My Blood STILL Runneth Orange

Oh man.  After staying up WELL past my bed time last night watching the Tigers self destruct makes this headache I have even more painful.  The Tigers lost...and they lost BAD.  And once again, I found myself getting worked up last night to the point I couldn't fall asleep - not over the game, but over the SC fans on Facebook.  Friend list was "cleaned up" last night...which sucks, because I really wish those people could read this.

"Let's Go Tigers!   #makehistory" was my status last night.  And regardless as to how terrible the scoreboard looked in the end, the Tigers made history in so many ways!  So to everyone mocking "Clemsux making history" and laughing...please read on.  

I'm not going to sit here and compare Clemson and South Carolina - that's not me.  Both teams had a hell of a season and put SC football on the map - finally.  I'm simply going to highlight the ACCOMPLISHMENTS Clemson's football team and players made this year.  We can't celebrate a win this week, but we can celebrate everything else these boys did this year!  

Team:

Winning the ACC Championship and even GOING to the Orange Bowl was making history in itself.  It's been 30 years since they've made it to a major bowl game and like Dabo says “It won’t be 30 years, we’ll be back.”

Last night, Clemson broke the school record for touchdowns in a season with the 27 yard touchdown catch by Sammy Watkins.  Previous record was 55 in 2000 and 2006 - after the third quarter score (that was long overdue) they broke the record with 57 touchdowns in a season.

Clemson scored 17 points in the first quarter of the game, the most points they have scored in the first quarter of a bowl game since 1949 against Missouri in the Gator Bowl (14).

Clemson finished the season 10-4 - making it the most wins in a season since 1990 when they were 10-2.

Clemson played six games against top 25 teams - the most in one season in school history.

The Tigers had four wins over these top 25 teams - the most in school history.

Individuals:

When Sammy Watkins caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Boyd in the first quarter, Watkins broke two school records. It was his 12th touchdown catch of the year, breaking the record of 11 previously held by himself and Aaron Kelly in 2007. It was also his 13th overall touchdown of the year, breaking the previous Clemson record for a freshman (CJ Spiller had 12 in 2006).

Watkins had 205 all-purpose yards last night, giving him 2,282 for the season, second most in ACC history for a season. The only figure better is CJ Spiller’s 2,680 in 2009.

Tajh Boyd set an ACC record for touchdown responsibility last night. His two touchdown passes gave him 38 touchdowns passing and running for the season. The previous ACC mark was 37 by Philip Rivers of NC State in 2003 and Russell Wilson of NC State in 2010. Boyd has 33 touchdown passes, already a Clemson record, and five rushing scores this year.

Chandler Catanzaro was 2-2 on field goals last night and both were from 40 yards or more. He finishes the year with 22 field goals overall, nine of which were from 40 yards or more. This is the second most field goals of 40 yards or more. Chris Gardocki had 10 for the Tigers in 1989.

Andre Ellington had 116 yards rushing last night- his second straight 100-yard rushing game. He had a 68-yard rushing touchdown that was the second longest in a bowl game in Clemson history. The only one longer is an 83-yarder by C.J. Spiller against Auburn in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl. Ellington finishes the season with five 100-yard rushing games and 1,178 rushing yards for the year. The rushing total is the eighth most in Clemson history.

The bowl game in itself had SEVERAL records broken.  Breaking BCS-bowl records for combined scores, combined touchdowns, combined total yards, combined first downs and combined passes - the Mountaineers and the Tigers made history together.

So, if you want to say that the Tigers failed at making history, you may want to check your facts first.

As far as coaching goes: No, I'm not going to jump off the Dabo bandwagon, and no I don't regret his contract being extended.  It would be stupid to say that his loss in the Orange Bowl says that he's not a good coach.  This is a young football team - including the coaching staff.  Hell, I never hated on Tommy Bowden...he took the Tigers to a bowl game every year but one the 9-1/2 years he was there (bowl invitation was declined in 2004 because of the brawl after the SC game).  People who bash these coaches after a bad loss are just dumb.  Look at the overall picture and not at the scoreboard in front of you.  Dabo is a passionate coach - he loves his players and he loves Clemson University.  Passion won't win football games, but it damn sure makes it feel better when you lose - that you have a coach that truly loves the program and wants nothing more than to have a successful team.

As you can tell, I have a LOT to say about all this - it's because I'm so sick of people putting down a team that didn't beat SC and/or didn't win the Orange Bowl.  That's two games you freaks!  Look at the other 12 games (note: I'm not going to bring up the losses to NC State and GA Tech)!  The Tigers finished 10-4, won the ACC Championship and went to the Orange Bowl - is that really not enough for you?

It's enough for me and my blood still runneth orange! I'm so proud of the accomplishments this team has made this year!   

Solid Orange - it's all about Pride: GO TIGERS!

(Thank you TigerNet for the stats)