Under the influence of bourbon and tequila....
Honestly, this game should not have been as close as it was. Clemson failed to capitalize on huge opportunities provided by our defense and if we had not fucked up a chance to score at the damn 4 inch line it would've been as decisive as some were saying coming into this game.
Our offense did not have a bad day. Parker played great, Spiller ate them up. There were a couple drops. The OL wasnt impressive against the FSU pass rush AT ALL, and only late did they get it right in run blocking. Hairston got his ass beat all night. It was the red zone that pissed us off. WHAT THE FUCK was going on? FSU gives us every chance to blow them away, and we dont take it. X. Dye can't properly line up and costs us a TD. 3 missed XPs, and 2 FGs, and then a turnover when we have the ball at the 4 inch line. Still there is no KILLER instinct from this team. You must put your opponent away.
I really believe we should've won by another 16 points.
Our defense gave up only 17 points against a Top 10 offense, and the secondary did very well to contain big plays and prevent FSU from gashing them, even without Chancellor. However, FSU ran the ball all over the front 7. There were numerous shitty tackles and poor technique tonight. Our interior linemen disappointed me the most of all of them, they had done so well to stuff the run in previous weeks. The lack of pass rush from the ends also bothered me, but Ponder also makes snap-quick decisions and as I predicted, didnt hold onto the ball long enough to get sacked.
In the first half, I noticed Clemson hardly ever bringing pressure aside from the front 4. We played alot more zone than man coverage, and Ponder picked it apart. The defense came in too pumped up and it showed in their fundamentals and tackling. They were just too excited to focus. In the 2nd half, from the start we noticed more man coverage and several blitzes, especially on early downs. On 3rd downs, we still sucked ass. Ponder converted several on their 2nd drive of the 3rd quarter, and most were 3rd & long. But these guys settled down and played with more poise in the 2nd half, and credit goes to Steele and Swinney for calming them.
Special teams....FSU nearly blew a return for TD everytime they got it. We complained about this earlier and its going to bite us at some point. Tackling needs work and people dont stay in their lanes.
Richard Jackson needs a foot in his ass. You should NEVER miss an XP in college football, ever. Benton wont be taking the job either.
The snapper needs a foot in his ass. 2 of those were partly because of the snap.
Clemson nearly choked again on a national stage, which I expected after the 1st quarter, given 10 years of Tammy. I'm happy as hell we won this game but theres alot of glaring mistakes we have to fix to lock down this division. This was still a 4-4 team we beat. For once though, I am starting to believe again......now watch us lose to UVA by 20.
Russell Wilson isnt as good as Ponder, but he's still very good. NCSU is losing for the same reason that FSU does: defense.
Your thoughts on the game?