Manziel continues ridiculous antics
After months of building up the Jadeveon-Clowney-is-unstoppable hype, the junior star finally hit the field for a new season last Thursday against North Carolina.
Because of the constant replay of Clowney’s hit on Michigan’s Vincent Smith in January, it appears that fans and critics around the nation expected that highlight to be a given every week this season.
However, Clowney had just three tackles against the Tar Heels and sent no one’s helmet flying through the air. ESPN commentator David Pollack, among many others, attributed Clowney’s lackluster stat line to a lack of effort.
Yes, it appeared that Clowney was struggling at moments during the game Thursday. Yes, he has had problems with this and / or lack of effort in the past. But one thing we have to understand is that Thursday was one of the hottest days of the summer — hotter than most, if not all, of the fall practices.
In addition to that, the North Carolina offense is one that does not warrant a lot of sacks. Last season, the Tar Heels gave up 11 sacks in 12 games. Their up-tempo offense depends on getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quickly. This means opposing linemen don’t get a lot of sacks.
This also means there isn’t any need to make a big deal out of Clowney’s performance. Even though he did not register a sack, he still affected the Tar Heel offense. They were thinking about him. Whatever side he lined up on, UNC usually ran to the opposite side. Point being, even if Clowney doesn’t rack up stats, he still makes a difference in the game.
But those stats will come against the more traditional offenses. Possibly even this week against Georgia. The Clemson defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the game Saturday against the Bulldogs. The Tiger defense, who averaged a little more than two-and-a-half sacks per game last season, recorded four sacks against the Bulldogs on Saturday. This could be good news for Clowney and the rest of the Gamecock defensive line.
With that being said, Clowney needs to be on the lookout for players such as North Carolina offensive lineman Kiaro Holts, who received a penalty for clipping Clowney during the game when the play was yards away from where Clowney was. The opposition would love nothing more than to have Clowney out of the game; however, I would like to think that other teams would not take cheap shots as Holts did last Thursday.
Extra Points
What the heck is Johnny Manziel thinking? Days after being investigated for receiving money for signing autographs, “Johnny Football” is at it again. During the Texas A&M game against Rice, Manziel was benched for taunting Rice players and pointing to the scoreboard. You would think that Manziel would have learned his lesson and stayed out of the limelight. But no, he taunts a team that has no hope of beating the Aggies, even after being suspended for the first half of that game. What a return, right? That’s like a teenager taunting a toddler for not being able to keep up with him in a race. What’s the point? Props to Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin for benching Manziel, but with the way things are going, don’t expect the third-year sophomore to change his attitude.