Amazingly, this weekend is the final weekend of the college football regular season and among the matchups that will headline rivalry weekend will be a matchup between the Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks that feels much more competitive than in years past. The Tigers have rebounded from a tough 2-2 start to the season and are now in position to still find their way into a NY6 bowl game, while the Gamecocks will enter the game off a huge upset win over Auburn that makes them bowl eligible in Shane Beamer's first season in Columbia. Not only does Matt Hayes of Saturday Down South, who stopped by with the Mac Attack earlier this morning, believe that the Gamecocks can keep it close, he thinks they have a legitimate chance to pull the upset thanks to Beamer.
In Cam Newton's first start back as the QB of the Carolina Panthers, the offense produced 21 points, and looked about as adequate as they could have given, Newton has only been in the saddle for 10 days. They may have been more effective had they not committed costly penalties in a tightly contested one-possession game yesterday afternoon. Fox 46 personality Will Kunkel joined Wilson & Norfleet earlier today, and when asked about the offense, and the penalties he replied: "Penalties bit them again, unfortunately. They are the most penalized team in the NFL, with 81 penalties this season. That's just undisciplined football, and you can't have that stuff. Penalties are usually the mark of a young inexperienced team, but there are veterans on this roster, which calls into question the job Matt Rhule, and his staff is doing to try to instill discipline into their football team. If they want to make a run at that final playoff spot in the NFC, which is still attainable, Carolina will need to crack down their self-inflicted wounds and become a smarter football team in the closing weeks.
Sunday afternoon was supposed to be another perfect chapter to the story of Cam Newton's return to Carolina. The first drive of the game provided a lot of promise for those thoughts, as the Panther offense drove straight down the field to take the early 7-0 lead on a Cam Newton 10-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Moore. However, after that, the Panthers were in a battle with a Washington Football Team that many expected would roll over in the crazy environment that was Bank of America Stadium on Sunday. Instead, Washington was able to move the football up and down the field against the Panthers, finishing with 369 yards of total offense, including 190 on the ground.
Sunday is going to be one of the greatest spectacles in the history of Charlotte sports, as Cam Newton will make his first appearance back in Bank of America stadium, after rejoining the Panthers last week. Earlier this afternoon, on Wilson & Norfleet, the guys were joined by College Football Hall of Famer, and NFL veteran London Fletcher to take a deeper dive into Sunday's matchup against Washington. Washington will bring with them to Carolina just a 3-6 record but Fletcher said "They are coming into this game very confident, but they know it will be another challenge. Fletcher would go on to say that he doesn't believe that Sunday is a revenge game for either Cam Newton or Ron Rivera, before concluding his interview with his opinion on who the best team is in the NFC.
In a press conference earlier this week, North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach Mack Brown said that this was going to be quarterback Sam Howell's final game in Kenan Stadium on Saturday afternoon when they face the Wofford Terriers for Senior Day. While Howell said later in the week that he has not made an official decision on that yet, it seems likely that with him looking like he is going to go in the first round of this year's NFL Draft that the Tar Heels will be searching for a new signal-caller ahead of next year's crucial fourth year under Brown second tenure in Chapel Hill.
Earlier today on Wilson & Norfleet, Nick and Stan welcomed on former Virginia Tech and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for a conversation around the return of Cam Newton to the Carolina Panthers. When asked about Newton's return, Vick said " I was excited, because of the departure of Cam, and how he got jettisoned out of Carolina. Instantly I felt this was an opportunity to make amends, and a player who can add value to the franchise. The conversation from there would talk about how the Panthers can use Newton in the game plan this week, the revenge that Cam Newton seeks, among other NFL topics. From there, Vick talked about the vacancy at his alma mater Virginia Tech, as he believed it was to move from Justin Fuente, and believes the program will bounce back sooner than later.
The Hornets continued their hot streak on Wednesday night, taking down the Washington Wizards, 97-87, giving them their fourth straight win overall and their second consecutive win over a conference leader. While the Hornets scoring has dropped to an average of 106.3 points per game during the win streak, the Hornets defense has cranked it up on the defensive end of the floor, allowing just 98.3 points per game to opponents during that span.
The Clemson Tigers have rallied in the past few weeks to a 7-3 record following a slow start to the season and still have the opportunity to end up in the ACC Championship Game. Even with the rally, which can be topped off with a win over No. 10 Wake Forest this weekend, there are questions abound for a program that has been one of the most dominant in all college football for the better part of the last decade. One of the biggest ones that have been tossed back and forth the most recently has been if this is a one-year trip up or if this is a long term issue that could cause them to be a different team than the one that we have become accustomed to them being.
This afternoon, Nick and Stan welcomed on Hornets head coach James Borrego, as they were live from their annual Cornucopia event. The conversation started talking about the team's growth on the defensive end of the floor and then transitioned into the home-court advantage this team has had this season. Borrego said: "There's a pride about our home court that we're building, and I can't say that's been here from day one since I got here. The crowd played a huge role in the Hornet's last two wins, over the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors, both franchises with passionate fanbases. The Hornets are currently on a four-game homestand and are 4-2 overall in the Spectrum Center this season.
The Charlotte Hornets entered last Wednesday's game with the Memphis Grizzlies on a five game losing streak and were in need of a win to get something out of the road trip. Since that point, they have responded to real off three straight wins including a huge win at home over the Warriors on Sunday. Radio voice of the Hornets, Sam Farber, joined the Mac Attack earlier today to talk about the win and pointed to a big second half from one of the veterans in this one.