|
ACC SPORTS REPORT |
|
|
|
Breaking.....Check out our Advertisers.........
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clemson Tigers Prepare for 9th Bowden Bowl and ACC Football 2007
Clemson Tigers Prepare for 9th Bowden Bowl and ACC Football 2007....
by Jay Holgate
ACCSportsReport.com
ATLANTA, GA-- Once again, expectations are high for the Clemson Tigers. And they should be. Only two teams in the ACC are in the Top 25 pre-season polls, Virginia Tech and Florida State. Clemson is a national powerhouse team that has historically been in the Top 20 programs in America.
In 2006, Clemson was about three plays from going 11-1 in the regular season, and they beat both of the division champs. So with five offensive players returning and seven returners on defense, why can't Clemson finish in the top two of their Atlantic division in 2007? Can Tommy beat his Dad in front of the home crowd? Can Clemson return to Columbia and beat the new Gamecock team under Steve Spurrier? Is Tommy Bowden on the hot seat? These are the questions Tiger fans are asking.
Things were just getting Warmed-Up in The 2006 football season. Clemson started strong with a 7-1 record and at one time had a #10 ranking in the polls. But the pot started getting warm again when Clemson finished on a less than happy note with a heartbreaking loss to Maryland (12-13)- then a loss to South Carolina by three and then a Music City Bowl loss to Kentucky. What was once a great season with a dominating team
turned into a rough season with an unhappy ending.
Clemson was Smoking Teams in 2006. Clemson could have been the ACC champion for 2006. Clemson beat both of the ACC division winners Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.
The Clemson offense had some fire power, racking up 27 points against ACC Champion Wake Forest and 31 points against division champs Georgia Tech. The duo of running backs, James Davis and CJ Spiller, was probably one of the best backfields in the country.
If Clemson could have won the overtime game with Boston college (33-34), the game with Maryland (12-13) and South Carolina (28-31), the year would have been outstanding.
If Bowden would have won two of those three games, he would not be on the hot seat.
Is Tommy Bowden on the Hot Seat? Of course he is. And when the heat is on, that is when Tommy Bowden does his best coaching. In 2003, after losing to Wake Forest 45-17, it looked like Bowden and Clemson would part ways. That's when Clemson rallied to beat Florida State, South Carolina and Tennessee in a bowl game. Since then, Tommy Bowden has started every season on the hot seat and he hasn't had a losing season yet. In 2006, Clemson finished 4th in the division with a 5-3 record.
One of the reasons, the seat has been just warm is that Tommy has beaten his Dad three of the last four years, and Tommy has beaten South Carolina consistently until 2006. But this is 2007 and Florida State has re-loaded and Steve Spurrier is now coaching a much improved Gamecocks.
Does 2007 get Hotter? There are only three games Tommy Bowden can lose: Florida State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. A loss to anybody else, coupled with a South Carolina loss, could be a turning point for Bowden. The first test and barometer for Clemson will be against a revamped Florida State team. The game will be carried nationally on ESPN on a Monday night on Labor day for the world to see this year's direction for Clemson.
This is not a must-win game, but it does set the foundation for the Clemson fan base. Bobby Bowden has his own pressure to win in Tallahassee. Whoever loses this game, starts the year on the wrong foot. The winner could play for the division championship.
The second test is the Georgia Tech game which has been a close game for Bowden's tenure. This game will be in Atlanta, and GA Tech will be trying to avenge their humiliating loss from last year to Clemson. The third and biggest test is the following week against Virginia Tech. Clemson will be playing top ten ranked Virginia Tech at home and will try to reverse the four game losing streak to the Hokies.
Things Could Come to a Boiling Point in Columbia. Tommy Bowden came to Clemson at the same time as Lou Holtz came to Columbia. Tommy started strong and returned Clemson to their winning ways. Holtz took South Carolina to the basement, then had a couple of good years, then finished with chaos. Spurrier has turned the corner for the Gamecocks. The Head ball coach out recruited Clemson for the 2007 class. Spurrier's win in 2006 with a average team over Clemson with a strong team raised a lot of eyebrows.
Now, Spurrier has the experienced team and Clemson is playing with a lot of young players. If Spurrier wins this game big, Bowden could be finished in Tiger town. For Clemson fans, it's one thing to lose some ACC games but not having the advantage over South Carolina is unacceptable.
Every man in America dreams of coaching a football team on his best day. When you win, you are a hero. Tommy Bowden is 60-38 at Clemson. That's a lot of wins- and a lot of losses.
Every diehard Clemson alumnus will agree that even with a young team, Clemson should always finish in the Top Two of the ACC.
Return to Main Page
|
|
|
|
|
Archive
|
|
This site has received 28180 visitors.
|
|
|
|
|
ACC MEMBER OFFICIAL SITES
|
|
|
Atlantic Division:
Clemson Tigers
Boston College Eagles
Florida State Seminoles
Maryland Terrapins
North Carolina State Wolfpack
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
Coastal Division:
Duke Blue Devils
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Miami Hurricanes
North Carolina Tar Heels
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia Tech Hokies
|
ACC Sports Report
1735 Buford Highway
Suite 215
Atlanta, GA 30041
Advertising Policy
Media Inquiries
Contact Editor
|
|
Login
|
|
www.accsportsreport.com |
JUST ACC SPORTS! This is our goal. Our audience wants filtered, targeted Atlantic Coast Conference sports. We are focused on the Big Three Sports for this site. As the rest of the world moves on to follow current events, politics, and secondary sports, we follow the Big three of Atlantic Coast conference sports.
So, here is our story. We are business professionals, news junkies and we love Atlantic coast conference sports. When we were looking for news on the internet about ACC sports teams, the major "sports" sites, like ESPN seemed to have too much information. When we looked at ESPN, it seemed we always had to read a whole lot of extraneous information about professional sports or stories about small schools or other conferences.
Major ACC sports news only. What we wanted was Atlantic Coast Conference Big 3 sports news only site. we wanted one site for Atlantic Coast Conference news on the major sports of football, basketball and baseball. But we wanted a site committed to filtered, targeted ACC sporting news that was up to date . We wanted a site that had all 12 ACC schools so we could constantly keep a tab on who is moving up, and who is moving down.
We wanted a site that covers ACC coaches, players, athletic directors and the match-ups in the Atlantic Coast Conference. We also wanted a site for breaking news, latest news and top stories on the "big stories". As time goes on, we will cover the ACC sports personalities, ACC coaching management styles and break down the organizations. We will become the authority on ACC sports.
Breaking News and Current News. We want to post breaking stories fast. We want to publish ACC sports stories quicker than the other websites. We watch a game, make our observations, write a story and we’re done. It goes up on our site in 2 seconds. We get the jump on being the first. That is important to us. We will also have links to the full story and source in the event you want to hear the entire report.
Different Sports Angle…..Analytical Perspective, not Journalistic. We look at organizations and coaches differently than most sports reporters. We don’t just report the news, we analyze it from the big picture. When the ACC story needs to be broken down, thought through and talked out loud, we step in. Because we are following all 12 schools every day, on the hour, we know what is happening in the major ACC ACC sports. So when something seems not right or out of balance, we bring it to the front, analyze it and let you decide.
Non-biased news. Some people say you can’t report on the Atlantic Coast conference without having a bias toward one of the teams. When we report the news, we are partial. We are partial to honesty, professionalism, competitiveness and good sportsmanship. Our coverage is based on, who is on top. We try to find the good in people and prefer not to be attack journalists which should be refreshing. But we will call it the way we see it.
Professionalism. We wanted a site that would be professional. Professional stories, links and advertisers. We want advertisers that support acc sports report brand. We want advertisers that reflect the values of professionalism, honesty and appropriateness.
Join ACC Sports Report. So here we are. We're running. The ACC is awesome. There is never a shortage of ACC news but now there is one site to go to when you need ACC sports information. It’s fun to read about ACC Coaches. We will follow Clemson Tigers Tommy Bowden, Florida State Seminoles Bobby Bowden, Boston College Eagles Jeff Jogodzinski, Duke Blue Devils Ted Roof, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Chan Gailey, Maryland Terapins Ralph Friedgen. We will also cover Miami Hurricanes Randy Shannon, North Carolina Tar Heels Butch Davis, North Carolina State Wolfpack Tom O’Brien, Virginia Cavaliers Al Groh, Virginia Tech Hokies Frank Beamer and Wake Forrest Demon Deacons Jim Grobe.
We are tracking where our web traffic is coming from and its exciting to see all the new fans join us. Quite a few of you are checking us out every day, several times a day. We want you to tell your universe about the acc sports report. We will stay on top of all the important news in the Atlantic Coast Conference. We will give you analysis that you cannot find any where else. We will be the authority of ACC sports.
About ACC Sports Report
|