National Championship Thoughts

[The_QCT]

Alabama & OSU were a combine 1 for 7 scoring TD’s in the red zone. LSU converted their RZ opportunities to TD’s. That was a huge difference. But just like the Fiesta Bowl, the better team didn’t make uncharacteristic mistakes, executed better and made the plays when it had to...and just like the Fiesta Bowl, the better team won. We don’t make excuses or whine at Clemson. Congrats to LSU on their National Championship.

That having been said, a 14-1 season; Fiesta Bowl Champs; 29-1 in our last 30; won 2 of the last 4 National Championships; appeared in 4 of the last 5 National Championships; 5 straight ACC Championships; 5 straight college football playoff appearances...and 6 straight over rival South Carolina. Great run for Clemson football that isn’t even close to be over. We’ll be back in the CFP and the National Championship next season. #ALLIN #ClemsonFamily #BestIsTheStandard #CUinMiami #BestIsYetToCome

 

[jaydog]

The better team won. Easily. Doing what other teams did not do by getting TD's.

Even in the win over the Bucks Clemson didn't seem all that impressive, but that's partly because of a really week schedule this year. And all the best teams have that issue on some level cause they are the best teams.

I didn't think the Bucks would make it into the playoffs before the season started so I'm plenty happy to have found out that Ryan Day is as good a coach as anybody in the league. The only question at this point is if he can recruit at the same level as Meyer, Dabo and a couple other top notch coaches.

All in all a damn good year for the Buckeyes football program though I know some of the zealots still can't think straight after a couple calls didn't go our way.
:cigar:

 

[jaydog]

Do you really want to proclaim six straight wins over "rival" South Carolina?
QCT please!
:rofl:

 

[The_QCT]

The better team won. Easily. Doing what other teams did not do by getting TD's.

Even in the win over the Bucks Clemson didn't seem all that impressive, but that's partly because of a really week schedule this year. And all the best teams have that issue on some level cause they are the best teams.

I didn't think the Bucks would make it into the playoffs before the season started so I'm plenty happy to have found out that Ryan Day is as good a coach as anybody in the league. The only question at this point is if he can recruit at the same level as Meyer, Dabo and a couple other top notch coaches.

All in all a damn good year for the Buckeyes football program though I know some of the zealots still can't think straight after a couple calls didn't go our way.
:cigar:

With all due respect, OSU fans calling Clemson 'not that impressive' is pretty laughable and delusional in so many ways. It's simply revisionist way to look at the game because of the final score...and still not being able to admit that OSU simply got beat by a better team.

OSU dominated the first 22:40 of the football game (although there were some extenuating circumstances that helped in a major way...and those were discovered and stopped after OSU when up 16-0...and surprise, surprise, Clemson dominated the rest of the football game.

First 22:20 of the game. Clemson down 16-0

Total Yards:
Clemson - 84 (4.2 YPP)
Ohio St - 289 (8.3 YPP)

Rushing Yards:
Clemson - 16 (1.78 YPC)
Ohio St -171 (11.4 YPC)

Passing Yards:
Clemson - 68 (6.2 YPA)
Ohio State - 118 (5.9 YPA)

Sacks:
Clemson - 1
Ohio St - 1

TFL:
Clemson - 3
Ohio St - 2

Penalties:
Clemson - 4 for 37 yds
Ohio St - 3 for 15 yds



The last 37:40...


Total Yards:
Clemson - 333 (7.9 YPP)
Ohio St - 227 (4.1 YPP)

Rushing Yards:
Clemson - 142 (7.1 YPC)
Ohio St - 25 (1.04 YPC)

Passing Yards:
Clemson - 191 (8.7 YPA)
Ohio State - 202 (7.8 YPA)

Sacks:
Clemson - 3
Ohio St - 2

TFL:
Clemson - 6
Ohio St - 3

Penalties:
Clemson - 2 for 10 yds
Ohio St - 5 for 62 yds


- Clemson's top 2 WR's were injured; Higgins was out for the entire first half (he burned Okudah twice before being injured) and Ross was injured the entire game. Lawrence had to put the team on his back because of it and played fantastic. If that is not impressive, then OSU fans are just delusional.

- Clemson dropped 2 pick-sixes....and had another INT called back for a PI. Clemson should have had 5 INT's...which would have made the game a blow-out. We both the can play the 'what-if' game.

- Clemson controlled the LOS after the 16-0 deficit; completely shut down OSU's run game (I know Dobbins was banged up somewhat). 25 rushing yards for OSU (1.04 YPC) shows as much. Not too mention completely controlling Chase Young.

- Clemson held Chase Young to 2 tackles and 1 QB hurry...and didn't even double team him for the majority of the game. Jackson Carman simply dominated him.

- OSU penalties like targeting on the QB and roughing the punter was simply a lack of of discipline. As Browns fans, we all know that is on the coaches. Why the hell would you rush the punter when you made the stop and were about to get the ball in great field position? Just a dumb coaching call. You had the QB stopped on 3rd and long, don't drop your head and lead with your helmet...that's just dumb. BTW - Young tried to club Lawrence's head on the play and missed.

Again, we can play this game all day long, but here is the reality. The better football team...

1) Plays with discipline. OSU's 8 penalties and 2 being very critical showed they could not play with discipline in a big game.

2) The better team executes and makes plays when they have to have them. With the game on the line and just over 2 minutes left, Clemson put together a 4 play, 94 yard TD drive to take the lead. That executing and making plays. OSU had a chance to win and threw and INT from the Clemson 23 yard line with 43 seconds left in the game. That is not executing or making plays when needed...while Clemson made the play again.

3) The better team changes momentum...and/or regains momentum when needed. Football is a game of momentum...nobody has it for 60 minutes. Momentum shifts back-and-forth throughout the game. When you lose momentum, great teams regain it. OSU couldn't regain it

Ultimately, OSU wilted in the big moments...they made mistakes when the lights were brightest and the pressure was on. Clemson kept their cool...showed their experience, made the plays when the pressure was on and ultimately won the football game...that's what the better team does.

 

[The_QCT]

Just for good measure...Clemson had plenty of calls go against us in the National Championship game...but you don't see Clemson fans crying over the calls or missed calls. For instance:

- LSU's 1st TD - Chase clearly and blatantly pushed Terrell to create separation. I'm not talking about 2 players battling or a slight shove. It was a blatant, big time push off....wasn't called. That gave LSU 7 points. Guess what...Clemson fans aren't crying about it...we just had to overcome.

- On multiple 3rd downs, LSU's DB's grabbed Clemson WR's jerseys to the point you can see it stretching...and did it right in front of the officials...no calls.

- Clemson lost their heart in the middle when MLB Skalski got called for targeting. Guess what? Does it suck like it sucked for OSU when they lost Wade? Yep. Was it the right call just like Wade's? Yep. It is what it is. We had to overcome...we couldn't.

- Higgins had a 50 yard TD reception called back for OPI in which it was clearly not OPI as the DB was holding onto to Higgins and fell on his own. But guess what, no crying...we simply have to overcome.

All of these could have been big momentum swings at critical points in the game...but guess what, Clemson fans didn't cry about them the next day...and aren't crying about it 3 days later. OSU fans are still crying about the Fiesta Bowl almost 3 weeks later. See the difference? We can accept when a better team just beats us. OSU fans should take notes. It's pathetic to cry con't to whine and cry and not give credit where it's due.

Speaking of taking notes, Ryan Day should take notes from Swinney's post game press conference as well. Not one mention of referees, calls, etc...from Dabo. He simply credited LSU players and coaches saying Clemson was out-played, out-coached and lost to a better team. It's called humility and not making excuses. Day is a very good coach and may be great one day...but his act, whining and crying and not being able to give credit where it's due is pretty pathetic.

That all having been said, Clemson will be back in the CFP in 2020 and back in the National Championship. OSU plays just as easy a schedule (archaic, slow B1G teams with no decent QB's) and should be in the college football playoff again as well.

Here's the thing. Clemson will be better at QB, RB, WR, entire defense and coaching staff. OSU will be looking at dropping their 5th straight to Clemson and watching Clemson win another national championship.

 

[jaydog]

^^^:rofl:^^^

 

[jaydog]

I thought you might be above the hysterics, but NO!

I only read the last line of your last post on account of I know the BS you spew Q!

In hindsight I should've recognized you're still a bit hurt over losing again.

This is why I said you guys have no history. You lose and get defensive. Lessons that only over time will your team understand. I'll say it again.

I didn't think we would be in the playoffs from the start. = I'm ok with our season even though we didn't win the 'ship.

I fear you may never be able to get to that place with your team. It's your burden bro.

 

[The_QCT]

I thought you might be above the hysterics, but NO!

I only read the last line of your last post on account of I know the BS you spew Q!

In hindsight I should've recognized you're still a bit hurt over losing again.

This is why I said you guys have no history. You lose and get defensive. Lessons that only over time will your team understand. I'll say it again.

I didn't think we would be in the playoffs from the start. = I'm ok with our season even though we didn't win the 'ship.

I fear you may never be able to get to that place with your team. It's your burden bro.

If that's what you got out of that post, then it all completely went over your head. I'm a little surprised by that to be quite honest because you're typically a good poster. Maybe you had a few drinks...or just didn't quite comprehend...I'm not sure.

The entire point is that I/we are not hurt at all over the loss in the National Championship. OSU fans are still massively hurt over their loss to Clemson. If we wanted to act like OSU fans...we could have plenty of bitch and complain about...but you don't see Clemson fans bitching and complaining about any of that stuff.

Do you know why we aren't hurt about the loss? Because we know we will be back in the National Championship game against next year...for the 5th time in 6 years. Do you know why OSU fans are so defensive and hurt over their loss to Clemson? 1)They thought they had one of their best teams in OSU history and were definitely going to win the title 2)They can't stand that lil ole Clemson owns them. I actually heard multiple hosts on ESPN Cleveland call the fact that OSU can't beat Clemson the "Clemson Curse". When in fact, we are just a better program right now.

Sorry man, today...in 2020...Clemson is the best program in the country and the gold standard of college football. We know we won't win every National Championship...but we are consistently getting to the CFP and the national championship unlike any other program in America not named 'Alabama'. Going into 2020, Clemson has the best coaching staff in America; the best QB in America; the best WR corp in America; the best RB group in America; the best DL group in America; and the best freshman class in America coming in.

Clemson isn't going anywhere for quite some time. Looking forward to playing OSU again in next year's CFP.

 

[jaydog]

1. You guys don't have enough of a fanbase to hear any cheering let alone bitching so there's that. Lil ole Clemson's streak goes back so far that YOU would have to break out the B&W film to start.

2. Assuming you speak for your fanbase you seemed pretty full of yourselves at the start of the playoffs. Your attitude was you would beat OSU and whoever was left was a scrimmage to get the 'ship. That didn't happen.
3. The fact is your program is currently on par with the Buckeyes. Otherwise you would be champs as you have predicted all season long. And you're not. Just another playoff team like us. To be the gold standard you have to be the champ. And you're not.
4. Your opinions on your coaching staff are expected. Your a Clemson fan. Even though you stated similar arguments in the past and lo and behold Joe Burrow outplayed your boy for the 'ship. The Buckeyes shut down Etienne. Which parlays into the Bucks defense having stuffed him shows we were every bit as good + playing a much tougher schedule. Dabo admitted an easy schedule too.

P.S. You're in a basketball conference. Everybody knows that.

5. As far as recruiting? Please?! You know damn well those are opinion polls. If Clemson, 'Bama, OSU and Georgia are all in the top five-ish there is little difference. Those teams will be set to do what they do every year. Re-load.

 

[The_QCT]

1. You guys don't have enough of a fanbase to hear any cheering let alone bitching so there's that. Lil ole Clemson's streak goes back so far that YOU would have to break out the B&W film to start.

2. Assuming you speak for your fanbase you seemed pretty full of yourselves at the start of the playoffs. Your attitude was you would beat OSU and whoever was left was a scrimmage to get the 'ship. That didn't happen.
3. The fact is your program is currently on par with the Buckeyes. Otherwise you would be champs as you have predicted all season long. And you're not. Just another playoff team like us. To be the gold standard you have to be the champ. And you're not.
4. Your opinions on your coaching staff are expected. Your a Clemson fan. Even though you stated similar arguments in the past and lo and behold Joe Burrow outplayed your boy for the 'ship. The Buckeyes shut down Etienne. Which parlays into the Bucks defense having stuffed him shows we were every bit as good + playing a much tougher schedule. Dabo admitted an easy schedule too.

P.S. You're in a basketball conference. Everybody knows that.

5. As far as recruiting? Please?! You know damn well those are opinion polls. If Clemson, 'Bama, OSU and Georgia are all in the top five-ish there is little difference. Those teams will be set to do what they do every year. Re-load.

1) You would be surprised at the size our fan base has become with the all of the bandwagon fans jumping on board over the last 4-5 years.

2) Fans expecting to win it all doesn't mean anything as it relates to our program itself.

3) Calling Clemson on par with OSU is delusional at best. Especially considering we just beat OSU on the field of play. Clemson has been to 5 straight CFP and 4 of the last 5 National Championship games winning 2. The Buckeyes have not shown that level of consistency since the 1960's. Making the playoff, losing to Clemson and finishing behind us does not put OSU on par with us. They are still a tier below Clemson in today's present college football landscape. It's Alabama, Clemson alone in tier 1.

4) My opinion? Go read national Opinions. The top 2 coaches in College football are universally known to be Saban and Dabo. The top DC in college football is universally known to be Brent Venables. The universal best QB in 2020 is Trevor Lawrence, etc.... There is a reason Clemson is the already the heavy favorite in 2020.

5) Clemson just brought in the best DL class in college football history. Not my opinion, but another universally agreed upon opinion by the industry.

Sorry Buckeye. OSU is a still a great program playing in a bad, slow, archaic conference that they should easily dominate every single year. They will be behind programs like Alabama and Clemson until they start making the playoff and winning games with consistency like both Alabama and Clemson do. OSU should easily win the B1G next season and make the CFP...but they won't beat Clemson...and will make it 0-5 vs the Tigers. It's going to be fun to watch all the excuse making again next December. :snoop:

 

[jaydog]

It will be fun next year, but your opinions and those of others are opinions. No moreso than any Buckeye fans opinions.

When you say bad slow archaic conference I would add to that. A basketball conference to scrimmage through and collect easy wins. You know it. Go read national opinions.

 

[The_QCT]

It will be fun next year, but your opinions and those of others are opinions. No moreso than any Buckeye fans opinions.

When you say bad slow archaic conference I would add to that. A basketball conference to scrimmage through and collect easy wins. You know it. Go read national opinions.

Spoiler

...and yes, my opinion does mean more than Buckeye fans because 1)I'm actually connected to the College football world in way 99.9% of them (and all college football fans) will never be 2)My opinion is a lot more informed....A LOT MORE...because of my connections to the college football world.

 

[jaydog]

Yeah, but your Clemson connection is your bias. Your blind spot. Like when you claim a championship before the season and fall short. I didn't hear anybody in the media claiming the Buckeyes a championship caliber team at the start. Myself included. I'm still on the fence for a couple more years and I can see that Day can recruit with the best of 'em.

Like it's been for most every year since Paul Brown was the HC.

 

[The_QCT]

Yeah, but your Clemson connection is your bias. Your blind spot. Like when you claim a championship before the season and fall short. I didn't hear anybody in the media claiming the Buckeyes a championship caliber team at the start. Myself included. I'm still on the fence for a couple more years and I can see that Day can recruit with the best of 'em.

Like it's been for most every year since Paul Brown was the HC.

The idea that I predicted Clemson to win the National Championship preseason...IN A REBUILDING YEAR...and they MADE the National Championship and lost is somehow a bad thing or blind spot is a hilariously awful take. I predicted them to finish #1...they finished #2...in a rebuilding year...that's pretty damn close and good. Especially because nobody predicted what happened at LSU...nobody. Nobody predicted Joe Brady to turn a career 53% passer into having one of the greatest QB season in CFB history...nobody. So my predicting Clemson was hardly a blind spot or bias. It's called looking at the talent at Clemson and around college football and making an evaluations. If Clemson didn't make the CFB playoff you could call it that...but we did...and went to the National Championship.

And yes...there were people who predicted OSU to win it all in Columbus. And 3 quarters of the way through the season they were calling OSU the greatest OSU team ever...and some even calling them the greatest college football team every. THAT is bias. The OSU media was the most homer and bias media in the country...and a quick look at their message boards showed their fan base the same.

Day is recruiting well; although it's OSU, it recruits itself to some extend. Not too mention the amount of money they throw....errrr....never mind.

The good new for OSU fans is that Fields improved as the season went on. Day fashioned the offense perfectly for Fields's skill set and I think he will only get better next season. The bad news is that replacing Dobbins is not going to be easy...and we saw the offense when Dobbins went out...it sputtered. The other good news is that B1G teams are so slow, nonathletic and archaic, that OSU can just do what they do every year...they can simply out-athlete all of those scrubby teams to 12-0.

Yes my friend, Clemson will be 13-0 and back in the CFP next year. As a matter of fact, I can safely say that, just like this year...teams will be paying to avoid Clemson in the CFP semifinal because it is a definite loss for whoever gets that match-up as Clemson will be in the National Championship again.

 

[jaydog]

No it's not an awful take if you do like you do and lose.

If you claim that your program is the best and lose.
If you claim you have the best QB and lose.
If you make claims like that AFTER you lose!

I dunno. It seems kinda biased to me.


And state that the B1G is slow when the B1G has a 90-68-2 vs your conference. And we all know the reason is because the ACC is a basketball conference. Everybody knows that. Everybody.

As far as money well Dabo said it best when he said we give these players stipends! It's not even a concern for the top programs and I'm pretty sure we agree there. The top programs have money they can filter down to whoever may need or want it.

#everybodyknowsthat

 

[jaydog]

This from Wiscy!

Who knew?!

We have the 5th-best conference winning percentage among Power 5 teams over the last decade
1. Ohio State 74-10 (.881)
2. Alabama 69-11 (.863)
3. Clemson 68-12 (.850)
4. Oklahoma 73-16 (.820)5.
5. Wisconsin 64-20 (.762)

 

[jaydog]

Hopefully you and yours are not affected by the Covid going around the Clemson facilities? I enjoy the back n forth banter over CFB.

Is your football team relatively ok too?

Be safe Q!

 

[The_QCT]

Hopefully you and yours are not affected by the Covid going around the Clemson facilities? I enjoy the back n forth banter over CFB.

Is your football team relatively ok too?

Be safe Q!

I am up in Charlotte, so the COVID cases in Clemson has not affected my family or myself. The good news in Clemson is that all 28 overall cases (all sports, players & staff) were asymptomatic and required no hospitalizations. The City just passed a mask ordinance yesterday, so hopefully that helps slow down the spread overall.

My family has been pretty conservative thanks to my wife. She does not want to go out to eat or do any activities with large groups. So we have been pretty safe thanks to her. We finally got a date night recently (in-laws watched the kids) and we went out to eat at a place that had outdoor seating...the only way I could get her out, lol. But it was a nice break.

So yes sir, despite the positive tests, everybody at Clemson is relatively OK. My family is staying safe and laying low. I'm just happy we have the EPL and PGA Tour back to watch for now...but definitely praying we get football this fall.

Hope you and the family are staying safe as well!

 

[jaydog]

God to hear and all is well over here. My wife and I have not been going out much either and just recently went to Kelly's Island. Almost nobody was wearing a mask unless indoors. It was actually weird to see knowing Covid is alive and well. We hung out at a few wine bars and a couple of beer joints, got some lunch and had a good time chillin' with the natives.

I can't watch golf. It's way to boring for me. I've tried but I would rather watch Tennis. :heh:

Good to hear all is well on your end, but the way this Covid is accelerating we may not get a football season. College or NFL.

I would be really bummed if that happened.
out: