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To tell you the truth, I was a bit skeptical about all the hype surrounding the Clemson defense this season. After watching each play several times, I am a believer. There is a ton of speed for them on that side of the ball, at every position, including the interior of the DL. I mean, their DTs would chase plays down field like nobody else. When have you ever seen a DT get within an eyelash of getting a hand on JT 30 plus yards down file on a breakaway? Well, it happened last game. On the interior though, they are quick, and I mean really quick. That guy, #50, is a very stout 300 pounder, who plays incredibly low and just out-quicks everybody. He completely destroyed any blocking plans we may have had for plays. We just could not keep him off the ball carrier. We gave up trying to scoop him on the back side and started just pushing him inside (since he was beating us there anyway) and tried to run the dive behind him. It is not just him though. We already know about Beasley #3, but their #99 and #93 are pretty darned good players too. As good as our OL has looked against pretty much everybody, we looked pretty darned ordinary Saturday. I think you have to give Venables credit too. He had them really well schooled with a ton of little shifts right before the snap that blew up our blocking calls. Plus, when we tried Midline as a counter to their dominant DT, they were totally unfazed and waiting for it. Mason usually dominates inside and gets a lot of movement out of his guy, but you could see, he had met his match against Climpsum. He had all he could handle, as did the rest of our guys. Burden and Braun just didn't get it done at the first level. Having said all that, our guys held up well in pass protection most of the time, well enough for JT to make a ton of good throws. I want to stop for a moment and give Chamberlain some props. I have been tough on him for a long time. Well, he drew a tough assignment in Beasley and I thought he held his own all day. He never really got burned too bad. We didn't hear #3 being called much for Clemson. Bryan kept his feet moving and stayed in front of him pretty well. I thought that was a terrible match up for us, but it didn't turn out bad at all.
For the most part, we were terrible blocking the edge. Time and time again blocks were defeated out there and defensive plays made behind our line or for minimal gain. Smelter continued to crush people, but besides him, it was a clown show. Half the time, we wouldn't even touch guys, let alone get them on the ground. All in all a terrible day for ABs or pulling OLs. The big plays we did break had nothing to do with good blocks and more to do with assignment break downs or desperation late pitches where the defense had committed.
JT had a good day in that he made the throws he had to make and protected the football despite being placed under a good deal of duress. The one fumble on the first drive was a perfectly good pitch. The play was going nowhere, but the pitch was on the money. Zenon took his eyes off the ball and just plain dropped it. I think JT missed some reads, but let's face it, he was pushed outside his normal comfort zone timing-wise. He had a crap sandwich handed to him, and personally, I think he did about all we could reasonably expect him to do with it.
In the end, we gained yards on big run plays and passes, but we failed to SUSTAIN our normal offense. For the first time in a while, we get to thank our defense for a win. To tell you the truth, it actually feels kind of good to do so.
For the most part, we were terrible blocking the edge. Time and time again blocks were defeated out there and defensive plays made behind our line or for minimal gain. Smelter continued to crush people, but besides him, it was a clown show. Half the time, we wouldn't even touch guys, let alone get them on the ground. All in all a terrible day for ABs or pulling OLs. The big plays we did break had nothing to do with good blocks and more to do with assignment break downs or desperation late pitches where the defense had committed.
JT had a good day in that he made the throws he had to make and protected the football despite being placed under a good deal of duress. The one fumble on the first drive was a perfectly good pitch. The play was going nowhere, but the pitch was on the money. Zenon took his eyes off the ball and just plain dropped it. I think JT missed some reads, but let's face it, he was pushed outside his normal comfort zone timing-wise. He had a crap sandwich handed to him, and personally, I think he did about all we could reasonably expect him to do with it.
In the end, we gained yards on big run plays and passes, but we failed to SUSTAIN our normal offense. For the first time in a while, we get to thank our defense for a win. To tell you the truth, it actually feels kind of good to do so.
