News of the day, 9/19

Hey everyone. There's definitely some tension in the air these days on the Plains, which isn't unexpected. Nobody, including coaches and players, expected these kinds of struggles so early in the season.

It's most frustrating for the defense. They have to keep hearing from coaches who say they're not accomplishing enough. Allowing 12 points to MSU is enough. Sure, the Tigers made some major mistakes on that last drive. No doubt. Still, MSU's attack wasn't exactly thriving. The margin of error for the defense is getting so small that it has to affect the players.

Allowing a field goal might be a terminal mistake these days.

This has nothing to do with Auburn, but I think it's funny. Former NFL lineman Brentson Buckner, a Clemson graduate, votes in the Harris Poll. I've mentioned this before. He posts an entry to his blog each week to provide the masses a glimpse into Buckner's mind. Here is this week's Best Thought -- a soliloquy on why Notre Dame (top 10 recruiting school) can't recruit:

“Why is this? I see two reasons. First, Notre Dame is not at the top of the list of recruits when it comes to programs challenging for the national championships. High school students are not historians. When I was a freshman at Clemson in 1989, Notre Dame was the defending national champion. They haven’t won one since and really haven’t challenged for it since I got out of school in 1993. That is 14 years ago. College football players today were between 4 and 8 years old the last time they were a factor in the national championship race."