What an absolute divine day in Tiger Town. Perfect football weather, 50ish degrees with a slight wind and radiant sunshine. The stage was set, a good Wake Forest team visiting The Valley with a noon kickoff time. Last home game of the season, Senior Day, playing in front of 80,000 Tiger Fans.
The Tigers do what it takes to win the game even though our defense looked overpowered until the 4th quarter when they stopped WF when it was an absolute must. Wake had a very accurate QB who gave us fits the entire game. His uniform was pristine and clean throughout the game which is a great indicator that we never touched him. Can we say BLITZ? I don't understand the play off the line of scrimmage, way too many holes for efficient running backs to run through. Way too much yardage given up on first down. I could go on and on...
Tajh started the game looking very rusty and inaccurate. He threw 2 interceptions, but in reality WF dropped at least 3 more. Very lucky here.
Andre Ellington looked healthy again and finished with 99 yards rushing. Sammy Watkins surpassed the 1000 reception yards mark, making him one of four players to ever accomplish that. Oh, did I mention he is a freshman? Sammy went out of the game in the 3rd quarter with a shoulder strain. So happy this is not serious.
With Sammy sidelined, Dwayne Allen, Nuk Hopkins, and Jaron Brown really stepped it up and made some very nice catches down the stretch.
With score tied at 28, our kicker missed a field goal wide left and gave the ball back to WF with 4 minutes to go in the game. On third down we finally got the QB dirty with a monstrous sack by Remmy Moore. Remember that name from the FSU game? Big sack that day too!
We get the ball back and drive down to inside the 30, call time out and set up for the winning field goal. At this point, Bob looks at me and says, "I wish I could kick this one." to which I replied, "Me too." He didn't however, have time to get changed so we had to go with the Catman. Bob says, " Dale, he's better from the right hash mark than the left." He was right, field goal was good, could have went 20 more yards, time expired, and Clemson is the Atlantic Division Champions. No beenie weenies for the players tomorrow, steak and lobster all around. Lol.
I am proud of this team, their fight, and their attitudes. I am happy for our coaches and our fans, we controlled our own destiny.
As for next week, Bob and I will travel to Raleigh to face the Pack of NC State. We have very nice friends who show us a great time there. They are the nicest people, true Wolfpack fans who love their team, but also graciously welcome us to the den. I look forward to this game every other year.
Congrats 2011 Clemson Tigers, y'all are special!!
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