Every week we break down the result of the previous game. Who really played well for the Seminoles against The Clemson? Which players played poorly? Where did the coaches do well, and when did they screw up?
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FSU just can't do much right at this point. FSU is scheming guys open downfield to take advantage of Maguire's arm strength. Cam Erving is getting crushed in pass rush by Vic Beasley. And when the OL blocks well, the backs are poor in protection. And when the protection is perfect, Maguire is too hesitant to pull the trigger on time to hit the open receivers down field.
Read to find out. Note: there are certain schematic and tendency things we do not discuss in these reviews out of respect for our sources, the school and coaching staff.
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| D-D | Yard | Form | Play | Comment |
| 3-5 | at Fs13 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON deep out pass incomplete to LEGGETT, clock 14:56. | Clemson is faking the WR screen that they've run twice so far. The outside receiver acts as if it's a screen while the two inside receivers go out on pass routes. Tyler Hunter stays disciplined and picks up the slot leaking to the outside. Good job of the defensive line jumping (Edwards Jr.) and getting their hands up to force throw throw higher. His awareness is fantastic. |
| 4-5 | at Fs13 | LAKIP field goal attempt from 30 GOOD, clock 14:52. | ||
| Clemson 3, Florida State 3 | FSU had no less than three chances to stop this drive on Clemsons 15 yard line. Can't keep letting a good team off the hook. | |||
| Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:48 | ||||
| PINION kickoff 65 yards to the FS0, Whitfield, K. return 29 yards to the FS29 (O'DANIEL). | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs29 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 14:47. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs29 | 11 Gun | Williams, K. rush over left guard for 2 yards to the FS31 (V. BEASLEY), clock 14:33. | Power scheme. Nick O'Leary needs to kick out the end man on the line of scrimmage but instead gets knocked on his behind by an arm slap from Vic Beasley, who then makes the tackle. |
| 2-8 | at Fs31 | 21 Twins | Williams, K. rush over right guard for 1 yard to the FS32 (ANTHONY), clock 13:49. | Counter zone play is doomed when Freddie Stevenson whiffs and Tre Jackson spins in a circle trying and failing to get to the play side linebacker. |
| 3-7 | at Fs32 | 11 Gun | Maguire, S. sacked for loss of 11 yards to the FS21 (V. BEASLEY), clock 13:16. | Clemson brings a heavy blitz that is actually picked up well by the rest of the line(including Barron) but Vic Beasley takes Cam Erving's lunch money, just running right around him. Unfortunate too, because they had a guy open on the side. |
| 4-18 | at Fs21 | Beatty, C. punt 50 yards to the CU29, fair catch by HUMPHRIES. | BEATTY! BEAUTIFUL PUNT! | |
| Drive: 3 plays, minus 8 yards, TOP 02:09 | FSU tried to get the running game going to ease the pressure on Maguire but failed to execute on both runs. | |||
| 1-10 | at Cu29 | CLEMSON drive start at 12:38. | ||
| 1-10 | at Cu29 | 4-2-5 | CHOICE rush over left guard for 3 yards to the CU32 (LawrenceStample;Ramsey, J.). | Inside zone read. The Noles defense squeezes the gaps then NLS uses a great spin move to get the back when he tries to cut back. |
| 2-7 | at Cu32 | 4-2-5 | CHOICE rush up middle for loss of 1 yard to the CU31 (Northrup, R.;LawrenceStample), clock 11:47. | NLS and especially Eddie Goldman just stone the offensive line at the snap then push them backwards into the ball carrier on the inside zone read. Awesome defense. Fantastic job of beating a double team by Goldman. Watch at 20:34 on the youtube. Mercy. |
| 3-8 | at Cu31 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON deep out pass complete to HUMPHRIES for 18 yards to the CU49, 1ST DOWN CU, out-of-bounds, clock 11:28. | FSU shows an A gap blitz, then loops Casher and Terrence Smith around the ends. Derrick Mitchell way too far inside creates a big lane for Watson to escape the pocket, buy time and find a receiver alone on the sideline. Bad rush discipline, but this is a tremendous play for a freshman QB. He never stops or even slows down and fires an accurate pass at a dead run. |
| 1-10 | at Cu49 | 4-2-5 | DAVIDSON rush over left tackle for 5 yards to the FS46 (Northrup, R.;Smith, Terr.), clock 11:00. | Packaged play, power with a bubble screen. Terrance Smith hesitates and allows the pulling guard to get square through the hole. He must attack the hole and meet the guard before he gets square to the line of scrimmage. |
| 2-5 | at Fs46 | 4-2-5 | DAVIDSON rush over right guard for 10 yards to the FS36, 1ST DOWN CU (Andrews, N.), clock 10:38. | Power again and again the linebackers are flat footed, waiting for blockers to come to them downfield. Unacceptable. |
| 1-10 | at Fs36 | 4-2-5 | DAVIDSON rush over left guard for 1 yard to the FS35 (Smith, Terr.), clock 10:17. | Power again. This time they run it towards Mario Edwards Jr, who is having none of it. He squeezes the hole and competely disrupts the play. |
| 2-9 | at Fs35 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON MR pass incomplete to McCULLOUGH, clock 10:00. | Another packaged play, this time a zone handoff with a rollout pass play. The coverage is excellent from Reggie Northrup and Nate Andrews is waiting on the receiver. |
| 3-9 | at Fs35 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON post pass incomplete to HUMPHRIES, clock 09:54. | Clemson runs 4 Verts and FSU is in the perfect coverage, Cover 2 Man. DBs are in excellent trail position with the safeties reacting to the QB's eyes and bracketing the slot receivers. |
| 4-9 | at Fs35 | PINION punt 26 yards to the FS9, fair catch by Greene, R.. | Bad decision by Swinney not to run some sort of poppable draw or screen on third and potentiall set up a fourth down chance, but the punt is a decent one. | |
| Drive: 8 plays, 36 yards, TOP 02:51 | A few poor efforts in run defense towards the middle of the drive, but otherwise solid defense. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs09 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 09:47. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs09 | 21 | Pender, M. rush right for loss of 1 yard to the FS8 (BARNES;PETERS), clock 09:27. | Inside zone right. The offensive line doesn't maintain spacing so the playside guard and center executing the combo block are not able to get to the second level. When Rashad Greene is unable to hold his block on the corner, this leaves two unblocked defenders to make the tackle. On his TV show, Fisher says FSU missed a "run cut," but I'm not sure if he means a block or if the back literally did not cut to the right hole. |
| 2-11 | at Fs08 | 11 Gun | Maguire, S. deep pass incomplete to Greene, R. (V. BEASLEY), clock 09:05. | FSU rolls the pocket to try and buy some time for Maguire, but he takes far too long to make a decision and pull the trigger. Again the camera angle is too tight to see what is happening downfield. |
| 3-11 | at Fs08 | Timeout Florida State, clock 08:56. | ||
| 3-11 | at Fs08 | 11 Gun Tight | Maguire, S. rush left for 3 yards to the FS11, PENALTY FS illegal forward pass (Maguire, S.) 5 yards to the FS6. | Maguire is clearly ratted at this point as he unnecessarily flees a pretty clean pocket and hesitates to throw until he's well past the line of scrimmage. There's probably an easy first down if he just tucks it and runs. |
| 4-13 | at Fs06 | 4th and 13. | ||
| 4-13 | at Fs06 | Beatty, C. punt 41 yards to the FS47, HUMPHRIES return 0 yards to the FS47 (Andrews, N.). | 41 yards out of your own end zone and no return is good. Well hit. | |
| Drive: 3 plays, minus 3 yards, TOP 00:57 | The pass protection on this drive was not as bad as it seemed live. Maguire is losing his composure in the pocket. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs47 | CLEMSON drive start at 08:50, 1st and 10. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs47 | D. WATSON at QB for Clemson. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs47 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON rush right for 2 yards to the FS45 (Walker, D.;Edwards, M.), clock 08:29. | Zone read keep. Demarcus Walker stays disciplined and maintains outside leverage, forcing Watson back towards the middle of the defense. |
| 2-8 | at Fs45 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON deep pass complete to HOPPER for 28 yards to the FS17, 1ST DOWN CU (Williams, P.J.), clock 07:56. | FSU brings Terrance Smith on a blitz but the pressure is slow getting there because he is held (no call). Tremendous back shoulder throw and catch from Watson and Hopper. PJ Williams has very good coverage, but there just is no defense against a great back shoulder throw. Forcing a freshman QB and receivers who were awful against UGA to make tough throws like this is the correct strategy. At some point, you just have to give Watson credit for executing difficult stuff. |
| 1-10 | at Fs17 | 4-2-5 | DAVIDSON rush right for 3 yards to the FS14 (LawrenceStample), clock 07:33. | Inside zone and NLS is in great position. He has the back in his grasp for no gain but Davidson is able to spin out and fall forward. |
| 2-7 | at Fs14 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON rush over right end for 1 yard to the FS13 (Ramsey, J.), clock 06:47. | QB power or sweep, but something is very odd about the timing of the play. Demarcus Walker reads it very well and squeezes the gap, forcing Watson inside where an unblocked Jalen Ramsey is waiting for him. |
| 3-6 | at Fs13 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON sideline pass complete to LEGGETT for 12 yards to the FS1, 1ST DOWN CU (Andrews, N.), clock 06:27. | Play action fake with the H back leaking out to the flat after faking a block. No one picks him up and Watson doesn't miss the throw as Stoudt did. |
| 1-G | at Fs01 | 4-2-5 | HOWARD rush over right tackle for 1 yard to the FS0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 05:56. | Power play is blown up pretty well. Terrance Smith is unblocked but is very tentative and unable to get in on the play, allowing the score. |
| LAKIP kick attempt good. | ||||
| Clemson 10, Florida State 3 | ||||
| Drive: 6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 03:00 | Clemson is mixing up the pass and the run well. The FSU defense is tired and playing tentatively. Really need the offense to possess the ball on the next drive. | |||
| PINION kickoff 52 yards to the FS13, Whitfield, K. return 16 yards to the FS29 (BOULWARE). | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs29 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 05:50. | ||
| 1-10 | at Fs29 | 21 Twins | Maguire, S. deep out pass complete to O'Leary, N. for 19 yards to the FS48, 1ST DOWN FS, out-of-bounds, clock 05:42. | Play action over route to O'Leary. Cam Erving again gets beat by Vic Beasley but Maguire does a nice job of stepping up, keeping his eyes downfield and delivering the ball. |
| 1-10 | at Fs48 | 21 Twins | Williams, K. rush up middle for no gain to the FS48 (ANTHONY;STEWARD), clock 05:05. | Inside zone looks like it's gonna go until Austin Barron runs right by the middle linebacker he's supposed to block. Out of control, need to slow it down and be balanced. |
| 2-10 | at Fs48 | 11 Gun | Maguire, S. screen pass incomplete to Williams, K., clock 04:40. | Looks like some kind of snag concept. Maguire overthrows Karlos, but the play is covered well. The snag route or the drag are both open. |
| 3-10 | at Fs48 | 11 Gun | Maguire, S. sacked for loss of 7 yards to the FS41 (M. JENKINS), clock 04:36. | Karlos Williams completely blows this blitz pickup. FSU appears to be playing a "Bob" protection, standing for "big on big". The offensive linemen are responsible for the defensive linemen and the backs/tight ends handle any blitzing linebackers or defensive ends. Karlos Williams steps inside, looking for a linebacker/safety blitz and completely misses the corner blitzing off the edge. FSU had an over route for a 15-20 yard gain. |
| 4-17 | at Fs41 | Beatty, C. punt 43 yards to the CU16, fair catch by HUMPHRIES. | ||
| Drive: 4 plays, 12 yards, TOP 01:45 | FSU just can't do much right at this point. FSU is scheming guys open downfield to take advantage of Maguire's arm strength. Cam Erving is getting crushed in pass rush by Vic Beasley. And when the OL blocks well, the backs are poor in protection. And when the protection is perfect, Maguire is too hesitant to pull the trigger on time to hit the open receivers down field. | |||
| 1-10 | at Cu16 | CLEMSON drive start at 04:05. | ||
| 1-10 | at Cu16 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON SH pass complete to GALLMAN for 8 yards to the CU24 (Smith, Terr.), clock 03:45. | Jet sweep. Tyler Hunter is in perfect position but fails to get off a weak block and make the tackle. |
| 2-2 | at Cu24 | 4-2-5 | GALLMAN rush over right guard for 1 yard to the CU25 (Smith, Terr.;Ramsey, J.). | Power blocking. Demarcus Walker reads the play and attacks the pulling guard, blowing up the play and absorbing two blockers. Jalen Ramsey and Terrance Smith are unblocked. |
| 3-1 | at Cu25 | 4-2-5 | D. WATSON rush right for no gain to the CU25 (Smith, Terr.;Edwards, M.), clock 02:28. | Clemson rolls Watson out and he does have receivers in the pattern, but he's running it all the way. Tyler Hunter plays this really well but is beaten to the punch by Reggie Northrup's pursuit from the middle. |
| 4-1 | at Cu25 | PINION punt 41 yards to the FS34, Greene, R. return 28 yards to the CU38 (R. SMITH;BOULWARE). | Tremendous punt return is keyed by a great block by Ermon Lane. While FSU would likely have run the clock out, with the ball in Clemson territory, this a great scoring opportunity and a chance to flip momentum before the half. | |
| Drive: 3 plays, 9 yards, TOP 01:59 | ||||
| 1-10 | at Cu38 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 02:06. | ||
| 1-10 | at Cu38 | 21 | Maguire, S. sacked for loss of 6 yards to the CU44 (V. BEASLEY), clock 01:48. | Nevermind. I like the aggressiveness to go for a deep shot after the big punt return, but Cam Erving gets his lunch money taken again by Vic Beasley. FSU gets guys open deep again. |
| 2-16 | at Cu44 | 11 Gun | Maguire, S. slant pass complete to Greene, R. for 4 yards to the CU40 (PETERS), clock 01:22. | Quick hitch to Greene. Going quick game to get the ball out of Maguire's hands quickly and in rhythm is the right call, unfortunately the sack puts you way behind schedule. |
| 3-12 | at Cu40 | PENALTY FS false start (Matias, J.) 5 yards to the CU45, clock 01:11. | Senior. At home. Again. | |
| 3-17 | at Cu45 | 11 Gun | Maguire, S. middle pass incomplete to Williams, K., QB hurry by JARRETT. | Josue Matias, normally FSU's most reliable lineman, follows up his second false start of the half (at HOME) by getting bullrushed and knocked on his ass. Barron gets knocked over as well. You cannot pass protect from your back or your knees, guys. Maguire is very strong in the pocket, but please just eat the ball, take a sack and punt it away. |
| 4-17 | at Cu45 | Beatty, C. punt 41 yards to the CU4, downed. | GREAT PUNT! | |
| Drive: 3 plays, minus 7 yards, TOP 01:21 | A great scoring opportunity and the wheels came off completely. If FSU had lost this game, this possession would have haunted them. | |||
| 1-10 | at Cu04 | CLEMSON drive start at 00:45. | ||
| 1-10 | at Cu04 | 4-2-5 | DAVIDSON rush over right guard for 3 yards to the CU7 (Smith, Terr.), clock 00:32. | Kind of a sprint draw play from gun goes nowhere. |
| 2-7 | at Cu07 | End of half, clock 00:00. | ||
| Drive: 1 plays, 3 yards, TOP 00:45 | The last offensive possession left a very sour taste in the mouth, but there were some positives on defense in the first half. FSU has largely contained the Clemson run game without committing the safeties at all. On offense, FSU obviously needs to throw quick game to get Maguire in rhythm. Jimbo likes to go for the big play against the blitz, but the QB and O line desperately need some confidence before you can think about that. | |||
| Clemson 10, Florida State 3 |