Thursday July 01, 2010

Hokie High

Hokie High
All of the Clemson athletic teams have now completed their seasons so tomorrow on my radio show we have decided to kick off of preview of the upcoming college football season. I thought I might make a few points concerning ACC football in today’s blog to get us started a day early.

Clemson’s senior class has the fourth best record in the ACC entering their senior campaigns. Below are the record’s of each school’s senior class:
Virginia Tech 31-10
Boston College 28-13
Georgia Tech 27-13
Clemson 25-15
Florida State 23-16
Wake Forest 22-16
Miami 21-17
North Carolina 20-18
Virginia 17-20
Maryland 16-22
NC State 16-21
Duke 10-26

I found it interesting that Virginia Tech’s senior class has more 10 win seasons than the rest of the league’s senior classes combined. Tech has three while Boston College and Georgia Tech’s senior classes have one each.

Last year I wrote about how Virginia Tech looked like some of Danny Ford’s Clemson’s teams in that they are fundamentally sound, they run the football, they play great defense, they create turnovers and they are incredibly difficult to beat at home.

Let’s look at stats to back up those three back up those claims:

Average rushing yards per game last season
Georgia Tech 295
Virginia Tech 208
Clemson 170
Florida State 150
Miami 138
Boston College 137
North Carolina 133
Wake Forest 132
NC State 121
Maryland 106
Virginia 99
Duke 64

Points per Game Allowed last season
Virginia Tech 15.6
North Carolina 17.1
Boston College 19.8
Clemson 20.4
Miami 22.2
Georgia Tech 24.8
Virginia 26.2
Wake Forest 26.3
Duke 28.3
Florida State 30.0
Maryland 30.3
NC State 31.2

Turnover Margin last season
Virginia Tech +9
Georgia Tech +8
Clemson +6
North Carolina +2
Duke +2
Florida State +1
Miami 0
Virginia 0
Boston College -3
Wake Forest -4
Maryland -6
NC State -11

Home Record the last three years
Virginia Tech 17-2
Boston College 17-4
Clemson 16-5
Georgia Tech 15-5
North Carolina 14-6
Wake Forest 14-6
Miami 13-6
Florida State 12-7
NC State 12-10
Maryland 11-9
Virginia 10-10
Duke 5-13

I may have mentioned this last year but instead of looking back at Clemson’s past as our model, we could look in Blacksburg, VA. Virginia Tech has the kind of program I think we once had and the kind of program I would like for us to have in the future.

The Hokies are 99-32 over the last ten years. They have won ten or more games eight times in the last ten years. Tech is known for the special team’s success. They play hard-nosed football and their home atmosphere is incredible. Virginia Tech has a football identity.

In my opinion, all of these attributes can be obtained here at Clemson. In fact, I think Dabo has done a good job of creating some of those things in his short time here at Clemson. The Tigers are tougher. They went from 112 rushing yards per game in 2008 to 170 last season. The Tigers improved their turnover margin from -1 in 2008 to +6 last season. Dabo’s teams are 8-2 at home with the only losses coming in that first short week against Georgia Tech in 2008 and last year to TCU. The defense and special teams will need to improve to take the next step but he has laid a foundation. In my opinion, we look more like Virginia Tech today than we did just before he took over.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, The Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Richard Crawford, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, Steve Williams Jr, Steve Williams III, Kim Thomas, Reid Thomas, Sam Thomas, Linda Wiggs, Emily Claire Young, Dr. Wallace Honeycutt, Stacy Fowler, Kitty Bowers.