Inside the Seminole Film Room: Clemson Part 3

by Bud Elliott on Nov 14, 2008 3:52 AM EST in FSU Football Comment 4 comments

UPDATED w/ full 3rd Quarter-- preview should be up around Noon Central time.

Part 1 is here (This includes formation explanations in case you think this looks Chinese). Part 2 is here.

Dwn	Yard	Situation	Formation	Success?	Play Description
					Clemson will kick to start the 2nd half and defend the south goal.
					Drive: 4 plays, 26 yards, TOP 00:38
					Buchholz, M kickoff 68 yards to the FS2, Parker, P return 35 yards to the FS37 (Ashe, T).
For those who wanted to know, Parker tried to cut to the outside and didn't realize that if had stayed the course, he'd probably end up running away from the defender who the blocker was attempting to reach.
1-10	at Fs37				FLORIDA STATE drive start at 14:52.

1-10	at Fs37		Hawaii	YES	Ponder, C BS pass complete to Easterling, T for 12 yards to the FS49, 1ST DOWN FS, out-of-bounds (Chancellor, C).
I absolutely love this play. Wow. Ponder fakes the handoff to Antone who crosses his face, SPINS, and throws the delayed bubble. Creativity. Thee bubble screen? Let me count the ways.
1-10	at Fs49		Hawaii	YES	Ponder, C middle pass complete to Owens, R for 7 yards to the CU44 (Hamlin, M).
Great horizontal stretch here. Outside runs a go, 2 slots run 7 yard out routes. Ponder quick 3 step drop, line protects as Clemson blitzed away from the play side. Quick passing requires cutting and everyone put on a cutting clinic. Good design, correct read, proper drop, balanced stance, good route, good throw, correctly executed protection. Nice. All that for a 7 yard out route? Yeah.
2-3	at Cu44	NPD	4WR PISTOL	NO	Ponder, C rush left for no gain to the CU44 (Chancellor, C).
Zone read. I actually think ponder should have given this. Bad read? Maybe. He rarely keeps on this though. Maybe it was the emphasis on "make sure to keep it sometimes" in practice? I'm not there.
3-3	at Cu44	NPD	5WR GUN	YES	Ponder, C slant pass complete to Parker, P for 12 yards to the CU32, 1ST DOWN FS (Hamlin, M).
Perfect. Clemson rushes 5 men and we CUT EVERY DAMN ONE OF THEM! That is exactly how you should block a quick throw. 5 Cuts. The routes? From left to right: Go, Slant (Parker), Out, Out, and Can't tell). The slant was the correct throw.
1-10	at Cu32		Hawaii	YES	Smith, A rush over left tackle for 11 yards to the CU21, 1ST DOWN FS (Maxwell, B;Clemons, C).
Corner Blitz away from Play Side, almost catches Antone, Hand is to the weak side, Datko and Hudson great job. The way we block this is really unique, almost a draw element to it.
1-10	at Cu21		Hawaii	YES	Ponder, C BS pass complete to Easterling, T for 10 yards to the CU11, 1ST DOWN FS (Gilchrist, M).
Zone action weak, Bubble Strong, Surrency not a great block, Easterling made a tremendous play to gain anything more than 4 yards.
1-10	at Cu11		Pistol	NO	Ponder, C BS pass incomplete to Easterling, T.
I hated this play. Clemson was totally waiting on the bubble and was right there for it. We fake it to Antone out of Pistol, then try to bubble swing left. This was dangerous.
2-10	at Cu11	PD	Chollie TE	NO	Smith, A rush right for loss of 3 yards to the CU14 (Clemons, C).
Sweep weakside. Big blitz, Hudson and others can't handle the block. Smith does a great job to salvage a bit.
3-13	at Cu14	PD	5WR GUN	YES	Ponder, C slant pass complete to Surrency, C. for 14 yards to the CU0, 1ST DOWN FS, TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:01.
We couldn't even line up correctly for this, but wow did we execute it. Perfect play. Everyone stuck their blocks. Carr, Parker, Easterling. McMahon, Hudson, Spurlock, Datko… all perfect. This was a middle screen.
					Gano, G kick attempt good.
					Florida State 27, Clemson 17
					Drive: 9 plays, 63 yards, TOP 03:51

Great drive, as the 'Noles avoided poor leverage downs throughout, facing a negative expectancy situation on only 2 of 9 plays. I liked how we were determined to stretch Clemson horizontally as well as vertically. Some of these zone-buster concepts were simple and that's exactly what we needed. Quick, half-field reads. Cut everyone, read, read, boom. Ball out in under 3 seconds.

Clemson's 1st possession of the 2nd half goes pretty poorly for the Tigers.

Dwn	Yard	Situation	Formation	Play Description	Success?
				Gano, G kickoff 70 yards to the CU0, Spiller, C return 9 yards to the CU9 (Wright, R).
Great play by the coverage team on Gano's monster kick. Dumb decision bu Spiller.
1-10	at Cu09			CLEMSON drive start at 10:52.
1-10	at Cu09		4-3	Davis, J rush right for 4 yards to the CU13 (Brown, E).	YES
They catch us with some motion here on the zone handoff. 3 of our men run into each other.
2-6	at Cu13	NPD	4-3	Harper, C SS pass complete to Kelly, A for 18 yards to the CU31, 1ST DOWN CU (Rolle, M).	NO
Middle screen off left, catches us in a blitz. Good playcall. We traded negative plays and big gainers all night. I'm okay with that, I guess, as long as they are 15 yard gains, not 50.
1-10	at Cu31		4-3	Davis, J rush up middle for loss of 2 yards to the CU29 (Thacker, B).	YES
Excellent defense. Brown stays home on the end around Fake while Thacker beats his man across the face for the tackle for loss (one of 14 we had).
2-12	at Cu29		4-3	PENALTY CU false start (Hutchinson, B) 5 yards to the CU24.
5-wide quickly to the line, clemson checks with sideline for play. False starts. Goog thing, as we had 4-3 personnel on the field.
2-17	at Cu24	PD	4-3	Harper, C screen pass complete to Spiller, C for loss of 6 yards to the CU18, out-of-bounds (Carter, T).	YES
Screen, excellently read by Carter, beating the blocker across his face. Jrob in pursuit as well.
3-23	at Cu18		Dime	Timeout Clemson, clock 08:12.
3-23	at Cu18	PD	Dime	Harper, C flag pass complete to Ford, J for 18 yards to the CU36 (Jenije, O).	YES
An 18 yard pass is perfectly acceptable when you need 23. Clemson in 3 wide, protect with 7, we bring 6. Covering 3 with 5. Blitz picked up. Coverage is very tight by Jenjie (hey! Whoever was asking about Jenjie… there you go.) This is a win, as we forced the underneath throw (deep out is underneath given this circumstance), and immediately made hte tackle. Nice to see Jenjie playing well.
4-5	at Cu36			PENALTY CU delay of game (Maners, J) 5 yards to the CU31.
4-10	at Cu31			Maners, J punt 41 yards to the FS28, fair catch by Parker, P, PENALTY FS roughing the kicker (Lawson, R) 15 yards to the CU46, 1ST DOWN CU, NO PLAY.
If you read my Sunday post, you'll know that this play cost the Noles approximately 4.90 penalties. If you did NOT read Sunday's piece, check out the explanation.

That really hurt us.

Dwn	Yard	Situation	Formation	Play Description	Success?
1-10	at Cu46		4-3	Davis, J rush over right guard for 2 yards to the CU48 (Watson, D;Nicholson, D).	YES
Despite some egregious holding done by the left guard on Kstewart, we hold this play to 2 yards. 1st down win.
2-8	at Cu48		4-3	Harper, C sideline pass incomplete, PENALTY FS holding (Robinson, P.) 10 yards to the FS42, 1ST DOWN CU, NO PLAY.
Mickey made an awesome comment about having to indirectly breathe on receivers since direct breathing is now a penalty. We brought the house here, the pass nowhere close to anybody, and they flag Prob for holding. Probably an okay call here.
1-10	at Fs42		4-3	Harper, C deep pass incomplete to Kelly, A (Mangum, K).	YES
Clear pushoff on slow afoot Aaron kelly, not called. Great play by Mangum.
2-10	at Fs42		4-3	Spiller, C rush over right guard for 4 yards to the FS38 (Robinson, J).	YES
Nicholson and Thacker playing pass all the way get dominated on the straight ahead run. Lucky this didn't go for more.
3-6	at Fs38		Nickel	Harper, C crossing pass incomplete to Ford, J.	YES
Jenjie may be blossoming in front of our eyes. He displayed tight coverage on deeper routes throughout the night. We dropped 7 here, playing what appears to be 2 deep 5 under.
4-6	at Fs38		Nickel	Spiller, C rush TR for 8 yards to the FS30, 1ST DOWN CU, out-of-bounds.	NO
Bally of CU to run a misdirection toss on 4th and 6. Everette Brown comes very close to chasing down CJ spiller. If they can hit this play on 4th and 6, give it to them I guess. I'm not sure you call your D to defend this.
1-10	at Fs30		4-3	Spiller, C rush over right tackle for 21 yards to the FS9, 1ST DOWN CU, out-of-bounds (Rolle, M).	NO
I am convinced we were not aligned correctly. Watson and Ingram look confused and Watson gets pinned as Mangum overruns. Myron angles him out of bounds.
1-G	at Fs09		4-3	Harper, C TR pass incomplete to Kelly, A.	YES
Fade route. Excellent coverage by Jenjie. That's a mismatch and we still won it. Nice game from him.
2-G	at Fs09			Harper, C sideline pass incomplete to Spiller, C.	YES
Good hustle by Kstew as Clemson rolls the pocket. Excellent coverage on Spiller by Verdell.
3-G	at Fs09			Harper, C middle pass complete to Palmer, M for 7 yards to the FS2 (Thacker, B).	YES
Let's be honest here… Nicholson played a bad game and is probably not someone who should be playing on 3rd and long. We get instant pressure with 4, but Harper slides and finds his man sliding away from Nicholson. It's not a TD, but it was scary.
4-G	at Fs02			Buchholz, M field goal attempt from 20 GOOD, clock 03:43.
				Florida State 27, Clemson 20
				Drive: 15 plays, 89 yards, TOP 07:09
The defense played out of its skull on these 2 drives, despite allowing Clemson to move down the field. The penalty destroys our defensive rhythm.

FSU's final drive of the 3rd Quarter

Dwn	Yard	Situation	Formation	Play Description	Success?
				Buchholz, M kickoff 61 yards to the FS9, Easterling, T return 29 yards to the FS38 (Johnson, K).
Easterling ran into Kendall Smith here just as PP did on the previous drive. Still, it looks like both were giving max effort and easterling cut into Smith as Smith was trying to jump in a potential tackler's way.
1-10	at Fs38			FLORIDA STATE drive start at 03:35.
1-10	at Fs38		Hawaii	Ponder, C sideline pass complete to Owens, R for 9 yards to the FS47 (Hamlin, M).	YES
This is the same play we ran all game (double out routes). Ponder quick drop, protection good, and we throw it in rhythm. Credit Thomas here for picking up the delayed blitzer.
2-1	at Fs47	NPD	Hawaii	Thomas, J. rush TR for 26 yards to the CU27, 1ST DOWN FS, out-of-bounds.	YES
Clemson takes away the bubble very nicely… on this RUNNING PLAY! Good action here. We block this for about 7 and then Thomas puts a "pick your jock up" spin move on the DB. Really nice blocking by Spurlock and Greenlee. Not a rip on Zebrie, but if Greenlee plays like this against BC, Zebrie will have a hard time getting the spot back. Trickett said he had 6 knockdowns.
1-10	at Cu27		Hawaii.	Ponder, C TR pass incomplete to Carr, G (Butler, C).	NO
MISSED OPPORTUNITY. We block this really well. It's a designed 3 step drop and launch. Ponder throws it a bit far, but Carr, who played a bad game overall (with the exception of some good second half blocking) doesn't make a good effort to time this ball. Single coverage and you don't even get a good jump? Ugh. Minus 1 for Carr. Can't decide on Ponder here. +1 for OLine.
2-10	at Cu27	PD	ChollieTE	Thomas, J. rush over right tackle for 8 yards to the CU19 (Butler, C).	YES
Thomas loves running from Gun. Clemson slanted, we downblocked it and Pulled Hudson on one of many GunDraws. Nice blocking from Greenlee, Hudson, and Caz. Sims gets a nice block as well (for the first time this year!)
3-2	at Cu19			Timeout Florida State, clock 01:45.
				QB for FSU is #10-Richardson.
3-2	at Cu19	NPD	2TE GUN	Richardson, D rush quarterback draw for 7 yards to the CU12, 1ST DOWN FS (Hamlin, M).	YES
Fake end around action to Ponder, Hudson CRUSHED his guy, and D'Vo is much too great of a specimen to be stopped when he has a running start. Also, Greenlee really started blocking on this drive. Parker with a solid fake to fool some backers. Nice playcall and nice execution.
				QB for FSU is #7-Ponder.
1-10	at Cu12		ChollieTe	Thomas, J. rush over right tackle for 1 yard to the CU11 (Conner, K).	NO
Spurlock, McMahon and Greenlee can't combine to block 2 men. This means a dt screams into our backfield, and Hudson can't pull. As a result, Sims has to choose 1 of 2 backers to block, while JT does a great job to get a yard here.
2-9	at Cu11	PD	KGUN.	Ponder, C post pass intercepted by Conner, K at the CU0, Conner, K return 0 yards to the CU0, touchback.	NO
Let's make notes. This is the same play we ran against VT where Easterling scored and hit the goal post. Fake Draw (which we had been running very well) Post. Ponder fakes, then drops back and fires. I think he could have just fired and not dropped back here. I wonder how this play is designed. Regardless, his throw was a tad late. I'll also take issue and sya that he should have thrown it more horizontally (lead him more) and could have put more zip on it. Now to the bigger beef: Greg Carr needs to be a man and catch this ball, because it was VERY catchable and he needs to attack the ball. I'd say this pick is 33% Ponder, 66% Carr, but that's just my take.
				Drive: 7 plays, 51 yards, TOP 02:57

More tomorrow if I get the chance. Expect the preview around noon eastern time.

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Renewed to site.

This brawl stuff could be really good for your website. I found a link to it on an ESPN blog after not checking it out for a long time. I frequented the site out back in January, trying to find recruiting info, and I was sadly disappointed with the lack of updates, but it has gotten a million times better. I love the in depth analysis and timely information. Keep up the great work. DRaysBay is an excellent SB Nation site that I have been a member of for a while and I am excited to see what this site has to offer too.

I don't smoke.

by TBfisherman on Nov 13, 2008 9:43 PM EST reply actions

Hey TB! Yeah, it's a new set of guys running this place. We've been cranked up since Late August.

Spread the word! I do hate to use the fight as a publicity piece though…

I’m a big fan of DRaysBay

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by Bud Elliott on Nov 14, 2008 12:00 AM EST up reply actions

I NEED SOME MORE BREAKDOWN

FEED MY ADDICTION!

In all seriousness, though, I really wish I could record the ESPN Broadcasts of our home games to watch at times like these. I sometimes consider not going to the game just because I enjoy watching football on TV so much.

by pbysh on Nov 14, 2008 10:13 AM EST reply actions