Sorry, Clemson fans. This won't be all sunshine and rainbows like what you've heard out of the locker room Saturday night. I'm a fan and as a fan, I have the right to be upset with what transpired in our home at the hands of Pitt.
1) Deshaun Watson needs to stop thinking about the NFL. He's pressured himself into thinking he's a legitimate Top 5 pick and is trying to prove it every week. He's forcing throws into tight windows. He's making poor decisions. He has 13 interceptions this season through 10 games. He had 13 all last season (15 games). All the trips this past spring and summer got to his head. He said at the beginning of the year that all that was a grind and it was uncomfortable for him, but he still had to go out and play. Well, he's pressing and it has nearly cost Clemson several times this season. It finally did against Pitt.
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Yeah, yeah. Pitt's Chris Blewitt didn't blow it. The headline
writes itself. But Clemson did blow it.
(Photo courtesy Getty Images) |
2) Clemson's offensive playcaller Tony Elliott out-coached himself at least twice. First, even after all I said about Watson in #1 of this post, you have the best player on the field with a 3rd and 1 AND a 4th and 1 with a minute to go in the game and you took the ball out of his hands. TWICE you pitched it back five yards to a running back that had less than 40 yards all game. This also goes into the players' hands for not being able to get one yard on two downs. But with a QB who has thrown for 580 yards, why go to the ground game there and why take the ball out of the hands of the best player on the field?
This is going to sound counter-intuitive, but on the previous drive why are we throwing the ball on 2nd and goal from the three after running for four yards on first down? There was 5:45 to play, you need to run clock and all you need to do is kick a field goal on that drive and you win. Just run the ball and game over. Hindsight is always 20-20, but coaches at this level have to make better decisions.
3) Pitt's offensive coordinator Matt Canada out-coached Brent Venables. Clemson had no answer for stopping the shovel pass, a wrinkle the Tigers hadn't seen and couldn't adjust to until it was too late. Canada exploited the Tigers' weakness - coverage by linebackers. It's been bad under Venables and has never gotten better.
4) Blame the refs all you want, and there are plenty of opportunities to do so, but for every penalty thrown against Clemson, there were double the amount of bonehead mistakes by a Tiger player or coach. The refs play a part in every game. That's a fact. But they were not the reason for the outcome. That's one area where I agree with Dabo's postgame comments.
5) Spent the early part of the day in Norman for the OU-Baylor game. Speaking of outcoaching themselves, Baylor ran for over 200 yards on Oklahoma, gaining five-plus yards on numerous plays right up the middle, but the Bears kept going to the air. They were picked off twice, including once on the goalline when Baylor was trying to cut the OU lead to 14-7. The pick allowed the Sooners to go up 21-0. For OU, the game seemed very ho-hum. There really wasn't much Baylor was doing to stop OU. After getting out to a 21-0 lead, the teams traded scores most of the rest of the way, tying the remainder of the game 24-24. It was a perfect afternoon for football and it was great to get back to a college game. BENched always enjoys his time in Norman.
6) OK, let's get the chaos out of the way. For the record, I sat on my couch following Clemson's loss and just started saying, "Chaos." I guess if you say it enough, it will happen. And it did, so allow BENched to explain what will likely happen these next few weeks with regards to the CFB Playoff rankings:
- Nos. 2, 3 and 4 all lost Saturday. Aforementioned No. 2 Clemson fell to Pitt, 43-42; No. 3 Michigan also lost on last-second field goal 14-13 at Iowa; and No. 4 Washington was dominated by No. 20 USC on its home field, 26-13.
- That leaves us with two unbeatens (Alabama and Western Michigan). It also leaves us with a jumbled mess between No. 2 and No. 6 in the rankings. Expect Ohio State to move to No. 2 behind No. 1 Alabama. That much should be clear and easy. There are five other Power 5 teams with one loss - Clemson, Louisville, Michigan, Washington, and West Virginia. The Mountaineers were No. 16 in last week's rankings and I don't see them jumping at least 10 spots after a close win over 5-5 Texas.
- The Playoff Committee has set a precedent that for the most part, teams with equal records who have played each other, the head-to-head winner will be ranked above. Therefore, I believe Clemson in some capacity will be ahead of Louisville. Clemson was also previously ahead of Michigan and with both teams losing, and Big Blue gaining 200 yards and scoring only 13 points, I can't see Clemson falling behind the Wolverines. Washington's loss was crushing for the Huskies, so here's how I see Nos. 3-6: Clemson, Michigan, Louisville, Washington.
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Iowa's upset of Michigan was not so good for the Buckeyes.
(Photo courtesy USA Today Sports) |
- If you want chaos, wait until Penn State wins out (Rutgers and Michigan State are all that remain) and Ohio State beats Michigan in the Horseshoe. The Nittany Lions will play for the Big Ten title, while both OSU and UM sit at home awaiting a potential Playoff fate.
7) Don't be shocked when what I just said is completely false. It's very plausible that Clemson falls out of the Top 4, Louisville is ranked third, and instead of one-loss Washington at No. 6, perhaps a two-loss Wisconsin or Penn State slides in. These rankings are fluid and will completely different anyway at the end of the season once conference championships are factored in. Even if Louisville is ahead of Clemson, if the Tigers win the ACC and are 12-1, they will be ranked ahead of 11-1 Louisville in the final Playoff ranking.
8) Two thoughts here: The Big 12 is dead. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and WVU are the only hope. Oklahoma is higher ranked and plays both teams in its final two games. Both OU and OSU have two losses, while the 'Neers only loss is to OSU. Even if one-loss WVU emerges, the Big 12 is so down it won't have enough quality wins to sniff the Playoff. Same goes for OU/OSU, who lost to Houston and Central Michigan, respectively.
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Jake Browning's thoughts reflected those of Husky Nation.
(Photo courtesy Getty Images) |
The Pac-12 is not dead. Washington might be out for now, but the Huskies will have ample opportunity to make up for the one loss. Colorado, USC and Utah are in a battle in the South. It's likely the winner of that division will be have Top 15 or better ranking entering the Pac-12 title game ... Where it will face either highly-ranked Washington or Washington State. The winner of the Apple Cup will in the North Division. Wazzu is 8-2 and has won eight-in-a-row. If the Cougs can win at Colorado and vs. Washington, plus the Pac-12 championship, they will see a big jump in the rankings. Washington can win on the road at Wazzu and then a Pac-12 title and be right back in the Playoff mix.
9) It's only Nov. 13 and we have chaos. Next week provides some relief. Most of the big teams face lesser opponents. Remember, this is the week the SEC takes a break from action to play the likes of Chattanooga, UT-Martin, The Citadel, etc. The SEC East could be decided if Florida beats LSU in the makeup game which was moved from The Swamp to Death Valley. Some big conference games are on tap in the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12, but the big one of the weekend will be Oklahoma traveling to West Virginia. All this to say, expect more chaos in the next three weekends.
10) Clemson is down and not out. Here's where what the players/coaches said is true. The Tigers are facing adversity and it can either build them or break them. Clemson faces championship weekends in its next two games. Wins at each stop will add another trophy to the case in Tiger Town. It starts with winning at Wake Forest to clinch the ACC Atlantic Division. We are #ALLIN, Always. Beat Wake.
-BtW
