FanHouse Anthony Allen

Staring down the barrel of an embarrassing 24-0 first half deficit to Georgia Tech, Clemson had two choices -- go down in flames, as has been its pattern in recent years, or muscle up and do something about it. Clemson chose the latter, and nearly staged an epic comeback. The Tigers surged back with 27 straight points to take the lead before the Yellow Jackets booted a pair of field goals, one with just under a minute left, to claim the 30-27 home victory.

Things started out poorly as the Clemson defense let 230-pound Georgia Tech tailback Anthony Allen take a simple short-side option pitch 82 yards for the game's first score. Later, the Tigers lined up for a 57-yard field goal. Kicker Richard Jackson instead punted the ball, but the home team was ready, and returnman Jerrard Tarrant fielded the punt and raced nearly untouched for an 85-yard return in one of the dumbest moments of this young season. Tragedy turned to comedy when Georgia Tech then faked its own field goal, with kicker Scott Blair throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Demaryius Thomas for the 21-nothing lead.

In order for former Louisville running back Anthony Allen to be released from his scholarship, he has to agree not to transfer any school on the Cardinals schedule for the next three years. And he can't transfer to Arkansas, coached by former Louisville coach Bobby Petrino.

"They told us that if they let Anthony go there, it would be open season on their other players," Amos Allen said. "We're not even sure if Anthony wants to go to Arkansas, but we thought the restriction was unfair."

Absolutely, it is unfair. When you take into consideration that coaches, being the sneaky little devils that they are, can jump from job to job with little or no repercussions. At worst, boosters from the new school pay for the buyout clause of the coach. At best, the former coach drags his former school through the mud and fights the buyout in court. Tom Fornelli touched on this earlier with the story of Ryan Mallett.

What strikes me about this situation is that Louisville is scared that they would lose several players if given the chance to go to Arkansas. Is this paranoia, or is it based in fact? You can't want to have players on your team that are only there because you say so. The Louisville program is already on shaky ground after a very disappointing 2007 season. One that Steve Kragthorpe was rumored to be going to SMU at the end of the year, and Louisville fans were all for it. If there is something going on behind the scenes that players, even if it's only a few, want to leave to be with their old coach, that's not a good sign. A little locker room cancer can go a long way in deciding the fate of future recruits. And can be a horrible distraction to the team.

I'm not saying that players should be allowed to transfer at will without sitting out a year. But there should be some guidelines from the NCAA on what schools can and can't demand about the future of a player that transfers. Damn, I can't believe I just said that. The legal team at the NCAA will probably start working on that minutes after this story posts. And the legal fees will, of course, trickle down to the cost of my season tickets.