I could do a video just showcasing Parker's bad decisions and the complete whiffing of blocks by our OL, but other than the Hall Pick 6, I don't see anything I want to see again. I'll comment on the run/pass ratio and the formations used to run them.
Not going play-by-play with the defense, just noting good plays and bad ones.
Please comment and ask questions on what you dont understand, these take a long time to do well, though I was a bit pressed for time with this one. Our goal here is to look for good plays and bad technique. If theres anything that you would like to see or have explained, just ask.
CU from our 20 - Ace, AE Zone stretch for 1. No hole on the RT side, no movement....Gun, Zone Read Parker for 4...Gun, Parker takes one step and underthrows a comeback to the flats to Brown. Looks like an all-hitch pattern. Bad throw, bad decision on 3rd down too.
2 Gun, 1 under-center. Under center is a run, Gun is 1 pass + 1 run.
BC from their 43 - Branch missed a sack after cutting a bootleg off. Pick-6 Rashard Hall, 52 yards Nickel set and the ball is thrown weakly to Montel Harris. Hall was rolling down in Cover 1 on the back. 7-0 Clemson.
BC from their 26 - Just pounding the ball on us and some God AWFUL tackling by Hawkins/Maye and the interior linemen. BC runs inside traps all over us on this drive. Marcus Gilchrist loses leverage when the ball is underthrown and Momah just outfought him for the ball. After that the D tightens up. Nice corner blitz by Gilchrist to force the kick. FG 7-3, 9 plays 70 yards, 05:10
BC having success with 2-back-2TE sets, but we can't tackle worth a damn. We're playing our usual Under front.
CU from the 23 - Gun, screen to McNeal for 25 in the face of a CB blitz, a good call here. Nice block by Hopkins and he held it.....Gun, PA, hits Ford in the flats for about 5....Gun, quick hook to Jaron Brown. Just sits in the hole between the Backers....Ace, AE Zone up the middle for about 5 and jukes Kuechly out of his shoes....GUn, Waggle pass to McNeal off his back foot through the needle....I, Zone Left and AE gets 4....Gun 2B, ball badly underthrown to AE and should've been intercepted. Looks like a route miscommunication. Allen and Ellington were in the same place at the same time....3rd & 6, Gun, throws the out to Brown short of the sticks. Bad throw, too high and wide. 31yd FG 10-3 Clemson, 9 plays 64 yards, 03:45
Not a bad drive, looks scripted. The throw in the endzone at the end should not have been made, they were covered. The throw to McNeal on the run was a nice grab, and the throw to Brown would've gotten the 1st had Parker thrown it down and off the boundary.
6 shotgun, 2 under-center. Gun are all passes, under center are both runs.
BC from their 19 - More awful tackling. DL getting blown off the ball and they arent inserting their bodies into their gaps. Theyre just letting BC stand them up. Bowers doubled on the edges. Jarvis Jenkins looks like garbage to start and then the coaches yank him to chew him out. End 1st QTR. Nice sack by Shatley on a bullrush. Nice play by Andre Branch on a backside screen to not lose his contain and blow up the play on 3rd down. Then Ron Cherry strikes and screws us with a BS Roughing call. Hawkins completely misses Harris 1 on 1 to give up 4 once. 36 yd FG, 10-6 Clemson 16 plays 62 yards.
The YPC after the quarter break was considerably better, but the BS penalty kept this drive going at our 39. That would've made it a 50+ yd FG attempt. We forced 2 3rd & long situations.
Then Jamie Harper muffs the kickoff, just dove on it and it bounced right out.
BC from our 36 - Wheel route to Harris for the TD. Brandon Maye's man in coverage. Maye read Iso and took on the FB, but didn't read the HB coming out on the wheel weakside. Meeks got walled off by the SE coming across on a post, but it was not his man in coverage. 13-10 Boston College, 1 play 36 yards.
CU from our 29 - Gun, hurried and throws to Allen on a hook. Smith got his ass beat by Scafe....I, Iso for 1 with the facemask on Scafe....BC Offsides....Now at the BC 44, Far I, PA, takes a deep shot to Nuke Hopkins who split the safety but the throw was too hot. Scafe whooped Smith's ass again....Ace, looks like a trick or broken play after a quick count, throws a quick pass to Brown for 5....Pistol, JH on a Power for 2...I, Iso AE, Allen completely missed a key block and 96 is on Andre before he makes it to the LOS....Gun, Hook to Allen for 9 and the 1st down on 3rd & 7...Ace, End around to Brown for 1. Diehl misses the key block on Pierre-Louis...Gun, Parker lobs one to the flat and its batted down by the End.....3rd & 9, Gun, 3 man rush, Hairston gets whipped, Parker rolls right and throws back across the middle to an open Hopkins who drops it. 44 yd FG missed badly. 10 plays 45 yards, 04:32
David Smith is continually getting pushed around by Scafe, then both Tackles can't take their Ends on a 3-man rush. Pattycake OL play, pattycake blocking all around.
Like the deep shot, like the pistol call, but it seems like those plays/formations were afterthoughts that were just stuck in for variety, and not part of a package or scheme.
5 Gun plays, 4 pass and 1 run (pistol). 5 under-center, 3 runs and 2 passes.
BC from their 26 - Just moving people off the ball, running away from Bowers mostly. Missed tackles kill the D again. In this short drive to kill the clock, I see our DL missed 2-3 tackles, the LBs get blocked by Guards because our DL can't draw blockers, and then the secondary misses their tackles or make weak effort at doing so. BC FG 16-10. 10 plays, 55 yards.
The last drive of the half was extremely disappointing. I see no fire from the defense. They just got whipped.
Halftime.
Clemson has shown the ability to run the ball, but are not committed to trying. BC is very simple on defense, pretty much as expected. Its simple, but they execute their scheme really well.
Our defense has just played terribly up front. Thats all there is to say. BC just jams that Isolation/Blast outside or runs zones behind the 2TE side, B-C gap, same plays over and over.
No emotion at all on the sidelines from this team.
3rd QTR
BC starts at their 26 - D playing better inside and clogging up run lanes. Hall came up to make a nice form tackle, then another on a shallow cross. He has been moved up to make more 7-man fronts in Nickel sets since Miami. We can out-quick BCs front if we want to, and now it looks like we do. 6 plays 18 yards, 04:00
CU starts from our 14 - Ace, Zone for 5....I, Iso for 4....I, Power L for a little over 1....Gun, PA, Waggle and Parker runs into the boundary and throws it away....Gun Empty, Ball thrown behind Hopkins and batted away by Herzlich....We go Gun Empty and get set, then Parker watches the BC defense try to line up, and doesnt call for the ball. WR is standing there uncovered on the far sideline and we let them call timeout, then go Gun Empty again, they rush 3 guys and the guy on Antoine McClain goes unimpeded into Parker's face, simple spin move and McClain is flat-footed. Thrown incomplete. 6 plays 10 yards
We run 3 times = 1st down. Then, of course, we have to throw the ball, all from gun. Makes perfect sense right?
Then, of course, we don't take advantage of their confusion, and can't pass block worth a shit.
3 Gun snaps, all pass. 3 under-center, all runs.
BC from their 20 - 3 & out. Brewer makes a good play in the flats and should've intercepted a ball.
Clemson from the 43 - I, AE Counter for 7. Wow we ran a different play?....I, AE Iso for 7. Walker plays pattycake....Ace, JH Zone for 4....Near I, JH Iso for 1...3rd & 5, Gun, they CB blitz and a nice catch is made by Brandon Ford....Near I, AE Power O for 14....I, AE Iso loss of 3. Both Diehl and Landon Walker completely missed two blocks on the same side on the same damn play. Walker just stepped around the Defensive End and Diehl completely missed the CB. WTF?....Gun Empty, 3 man rush, Parker feels pressure where there is none, rolls right and throws it away....Gun, Parker throws it into a mix of about 20 red jerseys and its batted away on a Post pattern. Catanzaro misses the FG. 9 plays 39 yards, 4:07
Can't believe we ran something besides Power/Iso from the I-formation initially. The badly whiffed blocks by Walker/Diehl forced them to throw on 2nd & 13, but of course we must throw from Gun because we don't want to outthink ourselves and throw from a run formation, right?
I wish Landon Walker played hard on the field, it would be nice to see him generate movement on people.
6 under center, all runs. 2 gun, both passes.
BC from the 20 - 3 & out. Brewer nearly picks another underthrown ball.
CU from our 46 - Ace, PA, nice throw on a deep cross to Allen, then Cherry gives us a makeup call for a late hit on Parker....From the BC 24, Gun, screen to AE for 9....I, zone for 1, Smith gets raped by Scafe...I, Iso, Smith gets raped by Scafe and Ramsey rapes McClain. End 3rd QTR. 1st play of the 4th, and we have to waste a timeout for being in the wrong formation. Gun, Parker runs a draw that looks like Hell, handing it off to AE when Scafe has already broken through the LOS (Smith again)....Gun Empty, 2 man rush, Parker doesnt set his feet at all, then throws one up to get picked off.
Damn this is shitty OL play. Not one of them is moving his feet, and Walker is still playing pattycake. I'd have David Smith on the bench and leave him there.
When your OL plays this bad its indicative of one thing - not practicing hard.
Parker made a horrible decision, never once set his feet to make his reads, and just chunked one up. Never should've handed that ball off on the draw either. It appears that AE got hurt on this Draw play.
3 gun, 2 pass and 1 draw. 3 under-center, 1 pass and 2 runs.
BC from the 13 - BC really only got two plays on the drive to move things. A 21yd pass to McCluskey who came free completely out of the backfield from the FB spot against a 3-4 front. Branch was at OLB and went with the TE up the seam inside, the ILB (Willard) did not pick up the Back out of the backfield. The other was on a Dig against fairly good coverage from Gilchrist for 12. 8 plays 40 yards, 04:31
CU from our 20 - Gun, Zone stretch for JH for 7 and runs into the back of Brown's knee, rolling his ankle. Ellington is out of the game now.....Gun on 2nd & 3, screen to McNeal in the flats is unblocked (Ashe again), but McNeal should not have danced on the play either....3rd & 2, Gun, nice Post route to Hopkins in front of the Safety. Parker had set his feet and had no people in his face....Gun, Sweep for 4....Ace, Screen to JH for the 1st down...I, Zone for 4...Near I, PA pass to Marquan and its underthrown and tipped. Jones was in motion at the snap....3rd & 6, Gun, screen to Harper and they eat it up with the LBs. No gain....4th & 6, Gun, throw a hitch to Allen under the sticks. You have to extend the route past the sticks there. 9 plays 48 yards, 04:15
Even the Skirt gets yards. We show we can run the ball in the 2nd half, but won't stick to it. Must go shotgun for what reason?
6 gun, 4 passes and 2 rush. 3 under center, 2 passes.
BC from their 32 - 3 & out.
Clemson from our 17 - 3:38 on the clock. You need to score here but you can still run the ball, you just need to be judicious with the playcall for it. Gun, hitch to Allen for 9 on a Smash.... Gun, another Out to Allen for 4.... Gun, another Out route to Allen for 9.... 2nd & 1, Gun, flare route to McNeal for 2-3.... Gun, 2 man rush, Parker steps out for unknown reasons, then throws behind Ashe from the sideline. Dumb. DO NOT THROW BACK OVER THE MIDDLE KYLE. ...Gun, Parker steps into the rush again where there is none, and throws a duck on a pick. 6 plays 24 yards, 01:56
Shitty QB play.
All 6 gun, all passes.
BC from their 45 - 3 & out. Theyre just trying to run out the clock.
CU from our 14 - 0:43 left. Obviously pass mode. Gun, Parker throws behind Harper.....Gun, throws underneath to Jones for the 1st down....Gun, pass broken up to McNeal. McNeal has to be coached to cut that route deeper than the LB better....Gun, 3 man rush and Parker gets flushed, ran out of bounds for 1st down...Gun, quick out to Allen is dropped, it was in his hands. Gotta catch that ball....Gun, Hail Mary incomplete.
6 gun, all called passes but one goes as a rush. Its pathetic that BC gets rush with 2 DEs coming. The NG is standing there as a spy.
Summarizing Thoughts
Luke Kuechly said this after the game:
"After each series they come over and sit us down and tell us, ‘This is how they run the ball out of this set, this is where they’re going to run the ball out of that set. They do some stuff to try to confuse you, but when it came down to it, it was just fundamental -- the stuff we’d harped on all week. They didn’t come out with anything special or anything different. We knew the plays that were coming and we played them well."
As we detailed two weeks ago in the film review, Clemson shows their preferences for playcalls by going all Shotgun for passes and lining up in Ace/I-formation sets when we want to run the ball. On top of that, nearly all I-formation sets are involving standard gap scheme blocks, while all one-back sets run zone blocking. I said last week that what I'd do against Clemson is just play C3 in gun and crowd the box in any pro-set under center and I'd stop them cold. Thats exactly what Boston College did.
As for the running game, we had intermittent success doing it, but never stuck with it. Even though our strength is with the OL and RB, we don't play with them. In the 1st half we had runs of 0, 5, 6, 4, 2, 2, 1 (wouldve been minimum of 3 if not for facemask), 1 (end-around). One of the 2 yard gains was The Skirt. The facemask is what kept Ellington from falling forward (DL yanked him backwards by it) into the hole for 3. That looks to us like you should try to run the ball a bit more, but we threw the ball 13 times in the 1st half.
There was even more success in the 2nd, but again the situational choice of calls and bad blocking negates alot of the rushing yardage. AE had runs of 5, 4, 1, 7, 7, 14, -3, 2, 0, -6. The negative 6 was on the draw. -3 was when Walker and Diehl both looked the other way while a BC player ran right past them. Even the Skirt got yardage, but we didn't feel like running it.
And Dabo said this week that the reason they didn't pull Parker was because they thought he played better to start the 2nd half? On the 1st drive that we went 3 runs=1st down and 3 passes = punt? Maybe it was the 2nd where we ran the ball 6 times?
The strength of the BC defense is their ability to redistribute their gap coverage based on the offensive movement, but the same things will work against them that North Texas showed against us. They slant their lines into gaps and run alot of U-ME or PIRATE stunts, and you can gash that if you continue to run the ball because eventually guys will just stunt themselves out of their gap assignment. We wouldn't do that.
As an aside, none of our LBs would even play for this BC squad. They don't take theirs off the field in pass sets, mostly because they always play zone coverage and you don't need the DB speed for that, but they're also very very good at their type of zone coverage. They fit their gaps extremely well on run plays and their DL is so big that the OL can never get to the 2nd level, so the LBs always roam free.
We threw 29 passes out of 33 gun-formation plays. This is not a new thing, we did it last week. We've been shifting in that direction since Miami. 22 under-center formations, with 18 rushes.
A monkey can figure this out.
Kyle Parker deserves benching for his performance today, but so does Landon Walker and all 3 guards (Cloy, Smith, McClain). This intensifies my hatred for Brad Scott even more. I bet they didn't even hit during the week. It would be nice if we could bench them, but then again we don't offer many and dont recruit anywhere near enough linemen, so we're stuck for the 152nd year in a row.
Our guys seem lazy and stiff on the field.
Defense
As for the defense, Steele said that the Eagles ran alot of 22-personnel sets against us, which they had not shown much of before. This is not an excuse for the defensive performance that I see. In the 1st half, we just didn't feel like playing hard or tackling anybody, it doesnt have jack to do with what BC is showing.
We heard later that Da'Quan Bowers lit into the D for their performance in the 1st half, and they deserved it. 140+ yards on the ground for BC with a combination of bad DL gap fitting and truly horrible tackling by everyone up the middle of the defense.
Clemson's defense didn't appear to do anything different in the 2nd half that they weren't doing in the 1st schemewise. They just played alot harder and made tackles.
304 yards allowed and 16 points allowed is enough to win the game though. 3.7 ypc allowed because of better DL play in the 2nd half.