FanPost

Closer look at the FSU D against Clemson


While i'm not here to say that our Defense was flawless Saturday night, a closer look shows more of the story than originally meets the eye. Clemson had a total of 12 possessions Saturday Night and by my count they only drove the field to score points on 5 of those 12 possessions. Now, of those 5, one of them was the possession where we had stopped them and they went from a FG Attempt to a fake FG. That's a partial win for the D, and almost like a turnover giving Clemson a short field to score on. Credit Clemson for making the plays after the fake, but FSU had stopped them on the drive. So, here is a total break down.

Drive 1 - Big pass for TD to open the game.

Drive 2 - FSU D holds to a FG Attempt, Clemson fakes, gets 1st down, and ultimately scores.

Drive 3 - FSU D holds again, forces Clemson to Punt and Greene fumbles the punt giving CU the ball at point blank range.

Drive 4 - Punt

Drive 5 - Watkins pass to Ellington for a TD

Drive 6 - CU Drive stalls and they hit a 50 yd FG.

Drive 7, 8, and 9 - 3 and out

Drive 10 - Waisome Int

Drive 11 - Punt

Drive 12 - TD and missed 2 Pt. Conv after Brooks really should have had at best and INT and at worst a knock down on 4th down.

By my count, FSU's D held and forced a 4th down on 9 of the 12 possessions forcing CU to either punt or attempt a FG., 5 technically since drive 12 was on 4th down.

Again, we weren't going to totally shut their offense down, but, IMO the 37 points are a little misleading when you break down the possessions.

I was worried about a shoot out with this team because I didn't know if E.J. was capable of putting together a game like he did. I knew he had the talent to but even with big wins against WVU, USC, and Notre Dame in the bowl games, he never was in this kind of zone. Kudos to him and the offense for coming out and playing the kind of game we haven't seen in years. But I am feeling a little better about the defense than I was after the game after re-watching it and breaking down the possessions.

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