Swinney Post-Season News Conference.

Nothing came out of this that we dont already know, but several outlets are talking about it.

The most interesting piece is that Charlie Harbison will be splitting some DC duties with Steele, which I'm not really excited about. Harbison is a good coach, and his defenses have done well, but having Dual-DCs is a big clusterfuck waiting to happen. One man needs to be the boss. As I expected (and hoped), we'll be a 4-3 defensive base set.

Announcements:

-Ron West interviewed at Tulsa (again) and Presbyterian, and will have an admin position if he stays at Clemson. I don't see that happening, even though he's a Clemson man.
-Napier is OC/QB Coach, and still Recruiting Coordinator for now, but that might change. Woo. He merely says he's going to "attack" offensively.....hopefully more than you did in that Bowl game Dabo. He plans to use the QB to attack in the running game, which means option plays and designed keepers for Korn. Kyle Parker will miss only a few Baseball games because of spring practice, and he's discussing things with Leggett.
-Pearman is Asst. HC, TE, OT.
-Powell is RBs, ST Coordinator.
-Jeff Scott is WRs, might be the next Rec. Coord.
-Rumph is DE, Blackwell now DT.
-Fat Brad is C/OG coach.
-He doesnt think anyone besides CJ will leave early, but not sure on CJ himself.
-Rendrick Taylor is at 265lbs, which makes him and H-back/TE type, and has 7% bodyfat. Christ.

My only hope, now that things appear final with the staff, is that Napier and Swinney (who thankfully isnt afraid to interject in play-calling) do institute more of a run-oriented spread option attack, and ditch this multiple power "pods" formation crap we've been running. If youre going to run a spread, run a spread, but be able to run the ball between the tackles. Bunching everyone up close and using tight splits only to throw the football from that (when you cant execute play-action or run the ball) makes no sense to me.

Of course if they teach Korn how to run PA and can run the ball otherwise, I think its fine, but none of them on the staff have proven they can do that.

Recruiting news:
Spencer Shuey committed over the weekend, and we made some progress on OT JaQuari Schofield (4), S Jonathan Scott (3), and DB Justin Green (4) and Tim Simon. While Shuey is only a 2-star, I think its important to note his size (which is big for a HS LB). This kid displayed his talents at the Shrine Bowl, and both Clemson and UNC came for him late. Roderic Blunt looks to be a fallback choice.

Sam Montgomery has been the eye of Steele since coming on staff, and hopefully we can talk him into an official visit. He's been here several times on unofficials. LSU is still the team to beat, but changed DL coaches recently so we have a chance.

TE Terrell Mitchell, the only real TE on our board this year, did not make his visit. "No more room" when we only had 13 guys slated to come in? That sounds like we're slowly backing off, and will be using R.Taylor in the TE rotation.

Basketball is now ranked #9 and #10 in the Coaches and AP Polls, respectively. Hopefully we can back it up over the next couple weeks, but my opinion is that we're a little high right now.

And something funny....

Dumb shit on TNet.

I generally don't call individual TNetters out and point out their screennames unless they go and say something really fucking stupid.

Well this particular idiot did.



Right HC in place? Explain it to me how the RIGHT HC FAILED to win the ACC, despite having better talent the last few, and beating FSU soundly? 2008 was an "off" year, what about a GINORMOUS clusterfuck starting from day one, kinda like the start of 2003, the end of 2006, 2007. If the RIGHT HC was in place, he'd have fired Spence or taken away his playcalling duties long ago. If the fans never bitched, we'd still be running a Brad Scott offense where I can could the plays from the sidelines myself, with no background in coaching. I'm supposed to put up with losses to fucking Wake Forest and Duke after stomping FSU or Miami the weekend beforehand?

Bobby Bowden had a different situation in the beginning, but he also actually WON in the beginning, which helped him get a solid footing for the up & down years he had in the '80s. If Tom had won the ACC a couple times, he couldve finished with the same record that he did when he was fired, and he'd be here today.

How is it an undefeated team BACKED into a National Championship? We beat the #3 defending NC Georgia team early, and Pitt LOST the last week of the season to Penn State, knocking them out of the #1 spot. The Sugar Bowl loss by Pitt had zilch to do with it.

Then, as people tried to tell Mr. Dipshit how wrong his facts were, he tried to tell them otherwise and committed a cardinal sin.



The greatest coach in Clemson history isnt the standard? The guy who won all those ACC titles and a national championship isnt the standard? If Danny Ford was not fired by that sumbitch Max Lennon, you're the type of dumbass that would still be clamoring for his job because he doesnt throw the ball.

Maybe you should stop listening to your Clucker friend's bullshit about NCAA investigations. Do the research asshole.

Breakfast with Danny Ford

Obviously both of us are huge Ford fans, as we both grew up in the '80s and can recall the days when we used to dominate people on the field. However, I had never met Coach Ford in person until a few weeks ago when my mother arranged it all as a birthday present to me.

Since I'm at LSU for most of the year, and thankfully this semester will be my last, I always have meetings arranged by family members at home with other prominent (read, rich) Clemson grads to help me find a job somewhere close to home after I finish the Ph.D., when I'm able to come home to visit between semesters. So, when my mother told me she had arranged for me to meet someone who was a Clemson grad in Anderson, who held a position above hers in her company, I wasnt surprised. I tend to find it odd that these people request to meet me sometimes, but thats another issue. (She probably brags too much)

On the 22nd, she said she was getting me up early to go meet this guy in Anderson for breakfast or lunch, and that he knew Coach Ford and that she was taking things along to give him to have Coach Ford sign for me as a gift. So, I picked up my favorite block-C hat and my game-used Clemson helmet.

The next morning when we got to Clemson, we went into Knickerbockers, Variety and Frame, and Tigersports Shop and a couple of the other stores to find something I wanted signed if he got the chance to sign them. I of course went in and looked for another block-C hat, but didnt find one of the style he used to wear (like the pic on the right), and I dont like the blue one that much (link). I have since found a good (close) imitation here.

Anyway, the only thing I picked up for him to sign there was a few tiger rags and a lithograph from Variety and Frame and went back to the car, where I saw her pick up her cell and call someone. When she said the words "Coach Ford" my jaw hit the floor.

He said to meet him over at Dyers Restaurant (a little ways from Mac's) and not a couple miles from his farm. Of course I'm flipping out at this point.

So now the back story:
My mother is a member at a driving range in Boiling Springs where the owner is friends with the director of the Spartanburg Touchdown Club, so he gave his number to her. She then called him and asked if there was any way she could set up a meeting between me and Coach Ford as a birthday gift. She had joked about this to me a couple times in the past, but I never paid her any attention.

He gave her Coach Ford's number, saying "Be sure to tell Danny that you gave me $20 for it."

Well she just called him up one day, and told him about me, and how I gave up playing football the day he was fired by Max Lennon.

When she said she gave $20 for his number, he said "you better not have, I'll kick his ass."

He said that he'd meet her one day and they'd talk about how to set the whole thing up. This was back in October, and although I did get to come home for the GT game, she couldnt arrange it for then.

But she called him again late in November, and asked if they could set it up for my birthday (end of Dec.). He said he was speaking in Union that night at the Armory and that he was on his way to Spartanburg to see his dentist. She called and tried to get a ticket, and couldnt, then called him back and he said to just follow him from the dentist's office down there and he'd get her in. She asked him which dentist, and he said, "Hell I dont know, some foreigner"...she asked him what time and he said, "I dont have an appointment, I just show up" but he did tell her where it was so she met him over there and followed him down to Union, where he pulled up at the front door onto the grass. Danny Ford don't need no damn parking spot.

When he walked in the door, that cocky arrogant attitude we all remember came back, and its a definite change from the approachable man he is otherwise.

So after the meeting she talked to him just a minute (since people hound him) and said she'd call him in a couple weeks to set it up. It turns out that he was going to get his grandkids in after Christmas, so we'd have to do it before my birthday.

Now, we're driving over to Dyers that morning, and I see this old Ford diesel with no bed sitting outside, covered in mud and thought to myself "That's gotta be his."

I walked inside and saw him surrounded, by waitresses and old folks just jabbering in his ear, and shook his hand. He didnt want breakfast at first, but after I ordered mine he piped up. He said he ate lunch there just about every day and it was usually packed. He asked me what my degree was in and figured I was a "pretty smart fella" to be getting the doctorate in this stuff.

We sat there with him for about an hour, where we talked about horses (we used to raise them), his farm, and what he thought about Dabo Swinney and the way things were going. I asked him what he thought of Dabo and he just said, "Well we'll see in a couple weeks. He's got some of my old boys on his staff now." I didnt get the sense that he felt sure about the Dabo hire, but that's just my impression, not words from his own mouth. After meeting him I can tell that he's pretty measured in what he says, since most stuff gets published (and I guess I'm doing that here, but I wouldnt post that he didnt like Dabo even if he'd said it).

She asked him about Arkansas, and he said, "...didn't have no players...but the last year (97) we played alot of freshmen who did well later" (Ford commented back in the day how shabby the program was when he came in 94). Nutt's first team in '98 won 9 games.

Of course all I wanted to ask him was about 1989 and the rumors about 1999, but I didnt muster up the courage. I figured that he didnt want to or wouldnt answer, or is just tired of hearing that stuff again and again. Most of the time with him I was just sitting there listening.

He was going to a funeral of a UGA booster that day, and I asked him "Why would a Georgia fan want you there? I figure he'd hate you," to which Ford chuckled and said, "Well he cain't now, he's dead."

After I had him sign some things, and took the pictures, he commented on my size and I told him that if that sumbitch Lennon hadn't run him off, I'd have played for him. He said, "Yeah, he was a piece of work wasnt he?"

She did ask him if he missed coaching, saying that she could still see it in him, and he just winked and looked at me, "Your mama's pretty smart."

Well I was lucky to get a good one.

Recruiting News

Clemson visits for Jan. 9, with star rating:

Roderick McDowell-RB-4 already committed
Spencer Shuey-LB-2 6-4, 240lbs., but being recruited by UNC and Tenn.
Sam Barrington-LB-3, this will be his last official visit-CANCELLED
Quandon Christian-LB-3 already committed
Quinton Washington-OT-4, still coming as of Jan. 7, but SC is the team to beat here.
Justin Green-DB-4, already committed to Ohio State
Terrell Mitchell-TE-3, recruited by UGA and Kentucky, UGA is the team to beat.
Corico Hawkins-ILB-3, already committed
Eric Fields-ILB-3, already committed-CANCELLED
Brandon Thomas-T-4, already committed.
Tim Simon-OLB-3, an Ole Miss commit but we have a shot.
Roderic Blunt-ILB-3, son of Rodney Blunt
Kyrhi Thornton-DT-3, another Hargrave player-CANCELLED
JerQuari Schofield-OT-3, very big at 6'6" 300, already committed to Tennessee.
Tevin McCaskill also cancelled.
Jonathan Scott-S-3, also coming in this weekend, Scott also has visited USC, West Virginia and Alabama and is down to those three with Clemson. WVU lean.
Tyler Shatley-ATH-3, already committed, but we dont know quite where he'll play at the LOS.

Jamal Patterson - WR - Stanford commitment "considering" a visit.

Izaan Cross was mentioned, but hasnt confirmed his visit.

This is probably the biggest weekend we have left, but we do still have prospects coming on the 16th and 23rd.

Bryce McNeal, the #1 WR in Minnesota and #14 nationally, picked Clemson at the Army High School All American game over the weekend. He was recruited by Dabo and Jeff Scott. This was a guy we were lucky to get a visit from, and it was our visit that swayed him over Oregon and Oklahoma. Unfortunately he pulled a Holtz, and when he announced he said "University of Clemson." Hopefully he's smarter than Granny Clampett.

Clemson is competing with BC for a visit from Tajh Boyd, and if the rumors of Jagz' firing are true, we may get lucky. Unfortunately TNet believes he's the next Korn, and people already think he'll only sit as backup one year here after the RS....which proves the vast stupidity of TardNet. Boyd is a 4-star QB and possibly a Woody/Vick clone.

*****As of tonight, TI reports we are getting the visit from Boyd this weekend*****But this has been retracted and he is not visiting this weekend.

Dabo had an in-house with Leon Mackey, DE from Hargrave, and pulled in another 4-star commitment.

Expect Clemson to oversign by 2-3 players in this class, because a couple of these guys are on thin ice academically.

Gator Bowl Grade Sheet/Looking Forward

Offense:
Clemson couldn't seem to put everything together offensively. The long reception by Ford was refreshing. Drives and playcalling seemed a bit out of rhythm, with Clemson being unable to capitalize on excellent field position throughout the first half.

Passing Game: Cullen Harper had happy feet all day, and subsequently his stat line read 17 for 37, 206 yards passing, 2 TD's and 2 INT's. He also had -42 yards rushing, including a piss poor sack taken at the end of the game.

Running Game: What running game? We were unable to produce nice stats in this area. When Clemson sustained drives with a consistent rushing attack, the Tigers would get in the Red Zone and start throwing the ball. You are not going to be successful at Clemson (especially with the poor play by your signal caller) without being able to run the football.

Play Calling: The pace of play in general seemed choppy. Drives stalled in certain places due to the choppy playcalling. 37 passes compared to 20 rushing attempts is too lopsided.

Intangables: Clemson's offense sputtered all day, but the worst part of the gameday execution was the first play of the football game. Clemson has had a freaking month to prepare for this game. We come out and try to get cute on play #1 and waste a timeout to regroup and run the same damn play. The goal is to get 10 yards every four plays not build a rocket, so why are we overcomplicating matters and why can't we at least be prepared for the first (hopefully scripted play)?

Grade: D+



Defense:
Rushing: Nebraska had a couple of big gain plays, but my opinion was that the defense played the run well. We (especially early) played well up front and limited the Nebraska offense. I thought Clemson looked very physical up front.

Passing: Ganz stat line was very similar to Cullen's (minus one int). They completed some nice TD passes that were perfectly thrown balls. Clemson was able to successfully employ some blitz packages and got to the QB all afternoon. Bowers played extremely well, and I am especially excited to see his progress next season.

Intangibles: Clemson played hard on defense all afternoon, scoring a touchdown and holding their own against Neb. I thought the Tigers got hosed on the TD called back (I think that the ball was knocked out before the knee hit the ground), and was pleased to see a more aggressive blitz package.

Grade: B+



Special Teams: I thought we fixed this crap, but we had a punt and a field goal blocked. This area of the game really let the Tigers down, as the punt resulted in 3 easy points for the opponent (luckily only 3 points) and the failed field goal (for those scoring at home) would have given the Tigers 3 more points. This combination would require that Clemson kick a field goal at the end of the game to win. The Cornhuskers also started the 2nd half with great field position on the half-opening kickoff.

Grade: D



Coaching: This was really a tale of two staffs. The defensive portion looked good. The players were ready to play and were well prepared for Nebraska's attack (as evidence by the lateral returned for a touchdown). The defense came out and confused Nebraska with blitz packages that were missing earlier in the year. Neb sustained three (3) drives all afternoon. The offensive side of the ball looked less orgainized. We took the field and could not execute the first offensive play of the game without burning a timout. Our running game was non-existant. The signal-caller thinks he is Randall Cunningham. There were too many shades of the Rob Spence and his beginning of the year debacle. The special teams woes were chronicled above. I wish I could give grades for independent units, but this staff is one staff (grades are lopsided, as the defense immensely helped the other two facets of the staff).

Grade: C

Overall: Tom Bowden would not have gotten this team to the Gator Bowl this season, much less been able to play with Bo Pelini's squad, so at least we are in better shape now than we were in August. This team played hard all afternoon, so you really cannot fault the effort. Offensively, I am not sure that the Swinney/Napier combination with playcalling has enough real-time experience yet. Good coordinators are able to not only gameplan throughout the week, but also make adjustments as the game progresses. Defensively, we played well up front and did a good job of confusing a pretty good Nebraska offense.

Closing Thoughts: We are still missing a few pieces to the puzzle. Offensive line upgrades/underclassman experience upgrades will help. I also believe that having Korn or Parker under center next season will be an upgrade in talent and decision making.

The loss of Aaron Kelly next year will not really effect gameplay, as he had as many big drops as he did big catches. I am also eager to see Xavier Dye in the mix, and will miss seeing Grisham make his routine plays. The big loss to the WR corps would occur if J. Ford decided to enter this year's draft. I think this would be a bad decision for the Junior, and know that Clemson would miss his speed on offense (assuming we decide to get the ball downfield more often).

Up front offensively, we are pretty young in the two-deep. Hutchinson is gone and Thomas Austin may leave early (the latter would be a big loss to this group). Otherwise, Cory Lambert will be the only senior linemen next year (and he really hasn't done much since arriving on campus). I am really hoping that McClain and Page both contribute a lot next season, as they are both highly prized gigantic linemen from this past recruiting class.

At running back, we will miss James Davis. He ran hard an had a good career with the Tigers. This unit is in for a big shakeup should CJ also choose to turn pro this year. We are all hoping that Jamie Harper lives up to the big billing he got when he signed with Clemson. I am not really sure what role (if any) Rendrick Taylor will play on the '09 team.

Defensively, we will should be outstanding up front, losing only Jackson (and he did not play for most of this season) and Scott. Bowers, Alexander, and Sapp have all played well over the course of their careers. The biggest shoes to fill will obviously be Dorell Scott's.

We have everyone coming back from our linbacking corps. I would like to see Scotty Cooper on the field more as well as more agression in the blitzing category moving forward.

Losing Michael Hamlin will be a blow to the secondary. Otherwise, we should be a veteran group and perform as well as they did this season if Hamlin's void is adequately filled.

Special Teams: I am not too excited about having a kicker who was acedemically ineligable for the bowl game, but I guess Jackson will finally get his chance next year. Dawson Zimmerman should be comparable to the departing Maners.

Overall: Next year could be no worse than this. I am anxious to see how well Dabo bounces back on the recruiting trail and how good the CU defense should be after the new DC (likely Bammer's Steele) is in place. It appears as though B Scott will remain on the staff. Offensively, it will be interesting to see game strategy next season and, hopefully, a better offensive line. My early predictions have us winning 9 games next season.

Kevin Steele brought in as new DC

When it was first mentioned that Steele was a candidate for the job after VK left, people said I was dumb to even think about it. Now I think Swinney pulled off a small coup, stealing Saban's finest recruiter who has a great resume of coaching LBs. Although I've not seen his $$$ terms, I expect him to be making $375K. This move forces Clemson to push out one assistant: Blackwell could join his old boss Paul Rhoads at Iowa State, and TI reports that Ron West is interviewing for another position. One or the other will be gone in the next few weeks, and West is the poorer recruiter.

Steele is a native of Dillon, and went to Furman for one year before transferring to Tennessee and graduating in 1979.

Resume:
1980-1981 GA at Tenn.
1982-OLB at UT
1983-New Mexico State (LB)
1984-1986-Oklahoma State (LB/TE)
1987-1988-Defensive backs at UT
1989-1994-LB Coach of Nebraska, who won the national title in 94.
1995-1998-LB Coach Carolina Panthers...think Kevin Greene and Lamar Lathon
1999-2002-Baylor HC, 9-36 record, ran a 3-4 defense derived from Dom Capers' system
2002-2006-LB Coach, FSU
2007-Alabama DC
2008-present Alabama Head Defensive Coach

A few things stand out from this, he won a national title at Nebraska and was on the team that played FSU in '92 for the title. During his six years in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers went 60-11, appeared in six bowl games, won four conference championships. Those teams ran an aggressive 4-3 defense, but also alot of 3-4. Then he went to Carolina, where Capers' made the defense good for a few years, going to the NFC Championship game in '96. Those teams ran a 3-4, and ran a complicated zone blitzing scheme. Apparently he couldnt get it to work at Baylor, never going better than 3-9, and going 1-31 against the Big XII. No prominent HC job is going to come his way anytime soon.

Afterwards, he went to FSU and worked under Mickey Andrews, who we all know uses a 4-3 that isnt terribly complicated, but blitzes quite a bit and plays alot of press coverage. Dabo Swinney has intimated that this is the style of defense he wants. In 2005, while working for FSU, he was named Rivals recruiter of the year after they secured the #1 ranked class that year.

When Saban was hired to Bama, he went out and tried to get the best recruiters around who could also coach, and picked Steele. People will point out that Alabama's defense was not awesome last year, but I think everyone who watched them last year knows they were pretty damned good....its just that the defense fell apart towards the end. Alabama's lack of depth and the IMMENSE complexity of a Saban scheme were the major contributors to their slide to finish 7-6. One point that I must concede is that this is Saban's defense, and he calls the shots. The DC is a title, who calls the plays, but everything goes through Nick Saban.

Following last season, South Alabama offered Steele their HC job, and Petrino offered the DC job at Arkansas to young Kirby Smart. Sensing that he was about to lose coaches, Saban "promoted" Steele to Head Defensive Coach and Associate head coach, and Smart to DC and gave them a raise.

Why would he leave Alabama though? Saban is the man who calls the shots on defense, a chance at autonomy and a possible raise, not to mention that Saban is a prick to work for are probably the true reasons. He may believe that this is a better shot at a HC job.

What will he run defensively? While Steele ran a 3-4 at Carolina and most teams in the '80s did as well, I don't see him doing the same here. Andrews' 4-3 system is heavy on the blitz with press coverage, while Saban's is considerably more complex out of a base 3-4 set, but uses alot of 4-3....basically you could see anything out of a Saban defense. Saban's later teams at LSU ran a 4-3 base set, and this year at Alabama he mixed it up considerably when Cody was in the game at NG. EDIT: In Steele's own words, published recently on TI, he will be running a base 4-3 that is considerably different from VK's, as we suspected.

For research on Saban's defense, see this article released before the Clemson/Bama game.

Saban's philosophy is this:

“[Our] philosophy on first and second down is to stop the run and play good zone pass defense. We will occasionally play man-to-man and blitz in this situation. On third down, we will primarily play man-to-man and mix-in some zone and blitzes. We will rush four or more players versus the pass about ninety-percent of the time.

“In all situations, we will defend the inside or middle of the field first – defend inside to outside. Against the run, we will not allow the ball to be run inside. We want to force the ball outside. Against the pass, we will not allow the ball to be thrown deep down the middle or inside. We want to force the ball to be thrown short and/or outside.

“… Finally, our job is to take the ball away from the opponents’ offense and score or set up good field position for our offense. We must knock the ball loose, force mistakes, and cause turnovers. Turnovers and making big plays win games. We will be alert and aggressive and take advantage of every opportunity to come up with the ball . . . . The trademark of our defense will be effort, toughness, and no mental mistakes regarding score or situation in any game

From the article above, I'm pulling out the most pertinent information for Clemson fans. There are two basic schemes Steele will 'likely' run here.

Cover 1 “Robber”

Cover 1 is maybe the most common defense in the SEC. (Though “Cover 2” is close if you lump together all its variants.) Base Cover 1 is quite simple: the “1” refers to a deep safety who aligns down the middle, while all the offense’s skill guys are covered man to man. This doesn’t necessarily mean it is bump and run – it could be loose coverage – but it often is bump and run. The defense needs a great centerfielder back at Free Safety who can stop the deep ball and cover sideline to sideline.

The nice thing about this defense is it is simple and, once you’ve locked in five guys in man and a free safety, you can do whatever you want with the other five. And, maybe most importantly, with just one free-safety deep, the defense can get in a lot of eight-man fronts. On passing downs, the defense can find ways to creatively blitz five guys, have a deep safety, and all the while still account for all five of the offense’s receivers. The defense cannot really outnumber the pass protectors, but it can still collapse the pocket. That’s base Cover 1.

Cover 1 “Robber” works the same, except there are only four rushers and, along with the deep middle safety, another defender comes down to an intermediate level to read the QB’s eyes and “rob” any pass routes over the middle, like curls, in routes, and crossing routes. “Robber” is the most popular term for this technique but Saban’s is “Rat.” (I was always partial to Homer Smith’s term, “floaters,” which is the most descriptive.) There’s nothing magic about this coverage; every NFL team and most BCS college teams use it. Indeed, despite all the bluster about the Indianapolis Colts being a “Cover 2 team,” on first and second down you see lots of Cover 1 and Cover 1 robber from them, except they use their strong safety, Bob Sanders, as the “floater.” The key is for the floater to be able to read run, screen, or pass, and to use his eyes to get to the receiver and the ball. It’s particularly effective nowadays with the increased use of spread formations which most offenses use to open up passing lanes over the middle. Floaters or rat players can stop these inside passes and make game-changing interceptions. Below are some diagrams, and I expect to see Saban use this coverage a lot this season. (As a final note, Cover 1 Robber is useful against spread offense teams with mobile QB’s because the floater’s job becomes to not only read the QB’s eyes on passing downs but also to watch him for scrambles and to simply mirror the him on run plays like the option and the zone read.)

Zone blitz

Saban’s most common coverage behind a zone-blitz is a 3-3 or three-deep and three-intermediate defense with five rushers. Cover two behind a zone blitz is often dangerous because of the added uncovered deep seams, but most defenses feel comfortable with the 3-3.

The thing to remember is that for years, when a team blitzed it was playing either Cover 1 or Cover 0 man (or simply left holes in its zone), and quarterbacks were coached to throw the ball where the blitzer had come from. Nowadays, there’s a common perception that a zone-blitz works because a defensive linemen gets in the throwing lane – no. What the dropping defensive end in the diagram above does is allow the defense as a whole to stay in zone coverage, and further notice who is covering the area where the blitzers came from: the strong safety, who is usually an effective pass defender, certainly moreso than a defensive end. That is how zone-blitzes cause confusion.

If you wish to read more, see the article above. We'll be breaking down the finer points of the Saban scheme during the offseason.

Gator Bowl review, Clemson falls 26-21.

This was a tough but ugly game, both sides continuously made mistakes to try to hand it over to the other team. Fumbles, interceptions, muffed punts, etc. Overall, the two teams looked pretty evenly matched with Clemson having an edge in overall speed. In the first half Clemson's defense made Nebraska look bad, we blitzed heavily and controlled the line of scrimmage. Ganz's receivers were stuck like glue to Clemson defenders and the pressure we managed to get forced some poor throws.

But Clemson's fortunes on offense were evident from the first play of the game. We came out in a standard split-I set and changed to a Wildcat formation, and called a timeout....and then came out and ran the exact same thing after the timeout. What the hell? You have two weeks of practices to do that on the first play?

Then theres the awesomeness of Cullen Harper.....who came out with a bewildered look on his face and decided to jump out of the pocket on nearly every single pass play when a Nebraska player came within 10 feet of him. Had Cullen been coached properly to just stand in the pocket and wait for someone to come open a second longer, we might have capitalized on the great field position we had during the entire first half, particularly the first two drives.

And, as you would expect if you've watched Clemson play all season, the "Thunder" fails to arrive. Clemson showed some rushing early, on the two drives where we moved the ball, we basically ran it down their throats between the tackles....and then when close to the goalline, we stop and throw it. James Davis did not do much with the carries he got, but CJ Spiller showed up today ready to play.

To start the 2nd, Clemson runs the ball all the way down the field, and a horse collar on CJ puts us at 1st and Goal. One run up the middle by JD gets nothing, then Harper does something stupid and tries a pushpass that luckily falls out of bounds, then two more pass plays fail to score, forcing a FG that came up low and bounced off Suh's elbow.

Then Clemson decided to quit running the ball. Nebraska brought up their LBs on run pressures, and after a few gains of zero yardage, Swinney and Napier decide to completely abandon the running game against a team who doesnt substitute their DL often.

Thankfully, the defense did show up ready to play. McDaniel, coming on a blitz that Ganz pointed out before the play, forces a quick pitch on a shotgun read option and knocks the ball loose, picks it up and runs it in 28 yards for the first score to put us ahead 7-0.

Nebraska then went to a quicker paced hurry-up offense and had success, but we got our hits on Ganz nonetheless. Clemson brought 7 guys on several blitzes at the end of their FG scoring drive, something VK would not have done.

Immediately after, Cullen's pass to Spiller in the flat is tipped at the line by Steinkuhler and intercepted. You can't blame that one on Cullen, despite weak throws in the half.

On the next Nebraska play, Clemson blitzed Ganz and C. Butler intercepts one in almost the same place, and is pushed out of bounds inside the Nebraska 20. Clemson scores 2 plays later on 2nd & 22 (following a sack) from the 30 on a good throw by Cullen to Kelly in the corner of the endzone.

Then, for some reason, we stop blitzing Ganz.

To start the 3rd, Nebraska comes out firing and marches downfield and one big play on the sideline put them around the CU 20, and a great play by the NU WR makes it 14-10. We simply got beat on this drive.

Nebraska forces a 3&out on the first Clemson drive of the half and then fails to catch the punt, and Chad Diehl recovers the fumble near midfield. Jacoby Ford outruns the CB and gets behind the safeties and runs down an overthrown Harper pass for the 41 yd TD to make it 21-10. FINALLY JACOBY GETS A DEEP BALL.
The vertical release by the TE forced the Safety to stay close, allowing Jacoby to get behind him.

But the back & forth continued....A 58yd run by Castille (and two missed tackles) put NU at the Clemson 20, and two plays later Ganz found Peterson over the middle on an In-N-Up route for the TD. I wish Cullen would step up in the pocket like Ganz did on that play, instead of running off and tossing it away.

Now, all I wanted Clemson to do was go back to the running game, but apparently rhyme & reason left the offensive staff, and we looked helpless for the rest of the half. Much of the playcalling made no sense after this point, there appeared to be no apparent plan of attack.

On Clemson's next possession, a pass by Harper bounces off Ford's pads and NU intercepts at the Clemson 10. Thankfully the defense forces the FG. 21-20.

Nebraska forces a 3 & out, and Sadat Chambers fails to block Thenarse AT ALL, and they block the punt. Clemson is handing the game back to Nebraska on a platter and is clearly losing focus on offense. The defense forces another 28yd FG, 23-21.

On the next Nebraska drive, Kourtnei Brown puts a hit on Ganz to take him out of the game. Witt comes in on the next play, runs up the middle and fumbles on another big hit by Brown that is returned for a TD by Byron Maxwell, but the review shows that his knee was down at the same time the ball came loose and Nebraska retained possession to punt.

Nebraska scored again on their next drive after a big play put them around the Clemson 10, and the defense forces another FG to make it 26-21.

Clemson's offense managed one good drive to finish the game, after looking awful and confused since the earlier TD. Running a quicker no-huddle, Harper got us to 1st and Goal at the Nebraska 10. Cullen STUPIDLY took a sack and pushed us too far away....THROW IT AWAY IDIOT....The one time he doesnt throw it away or run out of bounds....A pass skipped off CJ's hands on a post and the next one sailed incomplete and the game was over.

Thank God Cullen Harper is leaving this team. His "deer in the lights" look and pisspoor play cost Clemson this game more than any other factor.

For those who think I shouldnt bash a player, I point out that Harper lost that right when he danced on TB's grave. He's a player, not a fan, he should keep his mouth shut. Him and his dad can both stay gone for all I care.

Clemson's defense dominated the LOS today and we ate their rushing game alive. The one 58 yard run was their only real lapse. We were in the backfield on nearly every run. In the first half we blitzed often, and in the 2nd there was a dropoff in pressure. Ganz is a good QB, but had all day to throw at times, and a good QB can pick a zone apart if he has time.

Clemson's offense was anemic, scattered, and completely confused....the playcalling was the same, and the rushing game disappeared. Nebraska did stop what few run plays that were called, but if you just decide to stop running the ball then you should expect to lose the game....have we learned nothing from the Bowden days?

We had every chance to seal the deal, and let this one go. We blew a 14-3 and 21-10 lead. At the end, it looked like Nebraska wanted it more than Clemson. It was a game Bowden would've lost, and Swinney lost it too.