FanHouse ACC Football

As you probably know, former Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix was named offensive coordinator at Miami on Friday. It's quite a promotion for the former Georgia Tech coordinator. Nix is setting himself up nicely for a shot at a head coaching job in a few years.

It's hard to believe Nix has been at Tech for five years. The past three seasons he's served as offensive coordinator, but in reality he just started calling plays this past year. The hiring is interesting for several reasons.

Nix came out of nowhere to land the job. The 34 year-old had an up and down first season calling plays, helping lead the Yellow Jackets to the ACC Championship game. The consensus among many in the ACC was that Tech coach Chan Gailey still had a hand in the offense and wouldn't let Nix completely open it up like he wanted.

He has a reputation as a creative offensive mind. Perhaps just as important, Nix is known as a tireless recruiter. If you can recruit to Tech, you should have a field day in South Florida. But what apparently landed him the job was the way he coached against Miami this season.

Rumors are beginning to surface on internet message boards that Will Proctor must have an injured throwing shoulder. I mean, how else could one explain is dismal performance in the last three ACC games?

Proctor has completed a whopping 40.9 percent of his passes in the last two contests. His game against Virginia Tech was filled with overthrows, underthrows, bad reads, and a horrific interception. There are even comments from teammates that Proctor has a tendency to float the ball up too much.

Must be a sore shoulder, right?

Probably not.

Tommy Bowden chaulks up Proctor's poor performance of late to inexperience. Will may be a senior, but he saw only limited action prior to this season:

"The mental images that Charlie (Whitehurst) put in as a freshman, sophomore and junior aren't in his head. They're happening for the first time this year ... they all play different coverages and schemes, and you've got to put them in your head. They lock and load once you get them in there, but his is empty as far as game-type experience. I think the mistakes he's making are pretty common for a first-year player."

Of course, you can't blame Tiger fans for worrying. Many still believe that Bowden and company concealed the extent of former Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst's shoulder injury last season--playing him against Georgia Tech when he should have been benched.

Luckily the Tigers final three games are at home and against teams that are less than stellar against the running game.

James Davis must prefer darkness to daylight.

You see, Davis has crossed the century mark on the ground six times in his career.

All six games have been at night. All six have been Tiger victories.

I can't explain it.

I won't even try.

What I will do is point out that the next two Clemson games are scheduled to kickoff at night.

Aside from the bright lights of an evening game, James Davis has other motivation to shine against Georgia Tech this Saturday. Davis is from Atlanta, and he wants to show the guys back home what he couldn't show them last year against Tech due to a wrist injury.

And he's clearly motivated:

"Like I told my teammates, I'm not going to eat this week. I'm going to wait until Saturday to eat.

The lights will be on in Death Valley this Saturday, and the menu is set. We'll just have to wait and see if Mr. Davis's appetite is big enough to take down the Yellow Jackets.

Senior linebacker Tremaine Billie has elected to redshirt for this season.

You'll remember that Billie required surgery after an ankle injury prior to the start of the season.

Tremaine has since recovered from his injury and he could likely play against Georgia Tech this weekend. But Billie has missed over half of the regular season, and sees next year as his best bet to impress NFL scouts.

Tiger fans should be pleased with this decision. Tommy Bowden also felt as if this was the best course of action for the superb Clemson defender, and I'm glad that Billie took Coach's advice.

The short term effects of his loss have already been felt as the Clemson defense have been dealing with this for seven games. He will continue to be missed on the defensive side of the ball, but I'd be hard pressed to encourage him to return this season. He has too much to personally gain by staying out, and the Tigers are doing quite well in his absence.

Congrats to Tremaine. Make the best of next year.

More from The Gnomes.

Temple scored early--a field goal in the opening minutes to go on top 3-0.

That was followed by nine Clemson touchdowns.

The game was over by the end of the first quarter, and the only other points Temple could muster came late in the fourth. I told you Clemson would cover.

The Tiger victory is their sixth on the season, and their fourth game scoring half-a-hundred or more.

James Davis led the Tiger rushing attack with 138 yards on just nine carries including three touchdowns. Freshman C.J. Spiller added two touchdowns of his own on the ground. And for the second time this season, Demerick Chancellor crossed the century mark on the ground.

Proctor was impressive as well hitting on eight of nine passes including a touchdown toss to Jacoby Ford.

The game was merely a practice session for Clemson as the next four games are all ACC foes and all vital to the Tigers' chances of playing for an ACC title. The victory was impressive on both sides of the ball, and I'll refrain from commenting on special teams at this point until I calm down from my anger over kick coverage.

Up next, Georgia Tech. Now things get interesting.

The Tigers managed to come away with a victory Saturday, but it wasn't easy.

Let's check out how they performed when compared to what I demanded for victory:

1. Don't fumble the darn ball. Well, Clemson managed to fumble the ball twice Saturday, but only one ended up in the hands of a Wake defender. The Tigers get a C for that. But worse yet, Will Proctor threw three interceptions including two that were not tipped (i.e. bad throws). If you'll remember, all other Proctor interceptions this year have been tipped (i.e. not such bad throws). For that, the Tigers get an F which trumps the C. Turnovers nearly cost them the game.

2. Stop Corey Randolph and Chris Barclay. This one was interesting. The Wake QB, Riley Skinner, had flashes of greatness including a touchdown reception on a halfback pass. Skinner only had five incompletions--one of which was an interception. But he was flustered late in the game by a Clemson defensive line that wanted victory more than Wake. Otherwise there was no Wake player that stood out statistically. For that Clemson gets a B+.

3. Pretend Groves Stadium is Death Valley. I don't know the official number of Tigers fans in attendance Saturday, but I'd hazard a guess that at least a third or more of the stands were wearing orange and white. But the Demons that haunt Groves were in full force for three quarters as the Tigers were down 14 points headed to the fourth quarter. A tremendous gut-check in the minutes preceding the fourth quarter, though, were enough to exorcise the demons. For the complete effort I'll give Clemson a B-. It's hard to argue with a victory.

Stats here. Other thoughts here and here.

For the first time in the last three visits, Clemson came away with a victory over Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.

But for the first three quarters, a Tiger victory was in doubt. The Demons that had plagued the Tigers in years past continued to haunt. Boneheaded turnovers, poor special teams play, blown assignments ... you get the point.

It took a gutsy performance by a senior defensive end and the swift feet of a freshman running back for Clemson to come from behind in the fourth quarter--scoring 24 unanswered points in the process.

I still believe this Clemson team is special. Any other Tiger team in the past 10 years would have folded up shop and come away with another disappointing loss. But not this year. Not this team.

And to the rest of the ACC, watch out for Wake, they are a solid bunch.

I'd like to give a special thanks to the Athens, Georgia Holiday Inn for allowing a lone Clemson fan to watch the game on television.

It was never even close as the Bulldogs from Louisiana Tech were pummeled by Clemson on Saturday 51-0.

To say the Tigers (4-1, 2-1) "ran all over La Tech" would be a fair statement as three (yes, three) Tiger running backs rushed for over 100 yards on the evening. James Davis had two TDs on the ground, and C.J. Spiller added another. Proctor hit C.J. Stuckey for a passing touchdown, and Jacoby Ford returned the second half kickoff 94-yards for a touchdown.

Clemson had four interceptions on defense including one that Nick Watkins returned for a touchdown. Add a fumble to that, and the Tigers forced five turnovers on the evening.

Like I said, it was never even close.

The Tigers have been impressive in their last three home wins rolling up over half-a-hundred points in each "contest" while allowing a mere 13 points from the opponents.

I don't know which I'm more impressed with this season, the offense or the defense. Watching the offensive line punish opposing defenses is impressive, but watching a young, injured defense hold opponents to essentially no productive offense in Death Valley is perhaps a better sign that this is a very good team.

Low points of Saturday's contest include another blocked extra-point (Dean's kick was too low) and three fumbles--two of which were muffed punts that were recovered by La Tech. Spiller was responsible for one fumble and muff while Jacoby Ford was responsible for the other muff. Those freshman--who are clearly big time players--need to remember to ... um .. concentrate at all times during the game. Oh, and La Tech managed to have numerous 20-35 yard kickoff returns. Can we please hire a special teams coach?

The undefeated Demon Deacons loom large on the horizon as Clemson heads to Winston-Salem this Saturday for what has to be the biggest game Wake Forest has played in years.

Prior to the start of the season, I discussed Duane Coleman's changes--his change in attitude, his change in position, his change in priorities ...

Twenty-six tackles through three games are enough to convince me his transformation is nearly complete.

He actually leads the team in tackles--a change from his freshman season when he led the team in rushing:

"When he graduates, it's going to be a great story of a young man overcoming some adversity and having success," Bowden said. "He has really matured on and off the field."

Over the years, Duane has become one of Clemson fans' favorite stars. He doesn't shy away from the big hit. He engine is set at full-throttle, and his nose is in nearly every defensive play.

He is what Tigers fans (and coaches?) want from every player that steps foot onto Frank Howard Field. Look for more I expect more good things from Coleman as the Tigers search for an ACC Crown in 2006.