Daniel on 
Sambo on 
Chili on 
Willy Mac on 
Beau on Texas Christian University (2-0, 0-0) @ Clemson (2-1, 1-1), 3:30pm EST, Saturday, September 26th.
ESPN 360, XM 191 & 195, Sirius 211, WCCPFM Live Feed.
Forecast: Rainy again
Tiger Walk @ 1:25pm
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Line: Clemson -2.5
Edge goes to:
Clemson offense vs. TCU defense: TCU
Clemson defense vs. TCU offense: Clemson
Special teams: Clemson
Intangibles: TCU – Ranked # 15, plus they shoot blood out their damned eyes.
Our Panel Of Expertly Trained Experts Says:
Chili:
Offense: My main concern is whether or not Clemson can increase offensive efficiency and get out of the rut in the red zone, a category in which Clemson is last in the ACC. TCU won’t be a team they can just “tune up” against – Billy Napier better be doing his homework leading up to this matchup and get the offense performing better than it has at any other time this season. The facts that Chris Hairston is still a game-time decision and the flu has been… ahem… passing through the line is a bit troubling as our offensive line isn’t exactly our strongest link when all are healthy.
Special Teams: Special teams have been pretty damned special as of late, and we’ve got Richard Jackson and CJ Spiller to thank for that. Please, for the love of God, don’t start calling him Richard “Thunder” Jackson like Tigernet is doing just to justify the mountain of custom airbrushed THUNDER N LIGHTNIN shirts stockpiled in the back of the shed. Anyway, we’ll likely see a trend continuing of special teams outscoring our offense.
Defense: The Tigers have shown out lately on defense, but TCU will be a bigger challenge than was BC. I wonder if we’ll see the Bamberg formation again. Hope so.
Bottom line: I’m not as confident about our offense being able to get anything going. Clemson loses against the spread for the first time this year.
TCU 17, Clemson 13
Willy Mac: Chili may be concerned largely with our line issues and he has every reason to be. Chris Hairston is still listed as questionable, although he did work lightly in a yellow jersey on the knee this week. From what I’ve read on the TCU beat, their community is feeling a little shaky given that they had a lot trouble with a Texas State team whose purpose was to serve as a tune-up for us. Coach Patterson has been blasting his defense all week in the papers. As opposed to the regular predisposition to take on all comers, the coaching staff has been downplaying the attention this game has been receiving. This is a very, very important game for both programs and will tell the nation where both programs stand this year.
The local media outlets and message boards have beat the hell out of the fact that we did very poorly in the red zone last week against Boston College. However, a very important fact is being overlooked: Boston College has the fourth ranked defense in the entire nation right now. Of course that’s just on paper only four weeks into the season. The Tigers played a great defense that stalled an offense with a potential Heisman candidate carrying the ball and still managed to score on seven separate occasions. A lot of noise has been made about TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes. He will get a sack or two but expect Clemson to employ a double team that will receive helpful down blocking from tight end Michael Palmer and backfield smash-mouthing from Rendrick Taylor.
Our special teams and defensive units look to continue their dominance this Saturday as our offense will yet again struggle with wide receiver/quarterback connection. Look for CJ Spiller to come through in hero fashion a la last years Boston College game. He’s due and has been incognito in terms of running back play for way too long this season. I’m going to keep to my original preseason pick and take Clemson in a defensive battle by 7-10 points. TCU just had too many question marks last week for a team they should have steam rolled. My feelers in the ticket office tell me that even though we’re playing a highly ranked team the sales are way down and the crowd won’t be that big this weekend.
Clemson 17, Texas Christian 10
1AParker
on Sep 25, 2009 at 12:42 pm:
Grrrr….bring on the pain. What exactly am I supposed to eat before this game? With south carolina, I eat chicken, with UNC i eat lamb, with NCSU I eat any stray dog I find on 93, and this past week I went and hunted down a bald eagle and we all enjoyed it together. But there aint no way I am going to go put an uber-sexual frog on the grill. THats just weird
2Takeezy
on Sep 25, 2009 at 1:01 pm:
frog legs?
3cgb
on Sep 25, 2009 at 1:38 pm:
@AParker – Frogs legs?
I’m taking Clemson in this one. It should be a very good game though. TCU didn’t roll all over UVA which leads me to believe they aren’t as good as advertised. I like y’alls opportunistic defense and the home crowd to be the keys to the game.
4madmaccorleone
on Sep 25, 2009 at 2:56 pm:
Agree with chili…hope willie mac’s smarter’n us.
5JasonL
on Sep 25, 2009 at 3:38 pm:
Hopefully the Tigers will learn to score an offensive TD. until thrn, I’ll have to pick against them. CJ can’t do it all…
TCU 24
Tigers 6
6Lawtonfunk
on Sep 25, 2009 at 6:07 pm:
@5 You have it way wrong man: TCU 24 Tigers 13.
7Chili
on Sep 25, 2009 at 7:33 pm:
DRUNK RANTING
8Willy Mac
on Sep 25, 2009 at 9:48 pm:
APPROPRIATE COUNTER
9dwight_clark87
on Sep 25, 2009 at 10:23 pm:
“Please, for the love of God, don’t start calling him Richard ‘Thunder’ Jackson like Tigernet is doing just to justify the mountain of custom airbrushed THUNDER N LIGHTNIN shirts stockpiled in the back of the shed.”
Oh, god, that’s golden. COM-O-DEE!
Anyway, Clemson wins. In their past two games at Virginia and in Fort Worth, I know TCU hasn’t encountered the type of muddy mess they are going to find at Death Valley. I expect ACC, Bi-Lo, Peeler’s Milk Player of the Fortnight Richard Jackson to have another busy Saturday. Bamberg will be remembered as the Clemson defense will turn tiny Texans into turgid trinkery. Also, be prepared to hear these words a lot: “Mountain West.”
Any word on Spiller?
10Ullapool
on Sep 26, 2009 at 5:01 am:
Why the fuck isn’t this game televised in some fashion? I’m keeping the southwestland alive here in northern New Mexico with our local little Clemson fan club and the damn game isn’t on! We’re paying a fortune for ESPNU, Gameplan, and all the assorted other crap. If it’s as important of a game as it sounds, and at least one of the opponents is ranked, we should be seeing this on Gameplan at least – eh?