The Case for Clemson
6 comments so far
December 18, 2008 by
The Tigers are a dangerous opponent for Nebraska. They have a lot of talent, are on a bit of a roll, their fans travel well, and at 7-5 they can be easily overlooked. The Huskers may be excited to be playing in the Gator Bowl, but it seems doubtful they have much emotion about Clemson.
The Huskers are in a tough situation. If they win, they beat a team that finishes 7-6. If they lose, it looks like they lost a game they shouldn’t have. But this is the same Clemson team that started the season in the top 5. It’s also a team (like so many in the ACC) that plays tough defense. They also have recruited well in recent years.
Sagarin’s computer ratings would actually make Clemson a favorite and the oddsmakers appear to have done the same. The Sagarin predictor ratings even put Clemson ahead of Virginia Tech which beat the Huskers in Lincoln. The Tigers also have played a tougher schedule than Nebraska.
The fact of the matter, this is going to be a tough opponent. It’s on par with the Cotton Bowl against Auburn. Yes, the Huskers have the better record. They have a solid offense and an improving defense. But Clemson is a plenty tough draw and a true test whether they get credit for it or not.
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JMD Dec 18 08
Clemson was never in the top 5. They were pre-season #9.
omarhuskerfan Dec 18 08
A harder schudule than Nebraska?
I guess i didn't hear that. If someone could run that down that would be great. If you figure begining of season, i'm sure Nebraska's schudule is hard. But i could be wrong.
LtSeigler Dec 18 08
Clemson's Schedule
(24) Alabama L 10-34 --
Citadel W 45-17 --
North Carolina State W 27-9 --
South Carolina State W 54-0 --
Maryland L 17-20 --
at (21) Wake Forest L 7-12 --
Georgia Tech L 17-21 --
at Boston College W 27-21 --
at (24) Florida State L 27-41 --
Duke W 31-7 --
at Virginia W 13-3 --
South Carolina W 31-14 --
Nebraskas Schedule
Western Michigan W 47-24 --
San Jose State W 35-12 --
New Mexico State W 38-7 --
Virginia Tech L 30-35 --
(4) Missouri L 17-52 --
at (7) Texas Tech L 31-37 --
at Iowa State W 35-7 --
Baylor W 32-20 --
at (4) Oklahoma L 28-62 --
Kansas W 45-35 --
at Kansas State W 56-28 --
Colorado W 40-31 --
arguably, Nebraska faced some of the nations toughest teams ( OK, TT, maybe MO), but Clemson and the ACC were tough this year, no ACC team made it out clean, that speaks to a tough conference if you ask me
JBLING22 Dec 19 08
The problem with that analysis is that dosn't show that neither team really beat more than one team they shouldn't have.. ..
At the begining the toss up games were KANSAS, MISSOU, and Va Tech.. Nebraska only beat KANSAS
As for Clemson, you could say the same for Clemson.. Boston College? South Carolina? Really only games that were in the air that they didn't lose..
Nebraska played Texas Tech (Whom if they werent in Big Twelve would be in a BCS game , only 2 allowed) Oklahoma playing in the National Championship game, Va Tech whom won the ACC.. We lost to them all..
Clemson lost to BAMA (understandable, most would) but they did have a lot of close games fall away from them.. Out of 5 losses as you can see from Siegler is that they lost 3 by less than 5..
Jeff Dec 19 08
NU needs to win this game, period! Lose, and there goes all the momentum that NU gathered in the latter 1/2 of the season. Bo NEEDS to win this game to also silence the doubters (that he has what it takes to be a HC) out there - and as you well know, there are a lot of those.
Bill in Iowa Dec 20 08
I think this game is important, becuase lots of people will be watching on Jan 1st. However, win or lose, it's not going to make that much of a difference in this year's recruiting or on next year's season, just as long as we do not get embarrassed.
I know, I know, I sound like I am conceeding the game, but I am just trying to keep this in perspective. A loss is not going to ruin the productive season we have had, and a win is not going to make our season either. I admit, 9-4 looks a lot better than 8-5, but really, if we beat Clemson, people will just say "so what" they are a 7-5 team. If we lose to them, they will say "see the ACC is better than the Big 12". And that is why its a kind of hard to get excited about this game in terms of relevancy.
However, I am excited about seeing how NU performs in this game against a very talented team and a very stout defense after having extra practices and prep time. NU is a re-building project and in any re-building project you want to see improvements every game. This season has been a success in my book becuase we have witnessed steady improvement. To me, this game is about another chance to see how much we are improving and measure ourselves against a solid opponent.