... - Sports - College - Winthrop University

Monday, Sep. 01, 2008

Tigers fail to impress on national stage

CLEMSON -- After Clemson increased its offer to keep coach Tommy Bowden from bolting to Arkansas in December, his bosses cited the need to maintain stability as the reason for his contract extension.

The continuity provided by Saturday's 34-10 meltdown on a national stage against No. 24 Alabama likely was not what they were seeking.

Instead, Saturday's outcome provided critics with another example of what they see as the program's inability to win the significant game during Bowden's 10-year tenure.

If nothing else, it certainly was not the first impression the ninth-ranked Tigers wanted to make on a national stage with their credibility as an up-and-coming program at stake.

"It's never acceptable," Bowden said Sunday of the team's performance. "You wouldn't want this first year, last year, middle year of a contract. But again, there are a lot of teams that will have performances like this."

That Clemson was defeated by a team the relative caliber of Alabama should come as no stunner.

Following an offseason in which multiple national publications identified Clemson as a possible national title contender, both major polls ranked the team highly and multiple players on offense were touted as national- and conference-honor candidates, the Tigers offered scant evidence to support such a buildup.

Both lines were dominated by Alabama, and the team showed little emotional spark during its worst defeat since the 45-17 loss at Wake Forest in 2003.

The Tigers' zero rushing yards -- quarterback Cullen Harper lost 28 via sacks -- were their worst rushing total since 1947. C.J. Spiller and James Davis carried the ball eight times.

"It was a big shock," junior corner Chris Chancellor said afterward. "I guess we have to wake up now."

Bowden was left to explain why Clemson fared so poorly during his Sunday teleconference.

He frequently compared it to how Southern California could stumble at Stanford last year despite being the 40-point favorite with national title ramifications.

"You have to take human error into it," Bowden said. "Sometimes, you can't predict psyche.

"I'm not quite sure they understood what this bull's-eye means, where people are really going to come after you -- really good teams. If we were starting out with a lesser opponent, it wouldn't have made that much of a difference. ... But when you start out ranked like we were and play a pretty good team, what you have to do to defend that right; it looks like we didn't understand."

While opponents have stopped Clemson's running game before by stacking the box, Bowden said he was surprised at Alabama's ability to barrel though the Tigers' defensive front, given coordinator Vic Koenning's track record against the run.

Bowden disputed the claim that the Tigers lack toughness.

"Toughness hasn't been a question for three years, and we didn't practice any different," Bowden said. "So I would think that things like this would pop up when you lose like this."

As he did following Saturday's game, Bowden reiterated his belief that the team will respond favorably once players understand their goals, such as the ACC title, remain unscathed.

The Tigers will try to find the answer during a four-game September home-stand against The Citadel (Saturday), S.C. State and ACC foes N.C. State and Maryland.