I got two words for you, JAMES DAVIS

Granted, it was not his best game, no far from it. But when the game was on the line, ole JD came through.

As much as I couldn't believe how we lost last week, I can't believe how we won this week. First of all, we held their offense to a touchdown and a field goal, yet they still scored 20 points. That's a relatively normal looking score until you consider how they accumulated it. They got 2 pts for a blocked PAT return, scored a TD on a blocked FG return, and converted a 2 pt conversion of their own after their one offensive TD. I did not watch the game for obvious reasons, but I did see some highlights this morning on ESPN.com. On both of their blocked kicks, it looks like two or three different guys could've blocked it. We weren't blocking anyone. The guys who did get the blocks honestly could've probably tackled the holder if they wanted to. That's pathetic. As silly as it looked and sounded, it made me extremely happy to hear Bowden say he would not kick it in the second half because if you look at the stats, they only had 204 total yards from scrimmage, and over a 100 yards on blocked kick returns, which accounted for half of their scoring. Our kicking game was their best offense.

But luckily, that was where the complaints end. Even though score wise they did keep it close in the first half, we absolutely dominated them. At halftime they had only gained 80 yards from scrimmage and we had held on to the ball for 11 minutes of the 2nd quarter. We came right back out in the 3rd on our first possession and added another TD almost effortlessly. Then, the FSU defense showed up and really slowed us down for almost the rest of the game. But our defense, despite it's injuries, isn't all that bad itself. Faced with AWFUL field position the entire second half, they managed to hold FSU to just one TD and one FG. Holding Florida State to 11 pts in a half is good, I don't care who you are. When you consider that FSU was getting the ball at midfield almost everytime as well, it makes it even more impressive. In the end Florida State had only 102 rushing yards and 102 passing yards, 204 total yards. Again, that ain't bad I don't care who you are. We sacked Drew Weatherford four times and forced him to scramble for little or no gain another 5 or 6 times. Our defense caused four fumbles as well, recovering on two of them. For a defense that has lost three big time starters and had two other players nursing injuries, they played well, very well. As for the offense, they didn't do too bad themselves. Playing what many consider one of the best defenses in the nation, we managed to rack up 345 yards of offense and do enough to win ourselves the ball game. The Noles seem to control the line of scrimmage for most the night, holding us to 151 yards on the ground. Though that sounds like a lot, over half of it came on three runs, a 38 yarder by Jacoby Ford in the 1st quarter, a 20 yarder by Proctor in the 3rd, and a 47 yarder by James Davis in the 4th. Will Proctor was pressured at times during the game too, but was fairly effecient at 16-30 for 194 yrds. He threw one beautiful TD pass to Chansi Stuckey, had the 20 yrd run for a TD, and threw no interceptions (though it sounded like FSU dropped one that should've been). We seemed very impressive in the first half, but got stagnant for most of the second half. But Rob Spence proved to me why I love him on the last drive. First of all, FSU tied it at 20 and everybody could feel the game just slipping away, everybody but Gaines Adams I guess. He led our defense to force two straight three and outs on FSU in the 4th quarter when the Noles had the ball at midfield with all the momentum. But the second punt gave us the ball at the 15 yard line with 2:22 left to play and you could see the twinkle in Rob Spence's eye I'm sure. 1st and 10 saw James Davis rush for 2 yards. 2nd and 8 saw James Davis again, this time for 14 yards. Then Proctor found Aaron Kelly for a 18 yard pass out to the 49 yard line. That's when Rob Spence made me fall in love with him all over again.


He called in a no huddle, quick snap that caught FSU just standing around and allowed James Davis to take it 47 yards down to the 4 yard line. And if you're thinking we had this same scenario last week with a chance to win but choked, you're right, but apparently Spence learned his lesson. Three hand offs to James Davis later, a PAT that was thankfully good, and your Clemson Tigers had the lead with :08 showing on the clock. It was amazing.



After the game I just sat and stared at the screen much like last week, jaw open and in unbelief. Only this week, I couldn't believe how we had WON.