Clemson falls to Maryland 24-21, 2nd half drive summaries

Defense forced a punt on the first MD drive. Really started wratcheting up the pressure with the front 4 in the 2nd half, starting with this drive.

Clemson gets the ball on our 27
1&10-Ace Pro Wing strong/Twins-inside zone handoff to spiller for 2
2&8-Gun 2B motion to Trips Field-Pass thrown over Harper's head incomplete, penalty for illegal motion (Harper started out of the backfield too soon) declined.
3&8-Gun 1B Spread-MD calls a zone blitz, Dye catches a hitch for 6.
Punt.
Run, Pass-I, Pass.

Defense gives up one 1st, then 3&out. Punted for a touchback.

From CU 20
1&10-Ace Pro Wing Strong/twins-PA pass called, L. Walker beaten on a SS blitz up the B-gap. Loss of 13.
2&23-Gun 1B Spread-Hitch to Palmer incomplete, low snap.
3&23-Ace Pro Wing Twins/motion to strong-Toss Sweep to Spiller gets 3.
Punt.
PA pass/sack, Pass-I, Run.
I can see being conservative here after the sack, we were inside our 10. The goal after the sack is to get half the loss back, and they tried. I would rather they show a different formation besides Ace Pro Wing variations and Gun spreads. I'm not seeing a halftime adjustment.

Punt returned inside the 1 yard line. Defense stuffs inside runs. On the TD, a pitch out to the RB on a Toss Sweep, and McDaniel is cut out of position to make his tackle, then Meggett makes him miss.

Spiller returns the kickoff, courtesy ShoelessCU


2pt Conversion
Gun 1B Trips-a fade is interfered with, retry.
Gun 1B Trips-Good play call here, hits Palmer at the post behind the FS.

Defense gives up a 1st, then 3&out. Good plays by McDaniel and a sack by Bowers. Punt snap is dropped, then he gets it off anyway. Ball taps off Ellington's kneepad, turned over on the CU 32. Butler eats up a Double Pass play because his blocker never squared up on him. Bowers gets another sack, and they punt to our 8.

From the 8
1&10-I Right H weak-HB Power to Spiller for 4, after a cutback lane opens, and if he'd made him miss it would've been a TD. RUN IT AGAIN.
Start of 4th Qtr.
2&6-Double Wing set-False start by Allen
2&11-Gun 1B Spread-hits Ford on a drag/crossing route for 7 in the face of a blitz.
3&6-Gun 1B Spread-ALL DAY TO THROW the ball, and it falls incomplete to Ford on a hitch because it was thrown behind him.
Punt.
Run, Pass, Pass-I. 2nd play was probably a zone handoff or another damn "hit the TE in the flats" play, but the false start took a convertible down into 2&long. The goal on 2&11 is to get at least half the distance and we do, then when the line does manage to protect with 5 men, we cant make a throw. Someone isnt getting open.

D forces 3&out.

Again from the 8.
1&10-Gun 2B Twins-motioned to I-Far, handoff to strongside to Spiller for a 1st down.
1&10-Gun 2B Twins-motion-off-tackle run by Spiller for 2, face mask for 15.
1&10-Gun 2B Twins-motion-Ellington takes an inside Dive for 1.
2&9-Gun 1B Trips Field-Flanker screen to Ford for 7.
3&2-Gun 1B Trips Field-hitch to Dye for 10, great catch.
1&10-Ace Pro Wing strong/Twins-End-around to ford for 2.
2&8-Gun 1B Trips Field-Flanker screen to Ford-incomplete because he decided to run without the ball.
3&8-Gun 1B Trips Field-ALL DAY TO THROW the ball, and finally pressure comes and he throws it away.
Punt.
Run, Run, Run, Pass, Pass, Run, Pass-i, Pass-i

Where is the mixup in formations here? Why jump right into Gun when we have success in the I-formation with Spiller? Two flanker screens are used as run plays, but no need to run it twice. We need a score here and no thought of going downfield to put pressure on the defense. They show straight Cover 2 and Cover 1 and can drop men back because we're no run threat in Gun.

D forces Turnover on Downs, really a dumb call by Fridge if you ask me from your 38.
At least he coaches to win.

At the MD 38 with 6min to go.
1&10-I Right Wing weakside-HB Power to Spiller for 3.
2&7-Gun 1B Twins-Spiller misses a chip on a blitzer then falls down on his reception in the flat, loss of 5. A DRAW WOULD BE NICE.
3&11-Ace Pro Wing strong/Twins-HB Toss to the BOUNDARY? 1 yard. Walker did not get over to make his block.
Missed the FG.

Defense forces turnover on the very next play, McDaniel blows up the run on a blitz and forces the fumble.

From MD 31
1&10-I Near Twins-inside lead handoff to Spiller, gains nothing because McClain didnt block.
2&10-I Right motion to Twins-QB Rollout, again, TE covered in the flat falls incomplete.
3&10-Gun 1B Spread-they blitz right side, McClain didnt pick up anybody it appears, Parker throws it away.
Missed FG.
Run, Pass-I, Pass-I. I hate this stupid Rollout play, an End is almost always left unblocked (intentionally, counter trap blocking assignment probably) and Parker hurries. WHEN does he ever hit the WR crossing the field? He always looks to the TE and/or throws it away. Where is the HB Power we beat GT so badly with? This drive bothers me the most of all. I'd have run the ball on 2nd and 3rd down with Spiller and if stopped, kicked. Put the ball in the best player's hand with the game on the line. Don't even think of throwing on 3rd down when your offense hasn't done shit the entire half.

D forces 3&out AGAIN. Punt to CU 30 with 1:30 left.

1&10-Gun 1B Spread-Palmer on an Out-7yds
2&3-Gun 1B Spread-Palmer curl/out to the 50.
1&10-Gun 1B Spread-Palmer on an In to the 31.
1&10-Gun 1B Spread-hit Ford on a stop route, short gain
2&6-Gun 1B Spread-Corner jumps a hitch to Marquan, when Parker had time to throw deeper.
3&6-Gun 1B Spread-Lambert missed a blitzer outside, and decided to double team the man on Austin. I dont see how Lambert did not see this guy coming. Spiller cuts the outside-most blitzer. Fumble, ballgame.
Well with 1:30 we have to throw, and I'm glad we run the TE over the middle, but WHY do we not attack with the WRs downfield when we reach MD territory? Take ONE shot in the endzone on a post to Palmer or Ford here, then set up the FG at midfield. We go hurry-up and it works OK, why not earlier? It worked against TCU.

So now I've looked at the whole game's calls. I dont see what the hell Dabo is thinking about.

The plays go through Dabo, he's signaling them in and is involved. What we showed against MTSU and GT, we aren't seeing more of. In those first few games we ran gap scheme run plays (like HB Power or Iso) and we ran more zone sprint run plays against BC because they slanted/stunted their linemen to attack the gap schemes we had run earlier. I didnt see much against TCU either. I don't see Parker step up and throw when a blitzer comes, he scrambles and throws it away. He doesnt scramble out of the pocket upfield anymore either. He must be being coached to stay in.

Adjusting to what your opponents show is one thing, but abandoning what had worked is another. If you are good at I-formation running, then you RUN IT ANYWAY. You dont change everything based on them, you run what youre good at. This is a weak defense, and even with Hairston out the 2nd half (that I noticed) we should be able to run the damn football. Clemson never tried to establish the run game.

Also, look at the formations we are running with. Gun helps pass protection but are we a dedicated passing team or not? Will you establish the run first so we can make them respect it from shotgun? We flood the Field side with multiple routes, and yet no one is open? Why do so many routes overlap? Attack the Cover 2 in levels! Cover 2 is designed to stop the underneath passing game with 5 defenders, yet you have to make those Backers move somewhere in the underneath 5 zones. We dont stretch them. When they show Man, we dont attack it vertically.

Clemson finds more ways NOT to utilize their speed advantage than any team I've ever seen. I see no imagination on offense. It is perfectly fine to run the same formations, IF you attack intelligently with them. I don't think any DC in the country worries about our scheme though, because we dont attack. I see basically 3 or 4 formations. Teaching someone a new place to stand is not a big deal, but it puts pressure on a defense in gameplanning and adjustments. As far as the attacking; Deep, Intermediate, short, Deep again...is something you dont see from us. Its all short/short/short/run/short/short/fuckingrollout/fuckingrollout with at least 3 balls thrown away. Notice how many pass plays gained more than 10 yards.

Dabo Swinney picked Napier as OC so HE could have a firm hand in this offense, but what is happening is atrocious. I don't see rhyme or reason to the plays in this game. We run sweeps to the boundary, dont attack vertically, and some of these plays just dont make sense with the overlapping routes. I know the Spence Clemson offense is based on quick timing patterns and flooding underneath zones with receivers, but we have to go vertical. We cannot execute 10-15 play drives that we have to to make the defense change their coverage. They do not respect us as a true run threat from spread formations either.

Clemson either has to script more plays for Wake, or we're going to have to give it to Brad....who I felt was the most predictable OC in the Universe. Thats the only chance I see this getting fixed before the end of the year.

According to Ryan Bartow: Swinney wants the spread 4-wide plays, Napier wants more I-formation (he ran that at Furman).