Clemson Football: Instant Reaction – Sometimes you gotta hug ugly

I think it was that noted football philosopher Mack Brown who upon being criticized for a closer than expected win said, “Sometimes you gotta hug ugly” and that’s what it felt like for a half of Clemson football Saturday night.

The Tigers led 33.5 point underdog Louisiana Tech 13-6 at the half, before doing what almost every fan in the house, and some on my phone, thought they should do: Run the dang ball and crush these guys.

I guess it’s all depends on how you look at it, but in the end I’m alright with the results from Clemson’s 48-20 win.

It’s about expectations, and I expected Louisiana Tech to score.  The fact that the Tigers were down five or six starters on defense at various stages made that even more a reality.

I’m not here to tell you there aren’t concerns, chief among them next week’s oppo quarterback Sam Hartman and a back end of the Clemson defense that is battered and bruised.

On the bright side, the offense racked up 521 yards.  Sure it was in fits and starts in the first half, but with D.J. Uiagalelei at the controls in the second half and Will Shipley running like a man possessed, well, it was like taking candy from a bulldog.  A Louisiana Tech Bulldog.

Sometimes in college football you gotta hug ugly and for a half tonight Clemson football hugged a lot of ugly

I have questions about the defense, not the talent if they’re healthy, but it seems to me the fire of a Venables defense is missing.  Look, these are three ho-hum type games, I get it, but it gets real next week and we’ll see if a Wes Goodwin defense brings what the Brent Venables era brought us.

There are questions on the offensive side of the ball, too, of course, but a lot of those can be cured with relying on the running game and less cuteness, as it were.

D.J. Uiagalelei was on point today.  That needs to be said in an era of “he sucks”. Yep, he missed a few passes, but he also hit more and ran effectively.

Moving forward I think number 0, Antonio Williams, needs to be a bigger part of the offense and just the sight of Williams and another true freshman Adam Randall on the field together and making plays reminded me of the Wide Receiver U days.

After what we saw across college football last week, survive and advance is more than just a trite saying.