Game Film Review: Wake Forest @ Clemson

Obviously there is no need for a full review on this one, we dominated them and I don't do much with garbage time, and especially not with this color commentary guy. He makes me want to scream louder than I do watching Travis Blanks tackle. However, I'll still point out some observations during the defensive series on into the 2nd half.

ESPN Play-By-Play

CU from 18 - Hitch to AH for 12. They were playing a bit far off of AH...ZR keep for 6...Sammy on a stutter/go down the sideline for 64. 7-0 Clemson. 3 plays 82 yds, 0:46.

Boom.

WF from 14 - Jarrett nice TFL, good inside penetration by Crawford on another. 3 plays -1 yards.

CU from 37 - IZ for 4..Shaq Anthony gets slapped and Tajh gets sacked. Tajh needed to dump that off though...Coverage leaves no one open, Tajh scrambles for 10...AH on a slant for 14, good catch...Same play for 7...IZ for 9...Boyd barely misses Sammy, too much air under that one for a TD...QB Draw for 8...IZ for 4...Toss for 10 yard TD.Good blocking and setting the edge. 14-0 Clemson. 10 plays 63 yards, 2:50.

Not really going to put that sack on Anthony, though he needed to maintain contact with the rusher better.

We're pushing them pretty well inside, making it a true head scratcher why we wouldn't continue doing it.

WF from 25 - Josh Harris for 31 down the sideline on a swing route. This was probably Martin Jenkins' man, and he wasn't reading his key that said to peel off the CB Blitz and pick up the RB. Nobody was left to pick him up. Excellent play by Breeland on a screen in the flat. 4 plays 26 yards.

CU from 20 - Sammy quick hitch for 8...OZ, OLB ran him down from backside. Hot Rod did not follow his blockers, he thought he was going to cut this back for a big gain. If he cuts into a hole on the front side he probably gets 5-6. He lost 3...D.J. Howard on the swing route for 75 yard TD. 21-0 Clemson. 3 plays 80 yards, 1:03.

Notice the blocking by AH and SW on the edge to make that play work.

WF from 25 - 3 plays 2 yards. DeShawn Williams gave them problems.

CU from 28 - Nikita Whitlock bulldozed Guillermo, whipped him. Loss of 8...Tajh flushed out and incomplete down sideline. He really didn't need to throw that one off-balance as he did...Half roll, no one open, Tajh picked up 6. 3 plays -2 yards, 1:07.

WF from 46 - Poor leverage by Jenkins, Campanaro gets 12 on a slant...Swing route, Martin gets 10...IZ for 2...CB blitz, they hit Campanaro behind it for 13 but review calls incomplete. Think somebody missed a key again, because Campanaro should never be left wide open. We had two guys covering one slot, Kearse picked up another, and Campanaro outleveraged them...Campanaro on a slant for 12. Jenkins needed to tighten up...12 men on field on us...Counter for 1...Price beats Crawford to sideline, gains 2...CB blitz (Peters), Price finds the man he'd have covered for the TD. Of course Blanks didn't hit hard enough to not get dragged into the endzone, and hesitated coming up to make the collision. 21-7 Clemson. 8 plays 54 yards, 3:05

Looks like mostly C2 Zone this drive, some C1 out of a 2 shell. Peters wasn't blitzing on key, he was coming either way. Blanks was late coming up in coverage on the replace. They did a good job spotting the hot route behind the CB blitzes, we did a poor job reading keys on a couple.

CU from 25 - Boyd drops a low snap, loss of 4. Jay Guillermo was in...WR screen to SW for 9. Good effort by Mike Williams to block...Quick drag cut to Cooper, he drops it as he's hit. 3 plays 5 yards, 0:59.

WF from 26 - Campanaro slant for 11, pitiful angle by Robert Smith on that tackle attempt...Start 2nd QTR..WR screen, we couldn't get off and Campanaro gets 11 after stiff-arming Robinson...Inside move by Beasley gets a sack. Punt. 7 plays 37 yards.

CU from 14 - IZ for 4...IZ for 3.5ish..Speed option, Boyd kept it and it didn't work as Anthony and the TE fail to get a good hit on the DE. 3 plays 9 yards 1:32.

WF from 21 - Poor angle by Wiggins allows a 9 yard gain...Nice sack by Breeland as Price scrambles...14 on a screen because we blitzed LBs. 5 plays 20 yards.

CU from 33 - PA bomb to Sammy, PI Called on WF. He put an extra hand on him...Touch pass sweep to AH for 31. Good edge block by Williams and Cooper...Boyd sees no one open, takes it for 7...Power for 3...QB Counter for 6-7...IZ for 2..QB Power for no gain. Shatley needs to hustle into that hole...TO CU..4th & 1, QB Power for the score. 28-7 Clemson. 7 plays 67 yards, 2:47.

Norton back in at Center this drive. He does a little better with Whitlock.

WF from 25 - Basically forced two 3 & outs. Kearse gave them a new set of downs on a roughing call. 6 plays 14 yards. Shuey blew up a screen for a loss of 5.

CU from 28 - PA pass to Sammy for 28 on a slant...Quick pass to SW for 4...Tajh throws one away. Thomas threw a CB about 5 yards when he rushed...Leggett slant for 5. Nice inside block by Brooks on a blitzer...QB Power on 4th & 1 for 6...TO WF...Pass to Leggett down the sideline incomplete. Throw was high and wide...Leggett on a hitch for 15...Scissors pattern gets Mike Williams his first TD on a skinny post. 35-7 Clemson. 8 plays 72 yards, 2:00

WF from 25 - Christian gets a sack to end the half, speed rushed the RT.

Halftime

3 sacks in 1st half is nice but a lot of it is on Price, he needs to get rid of the ball faster. One on Tajh was more on him for the same reason.

Tajh was 13/18 for 286 yds, 3 TD. 13 carries 39 yards and 1 TD in the first half.

WF took advantage of CB blitzing to score their lone TD of the game. We didn't get our leverage back on the edges properly, along with some guys not reading their keys. Otherwise the only problems were fairly isolated miscues and poor angles/tackling in the back end.

As for why we didn't do well on 3 drives. it was a few things. One that doesn't get mentioned in the press is how Whitlock was abusing Guillermo. A poor block on the edge stopped one drive, a dropped pass another, and a botched snap hurt another. It was difficult to see the entire coverage but we got away from Sammy a bit. I don't think effort was a problem.

Start 3rd QTR

WF from 49 - 3 plays 1 yard, with Tyler Cameron as the QB. Not sure if they credited VB and Crawford with a (coverage) sack as Cameron steps up and pulls it down.

CU from 10 - Half Roll, hitch to SW and he drops it as he's hit...Bucksweep for 11...Power for no gain, because Seckinger whiffed on the edge man...Stop to AH for 3..Swing pass to ZB for 6, pretty good blocking in front of him. Punt. 5 plays 20 yards.

TE's have to step up their blocking on the edges.

WF from 23 - Christian too loose and didnt use his leverage on Campanaro slant, gets 17...Cameron QB Draw, fumbles on an Anthony hit. Blanks recovered.

He just dropped it really, SA didn't hit the ball away.

CU at Wake 46 - Shaq Anthony's man runs right by him, Boyd pulls it to get 9...Thrown behind Cooper incomplete...Power for 3..Seckinger up the sideline wheel for 16...IZ for no gain...Flips out to SW, tackled immediately...False start Anthony...Blitz of the right side, Boyd evades and scrambles for 13. Shaq Anthony again blocked down instead of looking outside...4th & 2, QB Counter H for 6...Again for 3, looked like Tajh almost took a pass option..Lead Power from the I-formation for Davidson TD..42-7 Clemson. 10 plays 46 yards, 3:40.

Shaq Anthony stunk it up on that drive.

WF from 17 - 3 plays 5 yards. Really nice hit by Peters on a swing pass. Patrick Thompson was in at QB.

We weren't paying attention on following punt, and ball bounced off a clemson player who wasn't looking. Williams recovered.

CU from 28 - Cole Stoudt in at QB...Bucksweep for 9...PA pass to Bryant on the sideline for 14...Bucksweep for 2. Didn't get around the edge...WR screen to Ghop for 11. Good block by AH...Stoudt overthrows Rodriguez on a post...Bucksweep, Stoudt baubled the snap and had to fall on it...Bryant on dig for 15...IZ for 3...Stoudt sends a floater to Leggett for 18 yard TD. 49-7 Clemson. 9 plays 72 yards, 3:19.

WF from 19 - Sweep for 15, didn't get over the alley gap. Major whiff by Robinson on a tackle on a screen he had beat. Ben Boulware INT ends the drive. 5 plays 33 yards.

Start 4th QTR.

CU from 44 - IZ for 4...Bucksweep for 6...Swing pass to Green for 4...Bucksweep for 4, CJ should've followed his blocker there to the edge...Hopper on sweep option read for 8...Stoudt dumps off to Howard on a hot route for 11. Right behind the blitzer...Bucksweep for 2, Davis fell trying to get around the edge...OZ for 6...Power blocking with the touch pass to Rodriguez for 7...Same play for 2...Same play for 1. Looked like the wrong blocking assignment on the left side of the line, or they guessed correctly that Rodriguez was getting it (likely)..IZ for TD. 56-7 Clemson, 12 plays 56 yards. 4:53.

Last scoring drive of the day, no need to go further.

Summarizing Thoughts

Most complete game of the season so far from Clemson. Offense played well all around and defense cut them to bits. WF may not have been a good test for our Safeties like they needed but at least its experience.

The truth is that WF has no players besides Campanaro and Whitlock, and it shows. I'm not sure why they took Price out, because he gives them the best shot at winning at QB. He's going to hit Campanaro every chance he gets. They couldn't do anything in the 2nd half because they never got him the ball with these backups. Maybe Grobe just gave up. I don't see his offense playing that hard, which is abnormal for his teams.

Clemson defense played one of their best games in the last 3 seasons against a BCS opponent. Clemson allowed 2/14 on 3rd downs, 222 total yards (162 pass/60 rush) and 1.9 ypc. DL was in the backfield all day, with good games from Williams, Grady Jarrett, Josh Watson, Corey Crawford and Victor Beasley. I'm wondering why I still don't see Reader raising hell inside like last season.

Our offense just jumped into the rhythm with the first easy score. That probably did it more than any calls or tempo. It came easy for Tajh and he just played after that, he didn't press.

WR Blocking was almost night & day compared to the last game. 3 drops in the passing game though.

I think that both Norton and Guillermo were not 100% today, but Guillermo was not ready for Whitlock. Kalon Davis was clearly out of gas by the 4th QTR and needs to continue getting in better shape if he wants to press Beasley. We still have an issue at RT and I don't see Anthony as the long term answer right now if we want to play for a Title. Thomas at RT and Battle at LT is the only solution in both pass and run.

The only other thing is again that Chad does not force the run game like he does Tajh in the passing game. If he did I think we'd be much more consistent when we do have to run the ball.