BCS count and even then there are eras of apples and oranges when the admittance and scholarship rules were not standard. I guess you have forgotten that UK, Miss St, etc. are members of the SEC and would not exactly overwhelm most ACC teams. Say what you will but USC is a member of the SEC whether they are first or last is not the fault of Clemson. The only measure we have is head to head.
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' on November 9th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Congrats, Sic!
By Liberty For Me on November 9th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
My original point had nothing to do with USC…I am a Florida fan.My point is Miami is a cake walk..just like Florida State…
So be happy Clemson fans to beat up on USC…you could have to play Florida every year.Tebow could beat you by himself blindfoled
By K Trane on November 9th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Woot go Clemson.
Georgia Tech has beat Miss. State (SEC) and Vanderbilt (SEC). They will likely beat Georgia (SEC).
Clemson will likely beat South Carolina (SEC).
Miami beat Oklahoma (Big 12).
Florida State beat #7 BYU (MWC).
Alabama beat Virginia Tech but it was close.
ACC is not a joke conference. In fact, it’s one of the best football conferences in the nation. Granted SEC teams usually have more ranked teams than any other conference, ACC isn’t a joke.
By CNSYD on November 9th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Liberty for me, last I checked I 95 still goes south. So brush up on your Spanish and Yiddish and go back there. BTW what school does the latest SEC player to be suspended and the head coach to be fined come from?