KEY WEST LOU / THERE IS NO JOY IN MUDVILLE…..

There is no joy in Mudville…..

Says it all!

An excellent game. Syracuse the obvious winner for 3 1/2 quarters. Then fell apart.

The score favored Syracuse 21-10 at half time. Clemson the winner at the end 27-21.

Coaching a significant reason why Clemson won. Yesterday Clemson Coach Swinney was better than Babers. Proof included several things.

Clemson made 4 ball losses in the first half. Syracuse capitalized. No team comes back to win after 4 turnovers.

Things continued going bad for Clemson in the second half. Swinney pulled out his star/All -American quarterback and replaced him with a freshman. Swinney’s reasoning simple. Nothing was happening under his star. He had to do something. Couldn’t be any worse with a novice.

Turns out the move was a brilliant one. The freshman’s inexperience was obvious. He made “freshman” mistakes. However, he got things going. Scored a touchdown, etc.

Swinney played Syracuse’s 2 receivers and Tucker well. Threw them off.

Babers major error was the clock. Not the first time this season. He blew 20 seconds in the last moments of the game by failing to call a time out to preserve the time. Syracuse might have won if it had those 20 seconds and did not have to throw the Hail Mary pass when it did.

Schrader screwed up at the end. He always looks for one of his two favorite receivers. When he let the Hail Mary pass go, the receiver he intended was covered by 3 Clemson defense men. On the other side of the field running unencumbered was Syracuse player Jackson. No Clemson player within 20 feet of him. Schrader never looked. A blown touchdown!

There was an overall team problem also. A meltdown. When things started going bad for Syracuse with several minutes left in the game, they lost heart. You could see it on their faces and the slouch in their bodies. An announcer said the Syracuse coaches were going around telling the players to have confidence, etc. It was obvious they had mentally lost it.

Syracuse will learn from the loss. Its season will still be a great one. A significant bowl in the wings.

We learn from our mistakes.

I am not unhappy with the loss. I got 3 1/2 quarters of….. We’re going to win! I saw the team fall apart. Such is life. They tried, but in the end when everything counted, they didn’t have it.

Less I forget, the Syracuse defense was outstanding! The offense blew it.

Enjoy your Monday!

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