SB Nation - Xavier Dye

Clemson - UVA game film review

DrB — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:45:54 -0000

More photos » by Richard Shiro - AP

This week's film review will be focused a little more on the defense and I will cover every offensive series but not in-depth. I see no big or very descriptive plays to pull out this week either, other than their trick plays. See the end for the summarizing thoughts. Please comment and ask questions on what you dont understand, these take a long time to do well. The goal here is to look for both good plays and bad technique. If theres anything that you would like to see or have explained, just ask. (edited with Tigernet videos)

1st play of the game on defense, UVA botches the handoff. That was on the RB, he never secured it.

Offensive drive, Clemson takes the ball on the 24. All zone runs from CJ. Diehl doesn't quite make the mesh point and fumbles, recovered by Austin. He's just not used to getting the ball. 4th and 2 call, shotgun set and Parker looks to throw on a bootleg. There was no one open and he runs it out of bounds. We ran the ball all the way down here, I would've spread the formation out to throw a dropback pass, or run inside.....but running inside seems to be the better call given that CJ ran the ball well. I would've gone for it instead of kicking however.

No points. Turnover at UVA 5.

Defensive drive: Rashawn Jackson pushes 3 guys forward for extra yardage. In a Nickel set, Gilchrist is in the nickelback and is late charging into a gap when the back comes to him, for a 1st down. Maye charges into the correct gap on 3rd down, but misses the tackle, goes for 3yds, but we still force a punt.

2nd CU Drive starts at the UVA 48. Harper gets nothing because McClain can't budge a guy. Deihl made a great block on the isolation play. Ford on a corner route and slipped for 17. Xavier Dye was open on a fly route in the endzone behind him. Parker hits Allen on a seam route for the TD. Parker looked off the FS to keep him still, but the FS should've made this play. Allen gives a salute, to the fans on the Hill and the military/ROTC guys in the endzone. He didnt even look at the UVA guys when he did it. Bullshit penalty. 7-0 CU. 4 plays 48 yards

Penalty forced Clemson to kick from our 30. UVA returns it 34 yards to our 45. Huge penalty from Ron Cherry's stellar crew.

Defensive drive from the CU 45. Can't stop the Wildcat against a terrible run offense. LBs out of position, not attacking gaps. I see a marginal hold on Bowers. Simpson is merely waiting on his blockers on delayed runs. Maye is held by the Guard on a 14 yd Power play to the CU 2, but he took that blocker head-on and shouldn't have. Still, he did try to turn his shoulder into him. McDaniel and Conner got their feet tangled up, and KA got handled by a RB. Weak KA, weak. Sewell walks into the endzone for the TD on a naked bootleg. Ricky Sapp was on that side and should've had containment, as should DeAndre McDaniel. The entire 2nd level bit on the play-action. 7-7, 6 plays 45 yards

Penalty set this up, but UVA had not been much of a Wildcat team that I'd seen earlier. They changed up their schemes on us and the Defense looked totally unprepared for it.

3rd CU drive starts at our 29. CJ takes a zone run for 14. Dalton Freeman forgets to snap the ball and we get a false start. Ford on a jailbreak/ruboff for a first down, then a comeback route for a first down. End of the 1st QTR. PA pass to Spiller on a wheel route for 26. This play was basically the same play we scored with against Georgia Tech earlier, but CJ was lined up at RB and there was play-action. Ford ran a Post to clear the underneath, and Ashe ran a Dig on the backside. CJ takes a zone with orbit motion for the score. 14-7, 6 plays 71 yards.

Defensive drive starts at the UVA 17. Goodman late on a tackle. Thompson and Goodman get penetration but cant run down Sewell. CLEAR holding call on Goodman there to make him a step late, right in front of Cherry. Screen is well played by Conner and Chavis for no gain. Zone Trap for 3 yard gain on Sapp. Sewell is caught by a backside blitz and throws off his back foot to a wide open receiver, Maye's man. Maye gets the late hit, and he deserved it. Another stupid penalty on Maye in consecutive weeks. UVA runs a Hanford Bunch set, Vic Hall is hit on a flanker screen, then throws back once the defense comes over to make the tackle on Hall. He had all the blockers. Overpursuit by the entire defense. Backside should've kept some containment by the End. Next play is an end-around pass to a wide open TE in the corner of the endzone. Nobody picked up the TE on his release after he initially blocked the DE. Secondary again bit on the initial motion. Chancellor went with the right guy, the LBs responsibility is run-first here. I think this is on the Free Safety. 14-14, 7 plays 83 yards

4th CU Drive starts at the CU 39. LB comes untouched around McClain and hits the mesh point, but doesnt know who to tackle. McClain apparently going to the DE with the RT headed to the OLB. I wonder what the hell McClain is thinking, in zone you block head-on when you are covered, you dont zone step right. Borderline late hit on Parker, not called. Marquan Jones catches a bubble, where has he been? Parker threads a needle into triple coverage on Palmer, great throw but a little late. Harper takes two Isolations for good yards. Ford gets an end-around, same play we ran against NC State last week. Good blocks by Palmer and Ellington downfield. Parker throws one away when the rush gets to him, but I thought everyone was covered when I saw it live. He might've been able to thread one in the back of the endzone. McClain again whipped on CJ's subsequent run that gets stopped. Dye can't get a foot down, incomplete. Throw was high. Jackson FG 17-14, 13 plays 57 yards

Antoine McClain is pissing me off. I don't think highly of Walker yet but McClain makes him look like a Pro Bowler.

Defensive drive starts from the 6. UVAs returner cant catch footballs, and didnt all day. Simpson hesitates going into his hole. Bowers holds and controls his blocker. On 3rd & 11 Vic Hall runs a great route and great throw for a 1st. Maye forces the fumble and Chancellor recovers at the 24.

5th CU drive at the 24. Parker blitzed and throws it away. Screen pass batted down, Parker didnt move his feet at all. He finds Ford in the endzone on the next play for 24 yards, deep post route. Parker was behind the LOS by a half yard. 24-14 CU, 3 plays 24 yards

Defensive drive starts from the UVA 20. 1:52 on the clock. They run one play, and let the clock run. On 2nd down we call timeout with 1:05 left. Dabo trying to get more? They run short for the 1st down. They want to run the clock off, but since we cant get off blocks and get tripped, they get 22 yards on one play with 40 seconds left and get a shot for the endzone. Burd drops a pass. Butler playing soft and they get out of bounds on an out/hitch. Conner gets through his hole too late and the back gets the 1st down. Brewer beaten on a return route for 13. Then they finally take their first timeout with 8 secs left. A wheel route to Simpson, Hall not there to help Maye. I think he should be but the post route kept him occupied long enough. Perfect throw and catch. 24-21 9 plays 80 yards

They weren't even trying to score, they wanted to run the clock out. We called timeout at 1:05 on the UVA 27. I know what Dabo is thinking, and don't blame him. We could get a punt return TD or good field position at midfield or better and put this game on ice. He has faith in his defense to stop them, they couldnt.

Halftime

Defense: Caught by tricks and misdirection. I thought we were more disciplined than that, but we overpursued, didnt get off blocks, lost containment on the edges, and had blown coverages by the Safeties. The Cavs deserve credit for doing things that they hadnt all year with trick plays, and they made a great catch at the end of the half. If they'd stuck with their conventional offense, i doubt they'd have scored twice.

UVA 230 yards, 114 passing 116 rushing

Offense: nothing much to complain about other than McClain's missed blocks. Very efficient for Parker, good running game, no drops. Spiller 9 carr, 39 yards, 3 rec 31 yards.

CU 224 yards, 152 passing, 72 rushing

3rd qtr

1st CU drive starts at CU 22. Zone read by Parker for 19. Spiller steps out on a flare route, looks hurt. Parker overthrows a deep post to Ford. Parker misses Spiller underneath, Spiller didnt seem to be looking for the ball to come to him. Parker had to throw it since they were running a twist into the gap, shouldve waited anotehr half second. Punt.

Spiller seemed totally unenthused with being out there after that flare route catch.

D: 3 & out, finally. I knew they wouldnt score again at this point.

2nd CU drive starts from the CU 34. Ellington is in at RB. Sprint-draw PA to Ford for 28 yards. Dye on an out for 13, his foot was down. Ron couldnt screw us. Ellington inside zone with orbit motion for 13, then hard running and good push by the left side for the TD. 31-21 CU 6 plays 66 yards

D: 3 & out. They go back to the Wildcat with Vic Hall, and we manage to jump into the gaps and get free from blocks off the corner. KA sacked Sewell, Conner NAILED Vic Hall within the 5 yd contact zone. Same situation that Maye got called a PI for last week.

3rd CU drive from our 40. Spiller back in. Rendrick bulldozes Dowling for a 1st down, where has that been? Harper 5 tough yards on an Iso. Cloy playing some RG here. Spiller stopped on some zone runs. Parker's pass to Ford in the back of the endzone is tipped by a Robber, or it would've been 6. Jackson FG 34-21, 9 plays 34 yards

D: 3 & out. Sack by Cumbie. End of 3rd quarter. Missed tackle on the completion to Burd, appeared to be McDaniel but Maye got over.

4th CU drive from our 33. 3 & out. Spiller on a sweep for 2, well defended. Taylor tackled shy of 1st down, Spiller knocked for loss on a Power. Looked like the RT in on this play missed Collins, who blew up the play. There were some backups in up front. Punt.

D: 3 & out. Good disciplined pursuit up front, good LB play. Andre Branch has a sack and lets him free, review shows him down. How Ron Cherry missed that I dont know, he was RIGHT behind him, not 3 yards away and looking at his feet. Again the booth ref isnt in on Ron's shenanigans.

5th CU drive from the UVA 40. Spiller zone for 1. Inside guys not moving anyone there. Hairston missed his man on a ruboff screen to Ford. Parker has ample time to find a receiver on 3rd & 4 PA, and doesnt see anyone. There was someone open on the backside but Parker never looked, but to the playside no one was really open. Jackson Missed 52yd FG.

I would've gone for this first down at their 35. I believe we could've made it if it was a little swing pass to Spiller.

Defensive drive from the UVA 35. Sapp is held, and Sewell finds a wheel route to Jones, matched on Gilchrist for 38. Rennie Moore sacks Sewell, intentional grounding call for loss of 17. Sewell is sacked on 3rd & 28, but Conner gets a personal foul on a helmet-to-helmet contact. I think its total bullshit. Conner is coming at Sewell, and he drops just before Conner gets there so it became helmet-chest contact. Conner's head hit Sewells shoulder pad and vice versa. Conner makes up for it by charging up the B gap and making a TFL, Gilchrist knocks a pass down in the seam on good coverage. Chancellor there in coverage on 4th down pass, and knocks it away. Turnover on downs.

6th CU drive, the offensive line has been shifted to more backups the last 3 drives, and thats the primary reason we can't run the football. Lambert doesnt feel like blocking on a screen, but they played it well. Punt.

Defensive drive from the UVA 32. Sapp and Maye finally get Sewell down for a sack after Maye missed him in the backfield, Burd gets a deep cross for a first down to our 41, Chavis misses a sack when he had him cleanly. Campbell and the nickelback both blitz and Campbell brings him down. Campbell knocks the next pass away from Vic Hall. Rennie Moore gets another sack, good jump and technique. Turnover on downs.

Clemson takes a knee. End of game

Summarizing thoughts

Defense didn't blitz as much as I expected early, they were on their heels. In the 2nd half I think we blitzed a little more, but it was predominantly better play by the defensive line getting off blocks and shooting the gaps. LBs played better, particulary Conner. Chancellor was excellent in coverage, and went unmentioned because of it. I knew Steele would shut it down in the 2nd half.

Bowers probably got in on 10-15 plays tops.

Offensively we just executed, theres not much to say. Route running was ok that I saw, blocking was good in the 3rd quarter but fell off in the 4th when we put in the backups. Jacoby Ford had a great day, he pretty much returned every kick and had 100+ yards receiving.

Kyle Parker didnt miss many throws at all, much better day for him in terms of efficiency.

Red zone issues remain.

I was just disappointed we didnt leave the 1st team OL in there to block for CJ and let him break one. I think he lost something after that flare pass, and he looked tired afterwards. The 2nd team had a noticable dropoff.

Special teams was sound, but not spectacular. We hit the EXTRA POINTS, but kickoff coverage was a bit lax a couple times. I'm surprised we didnt recover a kickoff fumble since their returner sucks.

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Clemson Defeats Florida State—Thoughts on the Contest

DrB — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:53:57 -0000

Jackson's Epic Fail reaches climax.

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Since FigureFour is stuck in South Korea, with the site down earlier, he asked me to post this for him.

Due to some personal logistics, posts over the next short period from me may be slightly out of place from a timeline standpoint but will continue to include the standard smartass comments, rants, and raves as before.

First and foremost, let me go ahead and state that we are all very happy that Clemson was able to find a way to win against the ‘Noles. This football team did not quit and played hard all night. Parker played well for the most part and was able to create opportunities by staying composed all night, especially when under pressure. Defensively, Clemson gave up 17 points to a very good Florida State offense, with the majority of the Seminole’s damage occurring in the first half. Steele and his players did what they have done all season and this unit showed more depth with Bowers out for the contest and Chancellor and Butler being sidelined during the game. CJ Spiller had another big game, leading this squad with 310+ all purpose yards. Clemson should have won this football game by a much wider margin. The Tigers left quite a few points on the field Saturday night and really played well enough to score a boatload of points. Clemson was its own worst enemy, but fortunately these issues can be resolved. Let me go ahead and also say that this isn’t your father’s FSU football team…one of those teams would have beaten Clemson Saturday night.

Even though Clemson outplayed FSU all night, Clemson was still extremely fortunate Saturday night. I never dreamed that Christian Ponder would throw four interceptions in a football game. While you hate to take away from these picks, two of these interceptions were gifts, and mistakes that the Seminole signal caller has not made this season. Florida State also had an opportunity to stretch their 1^st half lead to 24-7 (assuming a TD drive) but could not hold onto the football. This turnover came at a critical point in this football game, as FSU had tons of momentum, had moved the ball well early, and looked poised to turn this game into a track meet. Instead, Clemson was able to take advantage of this game changing moment and cut the lead to 17-14.

Clemson blew its fair share of opportunities to put this game away. Clemson’s McLain committed a false start penalty 4 inches from the goal line. This drive eventually ended one play later with a Kyle Parker fumble. You always want your offensive linemen aggressive and firing off the ball, but Clemson cannot afford such penalties here. Another dumb moment was the ineligible man downfield that negated a TD. Allen was obviously covered up and either he or the WR on his side should have been off the line (leaving Allen uncovered and eligible to go downfield). Mistakes make playing hard are one thing, not lining up properly is another. Regardless of who was incorrectly positioned, Allen has to identify that he is covered up (just look at the official’s arms) to make an appropriate adjustment. This mistake was not a product of ability nor was it caused by a unique situation. This was simply inattentiveness and carelessness in doing something so simple (and critical) as beginning a play lined up in the correct position. Later on in the contest, Jacoby ford dropped a nice pass from Kyle Parker around the goal line. Ford more than likely would have scored if the catch was made.

Clemson’s offensive line returned to getting whipped pass blocking. Even Hairston got blown by on several occasions. Parker had a FSU defender in his face all night, and fortunately able to read blitzes and move away from the rush most of the evening to be effective passing the ball, with the exception of the poor Parker pass that was picked off and returned for six points. While Florida State’s defense is quick, footwork by CU’s linemen was not good and needs to improve.

There were lots of bright spots out of the offense yesterday. Spiller had a career high for rushing yards and was able to score on yet another play over 50 yards. Spiller did not look to 100% for the contest but was still able to show off his vision, shiftiness, and pure speed. Ellington really impressed me again. I was ecstatic to see him get important carries, make big plays, AND HOLD ONTO THE FOOTBALL. Ellington is a slashing back who is extremely quick and should make his fair share of plays while at Clemson. Xavier Dye—this is what we all expected out of Dye since coming to Clemson from Byrnes a few years ago. Dye caught the ball well and showed off his athleticism and speed, making several big catches and picking up quite a few yards after the catch. Dye, who almost quit the team earlier in the season, even found the end zone. Ashe also played pretty well. Clemson may have found two receivers (other than Ford) that can be trusted in key situations. Kyle Parker is definitely maturing and played well under pressure all night. Parker made accurate throws while eluding FSU blitzers and linemen all evening. The only terrible play on his part was the INT. Palmer was running a post pattern and the ball was nowhere near the post. I am not sure if this was a communication error or just a poorly thrown ball, but the end result was 6 for the opponent. Otherwise, you can see the potential in KP and how far he has matured. He showcases his cannon arm is improving his decision making week after week.

Special teams were pathetic all night. Florida State consistently created lanes and creases on their kick returns. At times FSU was able to utilize punt and kick returns to start drives into a short field. Clemson has to shore this up (although it should be noted that this is not nearly as bad as under the old special teams by committee strategy employed by Tom Bowden). Place kicking was atrocious. Missing two short field goals and three extra points is not acceptable. We had been praising Jackson for most of the season; that obviously changed after the FSU game. With Richard Jackson missing two field goals and two extra points and Spencer Benton also missing an extra point, I am at a loss. I can even go out and drill these through the uprights, so there is no excuse for a college athlete on scholarship to botch such a scoring opportunity.

Defensively, the Tigers committed a few errors that should be correctable. First, we did not wrap up very well. I saw a lot of arm tackles as well as defensive backs placing a shoulder hit on the ball carrier with no effort to wrap the man up and drive through. Nothing pisses me off worse than poor form tackling, and we saw some bad things against the ‘Noles. FSU’s rushing attack gained entirely too many yards. Their zone blocking techniques and quick running backs coupled with Clemson linebackers being out of position and tackling gaffs allowed a viable rushing attack from FSU. The threat of a run allowed FSU to execute play action passes successfully over the course of the game. I was pleased with Hall’s interception, but would request that he refrain from attempting laterals on future picks. While it turned out well for Clemson, this could have been a real disaster if the ball would have bounced into one of the Seminole’s speedy WR’s hands.

I was impressed with the leadership shown by Kevin Steele and Dabo Swinney. Over the course of the game, the defense got frazzled after giving up scores. The head coach and defensive coordinator were able to successfully calm down this unit and keep them from self-destructing. The defense stayed calm and forced Florida State into mistakes and most importantly kept them off the scoreboard during the final period.

The defense did a good job containing FSU’s potent offense and was able to force 4 int’s and 1 fumble. These turnovers were huge momentum breakers and gave the offense necessary possessions to put the game away. Clemson gave up very few really big plays defensively. I liked to see members down the depth chart step up with key losses up front (Bowers) and in the secondary (Chancellor and Butler). Clemson was able to successfully play man coverage for most of the evening without getting torched by the speedy Seminole receivers. Seeing McDaniel truck Christian Ponder after a pick at game’s showed how good he really is. McDaniel made a nice break on the ball and stepped in front of the pass. McDaniel then showed off his physicality by lowering his shoulder and plowing right over the ‘Nole signal caller.

What overall will we take from this? First off, I cannot believe how bad FSU’s defense really played. What is so surprising is that they are that bad with those athletes. FSU is fast defensively. The problem appears to lie with fundamentals and coaching. Clemson was able to move the ball well against this defense, finally breaking it open in the 4^th quarter. Clemson will need to put these games away earlier if it wants to be considered a legit program. The Tigers struggled in the Red Zone and will need to cut down on mistakes here to assure more points are scored.

Clemson is now two wins away from an appearance on the ACC Championship Game, passing the test against FSU. The players and coaches were jacked up for the FSU game, and we all hope that this team plays as hard against both NC State and UVa. These games are games in which the Tigers will be favored. It is Swinney’s job to keep the boys motivated and this stretch run will give us an indication whether or not this team can play at a consistent level to polish off the season. This is extremely critical for me after dealing with the roller coaster known as Clemson Football ’99-’08.

Clemson will need to find the killer instinct that it lacked in optimal scoring situations. To have the ball inside the 10 and come away with no points is inexcusable. Clemson has to take advantage of such opportunities and find a way to punch the football in for six points. Good to great football teams take advantage of such opportunities and make the opposition pay when given the chance. Clemson’s woes against the ‘Noles arose from concentration lapses/bonehead plays. The opportunity for success was there (TD called back for not lining up properly, TD drop by Ford, jumping off-sides at the goal line, missing chip shot field goals).

Clemson - Florida State film review

DrB — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:52:23 -0000

More photos » by Richard Shiro - AP

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ESPN Play-by-Play

I'm going to go pretty much drive by drive here, offense and defense, not every play but most of them, because they were all for yards. See the end for the summarizing thoughts. I've used TNet videos where I think they do well, but they are sideline shots and don't show the plays develop. Please comment and ask questions on what you dont understand, these take a long time to do well. The goal here is to look for good plays and bad technique. I may pull a few plays out to discuss the Clemson offense, and if theres anything that you would like to see or have explained, just ask.

1st Clemson Drive starts at the CU 24.

Inside handoff to CJ for 3 with end-around motion. Isolation play to CJ for 6. PA off that Iso to Diehl for the 1st down. Why don't we run this play more to Diehl? PA pass off the first play is incomplete. Spiller underneath catch for 4 on a crossing route. Parker has Ford open on a slant-n-out and it skips off his hands incomplete, throw was high.

40 yard punt was almost blocked, returned 43 yards by Reid. Terrible coverage. People were not in their lanes.

Defensive drive: Ponder take it himself for 4. Off tackle play toThomas gets 5. Ponder sneaks, gets stopped, and then the referees give him the most beneficial spot I've ever seen. One ref came in from the far side with the right spot, the near ref did not. Tigers blitz on the field side and a pass completed and stopped at the reception point. Thomas gets 5 when he needed 3 for the first, because we missed about 3 tackles. Pass outside is completed, but a holding call pushes them back 10. Thomas gets 10 back, great blocking by their line. Tigers blitz again with Maye running him down for a slight loss. Tigers send a SMOKE blitz (chambers) off the backside and the rushed throw on a corner route is incomplete off his fingers, would've been a great catch, but a holding call nullifies it. Clemson takes the holding call and lets them redo 3rd down? Why? Shovel Pass to Reed, with the tackle pulling from the back side, gets them most of that 20 yards back, then they kick the 35yd FG. 3-0 Noles

2nd CU drive starts at the 24. Jet sweep to Ford gets 8. CJ takes a 35/37 Iso/blast for 14. (Note that the name "blast" and "iso" are interchangeable) Pass to Dye on a curl gets the 1st. Good PA fake and Palmer gets 5. Toss sweep from the I loses 2. I dont like the attempt Freeman made at a block on this play. Walker and McClain could've done better. Ashe missed a crack. Parker hits Ford for 23 on a Dig. Walker gets raped by Jenkins on a speed rush from a 9 tech (i think) but Parker finds Allen standing open on the backside for the TD.

Snap was wide on the XP, holder barely got it down. 6-3 CU 7 plays 76 yards

Defensive Drive at FSU 22.

Hitch to Reed complete for 9. Next play gets thte first but is stopped because Jenkins blew it up in the A-gap. M. Goodman misses a tackle on an outside zone play for 3, but J. Jenkins commits a personal foul for a head slap to an OL. Touchdown play for 49 was perfectly executed. The FB ran out of the backfield on a perfect TB then orbit motion fake, and the LBs did not pick him up. Conner is responsible for the FB, technically the first back to his side. Gilchrist came up too close to the LOS, because of the end-around, and was out of position to help. 10-6 Noles

3rd CU drive starts at the 28. End around fake and handoff to Spiller loses 3. We still don't fool people in the Gun. Spiller comes out. Parker makes a fantastic play to hit Palmer when the OLB blitzed and Smith couldnt pick him up properly. Short gain. On the INT, Palmer was running a skinny post, and Parker threw it like it would be a vertical fly route, right into the safety's arms. I dont know what he was thinking. Palmer wasnt really open. An underneath receiver was, and he possibly couldve hit the X receiver on a deeper post if the ball was thrown perfectly, but should take the underneath route. 17-6 Noles

4th drive: FSU tries an onside or short kick, which I think is genius, but drive starts at the CU 45. CJ is stopped in the backfield by the backside LB charging up the A-gap to his side unblocked. End of 1st QTR. Parker leads Allen too much on the next throw, gotta work on his short touch throws. Hairston gets whipped by Dekoda Watson and throws it away as he's hit. Punt is dropped inside the 2 yd line.

Defensive drive: Tigers blitz but a hitch is completed to get them out of the hole. Again a Field side OLB blitz but Rennie Moore jumps offsides. Maye gets blocked out, and one of our DTs gets manhandled (jenkins i think) and Thoamas gets 7. Thomas eludes M. Goodman, when Goodman tries to strip instead of wrap up. Maye doesnt wrap up either but Gilchrist forces a fumble and Hudson takes it another 9. Crossing route gets 7, the the inside guys come through and Maye and Conner knock Thomas around and force a fumble, Hall recovers.

5th drive, starts at FSU 48. Screen for 5, great play call. Dye is hit for 43 in man coverage on a dig/crossing route, FSU blitzed and Clemson was in max-protect. DE jumps offsides when Palmer stands up, bone head didnt realize that the TE can come out of his stance once set. Spiller takes an inside zone for the 2pt conversion on a run-pass option play. 17-14

Defensive drive, FSU 22: Inside run stopped by Jenkins/Thompson holding their ground. Shovel pass stopped by McDaniel in the backfield. Sapp jumps offsides after he was jumping and dancing. Turns a 3rd & 13 to 3rd & 8. Then Clemson gets screwed by Jack Childress' crew. Complete bullshit call. PI called on McDaniel, but he was blitzing, the penalty was really on Butler. It was outstanding coverage and he was playing the ball on an In route and tipped it in the air. Screen pass to Reed gets 44 to CU 20. Clemson was not prepared, just didnt get settled after that PI. Andre Branch did not read screen when the linemen charged upfield. Maye came in on a PA fake too far, and would've made the tackle around the first down marker if he had not. FSU slides the protection over and leaves a back in to pick up Sapp, but we blitz Maye to this side, Ponder is tackled as he throws and its picked off by Coty Sensabaugh. Ball should not have been thrown into triple coverage (zone it appears).

6th drive starts at the CU 21. Spiller looking like he's lost a step even here. Clemson runs a Trap from the Gun and the DE who was supposed to be trapped nearly tackled Parker for a sack. That is on Austin, who was pulling. He doesnt make up for it on the next play and slips on his block on a bubble screen to Ford, Palmer made the play work, got 16. Spiller busts them for 45 on a HB Power Play, but got caught from behind at the FSU 19.

Naked bootleg (counter trap blocking) nearly gets us sacked but Parker hits Ford immediately, Ford was lined up as a RB. Dye is hit on a shallow cross against another blitz down to the 1, good effort. FSU lines up with 12 on. Offsides by FSU on the next play. McClain dives in, for what reason I dont know, probably doesnt know the snap count. Loses us 5. Hairston gets whipped again and Parker fumbles, he saw the rusher and shouldve flipped it at Palmer's feet. Cant take a sack here, but gives it up.

Bare minimum, shouldve had a FG here. From 4 inches away, get the damn TD. Killer penalty on an 80 yard drive.

Defensive drive: LBs charge in, Conner out of position, Thomas gets them out of the hole to the 16. Somebody made him spit out his mouthpiece on the next play though. Ponder lobs a pass and its picked by Byron Maxwell. I dont know what was up there, looked like he expected #80 to run a fade route and he didnt. Throw wasnt great even if that was the case.

7th drive, Clemson starts at the 24. Bad throw to Ford on a quick slip screen, incomplete. Spiller stopped, Slip screen to Ford again gets stopped, just good defense by FSU. Jackson missed the 38yd FG barely wide.

FSU gives us a damn gift, and we do nothing.

Defensive drive: FSU 20. Maye charges into a Guard, blocked out, Conner makes shoestring tackle. Inside guys getting pushed too much here as Thomas gashes us again for 10, Conner makes another critical play. FSU hits 2 hitches and a jailbreak/tunnel screen before attempting a 58 yard FG.....way too short. I'm surprised they did that with this offense.

Halftime

Clemson's defense has played more Nickel zone, and brought relatively little pressure aside from the down 4. They were too excited in the first 20 game min or so. Every time we have blitzed, it has been pretty successful. Otherwise the pass rush is disappointing. Missed tackles are part of the problem with Thomas, he's a shifty runner, but they are making their blocks up front and we are not getting off them. Deep/intermediate coverage has been good, and secondary tackling was quite good.

FSU 156 passing, 85 rushing.

Ballgame should be tied at least, and given we had it inside the 1, should be 21-17. No excuse for not getting it in from inside the 1, ever. Most running success was in the I-formation.

CU 159 passing, 63 rushing, most of which was on 2 plays by Spiller.

3rd QTR

1st Defensive drive, FSU opens on their 33. Ponder hits Easterling on an Out, throw barely made it over Maye's hands to the CU 48. Conner blitzes and forces a bad throw by Ponder. 3 & out.

Clemson starts on the 20. Zone handoff to Spiller gets 8. Parker takes one himself for 7, good choice. Jamie Harper came up gimpy on a short yardage dive, thigh bruise. Spiller wheel route off PA to Taylor, basically the same play we scored on with Palmer against Miami, except here Palmer was in motion and Spiller was lined up as a back.

The WLB to the playside hesitated just long enough because of the PA to Rendrick Taylor, and the safety had been cleared by the split end going deep. 21-17 CU

Defensive drive, FSU 26. Clemson clearly changing coverages to more man/man and a little more blitzing. On 3rd & 8 Ponder hits Owens on an In route. Ponder tries going deep to Fortson, but Maxwell makes a great play. Throw was a little off. They had an awesome screen play set, but the RB dropped the ball. On 3rd & 10 Easterling on a double slant pattern gets 16. Ponder again throws deep after being rushed, but leads it too much for Reed, but he was open. Ponder takes a keeper for 9.5 yards. Crezdon Butler on the sidelines with a hip flexor. Both starting cover corners are on the bench. Thomas gashes us up the middle against the Nickel coverage for a first. Guys are not getting off blocks. Ponder goes to the endzone on Fortson, perfectly thrown but he couldnt maintain control of the ball. I was surprised this was not reviewed. On 3rd & 9 Ponder hits Pryor again in the flat for a 1st. Fisher smartly goes no-huddle and we dont have the right personnel on the field, then we cant figure out who is supposed to be on the field, but the refs saved us by reviewing the prior play.

During the timeout, the defense is clearly frustrated. Swinney and Steele are calming them down. On the TD, our LBs charged and jumped over, but Thomas went under them on an Iso. 24-21 Noles

Worst drive of the game by the defense, but the only points surrendered in the half. FSU clearly frustrated them by converting on 3rd & long 3 times. FSU really just outexecuted us here. It wasnt bad coverage, and slants and crossing routes are the way to attack man/man coverage. I was surprised, however, that we did not blitz more.

Clemson drive starts at the 20. Parker misses a wide-open Allen, throw is behind him. Next play is clearly a bust. I dont know what the goal was, but it appeared to be a backside screen. Linemen had gone downfield like it was a run play, penalty on Cloy, but this one is not really his fault. Ashe catches a slant for 14. HOLY SHIT ASHE LEARNED TO CATCH SLANTS! Spiller busts an inside zone for 14, then another outside zone for 35.

Intended play to Palmer on the backside was incomplete, but was an excellent playcall by Napier Their DB just kept his assignment. Parker hits Jacoby Ford in the fucking hands on a crossing route, and he drops it. Swinney chewed his ass too. Parker hits Palmer at the post for a TD, but its called back because of Xavier Dye being misaligned. Allen was flexed on the LOS, and was covered up by Dye. Dye should've stepped back one step. Parker runs up the middle for a few. Jackson misses a fucking chipshot 26YD FG. Perfect snap, bad kick.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH

Killer penalty by Dye, killer. Should be 28-24, then Jackson misses an easy kick, game should be at least tied. Painful. This is a gut-check moment.

Defensive drive: Ponder hitch on a waggle gets a 1st down. lemson blitzes into Ponder's face, another bootleg, and forces an early throw that falls incomplete. Thomas gets 8 after Kevin Alexander fails to wrap up the back, but he did make the tackle. Clemson blitzes Conner on the backside and Ponder hits the RB for the 1st at midfield. FSU tries an orbit misdirection sweep, a stupid call. I would have attacked downfield. Loses them 14. Off-tackle play nets 4 as the quarter ends. Start of 4th Qtr. On 3rd & 21 they get 13 yards due to bad angles and a WEAK effort of tackling by Sadat Chambers. Punt, and a terrible one out of bounds. Defense comes up with a stop when we really need it.

Clemson drive starts at the CU 20. Parker forces a throw to Allen with Ford underneath. Lucky this was not picked off into triple coverage. Tunnel screen to Ford gets a couple. Parker throws into the arms of a charging LB for a pick-6, I don't know what the hell he was looking at. This was akin to Harper's throw into the NC State LB last year. Offsides penalty nullifies it, thankfully. Ellington makes an outstanding play, being hit by Watson behind the 1st down marker and charges ahead for the 1st. It really was a terrible tackle by Watson more than anything, he came in high. Parker's throw to Ford on an Out was jumped and again nearly picked off. Punt.

Terrible drive by Parker. Terrible throws. If FSU had made a play, they could've possibly put this game away here.

Defensive drive starts at the FSU 33. Ponder throws one down the sideline on a vertical, and Clemson has great coverage, and Hall picked it off. This is on Ponder, terrible throw, not enough zip. Clemson was playing Cover 2 Man. He makes an idiotic play to pitch it out, trying to make something happen, but luckily Conner picked it up and returned it to the FSU 24. Freshman mistake.

Clemson Drive starts at their 24: Iso nets 4. CJ pulls up on an outside run for 4 more. Pitch gets the 1st down. Iso to Ellington gets 2. Ellington takes an inside 33 zone run for the TD. Great block by Thomas Austin in particular. Benton flat out misses a fucking XP. Jesus Christ. 27-24 CU outstanding drive by the offensive line and the backs.

Game Ending, most clips from the 4th Quarter are in this so I see no need to pull out more.

FSU starts on their 28. Thomas again breaks two tackles but KA pulls him down for 2yd gain. FSU killing us with slants and hitches. Thomas hesitates on his hole and is stopped for a loss. I wonder how much Ponder's ribs are keeping him from attempting a deeper throw than these slants and hitches? Clemson blitzes on 3rd down and Ponder throws it away. Punt.

Clemson starts on their 26 with 6:30+ on the clock. Mode here should be to grind it out. Parker takes a zone read for 9 and a 1st down, excellent play call by Napier. Isolation is cut back by CJ outside for another 1st down. Ellington takes another Blast 44 yards on a cutback after a missed tackle by Marcus White. CJ takes it for 4 on another lead play. PA play to Durrell Barry hits the TD in the back of the endzone. Clemson set this play up PERFECTLY by running the ball all the way down here. Good call by Napier. Jackson hits the fucking upright. 33-24 CU.

Goddamn I love the I-formation, we pounded their asses on this drive and needed it. OL deserves alot of credit for manning up.

FSU starts on their 23, 3:59 on the clock. Great play by Conner to stop a flare route, man coverage. DeAndre picks off a throw by jumping the route, then lays out Ponder. Great instincts but FSU set this up by hitching and slanting us all day.

Clemson gets the ball at the FSU 5. CJ takes a Blast/Iso in for the TD. Jackson finally KICKS IT THROUGH. HOLY SHIT. 40-24 CU. Goddamn I love the I-formation.

FSU gets the ball after a personal foul on the kickoff on their 12. E.J. Manuel in at QB with a little over 3min on the clock. McDaniel nearly picks off a pass that would've been 6. They go for 4th down and Manuel is sacked by Chavis and Alexander, though I don't see it recorded as one in the stats.

Clemson takes over on downs at their 17. Dabo calls for the V formation, I wouldnt have. Too many years of being slammed by FSU, i'd have put another TD on the board.

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Well, that offensive performance was the best I've seen all year, supported by the graph below, thanks to FSUncensored at Tomahawk Nation. Clemson's OL toughened up and pushed around Florida State throughout the 2nd half. Very little pressure came into Parker's face, if any. C.J. ate their defense alive on a gimpy leg, and Ellington showed flashes of how he could be Spiller's successor next year.

Parker had a couple off-drives. The one in the 4th quarter could've easily killed us, but FSU did not make the plays that we gave them. We made the INTs that Ponder gave us. Thats the difference between a 6-3 team and a 4-5 team.

If you wonder why we're executing better, look at who is not mentioned: Jones, Clear, Brown, Taylor. These guys are getting on the field a bit, but nothing is coming their way. Ashe, Dye, Ford, Palmer....these guys are in on every play. The backup linemen didnt stand out to me in either light, aside from a play David Smith missed. McClain possibly cost us another 6. Hairston got beat badly early by blitzing LBs and speed rushes, but pulled it together. Aside from those complaints, and the trap play and screen that Austin missed, the line had great day.

Kicking and kick coverage = shit. We did have a couple nice kick returns.

Defensively, we played more zone in the first half and a little more man in the 2nd. Steele did not blitz much. FSU dinked and dunked down the field with underneath crossing routes, which is their forte, and Steele was willing to give it to them to make them execute all the way down the field against us. Good deep coverage by our secondary and the zone kept things in front of them. Secondary tackling was great. However, there was alot of bad tackling by the front 7. The Line did not get off blocks, but I will give credit to FSU for making them stick. This is a very good OL we played against, better instructed at zone blocking than ours is. Ours would not have handled our DL this well. Sapp was able to get some speed rushes, as did Branch, but Ponder doesn't hold onto the ball long enough to get sacked. Clemson's best pressure were with Maye and Conner coming in on delayed blitzes.

I still think that this game should not have been in doubt as late as it was.

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