It’s been a rough week for Tommy Bowden and me.

While Bowden finds himself squarely on the hot seat once again, I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that I stink – though it wasn’t put that politely – and that I don’t know anything about football. Much the same has been said about Tommy in the past six days.

To catch everyone up to speed, I wrote in this spot last week that I just didn’t see any reason to ‘Fear the Turtle,’ and last week’s game would be the one that makes people realize Clemson is still a serious contender for the ACC title.

They say that it takes a big man to admit when he’s wrong.

And I’m willing to concede that the loss to Maryland proved to absolutely no one that the Tigers are ready to make a championship run. But, I’m not nearly big enough to admit I was wrong in my analysis of the game.

I thought that, even with its patchwork offensive line, Clemson would have little trouble moving the ball against the Terps’ defensive front. My exact words were that Maryland’s defense was much closer to N.C. State up front than it was to Alabama.

And after the Tigers rolled up 195 rushing yards in the first half, I was certainly proven right about that. If anything, Clemson had more success imposing its will against Maryland than it did against the Wolfpack.

I also said Clemson’s defense was starting to come into its own, and the Terrapins would have little success moving the ball. I think I was certainly right on the money about that as well, as Maryland managed just 11 first downs and 295 yards of total offense in the game. In fact, Clemson completely shut down the Terps’ running game, save for one 76-yard run by Darrius Heyward-Bey on a reverse, which accounted for more than half of their rushing total on the day.

I also believed the Tigers’ talented pass rushers and cover men would make throwing the ball very difficult for Maryland. That also certainly played out, as quarterback Chris Turner completed just over 50 percent of his passes in the ballgame.

Even given the ball twice in the first half deep in Tiger territory, the Terrapins managed just two field goals – driving the ball less than 20 yards each time.

I also stated that I believed Maryland was weak in the secondary, and Clemson’s quarterback would be able to make some big plays down the field.

OK, so I was wrong about that last part.

With the Tigers’ dominance in the running game firmly established, Maryland was forced to bring everybody but the water boy and the tuba player into the box in the second half to try to slow down James Davis and C.J. Spiller, who were running with more success than they did even against The Citadel and South Carolina State.

Still, Clemson absolutely refused to take shots downfield, even with a 6-foot-5 All-ACC receiver in Aaron Kelly on one side of the field and the fastest man in the conference, Jacoby Ford, on the other, I only recall two passes attempted more than 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. One of those passes was intercepted, but that’s beside the point.

Ford was even quoted after the game as saying that the Maryland players on the field went so far as to taunt the Tigers about their inability to even try to throw the deep ball.

And the Terps were right. Clemson flat out refused to go downfield. The question is, why?

I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t know the answer.

Maybe Cullen Harper, the media’s overwhelming choice for ACC preseason Player of the Year, is still feeling the effects of the shoulder injury he suffered diving into the end zone against Boston College last season, although we’ve been told repeatedly that’s not the case.

Maybe the coaching staff felt the offensive line couldn’t protect long enough for the receivers to get downfield, but those same linemen dominated the Terps up front in the first half.

Maybe Clemson was simply playing not to lose, or maybe the coaching staff was too stubborn to even try it.

Or maybe I don’t know anything about football, as I’ve been told via e-mail more than once this week.

But I do know this much – Clemson’s refusal to throw the long ball was THE reason that it lost to a far inferior opponent.

Bowden disagrees with me, though, as both he and offensive coordinator Rob Spence have been quoted this week – and in this newspaper – that play-calling wasn’t the problem. Rather, it was penalties, mistakes and poor execution that proved the Tigers’ downfall.

Translation: It was player error and not coach error that caused the loss.

I, on the other hand, disagree. I think that as good as the first-half game plan was, the second-half game plan was equally atrocious.

Now, Bowden has made millions coaching big-time football, and I’ve made considerably less writing about it.

But one of us is wrong. And I don’t think it’s me.