Sunday, Sep. 07, 2008

Hamlin, defense wake up half asleep

Clemson safety tallies three INTs after a lackadaisical first half by the Tigers’ ‘D’

CLEMSON — For one half, Citadel quarterback Bart Blanchard made Clemson’s secondary look like Webber International. Actually, the sophomore made Webber International look a little better.

After Blanchard picked the Tigers apart for 229 yards on 14 completions during the game’s first 29 minutes and 45 seconds, Clemson safety Michael Hamlin decided enough was enough.

“Coach Vic (Koenning) said I was giving him too much cushion so my thinking was to kind of tighten down and play them a little tighter,” he said.

Hamlin not only tightened up, he shut the Bulldogs down. The preseason Jim Thorpe candidate picked off Blanchard’s 21st pass at the Clemson 3 as time was expiring in the first half to start a record day.

Hamlin finished the day with three interceptions, recording two more in the third quarter, to tie a Clemson record for interceptions in a game. More importantly, his adjustments sparked his team’s 45-17 victory Saturday in Death Valley.

“It feels good because I get to go to class Monday with my head up and everyone will be talking about the win instead of a loss,” Hamlin said.

That’s quite a contrast from Monday, when the Timmonsville native said he and his teammates were ridiculed by professors and classmates following the Alabama loss.

“This past week felt like the longest week I have had since I have been here,” Hamlin said. “All week, the coaches have been down our throats, the teachers have been down our throats and the students have been down our throats.

“It just feels good to get this win and get everybody back on track.”

It didn’t look like the Tigers (1-1) were on track when Blanchard hit a wide open Andre Roberts for a 41-yard touchdown with 1:42 to play in the first half. Clemson’s secondary had no answer for Roberts, who caught six first half passes for 140 yards.

“We quit trying to play man coverage,” Koenning said. “Five plays for 200 yards in the first half came when we were in man coverage. Obviously, man isn’t the answer to all evils and we just have to sit back in zone and try to be patient.”

But Koenning was glad Hamlin wasn’t patient on his last pick of the afternoon, which set up Cullen Harper’s 26-yard scoring pass to tight end Michael Palmer and put the game out of reach at 35-7.

With the Bulldogs (1-1) facing a third and 3 at their own 36 late in the third quarter, Hamlin gambled when he left his area and stepped in front of Blanchard’s slant pass, which he returned 12 yards to The Citadel 26.

“I was getting impatient again and decided to play man, and he actually didn’t cover his guy and went and stole the ball,” Koenning said. “That’s just an example of somebody being smarter than his coach and going and finding the ball.

“If he would have thrown the ball to (Hamlin’s) man, then it would not have been a good thing. He went and made a football play thank goodness.”