Thursday, November 02, 2006
Little Bowden has case of sour grapes
Randy King
Randy King's Tech Insider is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Thursdays in season.
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Perhaps Clemson coach Tommy Bowden should take a few lessons from his father, Bobby, when it comes to the subject of "class."
I found young Bowden's rant on Wednesday's ACC media teleconference about his Tigers being dealt a short straw by the ACC for having to play Virginia Tech last Thursday night coming off a conference game to be totally sour grapes.
Bowden whined that the Hokies had an advantage in the matchup because the Tigers were coming off a conference game against Georgia Tech, while Tech was coming off a nonleague game against Southern Mississisippi. Both Clemson and Tech played at home on the previous Saturday night before the quick five-day turnaround.
"I think you ought to make both teams play conference opponents" before a Thursday night game," Bowden said. "We were so emotionally spent after playing such a huge conference game. Then, going on the road, you lose a day and half due to travel."
Oh, c'mon, coach!
Now I'll buy the second end, at least a little bit. Sure, it's harder on the team that has to travel. But a day and a half? Did you bring the Tigers to Roanoke on a herd of mules or what? I'm sure the Tigers flew to Roanoke, where they stayed for the game. How long could that have taken? It's only five-hour trip by car.
And, sure, I realize that Georgia Tech was a huge game for Clemson. But the Tigers had that game well in hand from the get-go en route to a runaway 31-7 rout.
Emotionally spent? Well, isn't a coach's job to find ways to get his team mentally prepared for games?
Bowden complained that a team playing a nonconference foe "doesn't have to exert as much energy" as a club playing a league opponent.
OK, if Tech had faced somebody like Buffalo or Florida International instead of Southern Miss, I might buy some of Bowden's logic. Fact is, Tech faced a Southern Miss team that came to town leading its division in Conference USA. Plus, the Golden Eagles had laid a 37-17 smackdown on ACC member North Carolina State in September.
Funny, but if Clemson had won that game at Tech, I'm betting that Bowden never says one word about all this.
Think Bobby Bowden would have reacted in similar fashion? I say no. Of course, the old man probably wouldn't have had to worry about it. His Florida State, as bad as it these days, probably would have beaten. The Seminoles always do, don't they?
Tommy should have spent more time talking with his old man about how to beat Tech. There had to be some down time during that day-and-a-half sojourn from Clemson to Roanoke to pick his father's head on how to whip the Hokies.
THE RIVERBOAT GAMBLER: Speaking of Tech's 24-7 rout of Clemson, the biggest call of the game unquestionably was Frank Beamer' s choice to go for a fourth-and-1 on his own 36-yard line in the first quarter. Clemson had driven for a touchdown to go up 7-0 on its previous series.
Tech quarterback Sean Glennon got the first down on a rare sneak. The Hokies went on to complete a 77-yard TD drive to tie the game.
"It just felt right to go for it," Beamer said Tuesday. "And I do think it was a big call. They had just scored on the series before and I didn't want to give the ball back. Going into it, my thought process was they only need the ball so much ... that we need to hang onto the ball because then those two running backs [James Davis and T.J. Spiller] aren't on the field.
"With that going through my head, I just felt like we needed to go for it and hope like heck we get a first. Sean and the offensive line did a nice job of getting that."
When asked if he could recall the last time one of his teams had gone for a first down on fourth-and-1 at their own 36 in the first quarter, Beamer paused and shook his head.
"I can't," he said. "Sometimes, you don't gamble much like that."
No kidding. I've been covering Tech since 1994 and that's the first time I've ever seen Beamer roll the dice like that.
Beamer recalled going for a fourth-and-15 in Tech's 38-13 romp over Virginia in the 1990 regular-season finale. The circumstances were a bit different, though. The Hokies were in UVa territory.
"I remember [late ex-Tech boss] Coach [Jerry] Claiborne was here, and, of course, Coach Claiborne doesn't gamble much, either," Beamer said. "But we went for it and threw a post to Nick Cullen and scored a touchdown.
"Coach Claiborne came up afterwards and said, 'I didn't think you knew what you were doing, but I guess you did.' "
THE HAIR: I've got a feature going on Hokies senior offensive tackle Brandon Frye in Friday's editions. I didn't have enough space to address Frye's hair.
The big fellow showed up earlier this year in the media room with his long locks blown up and sticking straight in the air. He had the locks tied down this week in neat corn rows under a head wrap.
"It's just my little luck thing, I guess," Frye said. "I haven't cut it since the night before the USC game in 2004. It's way past shoulder's length now."
Frye said his teammates don't razz him about his long locks.
"I mean the guys on the team like it," he said. "They like it when I have it out; they think it's funny. Yeah, people call me Samson, saying like 'the guy in the weight room is so strong because of his hair, so don't cut it off.'
"It's just my own little thing. There have been times when I've almost cut it. But it's this long now so I might as well just keep letting it go."
Center Danny McGrath said the hair makes Frye a mysterious man.
"I think he's had many a style since I've been here," McGrath said. "I don't even recognize him sometimes when it's short. He looks like a big Samoan when it's out in its curls. It's a hard time figuring out what his race is when he has his hair out."
