Game Film Review: Boston College @ Clemson

ESPN Play-by-Play

CU from 25 - My film misses the first 4 plays thanks to Texas.

WR screen to AH for 7...IZ for 1...Direct snap to Hot Rod on IZ for 1...4th & 1, Power for 2. They stop that from going anywhere because Cooper gets bulldozed backwards into Davis...Tajh thros a bullet to Mike Williams on a post route for 19...Power for 2...Tajh blows the mesh on the ZR and fumbles...pressure forces throw out of end zone. They ran a T-E stunt and completely screwed up Shatley and Anthony. Catman misses the 25 yard chipshot. 12 plays 67 yards, 3:53.

Two fumbles on the opening drive, replay shows the 2nd one with the mesh is definitely on Tajh. Tajh couldn't make a decision on the give read, and its on him. Hot Rod has to take the ball and can't just stand there waiting for Tajh.

Tajh was wearing the glove on the entire first drive.

BC from 20 - Power for loss of 1...Naked bootleg to TE for 17 running a drag. LB should've picked him up. He got a free release...Power for 2..Naked bootleg, FB sneaks out after chipping VB, goes 20..Bucksweep for 1..TE goes up the sideline on a wheel and ball sails over him as breeland sticks him...Speed option and Korrin Wiggins blows it up, great tackle. 7 plays 42 yards, 3:58.

Clemson playing some 3-4 front, some 4-3 Under. Looks like we're sticking with C1 to put 8 in the box.

CU from 20 - Half roll swing pass to AH for 3...Tajh pressured and tosses it out to Sammy on orbit motion for 3. Sam Cooper could not handle the blitzing OLB...Blitz, we picked this one up, PI called on BC for holding Bryant...IZ, Hot Rod goes outside right into the DE's arms, wrong choice...Stunt that we can't handle, Shatley fell, Tajh flips it out to Hot Rod for 4..Blitz, Tajh was going on a Draw and loses 3. Kalon Davis gets his ass whipped and hits no one. 5-tech cut over across his face and beat him inside up the A-gap. OLB blitzed the B-gap. He hit neither successfully. Punt. 5 plays 22 yards, 2:43.

I'd have benched Davis right then. You let the 5-technique cross over 2 gaps and whip your ass?

BC from 7 - Power for 2..Zone for 5..False start, or they'd have gotten the 3. Back snuck out again...TE releases on a drag and gets 14. LB didn't collision the TE forcefully enough. You're supposed to try to wall him off. We should've had Rettig here...Power for 6..Power for 14. Breeland missed tackle. Anthony wrong hole.DT wrong gap...Coverage sack for Corey Crawford...TE up the seam for 9, Kearse decks him. Should've wrapped him up and tackled him properly. End 1st QTR. Amidon sits in the zone up the seam for 16. Not enough pressure. Beasley went down after this play...Power loses 1, Anthony great play..Draw for 38 yard TD. 7-0 Boston College. 10 plays 93 yards, 5:48.

Jayron Kearse took an absolutely horrible angle.

Now the mesh occurs, the first thing you do is press the hole. He has help on the outside still. He does not decide to do it quickly enough and stands there. However his outside help, as you'll see next, has come too close. He presses the runner back inside but gets cut blocked.

In blue is the shallow angle he took, but his feet arent set for it, he hesitates, and he really has no chance. RB beat him to the sideline and he was just chasing.

Clemson was having some issues getting lined up due to the late motion on this drive.

CU from 25 - Blitzer comes free right up the damn A-gap. DT went inside and Davis/Norton doubled him. Norton needed to pick that blitzer up. Brooks late coming up to protect but does cut him. Tajh found Cooper running up the seam on a hitch for 11...Cooper blown backwards 2 yards, IZ gets 1 as a result...Keeper for 2...Screen to Brooks, he fumbles it upfield. 4 plays 28 yards, 1:20.

Pitiful OL/TE blocking.

BC from 47 - Screen to Amidon, only 1. Good play Christian. Crawford had him for a loss and missed it...Power, Shuey misses first tackle but Smith got him down for gain of 1...Rettig pressured by 3-man rush but hits TE for gain of 6. Punt.

CU from 10 - Screen to AH for 9. Anthony whipped outside...IZ for 11..Blitz, picked up, Tajh hits Bryant up the sideline for 30..Screen to AH for 8...Tajh follows Hot Rod on IZ for 4...Tajh makes bad decision to throw to double-covered Mike Williams. AH was wide open on a 15 yard skinny post with the safety way over on Williams. If he hits AH its 6...TO BC...WR pass with bucksweep blocking, AH was open and Sammy missed him...David Beasley completely whiffs on a block, Tajh throws it away....Botched hold and loss of 4 on the 45 yd FG attempt. 9 plays 58 yards, 1:33.

Anthony whipped, Beasley whipped, Davis whipped, Cooper whipped, Seckinger whipped, Norton all whipped at least once so far. Pathetic. If I was Chad Morris I'd have my foot so far up our OL's ass that it'd need surgery to remove.

We left points on the field here. At a bare minimum we should have 3 and really should have 7.

Bryant's blocking effort appears to have improved.

BC at 32 - Power, no gain...WR screen to Amidon for 5. They run this screen too tight to the formation. Too many orange jerseys in the area...Shovel pass intercepted by Wiggins.

Well that shovel was dumb. Rettig throws the ball at the Guard pulling and nowhere near the TE who was supposed to get it.

CU at BC 38 - DELAY OF GAME ON CHANGE. We have no clue what we are doing...Norton beat up the middle, holds the guy, still can't stop him...Half roll, AH coming across on a deep cross for 20. Great catch...Handoff to Hot Rod on IZ, fumbled. That one is on Hot Rod.

Complete shit. NFW should you ever get a delay on a change of possession.

BC at 32 - Power, Kearse misses tackle, gets 12...TO BC..Bootleg, checkdown for 2. Kearse was on that one...Counter trey for 2..Robert Smith bats down a pass to the TE running a Dig, great play...TO Clemson, apparently Dabo thought we werent lined up right to let them punt.

Really good interior play thus far, good gap control inside and the DTs are giving them problems.

CU at 20 - Power for 32..WR screen to Sammy for 5...Sammy comes back for one for 5...Power for no gain mainly because Anthony got killed with an inside move...Draw for 4...Blitz, pass to Seckinger knocked down by the DB. He made a good play, Tajh should've led him a bit more...4th & 6. Blitz, flipped out to Hot Rod for 5, just short of 1st down. Turnover on downs.

BC at 28 - Lead power for no gain...Sack, ruled an incomplete pass...Delay Draw, loss of 1. Same play they got the TD with, but Shuey laid back and too much pressure on right side this time. Timeout CU. Punt.

Had 8/9 in the box there.

CU from 34 - Thrown behind Seckinger, could've been picked...Flips out to Seckinger at sideline for 7...Sammy quick slant for 6...Boyd pulls it for 11...Bryant post route for 18...Bryant again incomplete on a 15 yard Out, DB swatted it out but he should be able to grab this...Tipped and thrown too tall to Watkins incomplete, shouldn't have thrown that ball...TO BC...Boyd has all day and doesnt get rid of it, scrambles for 6. 35 yard FG, 7-3 BC.

Boyd was just a little off, but they had a CB blitzing on the last play so someone should've come open and he didn't get rid of the football.

Halftime

Clemson should be up right now and isn't because we look like the 2010 offense. Someone new screws up every play, and no one is blameless. If Tajh screws up one play the RB does the next. If one lineman handles a blitz great on a play, he screws up the next one. Its mental and no one is focused on offense.

Clemson 280 yards, 205 passing 75 rushing

BC 196 yards, 116 passing, 80 rushing.

BC plays hard but they're not inventive on offense at all. Power Power Power Power Power, bootleg or counter off of that. They could do more and have a better chance at scoring.

Start 3rd QTR

BC at 25 - Amidon running a drag/deep cross and he gets a free release right over the damn middle. Gets 26...Zone for 2...TO BC..Trap for 2..Crawford runs Rettig down. 4 plays 33 yards. Punt

You CANNOT give a receiver a free release up the seam or over the middle. Kearse let him walk right in front of him and ignored. It may not be your assignment to pick up a guy in zone, but you have to make a receiver pay when he runs right through the Hook/Curl zones.

CU at 10 - Zone handoff to Howard, they blitzed right into it on the left side. Had no chance..Flips out to Howard over blitzers for 4...Inside tunnel screen to Williams, gets 7. 3 plays 9 yards, 1:34.

Been awhile since we've seen the Tunnel screen it seems.

BC at 39 - Counter loses 1...Counter, initial hit from Christian held him up for Shuey. Pulling Guard completely missed Quandon...Stephone Anthony comes free off the edge for a sack. TE didn't look at him. 3 plays -11.

CU at 29 -Power for 6...IZ for 2...Power for 12. Cooper got a good drive block that time...WR screen to AH for 2...TD pass to Bryant in M2M, called back for illegal formation. Looks like Sammy was not on the LOS on the Field side....Cooper a little drag for 5...Tajh hits Sammy running a 9 straight in from 48. 10-7 Clemson. 6 plays 71, 1:58.

Why teams try so much Man against us, I do not know. I do know that this wasn't the first case of it today but we didn't take advantage of it.

BC at 31 - Amidon lines up tight but flexed, gets a free release right up the seam AGAIN, cuts across in front of Kearse and outruns him for 6. 14-10 BC.

Kearse was on his heels again, waited on Amidon instead of staying on top of the Post move, and once he's past him its all academic. However, he did not have any help from the defenders under him either. If you let a receiver get a free release and do not protect the seams you are dead.

CU at 25 - WR screen, Sammy dropped it...Sammy breaks his route to come back for Tajh, gets 13..AH on a dig for 19..False start...Holding on Shatley...Rollout, thrown high to Matt Porter (WTF is Porter doing in here?)...Draw for 5...Tajh overthrows AH on a deep post. Punt. 6 plays 22 yards.

Norton is giving away the snap count with his head movement.

BC at 7 - BC goes unbalanced, Clemson calls TO. Looks like they had a TE lined up at LT there, we weren't properly adjusted for it...Counter for 17. Williams trucked Robert Smith. We didn't set the edge properly there...Power for 2..Stretch play, VB runs him down from behind, loss of 5...False start..False start on Rettig...Counter, Peters nice tackle on Williams for loss of 2. 4 plays 2 yards.

CU at BC 48 - Seckinger sneaks out of the backfield for 3...Sammy quick slant, dropped. 2 drops in 2nd half...Hot Rod on a quick stop route for 6. Sylvia really trucked him...Counter toss for 4...Power for 3. Davis' legs look like theyre stuck in molasses on the pull. Wrap around the edge and hit somebody please. Start 4th QTR..Wheel route pass to Seckinger for 19..IZ for 4, offsides called...IZ for 2..QB Power for the score. 17-14 Clemson, 8 plays 48 yards, 2:46.

BC at 25 - Bucksweep action with bootleg fieldside, thrown away..Reader whips his blocker and initial contact slows down Williams for 2...Rettig steps out to scramble and Steward is all over him, fumble recovered by VB and returned for 6. 24-14 Clemson.

BC at 25 - Jet sweep for 10...Power for 4...Amidon swing pass after jet motion for 4...Rollout flip to Evans for 3...PA and Beasley is all over Rettig who throws it into the ground...Shaq Lawson beats his man inside and forces a throwaway...False start on Amidon...TO BC...Sacked by Beasley. Held ball too long. Punt. 7 plays 8 yards.

DL wrecked them on this drive. Our ears are pinned back.

This is also a very uncreative offense they run right now. Same 5-6 plays over and over.

CU from 25 - IZ for 8..WR screen for 3 to AH...Counter H, loss of 1. OLB came free when everyone was engaged...Tajh throws too high to Cooper over the middle...QB keep/draw for 3. 5 plays 13 yards.

BC from 19 - Counter for 4...Rettig has no one, runs out of bounds for 4...TO BC, couldnt get play call in and off...Bootleg, forced out of bounds. 4th & 2, they run the clock down and dont get the punt team out there, so we call timeout for them because we have the D still out there. 3 plays 8 yards.

I love calling timeout on special teams in a close game, love it.

CU from 20 -Counter H for 5...Power, Norton bulldozed, no gain...Boyd throws too low and wide to Seckinger on an Out cut. Punt.

BC from our 48 - Rettig drops and everyone covered, pulls it for 4...End-around, Beasley almost destroys the mesh and Amidon runs for a 1st down, called back on a hold. Shaw Lawson went out here running down Amidon...3 man rush, Rettig panics and Anthony comes up for a sack with Crawford...Drag route, Shuey tips the pass away. Punt fake on 4th & 17. Clemson stuffs it.

CU at 48 - OZ for 27..Again for no gain...Zone for 7..Clemson kneels on it.

Summarizing Thoughts

The film was ugly, the execution even uglier. Clemson was not focused on BC, that appears to be the major malfunction on this Saturday. We were off on reads and not focused or prepared up front. If we're focused I think we put 2 more TDs on the scoreboard. Of course that wouldn't matter if we'd lost, but it is what it is. The preparation I'm going to put on Caldwell and Morris. The focus is on Dabo.

Now I have to give credit to Dan Brown, who we knew was a good DC already. He inherited a well-coached defense and he's raised their level from last season. He had a good gameplan today and caught us with a bunch of well-executed pressures. His secondary is well coached enough to not get caught by their blitzes time and again, and their DL played as well as BC usually plays against us. They got pressure with a 3-man front, which they've done repeatedly over the years because our guys rarely match their physicality.

But Clemson's OL sucked out loud. Brandon Thomas even made a mistake or two, but probably graded out very well because he doesnt miss assignments. If you graded on MAs then we might grade well today. I grade on how they played, and they played like dogshit. This reminds me of Wofford a couple years ago. Kalon Davis should've been off the field quickly, and had no legs by the end. David Beasley did play, but less than 10 snaps. Norton got bulldozed several times. Shatley got no push and we already knew that he sucks at pulling. Shaq Anthony is fine when he engages a pass rusher, and did do a little better picking up the right guy, but he couldn't push over an ant hill in the run game.

And our TE blocking is still inconsistent. One good play, one bad play. I wouldn't say Cooper is doing much better than Seckinger in that department. I would much rather have a slimmer OL come in and do some blocking on the edge than see either of these two. Smith must not be getting snaps because of his foot speed and receiving ability.

Tajh Boyd had men in the intermediate range and did not take them often enough. BC never really had to pay for the copious amount of blitzing, and that bothers me greatly about his play today, though his completion percentage was good and the passes he did throw were mostly pretty good decisions.

Overall I think we're just too predictable on offense. You know when QB Power is coming. You can immediately read the WR screens. I hope Chad is holding things back and will open the playbook but right now I'm not very optimistic.

On the flipside, our defense played an excellent game. Yes, BC has a very predictable offense too and it hurt them today, but I was really happy with our gap control. Sometimes in the past we've known what was coming and could not stop it at all, today we knew and we stopped Andre Williams cold.

DL did not get consistent pressure but it did get better over the course of the game. Much of that has to do with our guys being completely dialed in on what they were doing. The DBs mostly locked them down and the 8/9 man box stuffed their run game.

Of course the safety play has to improve, and specifically their tackling angles and maintaining leverage on the Post route or any deep middle route.

Going forward I do hope Addazio will call something besides Power and Counter though, and I think Rettig has regressed in his system slightly.