The Tailgate: No. 5 Clemson

I spent my entire life hating Kobe Bryant. Like viscerally hating him. I knew he was an assassin on the court, but I spent most of my adolescence poking holes in his game as if I was some high school, hot take expert on television. I'd talk about how he wasn't Jordan or Bird - like I even saw Larry Bird in his prime - before I blasted him for not even being the best player on his team (yeah, Shaq was definitely better, even though he played a completely different position and couldn't hit free throws). Getting older forced me to admit to the greatness of his career, but it wasn't until his basketball odyssey career ended in 2016 that I achieved a catharsis regarding our relationship to him as fans.

My perception of Kobe played a huge role in how his death in January 2020 hit me like a gut punch. I was in Nashville with my wife, and I still remember feverishly checking my phone for updates disproving our worst fears as we hunted for a lunch spot. Marrying a basketball fan who admittedly knows the sport really well has made for interesting conversation, but nothing was quite like the hours we spent analyzing his style and impact as we sadly watched hours of coverage.

But what really hit me about Kobe's death didn't happen until a full year later, in April, 2021, when my daughter, Kenna, was born. In that moment, I became a "girl dad," and one year earlier, ESPN's Elle Duncan tearfully brought the term into our lexicon by telling a story about Kobe and his daughters.

Becoming a girl dad changed me forever. It formed a line of demarcation in my life and separated pre-baby Dan with a new version, and while it wasn't always easy, the new me looked back at the old me and realized he didn't want to return (even though he couldn't) to a world of sleeping through the night. Those late hours and early mornings of solitude while my wife slept were too beautiful, and I realized in the moments of literal, pre-dawn darkness how my daughter had a whole lifetime of possibilities.

When I could sleep, I dreamt about what was ahead. Of the women who would stand as her idols and heroes. Of how she could be the strong-willed picture of courage and strength that her mother displayed on a daily basis. And of how I would do anything for her, just because I was her girl dad.

I didn't think, at that moment, that it was possible to have room for another person, but this week, our second daughter, Andi, was born. I once again underwent the transformation, and sitting in the delivery room holding this perfect little human, I felt this enormous version of the most perfect love. I changed and became a girl dad again, and the same dreams of watching my daughter grow into whatever she wanted all came rushing back.

A significant percentage of my life played out at Alumni Stadium, so allow me the allegorical connection here that maybe it's fitting that it all happened during Red Bandanna Game week. Welles Crowther was the perfect form of a person who sacrificed out of love for people, and his story is a light that shined on a day filled with immeasurable tragedy. The game has always been an event worth watching, but it's much more than that for anyone who let that story imprint into their soul, especially those of us who remember 9/11 with such clarity. It reinforces the notion that we are one people devoid of our differences, and when thrust together, the genuine good rises to the surface.

The messages mean more to me now than ever, and thinking about Welles' story while looking at both of my daughters was more emotional than I ever realized. Service and dedication, humility and sacrifice, heroism and honor…they have always been a big part of how I try to live my life, but having two children changed what that meant.

I'm sure I'll laugh and self-deprecate over having two kids under two years old, and I look forward to laughing and sharing the stories of pure chaos in my household. But for today, anything is possible, at least according to Kenna and Andi's girl dad.

Here's what to watch for when Boston College hosts No. 5 Clemson on Saturday night:

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Game Storylines (Bruce Springsteen Edition)

And hard times come,
And hard times go,
And hard times come,
And hard times go,
Yeah just to come again,
Bring on your wrecking ball.
-Wrecking Ball

Managing the highs and lows of a football season is part of any coach's job, but this year has felt exceptionally extreme at Boston College. It's different from last year's sustained streaks of wins and losses, but last week's one-point victory over Louisville sent a euphoric release through the entire community after the Eagles beat an FBS and ACC opponent for the first time in 2022.

"You'd like, as a coach, for the guys to come in each day and be the same [win or lose]," said BC head coach Jeff Hafley, "but that's not true. They've got good confidence right now. They're having more fun. They're a little bit energized, and [beating Louisville] was much needed for them. There is an uptick for sure."

Gaining momentum from a win is an altogether different feeling for a team that fought through its first month, but BC isn't lulling itself into a false sense of security with Clemson arriving this weekend with its continuing mission to exorcize its demons from last year's three-loss season. The Tigers still won 10 games and defeated Iowa State for its first bowl win since the 2019 Fiesta Bowl, but falling short in their quest for a seventh consecutive conference championship lit a fire under Dabo Swinney's team of certified college football all stars.

"I'm expecting [Saturday] to be loud," said wide receiver Zay Flowers. "I want it to be loud. I want all the students. We need everybody that can come, and I feel like we're going to play to the best abilities like we have in the last few years. I feel like we can go in and play with them and maybe even beat them."

Poor man want to be rich,
Rich man want to be king,
And a king ain't satisfied 'till he rules everything.
I want to go out tonight,
I want to find out what I got.
-Badlands

It's not terribly difficult to back up statements about Clemson's greatness with easily identifiable proof, but one look at the offense offers doubtless and countless evidence how the Tigers are on the warpath this year. Just take quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who memorably debuted during his true freshman season in 2020 and enjoyed two breakout performances against BC and Notre Dame after Trevor Lawrence tested positive for COVID-19. He struggled last year and didn't throw for 250 yards once, and he threw just as many interceptions (nine) as touchdowns. His best completion percentage came in a game where he passed for 126 yards and no touchdowns, and his most yards occurred when he completed less than half of his passes with an interception against Connecticut.

The performance left questions about his status as a season-long starter, but he silenced the movement to play freshman Cade Klubnik by absolutely destroying the Wake Forest defense with 371 yards and five touchdowns. To date, he's thrown one interception to 11 scores, though it occurred against FCS-level Furman in a game where he went 21-for-27 with two touchdowns.

That he turned things around isn't a surprise, but it's more credit to a system that found its footing after last year's struggles. Uiagalelei has only been sacked six times this year and wasn't taken down during last week's win over tenth-ranked NC State. Compare that to last year when he was sacked 19 times, including seven times against Georgia and at least twice in four other games.

"They have some experience [on the offensive line]," said BC defensive lineman Chibueze Onwuka. "They have some tough guys, some bigger guys, but you're going to try to get after them. It's going to be a tough game up front, a gritty game. We just have to make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure that [the offense] doesn't take over."

Oh, someday, girl, I don't know when.
We're gonna get to that place,
Where we really wanna go,
And we'll walk in the sun.
But 'till then, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run.
-Born To Run

Last week's win offered a massive step forward for the Boston College offense, which had been steadily improving but didn't quite have the results to show after missteps cost it results against Virginia Tech and Florida State. The Eagles piled up 448 yards and balanced their passing offense through different, more diversified rushing attacks better than any previous result in 2022. Everything gelled, and it was much-needed ahead of a matchup against a team that hasn't lost to BC since the Eagles won, 16-10, at Alumni Stadium in 2010.

"You have to run the ball to throw the ball, at least with play action and run action" said Jeff Hafley. "If not, they can kind of sit back. The defensive line, like a lot of guys in the NFL, if they know you're going to throw it, they all get vertical and don't really care about the gaps or pinning the hips of a tackle or a tight end. It just lets them play fast and get up field, so you need to be balanced."

That really offers a key to a historically-tight, smash-mouth football game because the Eagles don't have to run raw horsepower into the teeth of the defensive line anymore. Pat Garwo can certainly do that, but the BC running game isn't built around AJ Dillon or the every-down back who has 300 rushing attempts in a season. Alex Broome proved that last week when he gained 83 yards on nine carries, and his touchdown was the result of a counterweight approach to Garwo, who gained 66 yards on 12 carries.

That doesn't mean, though, that Garwo can't spill to the outside, nor does it mean that Xavier Coleman, Cam Barfield, or Broome have to cede every run between the tackles to the bigger back. Changing formations and looks are almost as important to keeping the defense off-guard, and confusion is necessary against a unit that has eight top-15 finishes in total defense since 2014.

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Question Box

Is DJ officially back?

The short answer is yes, but DJ Uiagalelei played like a game manager throughout most of those first three games of the season. He went for 200 yards and touchdowns while minimizing mistakes, but he didn't display the flashiness from two years ago. He looked like a better version of the quarterback who got benched last year, and I watched the season-opener against Georgia Tech with a feeling like Cade Klubnik had a legitimate shot to supplant him by season's end. That's gone away, but at some point, Clemson has to face a defense that's going to force him to play through some major mistakes. His response is the key, even though it really hasn't happened with any kind of ferocity this season.

How can the offense successfully punch holes in the Clemson front seven?

Clemson's defensive ends are K.J. Henry and Myles Murphy, two players who each run at least six feet, four inches and weigh at least 250 pounds. Interior defensive linemen Bryan Bresee and Tyler Davis are each 300 pounds akin to when BC played with BJ Raji and Ron Brace on the field, and the linebackers include Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. and Trenton Simpson, two players who are each at least 230 pounds.

Of those players, Murphy and Simpson are probable top-10 picks, and Bresee could go anywhere after that as part of the top 32 picks. The year after, Barrett Carter, Clemson's strong-side linebacker, is a projected first round pick with Trotter, who is the son of a former NFL All-Pro.

None of that even touches the secondary, and it's crazy to think about the number of players on this defense who could lead the Tigers - or a team in the NFL - to a championship before 2025.

Can Dan successfully change a diaper by kickoff?

I don't know if people with multiple children can relate, but relearning how to do everything for a tiny baby forced me to dig back into dormant memories that sort of vanished after baby No. 1 quickly aged out. Her and her sister aren't exactly separated by much time, but I still failed miserably this week in the first two diaper changes. Honestly, I felt like one of those slumping baseball players who needs to get sent to AAA to rediscover his mojo.

I don't care if I get the diaper equivalent of a Baltimore chop, a Texas Leaguer, a gork off the end of the bat, or a swinging bunt at this point. I just need one of those simple changes where I can get back on the plus side of tearing diapers while a cold baby screams their head off.

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Meteorology 101

Every October in New England has that one last grasp of warm weather before the region heads into its more permanent November chill. It's more colloquially known as an Indian summer and offers a short period of heat after the first frost kills most of what remained from the summer months.

This week wasn't an official Indian summer, but it still felt like summer returned for one last round after Thursday and Friday hit the high 70s. Nights were still cool or cold, but the daylight steamed whatever precipitation remained from the raw, rainy days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It won't stick around, but the remnants are shaping up for a decent Saturday.

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BC-Clemson X Factor

The Jungle

I have long believed stopping Clemson's offense is the key to a win, but it's considerably more difficult to limit DJ Uiagalelei when the entire unit is clicking around him. Most of it runs through the offensive line, and his pristine protection is second only to the holes afforded to running back Will Shipley, who I managed to omit in my conversation about the game.

It's hard for me to gauge success in sacks or quarterback hurries, so I'm retreating from that board to discuss BC's defensive backfield, which I also failed to mention and which hasn't been really talked about over the last few weeks. I don't really understand it, but the combinations deployed by Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, Tem Lukabu and Jeff Hafley have flown under the radar in light of the discussions about the offense's struggles.

This is still a defense that's holding opponents to under 200 yards per game, and the four interceptions included a pick last week against Louisville. The Cardinals barely passed for more than 200 yards, and while they were largely based on the ground, the four-quarter performance was the third time an offense failed to produce good passing numbers. The other two were both losses, but to consider that Rutgers, Virginia Tech and Louisville each produced bad days in the air is a sign that The Jungle is still alive and kicking.

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Around College Football

I watched the BC game last week, but I missed the majority of the college football weekend while my wife prepared to deliver our daughter. I caught most of the Clemson game at night while we were in a holding pattern, but I admittedly can't speak with any type of knowledge about what happened.

I will, however, look ahead to this week with some excitement, especially in the ACC, where a huge weekend could really start to separate teams from conference championship or bowl eligibility aspirations. The Louisville-Virginia game features two teams hunting for their first league win while subsequently trying to avoid four overall losses, and Virginia Tech's game to Pittsburgh has sneaky huge bowl implications between the 2-3 Hokies and 3-2 Panthers. Later in the afternoon, Duke's game at Georgia Tech could bring the Blue Devils to within a game of bowl eligibility, as could North Carolina's game at Miami. The 8 p.m. kickoff between Florida State and No. 14 NC State could really throw a wrench into the Atlantic Division behind Clemson, which really needs to avoid a misstep against BC given those two teams' hunt to the top.

Elsewhere in the top-25, No. 8 Tennessee visits No. 25 LSU for a matchup between two four-win teams in the SEC, and No. 19 Kansas (yup, that's right!) is hosting No. 17 TCU before the ESPN College GameDay crew. Out west, No. 11 Utah is at No. 18 UCLA in a game between two unbeaten Pac-12 teams who each already have four wins, and at night, No. 16 Brigham Young takes on Notre Dame in a game scheduled for the Las Vegas Raiders' Allegiant Stadium.

On the local radar, Harvard is looking to rebound after it lost to Holy Cross last week, and a win over Cornell would set the Crimson down the path towards the Ivy League championship controlled by Dartmouth, which is at Yale. As for the undefeated, nationally-ranked Crusaders, a 4 p.m. start against winless Bucknell brings Patriot League play back to Fitton Field for the first time this season.

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Dan's Non-Sports Observation of the Week

Welles Crowther's selfless act and ultimate sacrifice is celebrated at Boston College as the supreme example of "men and women for others," and Saturday's Red Bandanna Game is dedicated to his memory and the story of how he saved more than a dozen people from certain death as part of the tragedies at the World Trade Center on September 11. It is, without question, the most important event celebrated during the Eagles' football season, and the deeper meaning of honoring heroes remains one of the bigger sporting events in both college football and the overall Boston sports scene.

Retelling Welles' story enables us to recognize the everyday heroes around us who live their lives with selflessness and service, and their accomplishments ensure Crowther's overall message and symbolism is never erased or diminished in history books. They are the servicemen and servicewomen, the first responders and essential personnel who never take days off, but they're also the people who tirelessly improve the quality of life in their own hometowns simply because their heart and spirit tell them to dedicate their souls to those around them.

Ed Celli was one of those giants. A Vietnam veteran, Ed proudly served his country as part of the United States Navy before returning home to raise his family outside of Boston. He started the Beyond TOPS program in Wilmington to help integrate children with mental and physical disabilities into the community through sports, and his tireless devotion to the program earned him the National TOPSoccer Buddy of the Year Award and the Good Guy of the Year Award. To this day, Beyond TOPS remains a volunteer-driven organization to which Ed served in its Ambassador role.

Ed passed away in late September at the age of 76. He was, in a word, a legend, and it's important to remember people like him when those red bandanna uniforms come running out of the tunnel on Saturday night. They are to be celebrated constantly in our community for how they embody the story of selfless sacrifice and how they serve as the bedrock of our faithful American society.

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Pregame Quote and Prediction

They didn't know his name. They didn't know where he came from. But they knew their lives had been saved by the man in the red bandanna. -Barack Obama, Former President of the United States

The events of September 11 remain one of the longest days in American history because their impact stretched for weeks, months, years and decades. Those of us who watched what happened in real time can't ever shake the feeling of watching the attacks unfold, but it's our obligation to teach future generations about the duality of tragedy and heroism.

9/11 showed us the worst pieces of humanity, but it brought out genuine goodness as our parochialism broke down. We were all united as one people in one country in one world, and our differences faded away for a time as we mourned the loss and celebrated the shining lights between the darkness. Even as we rebuilt, we remembered, and we continue to acknowledge our past by talking about it in our present.

Welles Crowther offered the ultimate sacrifice when he saved people he didn't know and never met. He did it because he was, in that moment, a hero. On Saturday night, regardless of the game or the result, that's on display. He is the ultimate Eagle, and this weekend's game is dedicated to him as Clemson and Boston College play for Welles.

Boston College and No. 5 Clemson Louisville kick off on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The game can be seen on national television via ABC with streaming available through ESPN's online platform. Radio broadcast is also available through the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, which is on local radio in Boston via WEEI 93.7 FM or 850 AM with satellite options on SiriusXM channel 99 and SiriusXM App channel 968.

Players Mentioned

Cam'ron Barfield

Alex Broome

Xavier Coleman

Zay Flowers

Chibueze Onwuka

Boston College Athletics