Sports

“Bark” And Bite

CLEMSON’S OFFENSIVE LINE MUST FIND A WAY TO STOP MINGO AND MONTGOMERY For a long time we thought Georgia safety Baccari Rambo had the coolest name in all of college football.  Now we know that distinction belongs to Louisiana State University’s junior defensive end Barkevious Mingo. You read that right…

CLEMSON’S OFFENSIVE LINE MUST FIND A WAY TO STOP MINGO AND MONTGOMERY

For a long time we thought Georgia safety Baccari Rambo had the coolest name in all of college football.  Now we know that distinction belongs to Louisiana State University’s junior defensive end Barkevious Mingo.

You read that right … dude’s name is “Barkevious.”

Seriously … how cool is that?  Not only does he have an awesome  name,”Barkevious” – a 6-foot-5, 240-pound native of West Monroe, Louisiana – is one of two LSU defensive linemen projected to be a top fifteen pick in the 2013 NFL draft.  The other?  Fellow junior Sam Montgomery – a 6-foot-5, 260 pound native of Greenwood, S.C.

Yeah … we expect “All-American” quarterback Tajh Boyd to get to know both players exceedingly well on New Year’s Eve when his Clemson Tigers play LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia.  In fact given the atrocious performance turned in by Clemson’s offensive line against the University of South Carolina defense last month, Mingo and Montgomery are no doubt salivating at the chance to add some choice clips to their pre-draft highlight reel.

Adept at speed rushing (i.e. blazing past offensive linemen) and bull rushing (i.e. running over them), Mingo and Montgomery represent the heart and soul of LSU’s elite defensive unit – which ranks among the nation’s Top Ten in several categories.  In fact their pass-rushing prowess is one reason LSU is able to commit so many players to defending against the pass – which will come in handy against the aerially inclined Clemson offense.

It boils down to this: If Clemson’s offensive line can contain Mingo and Montgomery, then head coach Dabo Swinney’s team has a chance to win this game and take a major step forward as a program.  If not, it’s going to be another long night for Clemson fans.

Boyd has put up stratospheric numbers over the last two seasons under Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris – amassing 7,378 yards and 67 touchdowns through the air.  He’s also rushed for 710 yards and another fourteen touchdowns.  Of course most of those gaudy statistics have come against inferior ACC opponents like Boston College, Duke, Maryland and N.C. State.

Clemson’s offense has yet to demonstrate that it can compete against an elite SEC defense … and we don’t expect them to turn in a “statement game” against the likes of Mingo and Montgomery.

FITS’ founding editor Will Folks – who has made some excellent predictions this year (including this one) – will be issuing his “#FITSPick” for the Chick-fil-A Bowl shortly before kickoff on New Year’s Eve.  Until then, we invite our readers to weigh in by posting their picks in our comments section below …

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30 comments

Chuck December 27, 2012 at 4:04 pm

Rambo is automatically DQ’d since he changed his last name from Fudge.

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VoiceofReason December 27, 2012 at 4:21 pm

Remember I like to smell my own farts

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Twinkie Ho-Ho December 27, 2012 at 6:00 pm

Daboo said losing to LSU won’t affect Clemson’s run for the National Championship next year.

No shit.

He said it to Bart Wright of the Greenville News.

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clemsux December 27, 2012 at 6:14 pm

but when they lose to UGA and the Gamecocks for the 5th straight time it will.

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CNSYD December 27, 2012 at 8:20 pm

Twinkie Ho-Ho,

Please direct me to the Wright article that contains your alleged quote. It ain’t in today’s.

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this may help December 28, 2012 at 10:30 am

The article actually reads
“Clemson coach Dabo Swinney acknowledges how much perception and reputation affect the national title race. However, he is not as convinced that Saturday night’s outcome will affect his team’s chances next season.

To his point, if one victory could negate Clemson’s reputation for faltering against elite competition, then Clemson could rectify a loss to LSU with a win over Georgia in the 2013 season opener.”

It’s not actually quoted with Dabo saying it, it says he just acknowledges that it was said. Then it says and implies Dabo said it later by saying “Dabo isn’t as convinced….. “Meaning it is claiming Dabo said it or something along those lines to the writer. Now it is a blog so we all know in here that doesn’t mean it is true. Everyone can and will interpret what they want form that statement to fit their sides argument

Since it will be moderated if I link it, the article is from 12/24 on Tigersnow.com by Bart Wright. Headline “Bowl win could boost 2013 Tigers”

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CNSYD December 28, 2012 at 11:21 am

this may help,

I read that in the original article and came away with a different interpretation than Twinkie Ho-Ho. The discussion was about perception and reputation in regard to polls. USC was rated 1 at season’s start based on perception. Notre Dame was not rated at all. Reality now is a lot different. That is ALL the discussion was about.

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this may help December 28, 2012 at 11:38 am

I was merely showing where it was written as you asked and clearly put in there that “Everyone can and will interpret what they want form that statement to fit their sides argument” you have clearly given yours as Twinkie gave his.

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clemsux December 28, 2012 at 1:25 pm

So it appears that some “perception and reputations” were pretty spot on. South Carolina was preseason in both polls @ #9 and finished #10 in BCS while Clemsux was #14 in both polls and finished #14 in BCS. Clemson’s perception and reputation is a good team in a crap conference and like Boise St. will never be in line for a National Champion caliber team while still playing the “power houses” in the ACC. You can try to say the SEC has some too, which they do, but the SEC also has 6 schools ahead of the ACC’s best and USC played 3 of them so you would lose that argument there. While if they lose this game it won’t prove to hurt Clemson’s national championship dreams next year, mainly because in the ACC there really won’t be many who think they should have any, it will suggest to everyone that after losing to the Gamecocks again, and then losing to LSU that if they can’t beat UGA they have no business even trying to suggest they are as good as a team from the SEC until they can finally beat one that matters. That pretty much seems to be what the perception and reputation is all about for Clemson.

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BigT December 28, 2012 at 8:30 am

Dabo, and Clemson, hvae set it up to DEFINE their Program on the LSU game…

Win: And they’ll proclaim themselves as the best team in the history of college football.

LOSE: And they are DONE as a program. They are measuring their Total Manhood on the Peach Bowl. A LOSS will define Clemson as a broken and FAILED program, forever…

You can blame Dabo for the Stupidity of painting hmslelf into that corner…

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A Humble Chef December 28, 2012 at 10:12 am

It’s not going to be close. Mettenberger or whatever his name is has really dialed in the last half of the season. He moved the ball well against Bama, so I don’t see how you can put much faith in the Clemson D to stop them. Ford, Hilliard, Blue, Hill, ect, ect are going to wear those boys down to the bone by the time we get into the 3rd quarter. I predict a brutal 4th quarter. Clemson only has one shot to win and that’s if they can score early and often. If they aren’t leading at halftime they can forget it, Miles will have those boys in the zone going into the second half.

I hate to admit it but T has one of his rare good points up there today….or should I say down there in Momma’s basement. Putting all Carolina allegiances aside, you still can’t deny that Dabo has a big mouth and has done very little to actually further his program. I give a free pass to Venerables this year because he had little to work with and the first year is almost always a tough one for a new coordinator, but Morris isn’t getting the job done in big games and he has no excuse. Carolina faced Georgia, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Arky, and an effective triple option Wofford leading up to the game, making Clemson just another game and nothing special to prepare for. Even the latter three teams with their problems are no pushover by any means. Who did Clemson play again? That Wake Forest, Duke, Maryland stretch you had there must have been torture! Throw a NC State at the end and I bet it was tough to gameplan for the Cocks, you hadn’t seen anything close to a complete team since your first loss two months ago.

I’m no homer and I’ll absolutely give credit where it’s due. Boyd, Watkins, and Hopkins are all superb players that Morris can’t seem to exploit a good defense with. Of course I say superb and then they get smothered by first year starting corners (and in Boyd’s case a 19yr old sophomore DE) for almost an entire major rivalry game. Those boys didn’t look ready at all in that game, to the point I felt a little sorry for them. You can obviously tell that there is a lot of talent at Clemson, they just can’t do anything with it! If I was a Clemson fan, I would be screaming to fire Dabo.

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mph December 28, 2012 at 10:39 am

LSU will pummel the Taters.

Dabo is a headcase.

The Clemson fans will still be talking National Championships and recounting history by February.

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Jim Sweet December 28, 2012 at 11:22 am

I never heard of any of the lsu players and I know them all. Their usualy good Ill give them that but this is a noname team compared to all our talent. Clemson wins this one by 17.

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sweet jim December 28, 2012 at 11:40 am

yabba dabba doodoo dabo gunna luz to dem real tigers by 21.

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super sweet reasoning December 28, 2012 at 11:42 am

i still think Jim Sweet and VoiceofReason are sleeping together.

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mph December 28, 2012 at 2:04 pm

Jim Sweet,

What was your prediction for the USC game? Keep in mind we had a fourth string RB and second string QB playing.

Clemson is going to get hammered. I honestly think it will get ugly.

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Jeffy01 December 28, 2012 at 11:28 pm

Clempsun is in the running for the national championship every year recently. Until they play South Carolina….or West Virginia.

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Brian December 29, 2012 at 1:11 pm

Who moved Morrison’s body from his mistress’s bed after his heart exploded from cocaine abuse? Major cover up.

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scsince60 December 31, 2012 at 1:36 am

Yawn….Who cares? Our thugs are beating the ever living shit out of your thugs. Hold that tiger!

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mph December 30, 2012 at 8:52 am

Brian, that’s interesting. Did they reanimate his corpse to play racquetball, ala Weekend at Bernies? He just finished playing and was in showers at the University when he had a massive coronary.

Man, you’re dumb.

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Jeffy01 December 30, 2012 at 10:07 am

Only color you can pick up trash in and then go straight to a “football” game. ( I wouldn’t call the ACC game actual football…but it’s similar to the real sport played by the big national conferences)

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Brian December 30, 2012 at 10:24 am

Yes, I am saying his body was moved.

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mph December 30, 2012 at 10:28 am

Ha. So they pulled his body from a woman’s bed, found several people to say that he was playing racquetball in a very public place and then deposited his corpse in the middle of the day in a shower?

Man, that’s too funny.

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Clemsux December 30, 2012 at 11:12 am

Brian is an idiot. But when you are a fan of a team that has players that beat up women multiple times, what else would you expect?

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mph December 30, 2012 at 11:39 am

Can you imagine the logistics of hauling a corpse from a home – wrapped in a carpet? – and then toting it into the gym in the middle of the day with hundreds of people milling about and then dumping it into a shower? Then you have to get everyone to say they saw him playing racquetball, too. Even better, the president of the college and athletic director must have a gang of henchmen at their disposal to pull it off, like Wolf in Pulp Fiction. And rather than taking the body back to his home, they decided to take him to a public shower at the university.

Hilarious.

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Brian December 30, 2012 at 11:44 am

Wasnt middle of the day. Sc already was under microscope with steroid scandal and couldn’t afford for another scandal to break.

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Clemsux December 30, 2012 at 5:37 pm

must have been Danny Ford that carried him as he broke every other law or rule while at clemson too.

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scsince60 December 31, 2012 at 1:38 am

See above…. Would you trade our thugs for your thugs? That’s what I thought. Four in a row. Yawn. Oh, HOLD THAT TIGER!!

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scsince60 December 31, 2012 at 1:42 am

BTW, Clem might want to look into a steroid connection again. Those boys are looking like they might have ED.

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mph December 31, 2012 at 10:33 am

Oh, you’re right, Brian. He was hauled to the hospital at 8:44 and was still alive when he arrived. I guess they decided to take him to the gym shower teetering on the edge of death. Oh, then the university got his mistress, students, members of the athletic department, the AD, President of the University and the conspirators that hauled him to the showers to talk Providence Hospital into faking the true cause of the death.

This conspiracy runs deep.

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