No single game is a predictor for the rest of the year. The tendency of posters to extrapolate wildly after individual games both amuses and disappoints me at the same time. Clemson is the better team, for sure. After seeing the game last night, it is pretty obvious. They would be an 80% chance to win every time they lined up against us. A lot of stuff would have to go right for us to win, which sometimes does in CFB.
As far as how bad we looked, well, these are two observations of mine that offer an explanation for the nature of the loss. One of the two, I believe, would improve over time and give us a better chance to win in future games against them and the other probably not.
1. The speed of the game was different. Clemson sped us up and forced decisions to be made quicker. We were not ready for it. You see it all the time in pretty much every sport when players move up a level. There is an adjustment time required for most athletes when dealing with faster players and smaller windows than they are used to. The better players adapt quicker. TM has a limited amount of experience running this offense. He has proven himself effective playing and reading at a certain pace. He really has not been forced to speed up his reads yet in his tenure, until last night. Clearly, he did not react well to the new speed and was unable to make adjustments on the fly. Last night's film has a chance to make a lasting difference with him, if he chooses to make the most of it. I give him a ton of credit for not making a bunch of turnovers trying to force the issue under that duress and wet field conditions last night. However, I criticize him for not making adjustments in his reads quicker and losing his poise and confidence under the fire. From the outside looking in, he seems like an amazing young man who will grow from this experience.
2. Clemson was markedly better than us on both lines of scrimmage. We got beat with angles and speed. We got beat with level and force. It is pretty simple. Additionally, they are a faster team. If you look at the direction of travel of offensive players as players were going down, it says a lot. If you notice, there guys were always diving forward and falling forward as they were going down, adding 2 or 3 yards to every play. Our guys, not so much. That is an indication of relative strength, speed, agility, and technique.
We have a chance to grow from this game and I believe our guys are predisposed to do just that. We are not a bunch of quitters like many who post on boards. We are better than we played, but we are not better than them. I still like this team and I would not be surprised in the least bit to see us beat VT and / or UGA. Both will be a challenge. That is what makes it fun.
