I am a Gator and all the information I posted about Clemson's players and the health of their team this year vs last year was available in a front page ESPN article.
If you can't understand the Florida-Clemson connection (they want us to beat you every year, we want them to beat FSU every year...there's a natural affinity amongst our programs), I can't help you. We realize you kind of have the same deal with FSU. It is what it is. And losing recruits to Clemson hurts us a lot less than losing them to FSU, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, etc., so I hope Clemson continues to clean house in our state.
But back to the original point: I don't see there being any shenanigans leading to a brawl in this one because Clemson is going to handle Bama straight up. They don't need to play any mind games and try to get the psychological edge - they're just the better football team. Bama's only hope is Clemson's bus not making it to the stadium because, once it arrives and they step out onto that field, it's ballgame. Bama can't keep pace with Clemson on offense this year - they may slow Deshaun down some here and there, but not as much as Clemson's D will stifle Bama's already-limited freshman Hurts. I'll go ahead and call it right now...this one isn't even going to be close: Clemson-42 Alabama-17.
I mean, look, I get it - it's annoying to have a rival running the show like that. It was for us in 2013, but you've just got to be realistic. Just like in 2013, where FSU was the best team, you've just got to say Clemson's got the better team even though you hate them. The key is learning from it and using it to motivate your own program to be better. That's what we're trying to do at UF. That's we have the indoor facility now and are spending another $60 million on a new stand-alone football-only facility. It's about being inspired by programs like Clemson's facilities, etc., and keeping pace.
If you can't understand the Florida-Clemson connection (they want us to beat you every year, we want them to beat FSU every year...there's a natural affinity amongst our programs), I can't help you. We realize you kind of have the same deal with FSU. It is what it is. And losing recruits to Clemson hurts us a lot less than losing them to FSU, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, etc., so I hope Clemson continues to clean house in our state.
But back to the original point: I don't see there being any shenanigans leading to a brawl in this one because Clemson is going to handle Bama straight up. They don't need to play any mind games and try to get the psychological edge - they're just the better football team. Bama's only hope is Clemson's bus not making it to the stadium because, once it arrives and they step out onto that field, it's ballgame. Bama can't keep pace with Clemson on offense this year - they may slow Deshaun down some here and there, but not as much as Clemson's D will stifle Bama's already-limited freshman Hurts. I'll go ahead and call it right now...this one isn't even going to be close: Clemson-42 Alabama-17.
I mean, look, I get it - it's annoying to have a rival running the show like that. It was for us in 2013, but you've just got to be realistic. Just like in 2013, where FSU was the best team, you've just got to say Clemson's got the better team even though you hate them. The key is learning from it and using it to motivate your own program to be better. That's what we're trying to do at UF. That's we have the indoor facility now and are spending another $60 million on a new stand-alone football-only facility. It's about being inspired by programs like Clemson's facilities, etc., and keeping pace.