"Let Ole Arri-Arri Kick the Hell Out of It"

The headline refers to comments that Charlie Pell allegedly made about Clemson kicker Obed Arriri, a Nigerian-born soccer player at Clemson who switched to football from 1977 to 1980 and became a star.

He's the focus of the Tiger Pregame Show's Letterman Photo of the Day.

 From the post:

Obed Ariri was enrolled at Clemson in 1977 when Charlie Pell was in dire need for a kicker. Dr. Ibrahim offered Obed only if he would still continue to play soccer. Pell agreed, and Obed went on to nail every attempt thus securing his place as the kicker for the Tigers. Obed's scholarship was shifted to Football and Pell insisted that Obed forget about soccer. 

The last we heard, Arriri was driving a cab in the Tampa area. And like everyone else, he's on Facebook. 

The Unprecedented Trevor Lawrence

Clemson 247 crunched some numbers, and it turns out that quarterback Trevor Lawrence's performance in his freshman year was even better than we thought:

Using Sports Reference data, which circles back to 2000, 247Sports looked for any true freshman season that even slightly resembled Lawrence's. There aren’t any. For those wondering, pre-2000 stat lines wouldn’t encompass the same sort of passing numbers Lawrence and modern offenses produce.

Wow.

Shakin' the Southland's "Farewell" tour continues today with a biggie -- receiver Hunter Renfro, the hero of the 2017 national championship game against Alabama.

 

Renfro was recently drafted in the fifth round by the NFL's Oakland Raiders, so hopefully we'll see him playing on Sundays this fall.

Trevor Lawrence is the Man ...

You knew that already, of course, but USA TODAY (my old employer) just made it official by ranking Clemson's Trevor Lawrence as the No. 1 quarterback for the 2019 season:

Lawrence tossed just four interceptions against 30 touchdowns during his first year on campus, capped by his 347-yard, near-perfect performance against the Crimson Tide. That's just a taste of what's to come for a sophomore already compared to some of the great prospects at his position in recent history — including Peyton Manning.

I am so ready for this season to begin.

Sold-Out Games Aren't Common Anymore

A good article from the Greenville News notes that Clemson hasn't sold out many home games in recent years, despite having a traditionally rabid fan base that's in the midst of the program's greatest period of success.

This bit surprised me:

The conventional culprits of expensive ticket costs, low demand and enhanced television viewing experiences are not the only reasons for the empty seats.

Turns out that one of the biggest factors affecting ticket sales is how many fans the visiting team brings.

Misty Water-Colored Memories ...

The Tiger Pregame Show has a running feature saluting past Clemson lettermen, and today, the subject is Bubba Brown. My dad and I saw many games featuring this great linebacker, and many newer fans might be surprised to learn that he is the leading tackler in Clemson history.

TPS mentions two games that stand out in Brown's career, both in 1978 -- the 17-tackle effort in a victory against N.C. State, and the dazzling 22 tackles he racked up in the legendary Gator Bowl win over Ohio State.

Clemson vs. Alabama for Title AGAIN? Early Odds Favor Tigers

Well, this sounds promising:

The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas released a hypothetical betting line last week for a potential Alabama-Clemson Part V showdown in the College Football Playoff, installing the Tigers as a 2-point favorite in the rubber match everyone expects to see during the 2019 season.

Thanks to Clemson 247 for the link.

Fond Farewells and More

Shakin' the Southland has been using the offseason to say farewell to some Tigers who made vital contributions during the past few years.

Consider kicker Greg Huegel:

He finished up 54-71 on FG attempts (76.1%) and 217-227 on PATs. He leaves Clemson ranked first in PATs, second in career points (379), and sixth in made field goals (54). He also holds a school record of hitting 5 FG in 5 different bowl games.

Check out this video of some of his career highlights:


STS also says goodbye to backup DT Chris Register:

Chris is the type of player that has become somewhat common at Clemson: talented enough to start for many teams across the country, yet stuck behind elite talents at Clemson.

Thanks, guys.

LET'S GO CAMPING: There's never a bad time to assess future football talent, and Clemson's coaching staff is doing just that this week as Dabo Swinney's summer camp gets underway in Tigertown. Tigernet has the details.

Tigerpundit: America's Slackest Sports Blogger

Hi. Remember me? Yes, I've been away for a while, but I'm going to try again to re-activate this blog.

Apologies again for being AWOL during the greatest era in Clemson football history. I will try to do better.