Wake Forest postgame review

ESPN highlights.

FF:Clemson came out and played the way that everyone expected the Tigers to play all season long. The offense was able to string together plays that built off of one another the defense bottled up Skinner and played particularly well. While this is a nice win for the team, we all should be cautious what we take from this game due to the questionable overall football aptitude of this week's opponent.

Overall, the team came out with a high enthusiasm level, which is understandable after the embarrassment in College Park and the criticism from all angles over the past two weeks. As previously stated, there were a lot of good things and some bad things that happened against Wake. Check out the action and commentary below.

**Note to Mike Hogewood, Clemson's current defensive end is RICKY Sapp. Patrick Sapp is a former Clemson QB/LB who played for the Chargers and is currently attempting to do some sideline reporting for Clemson Sports Network and usually sounding like a drunk idiot. (BRING BACK RODNEY!)

**Rick "Doc" Walker did not disappoint us by saying something ridiculously out of control in the first half, suggesting that (paraphrase) he would "pull a pint of his (Kyle Parker's) blood and freeze it for next week". Raycom Vampire? Fantastic.

First Half

Wake started the game with an on-sides kick attempt. Why you give up this kind of field position when you know that your opponent's offense has struggled all season makes no sense to me, but Clemson will take this gift to open the contest.

After the game Jim Grobe confirmed it was intended to be a skyed kickoff, and he got under it.

Offensive Drive #1 at WF 46
Clemson unsuccessfully ran the ball a couple of times on first down here. It was obvious that Wake was going to make Clemson beat them through the air, keying on early run plays. Clemson countered very well with a nice catch by Ashe, a couple of nice grabs by Palmer, a toss to Spiller, and a lot of play action. The use of play action on this drive obviously froze the Wake defense and allowed some nice gains through the air, culminating with a great pitch and catch to Palmer in the end zone. The offensive staff did a great job of running initial plays and building off of these plays into a rhythmic and fluid drive.

Run, P, R, PA P, PA P, PA P to Palmer for the TD. Watch Palmer turn around the safety by jumping inside too soon on him, then he runs right by him.

Defensive Series #1
Jarvis Jenkins played really well here, Ricky Sapp as well. He was quick and destructive against the Wake offense. Skinner has some time to throw, but the Tiger secondary ensured that Wake only got 3 offensive plays this series.

Offensive Drive #2
Kyle Parker made a great play on this drive by looking, scrambling, then tucking the ball for a nice 7 yard gain. This is what we have been looking for out of KP all year. After a short gain, the OL gets a huge negative. Wake's DT put a simple inside move on McClain and ran past Freeman to sack Parker.

R (cuz Austin got beat on speed rush), R, Pass/Sacked. It was a Gun Trips Field with a TE and Spiller on a wheel/flat route, and only 5 protecting.

Defensive Series #2
Bowers did a good job getting up field. I will probably say this a few times, but Bowers is nothing short of a beast...big, fast, strong, and agile. He got his clock cleaned by a 185lb WR on the boundary though, tell us why our WR cant make blocks like that? I was a little disappointed with the tackling (and overpursuit) here, but was impressed by the int by McDaniel. He made a nice break on the ball from the center field position and picked it clean.


Offensive Drive #3
Finally, some sort of draw play! I absolutely love the QB draw play here. KP showed off his wheels and picked up a nice gain. This play call was fantastic and really threw off Wake's defense. The Spiller run was a good example of what can happen with zone blocking. Clemson's zone blocking produces strike outs or big gains. Spiller made an excellent inside out cut and picked up a chunk of yards. These plays work well with a back by Spiller because of his excellent ability to cut against the grain and pick up 15-20 on his own. I really liked the play action to Palmer and hitting Allen out of the left TE position. Two things bothered me with this drive. First, at the goal line, Clemson got zero push up front (as usual). Second, we line up in a 5 wide formation here. Dye has to MAKE himself get OPEN there. He got zero separation. I hate the lack of execution (no push) and strategy (5 wide) when you have a chance to punch it in. Jackson hammers home the short FG and the Tigers go up 10-0.
R,R, PA P, P, R, R, P, FG. 8 plays 58 yards 2:59.

Defensive Series #3
Wake was able to move the ball here, too well. WF got some push up front on early in this possession. I noticed Ricky Sapp getting around pretty easily here. Sapp showed his speed and agility all day. Clemson for most of the day played the corners pretty close to the line. Riley Skinner was able to scramble for a huge 3rd down gain during this drive. This is one of the few times all day the defense lost him. Tigers hunker down and force a (badly) missed FG from the Preachers.

We might chart the defenses we show and the number of blitzes we run in the coming weeks.

Offensive Drive #4 starts at the CU 34
Jamie Harper finally appeared to get going on this drive. He had a big run to start the series and was not brought down with an finger-tackle. J. Ford had a nice, long grab off of a 51 yd play action pass on the next play to the 3yd line. I like the design of this play, as Clemson motioned Palmer and kept him in to block. Harper also threw a block to give KP a chance to heave the ball up. Ford came back to the ball and made the catch on what looked like a Post. Clemson then runs option, with Parker making an acrobatic leap to score. Good execution for all four plays by all aspects of the team (play design, play call, hard running, good throw, good receiver play, max protection).

R, PA Pass, R, R for TD. 17-0 4 plays 66 yards.


Defensive Series #4
The defensive front (led by Bowers) had a great series. Three and out for the D.

Punt hits Wade's foot, live ball recovered by Wake. This is ridiculous, and has happened two games in a row now. There is no excuse for not getting as far away from the ball when the return man will not field the punt. BC punt is pretty crappy, with no chance for a return. With little sound on the field, I could not hear what was going on, but am sure there was a "Clear" or "Peter" call (these are the code words on punt return that mean "get the hell out of the way, the punt will not be fielded"). This should never happen and is nothing short of poor execution/field awareness. Here is where we lost it for the only time of the day.

Defensive series #5
Goodman gets great push here and tosses Skinner down for a sack. Bowers shows off all of his skills and why he was the #1 recruit in the nation a few years ago. Bowers looks like a man amongst boys out there. Three plays for Wake and another punt. Almost a huge pick by Cumbie, Jenkins eats them alive.

Doc Walker on our DL: "they musta had pepah in dey grits"

Offensive Drive #5
KP takes off on a zone read for a short gain, then a screen fails because of a tipped ball by a blitzer off the corner. Clemson had a nice play set up for a huge gain, but KP made his lone poor throw (high) of the day, overshooting an open Jacoby Ford. Clemson is forced to punt.
R, P-i, P-i

Defensive Series #6
Maye was turned around on an early play that could have really hurt the defense. Instead, Wake confuses the Tigers zone turning a short drag route into a huge gain. This was the biggest miscue of the day for the pass defense. There appeared to be some crossing to confuse Maye. The TE released to pull Maye one way, and the slot WR he should've picked up was going the other way, both in front of his face. A helmet to helmet call gives Wake 15 more. Clemson had a few issues wrapping up the ball carrier on this drive. A nice reverse pass back to Skinner put the ball inside the Clemson 10. Seven more yards on a rush took Wake to the 2. Clemson looked a little sloppy until this point in the drive. A quick stop at the 1 and an incomplete pass after a penalty held Wake to a field goal. I was particularly impressed with the speed of Conner at the goal line (play negated after the Tigers accepted a 10 yard penalty on the play). Conner was exceptionally quick, chasing down the running back who bounced outside and seemed destined for the pylon. During the game, I questioned accepting the 10 yard penalty, but I figure the coaching staff was concerned the Wake would go for the TD and punch it in from the 1 on 4th down if given the opportunity.

17-3

Offensive Drive #6
CJ does what CJ does, 66 yards on a (33/35) zone run with a fake sweep to Ford. Both TE's were in the game and Walker made a good effort to seal and allow Spiller to make the cut inside, and another by Cloy (playing RG) to seal off the backside of the cutback lane. Once he was to the second level, you all know what happened.

CJ goes over 6000 all-purpose yards.

Defensive Series #7
Riley Skinner really got knocked around here. Clemson brought a few extra guys all series, with Branch and Conner getting sacks here. The latter sack came even as Wake kept extra players in to provide more protection. Clemson uses timeouts well here to get the offense the ball back.

Offensive Drive #7 starts at the WF 41.
Clemson starts with a pair of nice catches by Ashe (he caught the ball!) and Palmer. Palmer's grab was particularly impressive because he did everything correctly. He runs a quick out route (watch how he pushes the defender by selling the fly), plants, and makes a crisp turn, catches the ball with his hands, tucks the ball, turns and gets up field. Fundamentally, Palmer may be the best pass receiver on this football team. After a quick run by Ford (same play run by Spiller before, but on the end-around), Parker appears to have Allen open, but the pass is dropped. While one could argue it wasn't a perfect pass, I was a little heartbroken by this drop. We have been pimping Allen and getting two TE's in the game because they are better receivers and blockers than the WR's, and what does Allen do? He drops the freaking football! This was the sole dropped pass that I can recall on the day. I still like getting both TE's in the game as much as possible. Fortunately for Allen, his teammates picked up for his drop, with KP taking a designed run for 14 yards to the 3. Downfield blocking has improved by the receivers. Harper then punched it in with the help of a nice block by Chad Diehl. Wake's defense looks deflated here.
PA P-i, P, P, R, P-i, R, R. 31-3

Defensive Series #8
WF runs the clock down here. I did notice Jamie Cumbie still had his motor running wide open. It is particularly nice to have a guy like Cumbie to spell the guys up front. He played particularly well throughout the game.

HALF
271 yds of offense to 99 for WF, most of which was on 2 drives.

Defensive Series #1
Clemson forces an incompletion, then Ricky Sapp runs right around WF's tackle. Clemson continues to blitz, allows a 9-10 yrd pass completion, and forces another 3 and out for the Demon Deacons.

Offensive Drive #1
Parker, off play action, has a ball batted down and Clemson gets a few yards off of an inside hand off from the gun to Spiller. KP then telegraphs a pass to Taylor that easily could have been picked off. Parker has issues of not looking off defenders and staring at his intended target. Three and out for the Tigers.
PA P-i, R, P-i

Clemson still is not lighting it up on 3rd downs today.

Defensive Series #2
Wake attains consecutive 1st downs to start this drive. Skinner connects for 9 or so to get the initial first, then Wake runs for 15 or so for the second. Clemson had pretty good coverage on the 9 yard pass. The 15 yard run was set up by Brandon Maye being out of position and getting sealed away from the play. Maye plays particularly hard, but often takes bad angles to the ball. Often times, he is too anxious to do too much, becoming his own biggest obstacle. Clemson then forces an interception on a nice play by Butler. His tip ended up in R. Hall's hands coming over from his two-deep position.

Offensive Drive #2
Willy Korn comes into the game at this point. Clemson opens with a pair of runs (5 yrds by Spiller and 6 yrds by Korn). Incomplete pass to Clear. Korn is shifty and can move well (as we all knew), but has had issues throwing the ball. His incomplete pass to Clear was terribly thrown. Ellington then makes a fine run off of a toss out of the shotgun formation. Clemson was able to kick out and seal necessary defenders (David Smith was in and made a big seal) around the LOS to create this space for Ellington to operate. Unfortunately, after quite a few moves and a 30 or so yard gain, Ellington puts the ball on the ground AGAIN. We have been dogging on Harper and begging for more snaps for Ellington, but this fumble does not help that cause.
R, R, P-i, R-Turnover

Korn just has no luck.

Defensive Series #3
After a quick 9 yard completion, Wake commits a penalty and completely stalls, turning the ball over on downs. McDaniel made an excellent tackle, and Brandon Thompson gets it going up the gut, helping keep Wake at bay on both 3rd and 4th and short situations. Their RB missed the correct hole, because they had a surge over there on the right side.

Offensive Drive #3
Jacoby Ford completes a nice one to Xavier Dye off of the option pass. Not only was the ball well thrown, but Dye also made an exceptional catch down the sideline. Out of a 2 TE look, Spiller is able to bust another one on an inside zone for 14 yards and the day's final scoring. Good blocks by D. Allen and C. Lambert to spring him on the left side.
P, P, R-TD. 38-3

Defensive Series #4
Byron Maxwell made an exceptional break on the football and drops an interception (and possibly a touchdown, as he was in open space). Clemson's secondary did a good job here, as Skinner just could not find an open receiver on this drive. Skinner was able to break containment, tuck the ball, and 15 yards. After allowing Wake to convert on a 3rd down attempt, CU holds and Wake is forced to punt.

Offensive Series #4
Will Korn is back in the football game. Harper gets a tossout here in Gun, which he is not suited to. Not a good call. After running for a few yards, Korn connects with Harper on a quick stop route from an empty set. Korn again shows off his rushing ability, and Chad Diehl get a 5 yard carry on the FB Dive. HELL YES! Korn attempted a dangerous pass while on the run here. There was really no reason for him to throw the ball up. Korn gets sacked (had time to throw) and completes another pass to Harper on a bubble screen from an empty set. Punt.
R, R, P, R, R, P-i, Sack, P.
End of 3rd Qtr.

Defensive Series #5
Gilchrist made a pretty good tackle early on. Clemson continues to blitz, and Riley Skinner is taken down with another sack in his last play of the day.


I will not take the time to discuss drive by drive the rest of the 4th quarter, as both starting QB's had already been pulled and this was mop up time. I will elaborate on an item that was particularly displeasing, particularly Cory Lambert getting smoked once again and Will Korn bearing the brunt of this mistake.

Overall, the play calling was night and day from the past few weeks. The play progression made sense. Clemson simplified things. Clemson found a weak point (play action paralyzed the Demon Deacons) and continued to exploit this. CJ Spiller had a nice day. Clemson's O-Line (for the most part) gave Parker time to throw. Clemson's receivers did not drop a pass, and Michael Palmer had another good outing. On the defensive side, there was a small lapse in the second quarter, but otherwise CU did well. Riley Skinner was bottled up all day and Clemson was able to put pressure on him all day.

I really would like to have seen Clemson line up and run the ball down Wake's throat at the end of the game yesterday. However, it is apparent that CU's offensive line does not have that capacity. Clemson's rushing offense is based on zone blocking (because the Tigers can't line up, put a hat on a hat, and push the defense around) and is spotty at best. What you will see out of this strategy is a couple of rushes for 1-3 yards, then a 15 yard gain (with Spiller). This style will not allow the Tigers to methodically move the ball down the field...it's either feast or famine.

Parker did a nice job of using his feet to make plays. He still has a few issues of not looking off defenders (and a mechanical issue), but KP has a cannon. The velocity difference when Parker was substituted out of the game was obvious. We all were impressed with the read and effort on the goal line option play. Kyle (after what appeared to be a 3 week slide) showed improvement since the Maryland game.

Formations and personnel choices were vastly improved this week. The offense committed to getting back to basics with balanced formations and play action. Particularly pleasing was having two TE's in the game either for blocking or receiving purposes. The only complaints arise from the 5 wide, empty backfield formations. Clemson needs help up front with a TE and/or back chipping or blocking oncoming rushers. I have not looked at the film, but will be eager to see the performance (and amount of play) of Cloy at guard and D. Smith at tackle. Cloy has played pretty well at center, so it would be disappointing to move him around for no reason. I have seen enough of Cory Lambert already this season...

Now the reality of this whole thing. This is probably what CU needed, a good outing. Wake is the best passing team Clemson has faced so far, and the Tigers did a good job of neutralizing their senior signal caller. The offensive play calling and execution was much better than the previous 5 games. Clemson looks like it is moving forward. The real test will come next week. Miami is not Wake Forest. Clemson will have to defeat a much better team in South Florida next week. Miami has an offensive line, a dynamic quarterback, and a talented group of receivers. Defensively, Miami will be a lot quicker and the game will need to be played a lot faster agaist the 'Canes. Overall, Clemson will need to execute well in a fascets of the game to keep up with the "U".

Doc: I put in a few comments above but I don't have much to add, except that I would've either grounded the offense in the 4th and worked on the power running, or actually went for the jugular more. I want to beat wake by 80 every time, but we let up on them. Kickoff coverage was suspect and they got to the 2nd level quite a bit on returns. I havent decided whether to clip anything out of the film on this one because there were some good plays to look at, and I might edit this post later to add them.

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).

Clemson loses to Maryland 24-21, 1st half drive summaries

Since its mostly our offense that shit the bed this week, I decided to look at play-by-play for the game on offense. Its time consuming but enlightening, and since we have two weeks to stew over it, I might as well.

I'm taking liberties in describing the formation, because I cant give a primer on offensive football here. I am also not going into all the motion we use, just a quick description of what we're doing.

Some terminology I'm using:
Twins-2 WR to one side, 1 TE or 1 TE + 1 WR to the other.
Trips-3 WR to one side, 1 TE or 1 WR to the other usually.
Spread-2 WR to each side.
Ace Pro Wing-Ace=1-back, Pro Wing is a 1TE+1H-Back set, and usually the H is off the weak side and goes in motion to strong or weak.
Gun-Shotgun, with One back or twin backs.
Field-Wide side
Boundary-short side
Zone plays-Inside runs where the line clearly performs zone blocking, which is normal for many ace-back formation run plays. They can be Draws, Sprints, etc.
I Far/Near-I formation with the FB set to the weak/strong side.

Down & distance, formation, play.

1st Qtr Drive breakdown
CU 32yd line
1st&10-Ace Pro Wing-Hit CJ in the flats for 10yd gain on boundary side.
1st&10-Ace Pro Wing Strong-Inside Zone handoff-5 yds
2&5-Gun 2-back Twins-Roll Playaction weakside after TE motion to twins, hit Jacoby falling out of bounds Incomplete.
3&5-Gun 1-back Spread-R. Taylor is open on a 10-15 yard crossing route, but slips and falls after Parker throws. Incomplete pass. Adequate protection.
Punt
Pass, Run, PA pass-I, Pass-I. Why not establish the running game here and now? This drive is scripted.

D forces 3&out. 1 missed tackle, and a great play by Maye on 3rd & 1.

2nd drive starts at CU 4
1st&10-Near I Twins weak-HB Power play to J.Harper for no gain
2&10-Gun 2B Twins TE motion-Off-tackle handoff to Spiller for 6 yds.
3&4-Gun 1B Trips Field-Jaron Brown has a pass hit him square on the numbers on a quick slant for a 1st down, but drops it.
Punt.
Run, Run, Pass-I. Had to run here in the hole, but why Harper when he doesnt ever go anywhere? I would've run a Power with Spiller again on 3rd down. Perhaps a Power PA Pass.

Maryland muffs the punt, CU ball at the CU 41.

3rd drive
1st&10-Ace Pro Wing/H-motion strongside-QB rollout weakside, hits RT in the flats for 3yds. This is a play we run too much, RT goes in motion then runs a little flare route to the sideline.
2&7-Gun 1B Trips Field-Flanker Screen to Jones for 7yds. Called back because of holding by Jaron Brown. Thank God one of them tried to block for once though.
2&12-Ace Jumbo (2TE) Twins H-motion-zone sprint w/ fake end-around to Ellington for 3 yds. Backside not properly sealed, but looks like McClain didnt hold his man.
3&9-Gun 1B Spread-Hit Jacoby for 1st down on a short post/slant. Parker never took his eyes off Ford. Totally telegraphed it.
1st&10 MD 41-Pro Wing Strong-Power toss with to Spiller for 4/5.
2nd&6-Gun 2B H-motion-Handoff to spiller offtackle for 9.
1&10-Gun 2B Spread, motion to trips boundary-handoff to Harper to R, 1 yd. Right side of OL got no push.
2&9-Gun 1B Trips Field-Parker overthrows Ford out-of-bounds on a Corner route/Smash combination. Incomplete. It was good coverage.
3&9-Gun 1B motion to Spread-pitch to Spiller for 1 yd. Walker unable to get outside and make a proper cut block, WRs didnt do "bad" on their blocks.
Jackson hits a 41 yd FG.
Pass, Pass (penalty), Run, Pass, Run, Run, Run, Pass-I, Run.

D forces 3&out, they dropped a 1st down pass on 3rd down.

4th drive begins on CU 20
1&10-Double Wing Flexbone-Off-R. tackle handoff to Spiller-8yds
2&2-Gun 2B twins L-Flanker Screen to Ford for 3. Wouldve had more if Austin had properly cut blocked.
1&10-Gun 1B spread-Flanker screen to Ford for 7, and Austin gets flagged on holding. I don't think that was right, I didnt see him hold anyone, he released from the DT and went out to cut a Cornerback.
1&14-I strong-pitch to Spiller to the boundary/strong side-2 yards.
2&12-Gun 1B Trips Field-Jacoby runs a post against Tampa 2 coverage, matched on a LB, and Parker underthrows it. Ball is behind Ford, but Pass Interference gets 15 and a 1st down.
1&10 at CU 40-Gun 2B Twins Field-PA pass to Palmer on a curl gets a 1st into MD territory.
1&10-Gun 2B Trips Field-Parker hits Ashe on a Fly route down the sideline to the MD 18.
1&10-Gun 1B H motion to twins-Parker locks on Ford and has him open on a post/in-route (can't tell), but pass is tipped at the LOS. Incomplete.
2&10-Ace Pro Wing motion strong-reverse-motion by Taylor on an end-around to Ford for 17 yard TD. Would've been nice if Lambert hustled down to block for Ford, but he made it in himself.
9 plays 79 yards in 3:05.
Run, Pass, Pass(penalty on us), R, P(PI penalty), P, P, P-Inc, Run for TD. Despite success running the ball with Spiller, never took advantage of it. Otherwise a good mix of run & pass.

Defense takes a few plays off when it comes to coverage on 3rd downs. Looks to be Man Press Cover 2 and regular Cover 2. They hit Smith on a corner route (it appears) for 27 when we zone blitz (cover 3) on a 3rd & 7. Butler misses an easy INT when he jumps an out route and they kick the FG. 10 plays 46 yards.

5th drive starts on CU 43. Korn comes in. I do not agree with this decision here. The offense has started some rhythm on two drives with Parker, and even though I believe Korn showed here that he can move the offense, I would've waited until Parker had gone a drive without scoring before putting Korn in.

1&10-Gun 1B Twins/motion-inside handoff to Ellington for 1. Lambert unable at LT to pin his End off the play.
2&9-Gun 2B Trips Field-HB Screen to Ellington on the boundary loses 2. Walker unable to get out and make a cut block on the guy who made the tackle.
3&11-Gun 2B Twins motion to 1B Trips Field-Korn has to scramble and gets a 1st down. I wish Kyle Parker would try that every once in a while.
1&10-Gun 1B H/Twins Field-Checked into Ace Pro Wing by Korn, inside zone handoff to Spiller for 3. Probably shouldve cut the ball back.
2&7-Gun 1B Spread-Korn throws high to Allen (looks like a curl/out) and he tips it up, but Jones is right behind him and catches it for the 1st.
Why would you have two routes that run right on top of one another? This happens too often in our pass patterns.
1&10-Ace Pro Wing-motion to strong-Korn on another rollout with Taylor in the flats, throws it away. Incomplete. Taylor is covered.
2&10-Gun 2B Trips Boundary-off tackle play to Spiller to the boundary for 3.
3&7-Gun 2B spread motion to Trips-Korn sacked on a OLB/SS blitz. They overload the right side and both Cloy and McClain were beaten. Korn has a receiver underneath as a safety valve and doesnt see him.
51 yard FG by jackson.

Now the drive where the Defense stayed on the sidelines. Maryland is using the outer WR to crackback the safeties, and on two plays we were late picking up backs/TE in the flat in man/man coverage. On the TD play to Smith, Chancellor gives up the inside, which you never do, and Chambers was late getting over in Cover 1.

CU gets the ball on the 20.
1&10-Ace Pro Wing strong-PA rollout hits Palmer in the flat on a drag for a 1st.
1&10-Gun 2B Trips Field-motion to empty set-hit Ellington in flat for 4. With 5 wide we can only hit Ellington for 4 yards? There was pressure from Lambert's side.
2&6-Ace Pro Wing Strong motion, Twins Field-FB motion-left side zone play to Ellington for 3
3&3-I Right motion to Twins-Counter pitch to Spiller for 5yds to the left side.
1&10-Pro Wing motion to Strong- PA pass to RT on a vertical route is thrown badly behind him....as if Parker didnt know he was running a vertical route. VERY lucky it wasnt picked off.
2&10-Gun 1B Spread-Flanker Screen incomplete to Brown, dropped.
3&10-Gun 1B Spread-T. Austin false start
3&15-Gun 1B Spread-C. Lambert false start
3&20-Gun 1B Trips Field-Parker overthrows Clear on a Deep Post route between the safeties. I like the play call. Incomplete.
Punt.
Pass, Pass, Run, Run, Pass-I, Pass-I, Pass-I.
Still don't ESTABLISH THE RUN.

Defense spends another series on the sidelines. 3 big missed tackles all lead to 1st downs. McDaniel runs himself out of plays and ends up at a bad angle or position to make a tackle. Turner is able to run and we get no pressure. Not enough blitzes called. They get 7 fucking yards on a QB Sneak in the red zone? On the TD play, we had a blitz called on the backside of a QB sprint option play, man coverage, and a quick out called complete on the field for the 6. The film must've been inconclusive to the referees, but it looked trapped to me.

CU gets it on our 40 with :35 left.
1&10-Gun 1B Trips Field-Hits Brown for 13 yard gain on a slant. The ball hit Brown square in the numbers, bounced off his pads, and he catches it. This guy does not extend his hands to catch the football.
1&10-Gun 1B Spread-False start Walker
1&15-Gun 1B Spread-Ford runs a Fly route against cover 2 and the safety gets over to pick the pass off. End of Half.

What adjustments would you make after the 1st Half from this?
We're not a run threat in Gun. This has to change. They stack the box area when we go with an Ace Wing formation. If Spiller can run it off-tackle from the Gun, then run it more.
We ran alot of I-formation earlier this season, so where did it go? All I see here is Gun 1/2-back Twins/Trips and the Ace pro set really.
Enough of the QB Rollout to hit the TE in the flat on a flare or drag! Take a 3/5 step from shotgun max protect and try to hit somebody downfield.
Throw the ball vertically, attack the middle of the field, not the boundaries.
Less Flanker Screens.

Notice some 1st half trends? I may edit as needed to clarify things.
(2nd half will be up tomorrow with more analysis)

TCU beats Clemson 14-10, a closer look

-Clemson should not be wearing the orange pants for this game, not yet. Not until we beat somebody.

-The first drive is scripted, and I really liked the playcalling variety in terms of plays and formations. It was well-executed for the most part with throws to Taylor, Allen, and Palmer. A low throw to Marquan was dropped in the flat. Parker took a zone read himself off tackle and made the correct decision to take it, but if Jacoby had decided to block, the play would've gained a first down. A screen to Ellington with Jacoby open in the endzone, then another throw to Ford on the next play where Parker never looked to the other side cost us the 6. Had the ball been caught it would've been a first however. FG 3-0. Still, I think this was the best drive of the whole season.

-TCU got out of a hole due to a facemask by Jenkins when we had them stopped. TCU actually ran their zone read variation on this drive and got good yardage, so we had ample time to adjust to this play. On 3rd & 12, Bowers was playing a DT position and got a hand on the football, then it sailed over everyone's head and #34 just happened to be sitting behind the safeties. Maxwell just missed it. The RB shouldn't be back there, but once the ball is tipped the safeties started to come in. Its a fluke play, and TCU got a lucky break. On the TD play, Clay ran in motion off the left side then ran a simple crossing route and made a good catch on a good throw between 3 Clemson defenders. 7-3.

-TCU forces a 3 & out. A screen falls incomplete because Parker was blitzed up the gut, a HB power play to Spiller nets about 2 yards, then a QB option pitch on 3rd & 8 to Spiller gets a couple. I don't like the option call here, and not with Jacoby (not) blocking on that side of the field. Punt of 48.

-Dalton hits his receivers on 3-step drop slants very quick and he's quite accurate. They get one 1st before the end of the quarter then hit another slant to start the 2nd. A Flanker screen gets big yardage because our guys were out of position and overpursued. Maye was right behind the WR and did not read the play, then the DB's got blocked out. We held Turner on a 3rd&2, then the DL collapsed their front and Conner came right around the corner and pulled the RB down from behind on 4th & 1. Turnover on downs.

-Clemson gets a roughing-the-passer call, and a good catch by Palmer got another 1st. A deep vertical route to Spiller 2 plays later that fell incomplete was not PI as I originally thought, but the matchup with Spiller on a LB was exploited later. The throw to Spiller was not to the inside as it should've been; he had to turn around and look to his opposite shoulder and that was the difference in the pass being caught. We get the ball to their 42 and no further. Punt.

-Clemson commited a PI (Chambers) on a 3rd&2 incompletion, which was really an AWFUL call. Chambers was playing the ball and was right with the receiver. A few high throws by Dalton and we force a punt.

-Jaron Brown drops a pass that was behind him on 2nd down PA. Jamie Harper finishes up just short of the first down on a 3rd down Toss Sweep, then on 4th and 1 QB Sneak we got zero push by Cloy/McClain/Austin. Playcalls themselves were good on this drive, we just didnt get it done up front.

-I see what Clemson is doing on the zone read here, Bowers is taking the RB as he should, but then no one behind him is making the tackles on the QB. They are there waiting but Dalton runs right around them, and here its Hall and McDaniel that overpursue themselves out of the play. The defense recognizes the same flanker screen that beat them earlier and we force a 19 yard punt. I am noticing good downfield blocking by their WRs and RBs, unlike us.

-We get the ball with 1:58 in the 2nd Q. Clemson goes back to the hurry-up. Spiller goes out of bounds on a reception, then they dont stop the clock. For the next 20 seconds our offense looks dazed and confused, and aren't getting set, and we take a snap infraction penalty. We run Spiller on a Fly route right down the hash, matched up on the LB as before, and net 60 yards down to the 3. Why don't we line Ford up as a HB in the shotgun set and do it with him? The first TD is called back and Spiller takes it in on lead play behind Austin/Lambert. We moved them off the ball. 10-7.


-TCU hits a few passes underneath but the half runs out.
Halftime
If we had just played in the 2nd half on offense the way we did in the first, I think we'd win this game. Only the option pitch to Spiller on 3rd & 8 is a playcall I don't think made sense.

-We force a 3 & out.

-Parker overthrows Allen on a corner route. Allen had trouble getting off the blocks and didnt get into his route til later than he should. A quick pass to Palmer was tipped and almost interecepted, Parker threw behind him again. On 3rd down we have to throw, and Parker throws it away on a rollout to the left side, with pressure coming to him, since Lambert decided not to touch the DE at all for some reason. I don't like the 2nd down call, run the football and try to give yourself a 3rd and shorter-than-10. A designed rollout left and your LT doesnt block his End at all....punted to their 25.

-TCU comes out and gets 18 on a keeper by Dalton, 18 again with a quick pass to Young that we barely missed tipping, then 10 more with a zone read give to the RB. Malliciah Goodman gets a sack outrunning their LT. Conner and Chambers stretch out a keeper to force 3rd & 16. We allow them to get into FG position with a great catch on another high throw by their WR Kerley. Why can't Clemson WRs make catches like that? Thankfully they missed the 42 yd FG.

-Rain really starts on this drive. Playcalling is mostly pass (R-P-P-R-Inc-Inc-punt), but Parker had Ford open on the sideline and missed him on 3rd down and we have to punt. We don't seem as in-sync and I wonder why we don't run no-huddle when it worked well earlier. 16 total yards on these two drives.

-Cumbie misses Dalton on another long keeper, overpursuit. On a 3rd & 5 Dalton makes a great throw to Bart Johnson for the first with McDaniel on his back. Again, why don't Clemson WRs make such a play? Palmer could, but Brown/Clear/Ashe? Johnson again pulls in a pass over the middle because we didnt matchup quick enough, Sensabaugh seemed to slip and someone should've picked him up. TCU is still forced to punt by good pass coverage and a key holding call, but managed to run off about 6 minutes from the clock.

-First handoff to CJ gets 3. Parker overthrows a touch pass a little to Spiller in the flat, which he should've caught. On 3rd & 7 at our 20 we call an inside Draw that gets nothing and punt. It makes no sense to run on 3rd down and 7, but at your 20 you can be conservative. I would not have run the football though. End of 3rd Qtr. 35 yard punt give it to them just shy of midfield.

-Wesley runs off-tackle and 4 orange jerseys dont make a play. McDaniel makes a shitty effort on a tackle and he rolls 3 yards before falling down. TCU switches backs on every play. Another couple of run plays also net first downs and then Antoine Hicks beats Maxwell for the TD. He fought for the ball, and had Maxwell taken one step away from him it would be incomplete. I'm not sure it would've been complete by the NFL rule (control and then make a football move), but it never touched the ground and he pins it against Byron and his own waist. TCU 14-10. Maxwell was right where he was supposed to be, it was just another fluke play. 9/10 times that goes incomplete.

-Cloy lets a DT come right up the middle on the first play of the next drive and Parker throws it away incomplete. CJ cuts inside on an OT play behind Rendrick for a 1st, then again on a zone play 34 yards into their territory. CJ takes it up the middle again, don't like the play call there. I'd have thrown and given CJ a breather, there. Harper takes the next one up the middle, and falls down at first touch. The next play we sent CJ back in, and went to an empty set on 3rd and 4. TCU obviously reads pass, and sends a blitz, and Parker's pass to Palmer falls just out of his reach. Another call I don't like. Jackson missed the FG.

Parker is just barely off in his throws, either theyre high or wide. He's also throwing off his back foot too much, most of it because of pressure. He has to set and throw and take the hit. Inside lanes for him to scramble through are not open.

-TCU has changed their zone read a little, using the backside guard as a lead blocker. We still force the punt and get the ball at our 25.


-CJ loses 5 on the first carry, then we try to get half of it back with a screen to Ford. Parker hits CJ in the flat on a crossing route for the 1st down. Parker throws wide again to Ford, who fell down on the play. We're going for a big play and I dont mind the call. CJ is again stopped for no gain on the next play, another 3rd&10. Cloy sends a snap over Parker's head and he throws deep to Ford, and we got a big break with the PI call. Parker hits Brown on a big play called back for an illegal formation, and then hits Jacoby wide open over the middle and we get a horse-collar on top of it. Parker threw off his back foot on this play as well. If they had not blitzed this would probably have been covered and picked off.

TCU crowds the box and Spiller is stopped on a sweep for nothing. I don't agree with that call. RUN AT THEM. Then the play to Allen that worked against GT, and Allen kinda slipped on his cut and was slow getting going again, and Parker sailed it. Parker made a poor decision and threw the ball up, when he had someone in the back of the endzone open a split-second earlier, and it fell incomplete.

Clemson calls a TO, 4th &13 from the 16. Parker sails another one over the middle into coverage. I don't like the call, two receivers are running to the same spot. I would've preferred a fade or corner route here to each side, with them in Cover 2.

Of worthy debate is the decision to go for the TD instead of kicking a FG. At 2 min left, there is no guarantee we'd get this ball back even with 3 timeouts. We had driven 60 yards or so, and had the momentum, so I'd have gone for the 6.

-The D managed to stop them on the next drive and we got it back at our 43 with 1:03 left.

-A skinny post to Ashe falls incomplete, hit his hands. A 9 yard completion to Ashe followed, then ANOTHER FUCKING BOTCHED SNAP costs us about 20 seconds on 3rd down, and then Parker has to throw it up on 4th down.

Thoughts...
The OL did their job, they handled Hughes and Parker didnt get sacked, which is better than I expected to happen.

WRs cant run routes or catch the balls that hit their hands, but Parker doesnt always put them where theyre easily caught. I wish Ashe would deliver like the coaches said he could, because I think I've seen him drop 3 slants/posts that were on the money this year.

8 of 12 plays were passes while we had the lead in the 2nd half, 6 fell incomplete. We threw the ball 37 times in the rain. I've pointed out the calls I thought were stupid, only 3 or 4. Parker throws behind his receivers far too often, takes longer to make decisions and has to rush throws.

Clemson doesnt convert on 3rd down because we don't set it up on 1st and 2nd down. Not once am I noticing we ran on 1st and 2nd down in the 2nd half. We had the lead didnt we?

Anyway, on to Maryland, and there better be some fucking revenge for last year.

Clemson downs BC 25-7

CUAD Postgame notes, and Dr. Saturday's post mortem on BC.

Since the Defense raped BC's front, I'll spend more time looking at the offensive playcalls and the OL play than usual. I'd rather not go almost play-by-play, but since the playcalling bugged me so much I'm going to for this one.

-First play starts out well with a corner route to Ford on the boundary, then a huge cutback lane on the next play gives Spiller another first down. Good block by Austin to spring him free. 3rd play is a WR screen and Clear fails to make a block, loss of 3. I don't agree with the play call, the defense could be punched in the mouth, I would run it again or look deep. 4th is a coverage sack when Parker had time and opportunity to make a throw, but McClain just let the guy release. On the INT, BC zone blitzed two men up the A gap right into Parker's face, and he threw off his back foot into the LB's hands. Ball shouldve been deeper, but this throw was forced by their pressure. Clemson didnt have people inside to block 2 extra guys, but this could've been handled better, the gap between Cloy and McClain opened right up. McClain blocked his man, but the DE backed off into coverage.

-Defense forces quick 3 & out, Spiller returns the punt 73 yards for the only CU TD of the game.


-Defense would have another 3 & out but for the PI call. Steele calls blitzes from the SS and then the Nickelback Gilchrist on the next play from the slot, and the pressure forces the QB to make a bad decision and throw. The pass was tipped by the WR with Conner on him, and Hall picks it off at midfield.

-Clemson comes out in I, BC shows blitz so we audible out into shotgun, then Parker stares down Ford the entire time. The ball was underthrown again, and a little behind him on what looked like an out route and the LB underneath Ford picks it off. The audible is fine, and the call is good, but the execution got us.

-D 3 & out.

-Next Clemson drive starts inside the 10 due to a holding call on the punt return. CJ gets the first by himself on two plays, then we get outnumbered up front on the next. Another WR screen to Jacoby was set up well, but their LB got off Cloy's block and made the play. Clemson was conservative in playcalling and should've been so inside our own 20.

-D 3&out, and Bowers/Sapp weren't even in on the series. Goodman and Branch both made good tackles. Ford returns the punt to their 45, and another block in the back pushes us back to our 30.

-Harper in at RB, a designed zone read play goes nowhere because no hole opens to the right side and he doesnt cut it back. Harper needs to turn upfield and run it, we should run wide with Ellington and Spiller, not Harper. Parker overthrows Jones on the next play. BC blitzes 5 on the next play, the line picked it up, and he scrambled for the 1st, but our WRs were bunched together on their routes, you cant get guys open when their routes are both little hitches side-by-side. Harper stopped in the backfield by a man shooting up the middle on a play where McClain goes with the FB right and Cloy gets sandwiched and falls down. The next play looks like a called QB Draw for no gain, there was no blitzer to force him to run it himself. Dumb call, throw the ball. Punt. End of 1st.

-D 3 & out. Spiller gets us excellent field position again on the return at the BC 42.

-Clemson runs some zone plays to the left and gets some good yardage into the redzone. Then we try a Wildcat formation play and Spiller gets nowhere, I dont like the call, stick with what we can run and dont run around the perimeter inside the red zone, run right at them. Ellington takes a zone read (they listened to me!) and gets to the corner but not enough for the first. On 3rd down they blitz off the corner, we dont pick it up well, and Parker has to throw it away. FG 10-0.

-BC loses yardage on their first play, then the QB pulls out from under center and Thompson gets the ball back for us at the 8.

-First play is a handoff right side to Spiller to the 5 hole, but Walker did make his block as did McClain. A LB jumped into the hole and CJ bounced it out and they strung it out for lost yardage. Diehl looked to have taken the right man, and Ashe was blocking his man, but Ashe released him and he was the one that strung it out. The next is a shotgun PA screen to Ford stopped for a loss, again don't like the call, go for the endzone. Third down play is a 2-back "almost-pistol"-formation option play, Korn looks to pitch and his man is covered, then he makes the only decision left and holds it, and is tackled behind the line. Do not like this call either, we should've taken one shot into the endzone, and not tried to run perimeter plays in the red zone, when we did have success running inside earlier. Where is the killer instinct? MAN UP AND RUN RIGHT AT THEM. FG 13-0. We should be up 17 right now.

-D 3 & out.

-Incomplete PA pass to Marquan at the first down sticks was thrown into coverage, when Spiller looked open underneath. Parker did not look off Jones. Hitch to Palmer gets the 1st down, then an end around to Ford gets close to another. Spiller would've gotten more than the next first down on a power play had McClain gotten anything on his block. On another inside zone play, the OL blocks well but again McClain is getting beat by his man, Spiller still gets the 1st. BC shoots the gaps on the next inside play and strings CJ out as we enter the redzone again. Harper takes another inside zone left, but cant break the tackle. Parker rolls right on a designed play and both WRs on that side are covered as he throws it out of bounds. FG 16-0. Playcalling here wasnt so much an issue. The play that was strung out was designed to go inside, and the rollout was a fine play call, but there shouldve been another man following the two WRs into the boundary and I dont see him. Parker wouldve had time to set and throw back to midfield.

-D 3&out. A bad punt gives us the ball at our 40. We get the ball with about :40 left. Parker is blitzed off the corner on 1st down and throws it away, Ellington drops a pass in his breadbasket on 2nd, and on 3rd down sails a throw to Ellington. We didn't even run off 25 seconds. Punt, and BC takes the knee.

Halftime
Clemson has had no drive over 40 yards.

-D 3&out.

-We get the ball at midfield. Harper runs right on 1st down, and just doesnt fire into the hole, no gain. A WR screen to Ford gets a few yards. A pass in the flats to CJ gets only 2. CJ takes a toss sweep right for the first. PA to Ford would've been a TD if Parker had taken a little bit off. A short pass to Ashe gets 7, and an inside WR screen to Ford doesnt benefit from any blocking. BC blitzed at the same time so Parker was rushed. Jackson kicks a 52 yarder, 19-0.

Normally a WR screen would work great if they blitz you, so the call was fine, but the play had to develop a little faster and nobody blocked. L.Walker was standing still and Ford ran right into him.

-McDaniel picks off the deep ball in what looks like Man-Free coverage at our 46.

-Ford is double covered and Parker never takes his eyes off him then sails one over his head. Why not look underneath or left? Harper takes a Draw nowhere, and Palmer's catch sets up 4th & 1. The 4th down play was a power play to Ellington, and Deihl does not make his block, and Austin doesnt execute a cut block either (either that or he tripped). Hairston was actually lined up at TE on the right side here, and doesnt make a great block. It didnt look like he fell down well either, I suspect this is where he got hurt.

-D 3&out. First lightning delay.

-Spiller is still in the game here after the delay, but only two plays that I see. Lambert is in at LT. McClain again gets beat by his man. Parker hits Palmer for a 1st down. Coverage shows that if we tried for an inside route, we'd be hitting it all day. They show a Cover 2 look to me. BC blitzed and good coverage on 3rd down forces a punt.

-BC gets their first yardage because Jenkins missed the QB in the backfield on the PA fake, and he scrambles 18 yards. A few plays later he scrambles again on an inside blitz where we missed him and gets another first down. End of 3rd Qtr. Bowers didnt miss him on the next play, lined up from a 3-tech DT position. 7 plays for 32 yards, this was their best drive of the game.

-Ellington fumbles on the very next play. He was carrying it high across his chest and the LB popped it out.

-On BCs TD play, they showed us a bunched set, with 3 receivers to the right side. We blitzed one LB up the backside A/B gap and another around the backside corner. McDaniel was in close, and lets his man go right by him. He was supposed to bump him and backpedal. The FS took the inside receiver to protect the post, which was his only choice. The Corner took #2 into the flat but didnt look to see #1 running behind him into the corner of the endzone. Miscommunication and assignment. 19-7.

2nd lightning delay.

-Clemson opens with the ball again. End around to Ford, then a Power play with Lambert unable to seal off the backside when Austin pulls out. On 3rd down Parker hits Marquan on the boundary for a first inside their 25. We try to run perimeter plays again with Jones on the end-around and get nothing, then they blitz off the left side on 3rd down, it isnt picked up and Parker has to rush his throw and it falls incomplete. STOP RUNNING THESE PERIMETER PLAYS. FG 22-7.

-D 3&out.

-Really, Clemson should call conservatively to run clock, and we are able to run the ball inside. Norris is in the game at RG, and he and Cloy got good push here. Ellington blows into the hole much quicker than Harper on some of these zone plays. Parker hits Ellington on a PA pass on a flare route for the 1st, which was really a great play call right here. But then Harper comes in and the OL just isnt creating push and he isn't cutting back or doing anything but fall down. Parker overthrows Ford on another corner route. Punt downed at the 1. I dont think we blew assignments here, Harper doesnt have the explosion that Ellington has, the crease was there.

-Meeks picks off the next pass that was really another bad throw. Ball was thrown inside on a vertical/skinny post and sailed a bit on him.

-Harper takes a handoff to the left side that goes nowhere, but a penalty pushes us back. Ellington takes the next zone play to the 11. Korn does the right thing by falling down and taking the sack, keeping the clock moving instead of throwing it away, but Ellington did not carry his block through to the end. Harper comes in and falls down as soon as they touch him. I can see going conservative here with the calls, the game is in hand, but honestly I'd have gone for the TD. Another FG, 25-7.

-D forces a turnover on downs and Clemson takes a knee.

Thoughts...
-McClain got beat too much, and didnt look too good to me. Austin looked much better, Walker looked ok, Cloy looked good, and Lambert got beat once or twice. Push was better than I thought up front.
-Clemson ran fewer Power plays and more inside zone plays than before, the left side is doing their job, many times cutback lanes were wide open because the left side had down-angle blocked everyone right.
-Harper just doesnt have the burst into the hole, he looks tentative and plays slower than he should.
-Playcalling in the red zone needs to be more north-south and less east-west, but understand that zone defenses bunch up in the red zone and there arent as many open spaces. Still, scoring against such a defense comes down to the running game and we should've done better. Otherwise I feel like the calls were fine: we were conservative and it was wet, but thats no excuse for 6 FGs and a pattern of inability to score in the red zone this year. As far as I know, its been only once from within the red zone (D. Allen's catch last week).
-The offense will get a first down, possible two, but then can't move the sticks due to blown OL assignment, dropped pass, poor pass or lack of execution offensively.
-BC blitzed at great times and we did not pick it up far too often. TCU will see that. They played good sound zone defense against us.
-Parker made some bad decisions and throws and didnt look off his primary enough, there were open men further downfield to hit. Wet balls are harder to throw but he sailed a few. He seemed too eager to hit Jacoby and doesnt look off.
-I dont think I saw a Clemson defense play this good against a conference team since I was a little kid. Other than the miscue on the TD, I can find nothing critical to complain about.
-Raycom sports highlights available here.



ShoelessCU highlights

Clemson falls to GT 30-27

I'll go drive by drive and hit the highlights as best I can, hopefully seeing all this purple again doesnt destroy my eyesight. I picked out some plays and uploaded them to youtube myself, and found a few others.

-I like how Clemson is coming out and trying to run the football. Parker's incompletions are bad throws. He's throwing under his receivers and not to a spot where only they can catch it. We luck out by not having two of them picked off. I think we get a bad spot on the 3rd &2 run by Spiller. Watch Lambert get his ass beat on this 4th down play.

-Nesbitt comes out on the very next play and sails one into the arms of McDaniel. It was a really late throw into what appears to be Cover 1. He runs it back to the 45 and fumbles it, and Maye recovered. Clemson fails to do anything on the next drive, and it appears to me that GT is playing good coverage. The snap infraction on Cloy was just a little twitch of his hand.

-The TD play, a crack arc play. I plan to cover this in detail again later. A crack block on McDaniel by the WR and a cut on the Corner, someone gets turned around on the play: Bowers and Maye. Conner tries to keep the play inside, but it really was a great pitch. Conner's assignment is the pitch man. If Bowers collapses, Maye should be there to back him up but gets stood up by a Guard.

Just to define them:
Arc block: Block on a DE or Corner by a RB with the back attempting to block the defender inside, the blocker starts wide out and then comes back towards the middle of the field.
Crackback: Block by a player who has lined up more than 2 yards outside the tackle and is blocking a man inside his position.

-We take a few plays and get close enough to punt. Then Dabo decides to go for the 57 yd FG, and the team is late gettin on the field. Timeout called. Then Jackon pooches it, and doesnt get it out of bounds as he was supposed to. 3 players missed tackles immediately, and shouldn't have. None of those 3 play defense normally. Dabo was outcoached on this play. He should never ever have done this. Johnson had a man deep as a returner waiting, and Clemson should've taken the Delay and punted the football normally. Stupidest call of the game.

-Clemson gets the ball back from the kickoff in good field position, and Ashe fails to catch a pass that hits him in the hands for the INT. Lack of concentration.


-GT makes a few good runs here at the end of the 1st, one good pitch by Dwyer goes about 20 yards, and then Nesbitt sails one into Gilchrist's hands. The early Dives were working because we couldnt get B.Thompson to shoot up the A-gap, the Center had him well-blocked early every time. They were basically running a crack-arc screen to the boundary side. Had Gilchrist not picked up his toe, it wouldve been a touchback and no TD to follow. On the fake, Chancellor should've seen Thomas out wide, but Johnson ran off his kick team fast, and Thomas came on the field right at the last second (or actually never left) and Chancellor never thought to look, its not his job to count. It was not an illegal substitution.

Its true that you cannot break huddle with 12, but any new player coming in an a no-huddle must check in across the numbers. If a player was on the field beforehand, he doesnt have to check in at all. (Edit: this interpretation is incorrect)

-On the next drive the 2nd timeout is wasted by not getting the play in on time. Overall the offense looks confused and out of sync, and we STILL cannot convert 3rd downs. 2 of 7 in the 1st quarter, though we led in possession 11:28 to 3:32. This was a factor late in the game when GT got tired on defense. End of 1st.

Check out the blocking on this inside misdirection play, this is really a clinic on inside blocking.

On the goalline, Clemson's defense did a great job to stiffen up, and we held to a chip FG. The DEs are starting to get penetration at this point in the game.

-Clemson got good field position after the kickoff return by Jacoby, then this happened, and watch the block of Rendrick Taylor:

It was a simple wheel route by Spiller who was set in a H-back position with Taylor as the Tailback. A deep post over the middle drew the safety and Spiller was free to run. The "wolf", basically an extra SS, was the man covering him. Definite mismatch.

-Defense came on and, as we stated, the CB is on an island against this type of offense sometimes. They stopped GT and Nesbitt threw up a lob and Butler got burnt, Gilchrist was a little late getting over as well. GT runs some inside dives and keepers, but the D is now sticking to their assignments and in better position overall. GT punts. GT uses the punt-coverage formation that we really hate. Actually I think its the damned dumbest formation in all of football. The linemen line up in basically 1-2 yard splits with 3 actual blockers for the punter. I don't see why any coach runs this, because if Clemson would just RUSH more than 2 men, we'd block a kick. Several times in this game we sent only 1 or 2 against the punt, and their punter takes forever to kick the ball.

-Next drive, Landon Walker is in at RT. Morgan still runs right around him to pull CJ down from behind on a play to the left side. Palmer is over there to help Walker, but never touched Morgan. Then later the INT over the middle to Jacoby Ford. Parker didnt plant his feet before he threw the ball, and it lost some velocity. The DB wanted the ball more than Ford did if you ask me.

-In years past, this team would've folded with GT at near midfield, and they'd have scored, but GT fails to capitalize. Clemson stretched out some crack arc screen option plays to the boundary and they got little yardage.

-Teams trade punts, Parker pushes a few throws out-of-bounds and Morgan continues to beat Lamberts ass. He's got too much speed and leverage on him. On the very deep ball to Spiller that went incomplete, Jacoby was wide open underneath. Clemson punts again and GT runs off the clock.

Halftime 24-7 246 yards for GT, 147 for Clemson. About 200 of those yards were on the first 4 drives by GT. KP was 8/17 for 98 yards, 1 TD/2 INT.

-In the GT opening drive, CU has shut down the inside Dive plays by putting Thompson/Chavis right on the outside shoulder of the Center and both are drawing double-teams. GT punts.

-CJ makes a cutback on an Off-tackle Power play, designed to go right, and cuts up the left side for 20 yars. Hairston is now playing RT. The dumbest call was the HB Pass CJ threw....that looked like a Rodney Williams pass. Palmer worked back to the sideline as Parker was pushed out of the pocket and makes an outstanding catch falling out of bounds at the 8. Clemson fails to shut off the backside rush on the next play and the DE runs him down from behind again. Why we didnt change the cadence or use a misdirection to get Morgan overpursuing a play baffles me. On the next play, Allen runs a pump route (out-n-up) to the post and Parker throws the ball about a foot behind him. Great catch. 7 plays 57 yards. 24-14


-Defense forces a punt after one long keeper by Nesbitt. I like that Johnson tells his offense to stay out on 4th and 1 and try to draw Clemson offsides, when do we see Clemson do that anymore? -On 3rd and 7, Parker throws a bullet to Jacoby and he makes a good catch through a double team of the safety and a LB. GT only rushed 3 with a Spy over the middle for Parker, Morgan was out on the sidelines. 77 yard TD. 24-21

-Defense forces a 3 & out, but a BOGUS holding call on the punt, before the kick, by Cumbie gives them a first down. Basically he hit the lineman head on and they tackled each other. Total bullshit. Defense forces another 3 & out because Nesbitt can't find his open man underneath.


-CJ starts the next drive with a perfectly executed HB Power for 25. The next play was the same but CJ cut it back and wouldve had another 25 if not for a great tackle. Their defense left M. Jones uncovered and he busts them for a big gain into the red zone. End 3rd Qtr The 3rd & 1 on the goalline looks to be an OT handoff and GT runs it down from behind because Austin gets whipped. Clemson FG. 24-24 7 plays 72 yard drive.

-Nesbitt sailed another and again it tails right and into McDaniels hands. He's got no zip on his throws. I dont see how they can throw to beat anyone with this guy.

-A quick play to Jacoby nets a big gain but two plays later Parker should've been intercepted, the corner route was underthrown into 2 GT players, and none got the ball. Spiller manages to block Morgan on the play, a great cut block. I really couldnt believe Jackson would hit this 53 yarder, but he SLAMMED it. That would've been good from 64. 27-24.

-Georgia Tech gets stuffed on the run, but a little quick pass to Allen underneath gets them to the 40. Now they have decided to run a little zone read QB keeper to the field side and Clemson couldnt really stop it for the rest of the game. Notice the counter step by the Wing and the fake handoff to Dwyer, then Nesbitt follows his Wing into the hole. We didnt have someone standing in the alley forcing things inside on some of these; McDaniel was backed up and we didnt shift our LBs. I am trying to get a good video loaded on youtube of this, but it seems not to work. As they are entering the red zone, I think Clemson should've called a TO just to rest our defense, but we stopped them and forced the kick. 27-27


-Clemson is really killing them with the Power play all night. Their defense is tired. Parker fumbles a low snap from Cloy on 2nd and 10, on 3rd down he hits Ford who ran right by Terrant, negated by a STUPID call.

The DT was fatigued, stopped moving his feet, and Austin has two hands on him as he falls down, then Austin fell down on top of him to pin him. That's not holding. We got shafted.

-Clemson gets a gift call back on a holding call on the next drive, the RG rammed into Thompson's hip and knocked him down, that was not holding either. On 3rd down & 11, Chancellor gets ripped on a post-corner route by Thomas. We were playing Cover 2 and Gilchirst didnt get over. The real culprit here was the pass rush, we got none. That play should not have had time to develop from a post to the corner route. They set up for a right hash kick and make it 30-27.

ShoelessCU highlights

Clemson thumps MTSU 37-14, a closer look

On the opening kickoff we got a taste of what we all hope will come often this year, CJ took the ball at the 4 along the MTSU sideline and charged straight ahead, cutting through a huge hole and down the right sideline to the house. The 360 announcers said the roof would come off if he did took it back, and that was their highlight of the night. Those two were clueless. It was his 4th career return TD.

I'll try to go drive-by-drive and hit the Clemson highlights.

MTSU gets the kickoff back and D. McDaniel plants the returner on his ass, setting the tone for the defense which played lights out for most of the night. Clemson came out in Nickel/Dime, playing mostly Cover 3 with a 4 man front. They didnt tackle well to start missing 4 tackles on the first play from scrimmage. On 3rd down Steele elected to go with a 3-man front, and blitzed both Maye and Sapp (who was standing behind the LOS as a LB) up the B-gap into Dasher's face. MTSU had a WR screen called on the play so Sapp basically came completely free and forced an early throw that McDaniel picked off at the CU 41.

First Clemson drive starts out in the I-formation (THANK GOD) with the apparent intent to run it, but then get a false start and a play to Spiller goes nowhere. Parker missed a wide-open Ashe on 2nd down, and a 3rd&15 pass to a wide-open Dye gets dropped. Would've been a 1st. MTSU only rushed 3 and dropped 7 with a Spy/Robber. A great punt puts MTSU on their 11.

MTSU starts in the 'Gun and takes their first QB Draw of the night for 5, then another 3-man front with 2-men blitzing up the opposite B-gap forcing an early throw on a fade pattern that went incomplete. Clemson is playing Dime defense, with 2 down DEs and one DT. The next play was an OLB Blitz and if Sadat Chambers had gotten two hands on it, it would have been pick 6. Clemson gets the punt back on the MTSU 45.

Clemson drive starts out running from the shotgun with Jacoby in motion, a hole opens up but, being in the 'Gun, Spiller gets no momentum going before a guy wraps his legs up. On the next play Spiller takes a handoff off-tackle on a Power for about 5 yards, shouldve been tackled for a loss because the TE and FB didnt get push on the play. A toss sweep to CJ falls just short of the 1st. On 4th and 1 Jamie Harper takes another inside Power play from the I for the 1st down. The next play showed something Napier has put into this offense, an almost-pistol 2-back shotgun formation. The RBs were at their normal 5yd depth, but Parker was about 3 yards depth, the idea of the Pistol being to give the RB some momentum. Not surprising that we run it then. What looked like an Isolation to Harper gets nothing, and Jacoby drops a wide-open play over the middle to force the kick. Jackson missed it to the left, 46yds, barely.

First play for MTSU was high throw that bounced off the WR's hands and Maye intercepts at the MTSU 35.

Clemson drive starts with a PA and Parker takes a sack. MTSU began bringing pressure on this drive. Should've thrown that one away though and had time. A WR Screen to Jacoby gets a few yards and Parker takes the next one himself for the 1st. Lambert was totally beat on his block. Ellington comes in...where is CJ Spiller? Harper again, where is CJ Spiller? A roughing penalty gives CU a 1st. Taylor catches a PA pass and is tackled at the 5. Sideline calls a TO because Diehl is not where he should be it seems. A PA play is well-covered and Parker smartly throws it away, then stupidly throws one into double coverage on 3rd and Goal. Jackson makes it 10-0. No running plays.

On 2nd down, Maye blitzes from the outside, stunting with #94 to force Dasher inside, where Kevin Alexander grabs him from behind. Branch was playing a LB position and blitzing as well up the other side. Defenses forces 3 & out. Clemson gets it back around the CU 27.

Spiller gets 3 on a strongside power/trap play, Parker takes a designed draw up the middle, and Jacoby fails to catch another that hit his hands. The CB was right with him but he had it, and it was a perfect throw.

MTSU gets it back and makes one good play, then a botched shotgun snap costs them any shot at sustaining a drive. Maye makes that tackle and breaks up the next screen pass, and Sapp tackles the QB on an option for a loss, forcing the punt.

End of 1st QTR.

Following Spiller's return from the CU 17 to around the MTSU 33, he gets up gingerly and was apparently injured on the play. Dabo says its his toe and he wouldnt chance it further, so he pulled him. Korn comes in, and on 2nd down DROPS THE DAMN BALL on a FS blitz in his face. The FS never touched him, he just dropped it as he was beginning his throw, then got rocked. Returned 68yds for a TD, 10-7.

Clemson gets good field position again, on a squib kick, and Jamie Harper is taking advantage of some good cutback lanes being opened up, as is Ellington. Jacoby drops a wide-open pass at the MTSU 20. Jacoby turned his head before he caught it. Throw was perfect. Parker takes it himself the next play 20yds to the 10. An end-around from Jacoby with an inside fake gets us to the 1. This was really a well-setup call after the inside power runs. Then Clemson's OL takes a dump. The safety comes unblocked around the left side and tackles Taylor from behind. Next play is the same lead Iso, too much MT penetration and bad technique by the right side of the line. Then Dabo pusses out and kicks the FG.

2nd and Goal at the 1.5, and cant get it in. Personnel was fine, which is better than Bowden's days. He'd have put in Ellington to run it there. 13-7, 11 play 57yd drive, which was otherwise good.

Campbell starts the next drive with a sack on another WR Screen. D. McDaniel makes a KILLER hit on Dasher to force the punt....then Jacoby strikes for 61yds. 20-7. 2nd time ever for CU to return a KO and Punt for TD.



MTSU begins adjusting with more quick passes to beat the Clemson rush. Jamie Cumbie lines up at DE with Sapp inside and comes around behind Dasher for a sack. Rashard Hall comes from deep safety to make a great tackle and forces the punt.

Spiller actually took it, and just ran out of bounds. He did play in the next series. He was hobbling. The next play was a PA fake in the 'Gun to the strong side, with Parker rolling to his right and the line rolling left, he hit Jacoby on corner route and he cuts back inside (route is meant to go outside) and past everyone for 43yds. 27-7.

Defense forces a punt, and the offense, showing some no-huddle, moves the ball just enough (5 plays 23 yds) to get a FG making it 30-7. Only real highlight was a 21yd post into the seam on 3-deep by Jacoby.

Halftime.
Defense held them to 62 total yds in the 1st, 2 TOs and 1/7 on 3rd down.
Offense had 91 rush, 75 pass, 2/9 on 3rd down.

MTSU comes out no-huddle, using quick passes to negate the rush. Blissard takes a 43 yd reception after two missed tackles into CU territory. A few more quick plays and Dasher hits McClover on an 18 yard fade route on #29 man/man for the TD. 30-14. Clemson didnt blitz on the drive. 7 plays for 85 yards.

Jacoby picks up a short squib and takes it to the MTSU 38. Korn comes in, tosses to Harper a little high and wobbly, and Harper cant catch it and MTSU intercepts. I dont believe that the pass was late getting there, and I put the blame on Harper. Sure Parker has more zip than this but Harper shouldve made the catch.

MTSU starts moving the ball again, but Chancellor picks off a pass on a quick hitch and after that, they barely do anything the rest of the game, but honestly Clemson is giving up too many yards on inside read options and draws. Most of this I attribute to playing a 3-3 and 3-2 front at times. We won't see that next week.

Clemson gets the ball back on the 32, calls an option and a read option that get nothing, then Parker hits M. Jones on a post route for the final score of the game. Clemson lined up in 'Gun, 1 back and the play was a designed fake WR screen to the left. Parker stepped forward, pump faked left to bring the safety in, and Jones was wide open.

MTSU continues no-huddle and moves the ball on us, but Dasher misses his open man and the coverage was glue. Draws and inside read options beat Clemson, but we are playing 4-man front. Turned over on downs.

Clemson comes out in the I-formation and starts pounding the ball with Rendrick Taylor, but get NO push against this scrawny line of MTSU. Walker was in at RT and did fairly well on his man actually. Taylors fumble was caused by his arm hitting McClain, and McClain recovered it. On 4th down a lead power play gets nothing. I thought Austin was supposed to be good? He was too slow getting on his man.

MTSU fumbles on the next option play to the left, forced by Maye, and I dont see how we didnt come up with that ball. Dasher's passes are broken up by glue-like coverage and they punt.

Then comes a bad snap, Parker falls down, and another play he just misses the open receiver. Why no rushing plays? Why did we commit to running the previous drive and not once here with a big lead?

End of 3rd QTR
MTSU was again able to move the ball on quick passes and draws/options, even though Clemson is sticking to 4-man fronts now. Dasher begins cramping up and noticably limps the rest of the game. MTSU has some success with their Wildcat formation and gets inside the 10, but Chancellor forces the WR out-of-bounds and the ball turns over on downs.

Why is Korn not playing here? Theres no need to have Parker in right now. 8min in the 4th, I'd have Korn running the offense to TRY to get his confidence back up after the turnovers. Harper begins running the ball more, from singleback sets, and runs it pretty well. Some of the backups are playing along the O-line here as well. Dwayne Allen sticks with a few blocks. Parker fails to see an open man downfield on 3rd down and Jackson misses the 48yd FG to the right.

MTSU again is able to move the ball on us, and no we were not just playing backups. A few possible TD catches are juggled and dropped in man/man coverage and again turned over on downs.

Clemson runs out the last 2 minutes with Ellington showing some brilliant flashes. MTSU was clearly tired and tackling was bad. Korn comes in only to take a knee, WTF?

End of Game

Game stats.
Defensive stats.

Parker's decision making aside from a few plays has been really good. It surprises me actually. I figured he'd throw into coverage more and lock onto the primary more often than he did. He had little opportunity to make touch throws however.

Clemson's OL actually did a good job of picking up blitzes and with 202 on the ground, the stats show they did alright after the 1st quarter, but several times we could get NO push when we needed it. 4/14 on 3rd down against MTSU aint gonna cut it. Maybe I'm complaining too much, and MTSU had 8 or 9 in the box many times, with Ford and Spiller out.

Jacoby has glass hands. Catch the damn ball Jacoby. He cramped up a little after his last big play, and never returned.

I predict more up-tempo offense and no-huddle next week, we were fairly simple and vanilla today. TE's will get more looks and more RB screens will come in.

The Defense stayed home and showed discipline on perimeter options, and didnt miss many tackles. (Chambers and Rashard Hall come to mind as the biggies) The only complaint I see is that we just outran ourselves getting to Dasher. A slower QB wouldve been sacked at least 6-8 times. DaQuan Bowers was in the backfield a few times, but had little to show for it. Coverage was very good. Most of the blitzes were a variation of the fire zone or Gut-X blitzes posted here before, from 4-2 and 3-2/3-3 fronts. Many times, the 2nd blitzing LB was actually the Defensive end: Sapp, Alexander, and Branch. Maye and McDaniel played outstanding, but particularly Maye. In the 2nd half, they did lose some intensity though, and much of MTSU's yardage was on 3rd down (133 of 299).

But, if Bowden had been here, we'd have seen 15 bubble screens, Korn would be starting, and we'd have only won by 7.

Larry Williams review.



SID highlights/TNet