Clemson vs NC State Offensive Film Review

Hello everyone and let me first start by once more apologizing for the tardiness of this film review and the lack of film review from the UNC game. My real life get's hectic sometimes and tends to take precedence but I am sorry for the lack of article and the timing of this one. Now that we got the mushy, gushy stuff out of the way, let's talk football.

Once again here's some shorthand to know:

PA- Play action, JS- Jet sweep, TrO- Triple option, Extro- Extended triple option, RO- Read option, ZR- Zone read, OZ- Outisde zone, IZ- Inside zone, QS- Quick screen, RO- Roll Out, LOS- Line of scrimmage

Nicknames that I now feel fitting to give:

Mr. Hyde/Dr. Jekyll (play dependent)- Reid Webster, Turnstile- Ryan Norton, MacSlow- Eric MacClain, and Whiffles- Jordan Leggett

And away we go.

1st Drive

Split back set and motions out Adam Humphries and Deshaun Watson hits him on a screen, Whiffles actually gets out in front and at least makes the corner take a longer path to the ball......5 wide motion Humph into the backfield, throw back pass, no one open.....3rd down, screen to C.J. Davidson in the slot, all effort here to get the 1st....PA pass deep to Whiffles, good coverage by NCST, incomplete.......split back motion again, dive to Wayne Gallman, nice push across the board on the line, 4 yard gain.....draw by Watson on 3rd and 6, nice lead by Gallman to lead up on MLB, 1st down....Mike Williams gets butt naked on a double move, Watson hits him, touchdown.....7-0 Tigers

2nd Drive

Split back look again with the motion, dive by Gallman, MASSIVE hole to which he help set up by cutting back and forcing LB inside.....another split back motion, deep pass to Germone Hopper, incomplete.....QB counter, nice hole by Dr. Jekyll looks lost....split backs again, quick screen to Williams, line read by Watson due to CB playing off with no one in the flats, nice read.....ZR, Watson pulls and runs for big gain, needs to get down or out of bounds, jersey tackles from behind are no good....deep pass to Williams for 6, Williams with the beautiful layout and tuck on the score.....14-0 Tigers

3rd Drive

Splits backs again, dive by Gallman for 5...QB draw, nice block by Gallman and great seal on the edge by Jay Guillermo, gain of 19.....RO to the right for screen back left to Gallman, Isaiah Battle gives an awful excuse to a cut on the end and the end makes the tacke for loss......fake tunnel screen to Williams and roll back right to screen for Gallman, great downfield hustle by Kalon Davis to take out corner, 1st down.....Gallman dive for 5 yards.....Pumps to the quick screen, too high to Stanton Seckinger on the slant...TIMEOUT #1, CHECK TOO SLOW AT THE LINE.....QB draw by Watson, G-Hop has a great block downfield to allow big yards....dive by Davidson for 8......Watson pulls on the zone read, Humph and J.J. McCollough miss their blocks but Watson supermans into the end zone for 6, gives the stupid Scam Newton gesture at the end....21-0 Tigers

4th Drive

Dive by Gallman, stopped up inside but bounces out for gain of 10.....Dive again by Gallman, no gain....PA pass, Guillermo misses his block and almost lets the safety kill Watson, deep ball incomplete to Demare Kitt....PA skinny post to Williams, Chad Morris is currently killing their 3rd down blitz packages...IZ by Davidson for 3 yards....Counter draw by Watson, Dr. Jekyll whiffs on block....Screen to Adam Choice, great hustle again by Kalon, Battle gets a dead ball foul on the play....Watson drops back to pass but takes off for a gain of 2....Watson sacked on safety blitz, the same blitz that Guillermo almost got him killed on....3rd and long, tunnel screen to Williams to get back inside field goal range.....Hold your horses though because that effort doesn't matter as Lakip misses his 4th of the season, oh Catman, how I miss you.

5th Drive

After the defense gifts the offense with the ball at the 15 Watson throws corner route to Whiffles, double covered and incomplete....Dive by Gallman, great hole opened by Tyrone Crowder....Dive again by Gallman for 3 yards.....ZR by Watson, same play as his first TD run but this time he walks in because Humph and McCollough block....28-0 Tigers

6th Drive

PA deep ball to Williams, pass interference....Choice dive for 5 yards....Quick hitch to Kitt off another line read by Watson....Choice dive dropped at the line of scrimmage, Dr. Jekyll who is now playing at RT got beat inside....Screen to Choice, solid block to reroute defender by McCollough....QB power, nice kick out by Sam Cooper (holy moly a tight end who can pull and block appears).....Davidson dive for 3 yards...Corner route thrown to G-Hop incomplete, if he drives the ball in Hopper has a better chance....PA wheel route to McCollough, just a bit too long, incomplete.....Lakip MAKES A FIELD GOAL, OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN.....31-0 Tigers

7th Drive

Cole enters the game for the first time, I am not upset with this but dang the coaches put in him a tough spot, plus they didn't do him any favors by putting MacSlow into the game at RG with Dr. Jekyll hanging out at RT. Yikes.....Dive by Choice for nice yards, too bad the hole was made by MacSlow's holding penalty.....1st down again from the 6, RO draw to Choice, Turnstile and MacSlow both get turned around on the play.....Draw again by Choice, MacSlow has great consistency as he gets beat again....PA pass, Dr. Jekyll gets destroyed by the end at RT and then MacSlow attempting to help caps off his epic reliability on this drive by missing the end too....Punt

8th Drive

Watson is back in after the half, Gallman starts off with a 4 yard dive.....Drop back pass, nice step up by Watson, deep pass to G-Hop, pass interference but is nullified by Battles personal foul on the play....2nd down again, Watson sacked for the second time, Dr. Jekyll and Battle both beat on the play....3rd and 8, Watson scrambles out and keeps his eyes up and makes great throw to Whiffles on the sideline for the 1st down, nice....ZR, Davidson goes for 3 yards....PA pass to Williams, good stand in knowing that he would take a hit by Watson....ZR, Gallman gaines 8 but if Whiffles blocks on the edge Gallman goes for 20+......Check down to Gallman for 1st down....ZR, Whiffles beat off the edge.....Check down in the flats to Gallman, Watson throws poor ball to his back shoulder, if the puts it in front it could be a TD....Incomplete pass to McCollough......Lakip makes another attempt to kick and oddly shaped ball and succeeds for the 2nd straight times. Be still my heart. 34-0 Tigers

DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN PARTY! WHAT A WAY FOR VIC TO GET HIS RECORD TYING SACK.....41-0 TIGERS

9th Drive

Welcome D.J. Howard to the game, and let's give him 4 straight carries, 2 buck sweeps and 2 dives, nice blocks on all these plays and good patience by Howard, gains 8, 5, 6, and 11 yards respectively on each play.....Watson deep to G-Hop, filthy catch over the defenders head...pass to Kitt incomplete.....ZR by Watson, keeps and dropped for a loss of 4, hard blitz up the middle by NCST so nowhere to go....Incomplete pass to Williams, holding on NCST....3rd and 4, Watson scrambles for 6 yards and the first....Now the offense decides to shift into reverse, first a holding penalty on Battle.....1st and 20 Howard runs for no gain....pass over the middle to McCollough but too bad we Battle likes to play rough, 15 yard personal foul again.....2nd and 35 from the 50 yard line, QS to Kitt for 2 yards....Watson pass broken up on 3rd and 33....Punt

10th Drive

B.J. Goodson ran around for 6 minutes while the Benny Hill theme song played and finally got dropped at the 10 on the fumble return, points for the Clemson offense to follow right? NOPE! Boom, Batson'd (Not really his fault but I haven't publicly hated on him in a while)....1st and goal from the 10, Gallman hit at the LOS, Norton and David Beasley can't do much....Cole runs for 6 yards....Gallman dive for 1....4th and goal and we're gonna show we're real men and go for it! Too bad it was a bad play call as Gallman is dropped well short on the draw....Batson'd.

Ok this is where I will end this film review. Now let's get into player grades.

Player Grades

All American 9.5-10, All-ACC 8-9.4, Solid 6-7.9, Average 4-5.9, Hot Seat 0-3.9

All-American

Was very tempted to put Mike Williams here, but no dice. I am too cynical.

All-ACC

Mike Williams (9.4)- Yeah, he got that close to All-American. He had a dirty catch and showed some nice moves on the field. Wasn't a glaring issue in the run game when asked to block. Nice game for the birthday boy.

Deshaun Watson (8.2)- His grade could have been higher if he had been a little better on his reads and hit his checkdowns a little more instead of doing the Tajh Boyd and loving the deep ball. But another great game by this young man.

Kalon Davis (8.1)- Had amazing hustle on some screens and was not a liability in pass pro. Has progressed nicely at tackle.

Solid

Wayne Gallman (6.4)- Was a more patient runner this week and had some nice blocks and he set up some blocks well too. Loving what I see from this kid.

Germone Hopper (6.0)- Only had the one catch on the day but it was a sick one. Earns this rating based on his downfield blocking efforts all day, I love a guy who will block even when the ball isn't coming his way.

Average

Tyrone Crowder (5.8)- Granted it was limited snaps, but he was opening some massive holes and didn't have the typical pass blocking issues. Nice game.

Adam Choice (5.7)- Had a nice day both running and receiving, granted he isn't that breakaway guy but a nice, steady back.

David Beasley (5.2)- Holy crap another offensive lineman well above the hot seat line. He was doing well opening some gaps and was good in pass pro this week.

D.J. Howard (5.0)- Ran patiently and made proper cuts when he came in. He did well in his limited time and I am happy to see him do well, always like a senior who humbly steps back for better talent but still will play hard when called upon.

Sam Cooper (4.5)- Didn't play much but finally we see a tight end who will pull and kick out the proper man. This is Campbell's soup good.

C.J. Davidson (4.2)- Didn't play poorly nor did he play out of his mind. Had the great effort on the one screen play.

Jay Guillermo (4.2)- Had a couple of really nice pulls on the day but then other times he got turned around or missed a guy in blitz pick up. Out for a month with a broken foot. Oh joy....

Demare Kitt (4.2)- Didn't play poorly but didn't wow me.

Artavis Scott (4.2)- See Kitt, Demare.

Adam Humphries (4.0)- He missed a block on Deshaun's first TD run but made the same block later. Slowly getting worked out of the offense for younger talent.

Hot Seat

Isaiah Battle (3.9)- Didn't play too poorly but all of those penalties really hurt.

Ryan Norton (3.8)- Turnstile lived up to his name on a few plays on the afternoon, and now we get to see him in his boogie shoes for at least a month....hooray....

Dr Jekyll (3.8)- Reid, Reid, Reid...why didn't you unleash Mr. Hyde this week? You're better than this, man. Right?

Whiffles (3.4)- Made a nice catch on the sidelines and that's about it. Whiffles continues to refuse to block.

J.J. McCollough (3.4)- Didn't block particularly well and didn't use his athleticism to burn the D any. And I had such high hopes.

MacSlow (2.1)- Does nothing but get beat all the time. How can a former tight end get so slow? Has science gone too far?!

Average Unit Performances

Total Offensive Performance Average- 5.48, Average Performance

I think this can be somewhat indicative if you consider the entire game. The first quarter was amazing, the second was good, the 3rd average, and then 4th was garbage time. I am pleased by certain players on the offensive line progressing such as Crowder and Kalon at RT but the tight ends are still lagging massively.