TIGERS WILL PULL UPSET IN ATHENS
The 2014 season isn’t off to the best start when it comes to our #FITSPicks. After displaying an uncanny knack for calling games in 2012, our crystal ball got a bit cloudy last year – and this year we were way off with our first pick of the new season.
South Carolina 38 Texas A&M 22? Ummmm … yeah. Subtract ten from the former, add thirty to the latter and you’ll get the end result.
So yeah … we only missed the outcome of that game by forty points …
Anyway, last year we went out on a limb and picked Georgia to win on the road against Clemson. That pick didn’t work out so well either, as Clemson dispatched the Dawgs 38-35 in Death Valley. Not only that, they embarked on an SEC-style 12-play, 87-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
This year we’re picking Clemson to win … which is seen by many as a crazy pick given that this year’s game is between the hedges in Athens, Georgia (and given that the Bulldogs boast arguably the best player in the country in running back Todd Gurley).
Of course it’s not just that … there are any number of reasons why picking Clemson to win is crazy.
“52 weeks ago, Tajh Boyd played what was at the time the best game of his life … Gurley was injured for about 11 minutes of game action in the first half … Georgia had a 1st-and-goal on the Clemson 5 late in the third quarter, and ended up muffing a field-goal hold … Sammy Watkins had a Tiger Paw on his helmet … the game was in Death Valley … and yet, Clemson won by a mere three points. Anyone who picks Clemson to win the rematch isn’t necessarily nuts, but they’re going out on a limb, period,” wrote columnist Seth Emerson of The (Macon, Georgia) Ledger-Enquirer .
He’s absolutely right … and those are all good reasons why the odds makers have installed Georgia as a 7.5-point favorite at home.
Teams don’t lose talent like Watkins (who caught six passes for 127 yards and a touchdown against the Bulldogs) and not miss a beat.
So … why do we think they’re wrong?
As ESPN’s Andrea Adelson notes, Georgia has a history of failing to fulfill expectations under Mark Richt – who is probably the most overrated college football coach in America.
“The Bulldogs have almost become synonymous with unmet expectations,” Adelson observed this week. “Since 2008, they have started every season ranked in the preseason AP Top 25. Three times, they ended the season unranked. Only once did they finish the season ranked higher than where they started. They have lost three or more games five times over that six-year span.”
More to the point, Adelson points out that this year’s Clemson team is lead by it’s defense – which has evolved into one of the nation’s elite units in the two years since West Virginia throttled it in record-breaking fashion in the 2012 Orange Bowl.
“Think about it,” Adelson added. “If you had to open the season on the road against a Top 25 team, would you want a stronger offense or stronger defense? I would want a stronger defense.”
Yup …
Of course we think Clemson’s offense will run efficiently – if not explosively – under new starter Cole Stoudt. And as our founding editor has predicted over on his Twitter feed, look for true freshman DeShaun Watson to make an impact on offense as well.
Clemson also has something to prove: The proverbial chip on their shoulders. With the exception of their arch-rival South Carolina, they’ve had the SEC’s number over the last few years – yet they still get no respect?
Look for that to change Saturday in Athens …
RAPID REACTION
@fitsnews damn it, Will. Now we’re doomed for sure. #thanksfornothing
— Robert M. Cook II (@RMCookII) August 30, 2014
38 comments
Georgia will win the East. Georgia 42 Clemson 17
Well done…
******2014 UPSET SPECIAL #2*******
Clemson 49
UGA 27
*Go big or go home!*
I like!
FITS picks Clemson…Uh Oh…unless Clemson cheats, like Obama, don’t expect a win.
9 of 9 of SC’s Constitutional officers are Republican, and the state’s House and Senate are controlled by the GOP. All the while FITS has been picking against the Republicans, telling us how well the democrats’ chances are…He’s told us Ravenel has 15% of the vote, and Ervin is a Republican….
FITS picked USC to run away with it, versus A&M…Truth: About the only SURE thing is: If FITS says it…it’s most likely Bull S#!*….
It’s time to play FITSNews readers’ favorite game. TANGO. Every time our illustrious poster BigT/GrandTango/SC Political Digest posts mark the correct spots on your card. Get your card at the link below. New cards available weekly.
http://s29.postimg.org/j11n6ip6v/Tango_Bingo.png
Coming soon Wheel of Bullshit, SandiJeopardy and FiTS Feud
But you do admit, I’m right. Or are you that stupid?
“9 of 9 of SC’s Constitutional officers are Republican, and the state’s House and Senate are controlled by the GOP.”
I think I see your problem, SC.
SC’s unemployment rate – which was higher than the national avg. four years ago- is now lower than the national rate. You see that as a problem, Dumb@$$????
Yeah, when people take themselves out of the workforce…
Also: — Construction, down 2,500 jobs for a total of 22,000 fewer than a year ago.
— Manufacturing, down 1,200 jobs, 9,500 fewer than a year ago. Manufacturing jobs were lost in 12 of the last 13 months.
— Trade, transportation, utilities, up 1,100 because of the addition of mostly retail jobs but still down 11,200 from a year ago.
— Professional and business services, down 4,200, for a total of 9,000 from a year ago. Most of the jobs were temporary help.
— Leisure and hospitality, down 7,800 for the month and 6,400 for the year. The recent surge is attributed in large part to a decline in restaurant business.
I guess everybody’s now working part time at Wal-Mart and McDonalds. Speaking of those Wal-Mart jobs Nikki promised…where they at, Hoss?
Again: Obama is doing the same thing to manipulate his numbers, in addition to just plain out lying. But she is doing better than Obama…yet the media attacks her, and plays like a gaggle of ignorant MoFos, covering for Obama…
Can’t have it both ways Dumb@$$…she is either beating Obama, or numbers don’t matter. If Obama could not lie about jobs..he’s an even bigger disaster, than we already know he is…
IOW: It’s Obama’s world, she is taking it, and slapping the S#!* out of you w/ your own lies….
Amen
BINGO! What did I win? …Emily was cheating using her witchcraft…which is basically a Magic Eight Ball, but rules are rules…
Even money you want to win TBG’s second place price. Then again, that is probably getting boring for you. Shoot for first prize!
Georgia by 21.
Pretty damn good job, dude.
Maybe Will should get Tomocchio to do his football picks for now on. Will hasn’t been close.
TBG thinks a season long FITSNEWS PICK ‘EM CONTEST would be a blast.
Winner could receive a Charleston Harbor cruise with T-Rav, hookers, blow and CATO Inst. CDs.
Second place: Dinner at Tango’s mom’s. Ramen noodles, meth and Bud Lite, culminating with body shots of off brand tequila on GT’s mom…
Third Place: Signed, first edition of Will’s book.
The Magik Round Dice took a ride around the Top Paw Bone Dog Bowl (stainless steel) and barked out—–
Clemson……….33 (41 — my gut call)
Georgia………..26 (45 — my gut call)
—————–
Next time…go with your gut, Leroy Jethro.
“Winner could receive . . . .”
The prizes you mentioned for the PICK ‘EM contest might lead folks to not want to place first, second or third . . . are there any lower tier prizes that folks could take a look at?
Will’s picking Clemson by three? Yikes! Considering his SC pick, I’m betting the house on UGA and the Dawgs…
Fits is going further out on the limb, predicting overtime (OT). You know what GrandTango’s going say if the score is CLEMSON 33 GEORGIA 30 in regulation.
“If FITS says it…it’s most likely Bull S#!*….”
In the pic, it doesn’t look like the red ACC hat guy is very happy. Must be a Maryland fan.
Connor Shaw and Taj Boyd have been cut from the Browns and Jets, respectively.
Doesn’t the world have enough Sociology/General Studies graduates? Let’s see some of these free riders get an Accounting, Engineering, or any hard science degree rather than some buillshit degree that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
Wrong– again! UGA 45, Clemson 21. Go Dawgs!!!
At least both SC teams lost by the same margin, so maybe that will tamp down at least some of the crazy, mouthbreathing, hyperventilation types with the loud “who sucks worse” arguments.
Suffice it to say,
THEY BOTH SUCK!
Two mediocre teams that will make no impact nationally this year.
Oh well back to what a sonuvabitch Lindsay Graham is!
Great screen name, by the way…
You’re diagnosis is probably correct, unfortunately. You dog LG and I’ll keep covering the TR show, then after 4 NOV we’ll give it it a rest for a bit and start all over again.
…the crazy, mouthbreathing, hyperventilation types…
Chew talkin’ bow me, Mang?
Nunca, mi amigo! You’ve always been very tasteful in your crazy, mouthbreathing, hyperventilation! ;-)
Gracias.
Thanks FITS. You do not fail us in your erroneous ways. And the more wrong you are, it just makes those who worship you, that much more faithful. That is the kind they are. (:
FITS:
Boy were you WAY off!!!!!!!
Boy were you WAY off!!!!!!!
FITS was looking good after three quarters.
Then the wheels fell off.
You shouldn’t make predictions after partying with T Rav.