Clemson Postgame Discussion

[stech81]

What sort of nut case is the clemson defensive coordinor. His sideline antics are an embarressment to that staff.

a lot of team would love to be embarrassed with him.

 

[smathis30]

wasnt really a national stage. Big games were at 3:30 because the world series outshined the rest of the football games combined from ratings, from what i saw. pass blocking needs a little fixing but glad we ran it well at least.

 

[bke1984]

wasnt really a national stage. Big games were at 3:30 because the world series outshined the rest of the football games combined from ratings, from what i saw. pass blocking needs a little fixing but glad we ran it well at least.

Huh?

 

[bke1984]

This, he was moving the ball in big chunks, no hesitation, no fear, and no dancing around. We could've been in this game if he had subbed in earlier in the game (and not gotten hurt). The B-back dive was working, the QB follow was working with MJ, the outside would have opened up after Clemson committed to stopping the middle.

I’m confused why we didn’t run the follow plays with Taquon. I was a little heated, so I may just not remember correctly, but I don’t think we ran a single follow or midline play with Taquon. I actually think that’s one of the best ways to counter that overly aggressive defensive strategy that they were throwing at us.

 

[bke1984]

Embarrassing my ***. Embarrassing is what Penn State did to a supposedly top tier Michigan last week.

Sure. But last night was a little silly too. They’re good and we probably had no business beating them, but it looked like we didn’t even know how to execute any of our plays. It was a definitely a litttle embarrassing.

Maybe it’s midterms...I don’t know. It sure seems like we play like crap in the midterm week game every year. Maybe we just aren’t as focused in those games. Add to that a BYE week for Clemson and the fact they’re loaded with talent and last night is what you get.

Wouldn’t hurt so bad if we hadn’t dropped the other two games...I think most of us are probably just still upset about those two...

 

[Jmonty71]

Did Clemson let off the gas, midway through the 3rd qtr? It sure looked that way. Don't get me wrong. The D still made plays. But, it seemed Clemson played more vanilla in the 2nd half.

 

[tech_wreck47]

They never really stopped Benson, who knows though? All i'm saying is that against a defense like Clemson's where nothing works to the outside, you can't block for passing, and your QB is dancing around and losing yardage every play then it might be time to go straight at them. Our G-C-G combo was moving people, tighten the gaps and run your power QB and B-back in various ways behind Shamire and Braun. It worked vs. VT last year.

I get this 100 percent. I'm just not sure MJ would have done better for the full game. I do see where you are coming from though.

 

[AE 87]

Did Clemson let off the gas, midway through the 3rd qtr? It sure looked that way. Don't get me wrong. The D still made plays. But, it seemed Clemson played more vanilla in the 2nd half.

I don't think so.

 

[Animal02]

Sure. But last night was a little silly too. They’re good and we probably had no business beating them, but it looked like we didn’t even know how to execute any of our plays. It was a definitely a litttle embarrassing.

Maybe it’s midterms...I don’t know. It sure seems like we play like crap in the midterm week game every year. Maybe we just aren’t as focused in those games. Add to that a BYE week for Clemson and the fact they’re loaded with talent and last night is what you get.

Wouldn’t hurt so bad if we hadn’t dropped the other two games...I think most of us are probably just still upset about those two...

It was a little embarrassing to us as Tech fans who know what our offense can do. On a national level, a ranked teamed beat an unranked one by two touchdowns. Probably a little too close in Dabo's mind.

 

[stech81]

Did Clemson let off the gas, midway through the 3rd qtr? It sure looked that way. Don't get me wrong. The D still made plays. But, it seemed Clemson played more vanilla in the 2nd half.

No they played to win.

 

[Animal02]

I don't think so.

Definitely did not let off the gas, though I think they did go a little more conservative in the fourth.

 

[Jmonty71]

Definitely did not let off the gas, though I think they did go a little more conservative in the fourth.

I think they did go conservative on the offense midway through the 3rd. But, Dabo knows to just win and get through games with no injuries.

 

[lv20gt]

It comes from the same types that wanted Tevon benched in favor of Vad.

Probably the opposite. People wanted Lee because Washington was a mediocre athlete who put a ceiling on what we could accomplish, while viewing Lee as a superior athlete, which he was, as well as playing for the future because it was a freshman vs senior. Jordan has neither of those points in his favor. He isn't Tebow or Nesbitt. He wasn't going to to will his way to consistent drives, and a couple of nice plays when the clemson D relaxed at seeing the second string QB come in doesn't change that.

They never really stopped Benson, who knows though? All i'm saying is that against a defense like Clemson's where nothing works to the outside, you can't block for passing, and your QB is dancing around and losing yardage every play then it might be time to go straight at them. Our G-C-G combo was moving people, tighten the gaps and run your power QB and B-back in various ways behind Shamire and Braun. It worked vs. VT last year.

The VT game from last year consistently gets misremembered. The offense was not great, against VT. People forget that 10 of our points came off of short fields from either a turnover or a bad punt deep in their territory. The defense also held VT to 7 points until about 5 to go in the game, and those 7 were caused because the O fumbled deep in our own territory. The offense against VT was largely two long TDs. And one of those was a straight give that had nothing to do with QB play. Jordan had 121 yards, but on 32 carries, and outside of his one big run of 53 he was getting about 2.3 ypc. He was not consistently moving the ball on VT and quite frankly, once they had time to adapt for a QB they weren't preparing for they shut the offense down. We won because the defense had given up 7 points until 5 to go in the game while creating at least 10 on their own.

The truth is that against a team like Clemson we can't rely on 4 and 5 yarding our way down the field, unless we have an extraordinary inside runner like Nesbitt. We need to rely on one big plays, and Marshall clearly is the better choice for that, and two special teams and defense to set up the offense. Have Benson finish his run, and give us the ball on in FG range twice more and see how different the game looks.

 

[MWBATL]

People are making out like this Clemson team is going to win the National Championship again this year. They're not. They're good, but they're not *that* good. Remember that Syracuse beat them solidly...outgained them in yardage, first downs, TOP, lost the turnover battle to them by 1, and still beat them.

We are just a slightly above average football team. When we play good defenses, we got bottled up entirely. Second half against Miami was no fluke...everyone blames it on the field and the rain and every other excuse. Now everyone wants to excuse this performance by building up Clemson to be world beaters. They're good. But it's not clear to me they are even as good as UGa is.

We need to be honest with ourselves, and realistic. We fit right into that slot below the really good teams, and above the really bad ones. We can win some games against decent teams. We'll finish 6-5 this year and get an invitation to the Toilet Bowl. We were 8-4 last year (pre-bowl). We had a losing season the year before and a special season the year before that. We are probably averaging somewhere right in the mid to high 30's as far as a national ranking over these years...which is slightly above our recruiting average ranking (mid 40's).

Taquon is an exceptional running back. He has shown that with his ability to break long runs with his shiftiness and speed. He is a terrible passer (for whatever reason). CPJ favors a running back at QB (I disagree with him). I have long felt that you simply cannot be one-dimensional against really good teams and allow them to put 11 in the box and expect to execute your blocking well enough to be effective on offense (Syracuse had 50 runs and 33 passes). CPJ believes in his system so much he won't deviate enough to add a quick passing attack.

But ultimately, we don't have the money, the academic majors, or the attitude and will to really be a better football program than we are. Too many alumni feel that it is acceptable to be 6-5 and be a special school with special athletes.

You get what you are willing to invest in and pay for. I am frustrated, but I do understand the trade-offs and can accept the decision to remain unlike the rest of college football, but it is very hard to do that and then be competitive in games against teams in the Top 15 or so.

We weren't competitive last night. I doubt we will be competitive against UGa. I will be surprised if we are competitive against VPI&SU. Hard to see why things will change next year, when our defensive backfield will have all new starters.

It is what it is.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Probably the opposite. People wanted Lee because Washington was a mediocre athlete who put a ceiling on what we could accomplish, while viewing Lee as a superior athlete, which he was, as well as playing for the future because it was a freshman vs senior. Jordan has neither of those points in his favor. He isn't Tebow or Nesbitt. He wasn't going to to will his way to consistent drives, and a couple of nice plays when the clemson D relaxed at seeing the second string QB come in doesn't change that.



The VT game from last year consistently gets misremembered. The offense was not great, against VT. People forget that 10 of our points came off of short fields from either a turnover or a bad punt deep in their territory. The defense also held VT to 7 points until about 5 to go in the game, and those 7 were caused because the O fumbled deep in our own territory. The offense against VT was largely two long TDs. And one of those was a straight give that had nothing to do with QB play. Jordan had 121 yards, but on 32 carries, and outside of his one big run of 53 he was getting about 2.3 ypc. He was not consistently moving the ball on VT and quite frankly, once they had time to adapt for a QB they weren't preparing for they shut the offense down. We won because the defense had given up 7 points until 5 to go in the game while creating at least 10 on their own.

The truth is that against a team like Clemson we can't rely on 4 and 5 yarding our way down the field, unless we have an extraordinary inside runner like Nesbitt. We need to rely on one big plays, and Marshall clearly is the better choice for that, and two special teams and defense to set up the offense. Have Benson finish his run, and give us the ball on in FG range twice more and see how different the game looks.

So what you are saying is we suffered from poor play-calling. I cannot disagree with that. But, just like TaQuon gets psyched out against the better teams, so does Paul Johnson and Ted Roof. The talent gap last night was insurmountable. It is probably a real dilemma as coach to head into a game knowing the other team has better athletes at EVERY position--except maybe punter. Bigger, quicker, faster, and better coached, coming in with extra time to prepare. This isn't the first time, and it won't be the last time. It is a shame that we aren't competitive with 25% of the teams on our schedule, but it is what it is.

 

[jandrews]

Did Clemson let off the gas, midway through the 3rd qtr? It sure looked that way. Don't get me wrong. The D still made plays. But, it seemed Clemson played more vanilla in the 2nd half.

Being there it didn’t look like it. Weather started letting up and it looked like they the field was allowing the players to get some better traction. Clemson just started to run the ball and when they took the shot downfield he was missing.

 

[Ibeeballin]

People are making out like this Clemson team is going to win the National Championship again this year. They're not. They're good, but they're not *that* good. Remember that Syracuse beat them solidly...outgained them in yardage, first downs, TOP, lost the turnover battle to them by 1, and still beat them.

We are just a slightly above average football team. When we play good defenses, we got bottled up entirely. Second half against Miami was no fluke...everyone blames it on the field and the rain and every other excuse. Now everyone wants to excuse this performance by building up Clemson to be world beaters. They're good. But it's not clear to me they are even as good as UGa is.

We need to be honest with ourselves, and realistic. We fit right into that slot below the really good teams, and above the really bad ones. We can win some games against decent teams. We'll finish 6-5 this year and get an invitation to the Toilet Bowl. We were 8-4 last year (pre-bowl). We had a losing season the year before and a special season the year before that. We are probably averaging somewhere right in the mid to high 30's as far as a national ranking over these years...which is slightly above our recruiting average ranking (mid 40's).

Taquon is an exceptional running back. He has shown that with his ability to break long runs with his shiftiness and speed. He is a terrible passer (for whatever reason). CPJ favors a running back at QB (I disagree with him). I have long felt that you simply cannot be one-dimensional against really good teams and allow them to put 11 in the box and expect to execute your blocking well enough to be effective on offense (Syracuse had 50 runs and 33 passes). CPJ believes in his system so much he won't deviate enough to add a quick passing attack.

But ultimately, we don't have the money, the academic majors, or the attitude and will to really be a better football program than we are. Too many alumni feel that it is acceptable to be 6-5 and be a special school with special athletes.

You get what you are willing to invest in and pay for. I am frustrated, but I do understand the trade-offs and can accept the decision to remain unlike the rest of college football, but it is very hard to do that and then be competitive in games against teams in the Top 15 or so.

We weren't competitive last night. I doubt we will be competitive against UGa. I will be surprised if we are competitive against VPI&SU. Hard to see why things will change next year, when our defensive backfield will have all new starters.

It is what it is.

You do know Clemson lost to Pitt last year before demolishing everyone?

Who are the teams UGA has beat that is comparable to VT, Auburn, or hell WF? Last time I checked UGA still has yet to stop the TO. Same goes for VT. If beating WVU makes you fearful, then you may need a new hobby

 

[bke1984]

You do know Clemson lost to Pitt last year before demolishing everyone?

Who are the teams UGA has beat that is comparable to VT, Auburn, or hell WF? Last time I checked UGA still has yet to stop the TO. Same goes for VT. If beating WVU makes you fearful, then you may need a new hobby

I’m much more worried about us being able to stop Georgia than I am us being able to move the ball on them. Those running backs are ridiculous and there’s like four of them. Or best chance would be death marches and keeping the ball the whole time.

 

[gtg936g]

This will be a grow up game for TM. Here is what happened IMO: The DE for Clemson is super athletic and has a lot of speed. Sometimes he took the BB sometimes he played the QB. He crashed hard toward the BB, but on plays where he took the QB he turned upfield quickly. Early TM thought he was taking the BB and pulled the ball. He then got ran over by the DE. Paul started just handing it off to force the DE to take the BB, and then went back to the TO. At this point I don’t think TM could clearly read the DE and lost some confidence in his decision making. It was down hill from there.

Other teams have tried the same thing, but the speed was the difference for Clemson. When we tried to block the De he frequently shot the gap and disrupted the play anyway.

FWIW I think CPJ had a good plan. He knew the DE was going to be hard to block so we were going to try to read him on option plays.

 

[Milwaukee]

People are making out like this Clemson team is going to win the National Championship again this year. They're not. They're good, but they're not *that* good. Remember that Syracuse beat them solidly...outgained them in yardage, first downs, TOP, lost the turnover battle to them by 1, and still beat them.

We are just a slightly above average football team. When we play good defenses, we got bottled up entirely. Second half against Miami was no fluke...everyone blames it on the field and the rain and every other excuse. Now everyone wants to excuse this performance by building up Clemson to be world beaters. They're good. But it's not clear to me they are even as good as UGa is.

We need to be honest with ourselves, and realistic. We fit right into that slot below the really good teams, and above the really bad ones. We can win some games against decent teams. We'll finish 6-5 this year and get an invitation to the Toilet Bowl. We were 8-4 last year (pre-bowl). We had a losing season the year before and a special season the year before that. We are probably averaging somewhere right in the mid to high 30's as far as a national ranking over these years...which is slightly above our recruiting average ranking (mid 40's).

Taquon is an exceptional running back. He has shown that with his ability to break long runs with his shiftiness and speed. He is a terrible passer (for whatever reason). CPJ favors a running back at QB (I disagree with him). I have long felt that you simply cannot be one-dimensional against really good teams and allow them to put 11 in the box and expect to execute your blocking well enough to be effective on offense (Syracuse had 50 runs and 33 passes). CPJ believes in his system so much he won't deviate enough to add a quick passing attack.

But ultimately, we don't have the money, the academic majors, or the attitude and will to really be a better football program than we are. Too many alumni feel that it is acceptable to be 6-5 and be a special school with special athletes.

You get what you are willing to invest in and pay for. I am frustrated, but I do understand the trade-offs and can accept the decision to remain unlike the rest of college football, but it is very hard to do that and then be competitive in games against teams in the Top 15 or so.

We weren't competitive last night. I doubt we will be competitive against UGa. I will be surprised if we are competitive against VPI&SU. Hard to see why things will change next year, when our defensive backfield will have all new starters.

It is what it is.

You don't think we were better than Miami?