(UPDATED at 4:20 p.m.)

'Voice of the Tigers' was 69

This is truly sad news. Legendary Clemson broadcaster Jim Phillips, who had covered Clemson sports for 36 years, died early Tuesday from an aortic aneurysm. He was 69. The Georgia game was the 400th football contest of his Clemson career.

Tigernet has the press release, plus an online sympathy card.

Here's the Greenville News' take, and the AP's story via the Augusta Chronicle. Also, ACC commissioner John Swofford offers his condolences.

Additionally, the official Clemson site has posted a short video clip of Phillips, and a link to audio clips of some of his famous calls.

Wow. This is stunning. I grew up listening to this guy. He had such a smooth, welcoming radio voice, and was truly a great Clemson man. I wish his family the best during this difficult time.

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CROSBY LEAVES TEAM: As reported late Monday, receiver Roscoe Crosby has left the team for "family reasons." Stories are here, here and here.

BOWDEN SPEAKS: Here are the highlights from coach Tommy Bowden's weekly press conference. I'll post more about this on Wednesday.

INTERESTING NOTEBOOK: The Greenville News' notebook has a couple of items worth mentioning. First, there appears to be some contention on the team regarding playing time, according to receiver Tony Elliott (who has more choice words below). That doesn't sound good.

Second, there's confirmation that the Sept. 20 game at Georgia Tech, scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff, will not be televised. That's a shame for a couple of reasons. First of all, the Tech game has been a real barn-burner the past few years. Secondly, this means the Tigers won't be on television for the entire month of September. According to The State's notebook, Clemson hasn't had three non-televised games in a row since the 1987 season.

Additionally, The State's notebook reveals that the starting tailback job for Saturday's Middle Tennessee State game remains up for grabs, and also reveals a telling quote from Elliott on special-teams play: "On special teams, there is not as much discipline," Elliott said. "As you can tell, what separates the great programs from the mediocre is great special teams. Special teams is as important as offense and defense, and I think a lot of guys don't understand the importance of special teams."

Is finger-pointing getting out of hand on this team?

FAN INDIFFERENCE: The Anderson Independent-Mail has a story on how the poor attendance at last week's Furman game affected the players.

WE'RE CLEAR: ESPN has deigned to lift Clemson from the Bottom 10. For this week, anyway.

(UPDATED at 9:20 p.m.)

Peripatetic receiver to leave team -- again

Tigernet is reporting that wide receiver Roscoe Crosby, one of the most widely heralded recruits in Clemson history who rejoined the program this fall for the first time since 2001, has left the team for "family reasons." I'll post more about this on Tuesday.

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Where is that confounded running game?

With Furman playing soft defense after getting burned on some long pass plays, Clemson still couldn't generate a whole lot of offense on the ground in Saturday's unimpressive 28-17 victory.

This just doesn't sound good.

MTSU NOTES: The SID's office has released the voluminous pregame notes for next week's game against Middle Tennessee State. Give them a look.

STATS NOT TOO BAD: Here's a quick look at Clemson's ACC rank in various statistical categories. And, here's a very valuable page that tracks Clemson's NCAA statistical rankings -- and the rankings of every Division I program.

The good: We lead the league in kickoff returns (averaging 30.1 yards per return, which also ranks us 14th nationally) and kickoff coverage, only allowing an average of 12.5 yards per return. We're third in the conference in total defense (292.5 yards per game, which ranks us 31st nationally), second in pass defense (147 yards per game, good enough for 19th nationally), and we're tied for second in sacks in the ACC with seven.

Leroy Hill leads the ACC in tackles and tackles for loss, Kevin Youngblood, Derrick Hamilton and Airese Currie are ranked in several receiver categories (and Hamilton is seventh in the NCAA in kickoff returns), and Charlie Whitehurst is fourth in the league in passing yardage and fifth in passing efficiency.

The bad: We're the worst rushing team in the league (and ranked 102nd in the country), we're the worst in red-zone offense, and the next-to-worst in fourth-down conversions (1-of-4) and penalties (17 for 156 yards). We're also the worst team in the country in punt returns (117th out of 117).

Interesting stat: Clemson hasn't been getting many breaks from the other team's screw-ups. Our two opponents have only been penalized 9 times for 83 yards, the lowest figure in the conference.

Another interesting stat: N.C. State leads the nation in passing with 418 yards per game.

QUESTIONS ABOUND: The State's Ken Tysiac is still busy answering questions from fans. Check them out.

AP POLL: Florida State is 10th this week. Wake Forest jumps in at No. 20, the first ranking for the Deacs in a decade. N.C. State hangs around at No. 24, and South Carolina is 25th. Virginia drops out; Maryland has been out of the Top 25 since its opening-week loss to Northern Illinois.

It was a win, and we'll take it

Clemson's 28-17 victory against Furman produced a few positives (another great passing day by Charlie Whitehurst, for example), but also plenty of negatives (more than 100 yards in penalties, a running game that remains anemic). Here goes.

THE GAME STORY: "Nearly chased down," says The State; "Tigers survive Furman," says the Greenville News; "Tigers survive to beat Furman," says the Anderson Independent-Mail; "Furman puts up fight at Clemson," says the Augusta Chronicle.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Tigernet has posted some video from the game. Check it out.

THE STATS: Here's a complete statistical summary of the game.

GAME ANALYSIS: The penalty problem is analyzed here and here.

The State grades the Tigers on various aspects of the game, and there's also an interview with Whitehurst where he expresses frustration at the team's offensive woes. Plus, there's a "high five," quarter-by-quarter highlights, and an injury report that includes an item on defensive back Justin Miller getting leveled by a Furman player.

The Anderson Independent-Mail has a story on how the pass is Clemson's best weapon in a season that was supposed to see the running game become more prominent.

Tigernet's Dan Scott says Clemson faces a much more difficult path through the ACC than preseason predictions indicated.

TASTES LIKE ...: The Charleston Post & Courier's Gene Sapakoff has a great line in his column this week:

The Tigers on Saturday warmed up for the regular season with a 28-17 victory over Furman that tasted like diluted vanilla.

So true.

ACC ROUNDUP: Florida State's 35-10 victory over Maryland puts the 'Noles in firm control of the conference race, but the real shocker was Wake Forest's 38-24 whipping of N.C. State. The Deacs are for real, folks. Another stunner: South Carolina's 31-7 evisceration of Virginia. Of course, the Cavs are missing all-star quarterback Matt Schaub, but that doesn't account for this tail-whipping.

Let's see: The "new power elite" in the ACC (Virginia, N.C. State, Maryland) is a combined 2-4 so far this season. They'll still probably kick our asses, though.

Georgia Tech was impressive in a surprising 17-3 victory over fading Auburn. We play those guys in Atlanta in two weeks.

Elsewhere, North Carolina went to 0-2 with a tough 49-47 overtime loss to Syracuse, and Duke got a much-needed 29-3 win against I-AA Western Carolina.

(UPDATED at 9:25 p.m.)

Tigers aren't overly impressive in win

I didn't see the game, but from what I heard on the radio (via the Internet) and saw by monitoring Gametracker, it's safe to say we struggled offensively. We should have scored more than 28 points against Furman. Once again, the running game was absent. (Here are the stats.)

We play Middle Tennessee State next week. Here's a bit of discouraging news: They hung tougher against Georgia than we did, losing 29-10.

Sigh. I'll post the Bowden media bloodletting on Sunday.

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Or at least run down The Hill correctly

If we don't beat the Pals today, I don't want to imagine the turmoil it will cause to this program.

So I won't. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. It ain't on TV. Go Tigers. Yay.

I just hope they're not looking ahead to next week's game against Middle Tennessee State, currently rated 189th out of 240 teams in the Sagarin rankings. (Clemson is 49th.)

On to the previews.

GAME PREVIEWS: The Anderson Independent-Mail looks at the importance of the game to coach Tommy Bowden's future, emphasizing that the Tigers don't want to overlook Furman. (Uh, you think?) The Greenville News focuses this story on Clemson's much maligned offensive line. There's also a story on quarterback Charlie Whitehurst's motivations for the game (his dad was a quarterback at Furman). And, of course, the ubiquitous game capsule. The State offers three keys to victory for Clemson, the position-by-position "edge" list (with Furman getting the nod at O-line), a look at how the Tigers might stop Furman running back Hindley Brigham, and a Q&A with Whitehurst.

AROUND THE LEAGUE: Here's The State's guide to the best of the rest of today's ACC games.

(UPDATED at 4:30 p.m.)

Looking into Bowden's playbook

The Greenville News has an interesting story today examining coach Tommy Bowden's controversial call in the second quarter of the Georgia game. Trailing 13-0, the Tigers were at the Georgia 4-yard line and facing a fourth-and-two situation. Bowden called for a halfback pass that failed. (Why the hell didn't we just kick the field goal? It was early in the game, and it could have seriously altered Georgia's momentum. Instead, they got a big stop.)

O-LINE WOES: The Anderson Independent-Mail has a story on the tough week the offensive line has had in the wake of the 30-0 loss to Georgia.

TOUGH TIMES: The Greenville News' Bart Wright continues the "tough week" theme in this column on the state of the football program.

BOWDEN SPEAKS: Tigernet has some quotes from an interview with Bowden. Check them out.

HONORING HEISMAN: The State looks at Clemson's efforts to celebrate its rich football heritage, and especially the three-year coaching tenure of John Heisman, arguably one of the most important figures in the historical development of football.

IPTAY'S TAKE DECLINES: Clemson's athletic fundraising arm saw a decline in contributions for 2002-2003. Hmm, I wonder why that happened.....

BYLAW CHANGES IN THE WORKS: The addition of Miami and Virginia Tech to the ACC has forced the league to examine whether it needs to change its bylaws:

Wake Forest President Tom Hearn will head a three-person committee that will review the ACC constitution and offer the presidents several choices and a recommendation in March. The issue carries great significance because it could dictate how the future 11-team league votes if it chooses to add a 12th school.

Stay tuned.

ACC PREVIEW: FSU-Maryland is the marquee matchup, followed by N.C. State-Wake Forest. In non-conference action, Auburn is at Georgia Tech, Virginia is at South Carolina, Syracuse is at North Carolina and Western Carolina is at Duke.

(UPDATED at 7:55 p.m.)

Furman has beaten the big boys before

Clemson's I-AA opponent on Saturday has enjoyed some success against Division I opponents, most recently a 28-3 shellacking of the Tar Heels in 1999. They've also beaten N.C. State and Georgia Tech twice over the past couple of decades.

CROSBY, KELLY MAY SIT: Tigernet is reporting that Clemson receiver Roscoe Crosby and running back Yusef Kelly may not play Saturday against Furman. Earlier reports said Crosby has missed the past two days of practice for "family reasons." Tigernet's update indicates that Kelly has suffered a back injury in practice.

POSITION CHANGES: Clemson coach Tommy Bowden says some new players will get a chance to start this week's game against Furman.

PROMOTING HISTORY: Clemson's athletic director, Terry Don Phillips, hopes to emphasize Clemson's rich football tradition and history in promotional materials. That's a great idea. Clemson is not one of the all-time dominant programs, but it's got a very solid winning record, plenty of history and some of the more unique traditions in college football.

GRADUATION RATES RISE: Clemson's graduation rate for football players has hit 76 percent, according to this story.

HE TAKES IT BACK: Augusta Chronicle columnist Scott Michaux retracts his prediction that Clemson would upset Georgia, and happily jumps on the Dawgs' bandwagon.

THE NAPIER STORY: Everyone has a story on Billy Napier, a Clemson graduate assistant coach who was Furman's starting quarterback a year ago. Gripping stuff. (Yawn.)

ACC NOTES: The State has its version; so does The Greenville News. And Gregg Doyel, the Charlotte Observer columnist everyone loves to hate, actually pens a pretty good roundup of the abysmal week in the ACC.

SCHAUB MAY RETURN: The Washington Post is reporting that Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub, a Heisman candidate who injured his shoulder in the season-opening win against Duke, could return for the Cavs' Sept. 27 against Wake Forest. It looks like he'll definitely miss Saturday's game at South Carolina.

STATS PRETTY GOOD: For those doom-and-gloomers who feel that all is lost in the wake of last week's 30-0 season-opening loss to Georgia, here's something I stumbled across on the Tigernet message board. It's a statistical analysis of Clemson's performance in season openers against quality opponents since 1970:

1. In short, we have been utterly abysmal, with an overall record of 11 wins and 23 losses.

2. Nine of those 23 losses were by shutout.

3. We only have only three wins (in 22 tries) against what you might call �quality� teams � teams that finished with a high number of wins on the year: Georgia in 1981, Florida State in 1989, and Virginia in 1984. However, it is interesting and relevant to note that none of the three games were our initial games of the year, meaning that we have never beaten a quality opponent in our season opener in the last 34 years � that�s right: never. It�s also relevant to note that in 1981, Georgia was the third game of the year, after two games in which we looked pretty bad � Wofford (45-10, after trailing early), and Tulane (whom we beat by only 13-5, in a very ugly game). Also, the Virginia team in 1984 finished only 8-2-2 (i.e., it was not a top-10 caliber team).

4. The records under each coach have been as follows: Ingram (1-2), Parker (0-4), Pell (0-2), Ford (6-5 � although it�s again interesting to note that in his first five seasons, the most seasons any of the other coaches have been at the helm, his record was 1-4), Hatfield (1-3), West (1-4), Bowden (1-4). I should note that in compiling this information, I counted Bowden�s loss to Marshall against him (although it wasn�t against a BCS conference team), because it was against a team that finished highly ranked. Strictly speaking, Bowden�s 33-14 win over Virginia in the second game would improve his record to 2-3.

The above represents the bad news. But what does it imply about how the season will turn out overall?

1. Despite the record in the initial Division I games of the previous 33 years, the Tigers have averaged 7.12 wins in the time span (and that counts some horrid seasons in the early to mid Seventies).

2. We�ve had 24 winning seasons (out of 33).

3. Our record in initial Division I games is 4-2 in seasons in which we�ve won at least 10 games, 2-3 when we�ve won 9 games, 0-4 when we�ve won 8 games, 2-4 when we�ve won 7 games, 1-2 when we�ve won 6 games, and 1-8 when we�ve had a losing record.

4. Using some basic statistical analysis (for those of you who�ve had a stats class before), the difference between the Tigers� score and the opponents� score in these initial games only explains 17.6% of the variation in the number of games won on the year. Stated otherwise: it doesn�t mean much.

5. Some of the best wins and seasons in Clemson history have come after being shut out in the Division I opener. In perhaps the second best season in Clemson history, with perhaps the best offense in Clemson history, the Tigers were shut out by UGA 12-0, but finished 11-1. In 1979, the Tigers were shut out by Maryland (at home) by 19-0, but immediately turned around and defeated UGA, and later beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame. In 1993, the Tigers were thrashed by FSU 57-0, but finished 9-3. The 1974 team was beaten by Texas A&M 24-0, but finished 7-4 (with a win over Georgia).

6. Although I did not do a complete analysis of what has happened immediately after Division I opening losses, a few very positive examples come to mind: pounding UVA in 1999 after the Marshall loss, beating UGA in 1979 after the Maryland loss, beating UGA in Athens after the 1977 Maryland loss, and beating UGA in Athens after the 1986 Virginia Tech loss. Conversely, one of the only three �quality� wins (over Virginia in 1984) was followed immediately by the 60-yard field goal loss at UGA (and a loss to Georgia Tech the week after).

So what does the above suggest? First, Saturday�s debacle is certainly not out of the norm. Secondly, first game performances are simply not a very good predictor of how the season will transpire. In sum: chill out � all is not lost.

That's a fine piece of research, but it only makes me feel a little bit better. What about the fact that Bowden is only 2-18 against teams that finished ranked in the Top 25? For whatever reason, the guy seems to have trouble winning the big games. I hope that can change over the next three months, but I'm doubtful it will.

(UPDATED at 5:25 p.m.)

Bowden manages to find positives in blowout

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden says the Tigers' 30-0 loss to Georgia wasn't so bad when you look at it closely:

"After looking at the film, we just needed to make a play," Bowden said. "Turnovers hurt us, things you thought pretty much might have been the problem. I thought the effort was good."

Uh huh. Ken Tysiac's last line perhaps explains why Bowden seems to be living in Cloud-Koo-Koo Land:

By focusing on the positives, he may be trying to build the morale of a team that is down.

Yeah, either that, or he's trying to avoid the painful facts brought up in this story: In his entire career, he's just 2-18 against teams that finished the season ranked in the Top 25.

This column by John Brasier of the Anderson Independent-Mail not so subtly suggests that Bowden was engaged in some heavy-duty spinning at Tuesday's weekly press conference. I'll second that.

Meanwhile, athletic director Terry Don Phillips says he's confident the team will improve, but ducked questions about Bowden's job security.

HOT SEAT WATCH: CBS Sportsline weighs in on Clemson's shoddy performance against Georgia and Bowden's rapidly declining stock, and points out some little-known history for those clamoring to bring back Danny Ford (little known to me, anyway):

Now there is speculation Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips could pull the trigger on Tommy Bowden before the season ends. That leads to another question: Has a Bowden ever been fired?

It has not slipped some people's attention that Phillips was the senior associate AD at Arkansas in 1992 when Frank Broyles canned coach Jack Crowe after a season-opening loss to The Citadel. Coincidentally, Ford had the Razorbacks' job by 1993.

What is more likely to happen is Phillips will assemble a short list behind the scenes during the season rather than put the program through such upheaval.

I wasn't aware Phillips was at Arkansas when Ford got hired. Very interesting, as is the whole column.

LINE SHUFFLE: Some linemen were injured in practice, and their backups got more work. Fascinating stuff.

CU/FURMAN MEMORIES: The official Clemson site has posted some video highlights of Clemson's 33-0 victory over Furman in 1998. My father and I were at that game, and if I remember correctly, that was the one where quarterback Woodrow Dantzler made his debut. He led the Tigers on a drive late in the first half, running the ball himself on nearly every play. It was one of the strangest drives we ever saw in Death Valley.

By the way, I was glad to hear that Dantzler was picked up by the Atlanta Falcons after being cut by Dallas.

COMMENTS ADDED: It seems like I'm getting enough traffic to warrant comments, so I'll see how this works out. Fire away about what you read here!

(UPDATED at 7:25 p.m.)

Tigers try to get it together

Clemson's players and coaches are still trying to sort out the 30-0 loss to Georgia last Saturday.

Labor Day brought Clemson back together for the first time since the loss. A team leader apologized for a comment he may or may not have said; a handful of players suggested holding a players-only meeting to clear the air; and several veterans urged that Clemson must not dwell on one defeat in a 12-game season.

That apologetic player was linebacker John Leake, who told the Augusta Chronicle: "We're not going to recover from this. It's going to be in the back of our heads all year long." (There's more on Leake's apology here.)

I'm trying to find the positives here. Maybe this horrific setback will help develop some true team leaders. And it's got to be a wake-up call for the coaching staff. Perhaps the team will grow closer because of this.

I'm a fan; I've gotta have hope. Heck, it's all I've got anymore.

BOWDEN SPEAKS: Here are the highlights from Tommy Bowden's weekly press conference. I'll post the media reactions on Wednesday.

WE STINK ON ICE: Clemson is No. 5 in ESPN's Bottom 10. I know we looked bad Saturday, but that seems a tad harsh. I guess that's the point, though.

PREPPING FOR FURMAN: The Paladins from neighboring Greenville are excited about playing in Death Valley, and are hoping that Clemson will still be reeling from the Georgia loss.

SAMPSON TO START: Linebacker Eric Sampson, who was dismissed from the team last spring, is slated to start against Furman.

HIGH ON HILL: Linebacker Leroy Hill was one of the few bright spots for the Tigers last Saturday. He had 16 tackles, including three for loss.

MORE QUESTIONS: The State's Ken Tysiac keeps answering them.

ESSO CLUB MAKEOVER: The Esso Club in Clemson, a landmark drinking hangout for generations of Tiger fans, will be getting a face lift. I hope they don't mess with the low-rent ambiancece and turn the place into a fern bar, but those raunchy bathrooms could definitely use a renovation.

Bowden says a change is gonna come

In the wake of Clemson's 30-0 loss to Georgia, embattled Clemson coach Tommy Bowden is vowing to make personnel changes, but he says he won't be changing his game plan. Here's The State's story, the Greenville News' take, and coverage from the Anderson Independent-Mail.

HOT SEAT WATCH: Bowden's rapidly declining job security cropped up in numerous "this was the week that was in college football" columns across the country. The San Jose Mercury News and The Sporting News are fairly representative of what's out there.

And here's an interesting story that does a side-by-side comparison of Clemson's 30-0 loss to Georgia and Auburn's 23-0 loss to Southern Cal. The similarities are eerie: two teams nicknamed Tigers, each coached by a Tommy on the hot seat, get shut out in a high-profile home opener. Weird.

FURMAN NOTES: The SID's office has released the voluminous pregame notes for the Furman game. Boy, talk about struggling to find positives. Read 'em and weep.

In other Furman-related news, here's a look back at the Paladins' 12-0 upset of the Tigers in 1936, the last victory in the series for the Greenville school. It was also the only game ever played in the snow at Clemson.

TIGERS IN THE PROS: Clemson has 19 players on NFL rosters, according to this story from Tigernet. Can we get them back for Virginia, FSU, N.C. State and Maryland?

SCHAUB OUT: Matt Schaub, Virginia's Heisman candidate quarterback, will miss at least one game because of his shoulder injury, according to this report.

QUESTION TIME: The State's Ken Tysiac has been bombarded with questions from Clemson fans following the loss to Georgia. Check 'em out.