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I hope you all like this. It is something I have made a habit of doing on another site. I am one of those who likes to watch every play of a game in slow motion a few times to formulate an opinion of what really happens on the field. For me it is a learning experience, but I like to share. So here goes. This is my take of the offensive performance against Clemson:
First of all, what I heard from people over and over after this game (and some of the others) is "why can't our OL block. They are really not that good". Well, I will walk you through our first few futile series where the game was decided and you will see it was not really the OL at all, but rather, a myriad of bonehead plays and unlucky slips that had nothing to do with the blocking up front.
Series #1 starts at our own 2 after Smelter's boner. 1st and 10 - called dive to Sims for 4. Not bad. Didn't get the DTs moved all that much, but a decent play considering position on field. Then the clown show started. 2nd and 6 - TO right towards boundary, Sims never moves at the snap, therefore no MESH, the LB assigned to the dive has free run at the play and forces ill timed pitch, RG gets 3 on his own. 3rd and 3 - (Clemson has 9 in the box we are unbalanced line to field side with a WR at short side TE) TO to boundary, well blocked, SD slips on his way to a first down and falls short untouched.
Series #2 starts at our 15 after crappy return. 1st and 10 - Smoke route to Summers, Vad throws it low Summers has knee down on the catch, loss of 2. 2nd and 12 - (9 in the box again, we are unbalanced again to field side) Option to boundary, RG makes rare mistake trying to block wrong guy realizes it, then switches to totally miss his target. His man blows up play, loss of 2. 3rd and 15 - (8 in the box!) We are unbalanced on line again with Waller matched on Beasley at TE. He never touches him, Beasley runs unabated and forces early poor throw.
Series #3 starts at our 22. 1st and 10 - TO right, Roberts leads the play but realizes he is trying to block the pitch key and pulls off only to miss his MLB assignment. Vad eats the ball, loss of 2. 2nd and 12 - Counter option left, well blocked by Mason pulling, it is a good thing because RG was too late in motion and never got to proper pitch relationship, Vad was all alone but got 6. 3rd and 6 - PA pass attempt, Sims totally whiffs #90 (trying to cut him) who runs unabated for sack.
Series #4 starts at our 10. 1st and 10 - nicely executed throw over top of firing corner to Waller for 1st down. 1st and 10 - Counter option left, Mason slips and falls down on the pull , blocking nobody, Vad eats ball, no gain. (could have pitched) 2nd and 10 - TO right, Vad with good keep read strings play out and forces nobody to commit and pitches too soon, 2 yard gain. 3rd and 8 - screen to Waller for 6.
The next time we get the ball we are down 20 and the clock reads 8:58 Q2. From that point on we start to play offense. They outscore us 35-31 the rest of the way. I guess my point for writing all this is that the OL really didn't have a huge part to play in the debacle. There were a lot of dumb mistakes spread all over the place.
Clemson stacked the line and jumped the A gap often to try and stop the dive. On most every TO play the unblocked DE took the dive forcing the play wide where they fired corners sometimes. They did not react to motion with the safeties and generally anticipated counters very well by LBs watching the pulling guards. They lined up shallow across the field, crashed the run plays and dared us to beat them throwing.
Position reports:
OL - While I won't say that we did a great job of moving their interior guys, the OL held up their end of the bargain most of the time. They were taking the dive with the unblocked DE and crashing the A gap with an OLB. You could see they wanted to stop the dive and force VL to have to make decisions on the edge where he has not been comfortable. Overall, I would give the OL a B- on the day.
WR - I was unimpressed with our ability to block them on the edge. It wasn't a good night. Even our cracks were executed horribly. That should never happen. Smelter is usually money blocking, but he wasn't on this night.
BB - also had the worst blocking day imaginable. Sims is usually good here. Not on this day. We ran more true TO early than we have in previous games. The MESH read was keep most of the time they way they were playing us, so the carries were reduced for BBs. Then we had to pass a lot once we were behind.
AB - I give mixed reviews. Obviously RG put up huge numbers as both runner and receiver, but even he joined the brain fart brigade blocking. Our ABs did an especially good job running routes I thought. There were a lot more guys open than there were guys thrown to. Bostic was Johnny on the spot, picking up a fumbled pitch and getting some yards with it on the edge.
QB - Vad showed heart and he found a way to move the ball despite a bunch of poor decisions, tentative running, missed receivers, lousy pocket presence, and poor throwing mechanics. He is a frustrated and confused soul right now. The option game is just happening too fast for him. He is getting by on athleticism alone. JT looks better than VL at times, but he is way too loose with the football. He will try and force everything at this point in his development. He can make plays, but he is too high risk a player to win the position IMHO. If he just settles down, he will have a chance to win the position battle in the off season.
Random note: Why were our guys slipping all over the field and their guys weren't? Did our equipment guy bring the wrong shoes for the field conditions? I have no idea but it wouldn't be the first time.
In summary, we dealt with some self inflicted poor field position early and played with cobwebs in our heads and before you know it, the game was one sided. The pass opened up the run some for us and we got some offensive production but it was too little too late. Had our defense played a second half like UNC, we may have had enough to catch up. Hopefully the kids will learn from some of the putrid stuff they will see on film. We just have to get it pulled together soon.
First of all, what I heard from people over and over after this game (and some of the others) is "why can't our OL block. They are really not that good". Well, I will walk you through our first few futile series where the game was decided and you will see it was not really the OL at all, but rather, a myriad of bonehead plays and unlucky slips that had nothing to do with the blocking up front.
Series #1 starts at our own 2 after Smelter's boner. 1st and 10 - called dive to Sims for 4. Not bad. Didn't get the DTs moved all that much, but a decent play considering position on field. Then the clown show started. 2nd and 6 - TO right towards boundary, Sims never moves at the snap, therefore no MESH, the LB assigned to the dive has free run at the play and forces ill timed pitch, RG gets 3 on his own. 3rd and 3 - (Clemson has 9 in the box we are unbalanced line to field side with a WR at short side TE) TO to boundary, well blocked, SD slips on his way to a first down and falls short untouched.
Series #2 starts at our 15 after crappy return. 1st and 10 - Smoke route to Summers, Vad throws it low Summers has knee down on the catch, loss of 2. 2nd and 12 - (9 in the box again, we are unbalanced again to field side) Option to boundary, RG makes rare mistake trying to block wrong guy realizes it, then switches to totally miss his target. His man blows up play, loss of 2. 3rd and 15 - (8 in the box!) We are unbalanced on line again with Waller matched on Beasley at TE. He never touches him, Beasley runs unabated and forces early poor throw.
Series #3 starts at our 22. 1st and 10 - TO right, Roberts leads the play but realizes he is trying to block the pitch key and pulls off only to miss his MLB assignment. Vad eats the ball, loss of 2. 2nd and 12 - Counter option left, well blocked by Mason pulling, it is a good thing because RG was too late in motion and never got to proper pitch relationship, Vad was all alone but got 6. 3rd and 6 - PA pass attempt, Sims totally whiffs #90 (trying to cut him) who runs unabated for sack.
Series #4 starts at our 10. 1st and 10 - nicely executed throw over top of firing corner to Waller for 1st down. 1st and 10 - Counter option left, Mason slips and falls down on the pull , blocking nobody, Vad eats ball, no gain. (could have pitched) 2nd and 10 - TO right, Vad with good keep read strings play out and forces nobody to commit and pitches too soon, 2 yard gain. 3rd and 8 - screen to Waller for 6.
The next time we get the ball we are down 20 and the clock reads 8:58 Q2. From that point on we start to play offense. They outscore us 35-31 the rest of the way. I guess my point for writing all this is that the OL really didn't have a huge part to play in the debacle. There were a lot of dumb mistakes spread all over the place.
Clemson stacked the line and jumped the A gap often to try and stop the dive. On most every TO play the unblocked DE took the dive forcing the play wide where they fired corners sometimes. They did not react to motion with the safeties and generally anticipated counters very well by LBs watching the pulling guards. They lined up shallow across the field, crashed the run plays and dared us to beat them throwing.
Position reports:
OL - While I won't say that we did a great job of moving their interior guys, the OL held up their end of the bargain most of the time. They were taking the dive with the unblocked DE and crashing the A gap with an OLB. You could see they wanted to stop the dive and force VL to have to make decisions on the edge where he has not been comfortable. Overall, I would give the OL a B- on the day.
WR - I was unimpressed with our ability to block them on the edge. It wasn't a good night. Even our cracks were executed horribly. That should never happen. Smelter is usually money blocking, but he wasn't on this night.
BB - also had the worst blocking day imaginable. Sims is usually good here. Not on this day. We ran more true TO early than we have in previous games. The MESH read was keep most of the time they way they were playing us, so the carries were reduced for BBs. Then we had to pass a lot once we were behind.
AB - I give mixed reviews. Obviously RG put up huge numbers as both runner and receiver, but even he joined the brain fart brigade blocking. Our ABs did an especially good job running routes I thought. There were a lot more guys open than there were guys thrown to. Bostic was Johnny on the spot, picking up a fumbled pitch and getting some yards with it on the edge.
QB - Vad showed heart and he found a way to move the ball despite a bunch of poor decisions, tentative running, missed receivers, lousy pocket presence, and poor throwing mechanics. He is a frustrated and confused soul right now. The option game is just happening too fast for him. He is getting by on athleticism alone. JT looks better than VL at times, but he is way too loose with the football. He will try and force everything at this point in his development. He can make plays, but he is too high risk a player to win the position IMHO. If he just settles down, he will have a chance to win the position battle in the off season.
Random note: Why were our guys slipping all over the field and their guys weren't? Did our equipment guy bring the wrong shoes for the field conditions? I have no idea but it wouldn't be the first time.
In summary, we dealt with some self inflicted poor field position early and played with cobwebs in our heads and before you know it, the game was one sided. The pass opened up the run some for us and we got some offensive production but it was too little too late. Had our defense played a second half like UNC, we may have had enough to catch up. Hopefully the kids will learn from some of the putrid stuff they will see on film. We just have to get it pulled together soon.
