Clemson vs Boston College Film Review: 2nd Quarter

Shorthand

Alley = area between the OT and WR. BCB = Boundary Cornerback, Bullet = ILB A or B gap blitz. C0, C1, C2, C3, C4 (quarters) or C6 = coverage scheme by the secondary. DIME OF DOOM = 3rd down 3-2-6 havoc formation. FCB = Wide side or field cornerback. Fire = S, NB, LB blitz from the outside. Green Dog = man blitz when your man stays in to block or is not in the formation. IV= inverted veer. IZ = Inside Zone or Zone blocked play inside the tackles.Jailbreak = 7 or more blitz. LOS = Line of Scrimmage. Man = man to man coverage.OZ = outside zone run or zone blocked play off-tackle. PA = Play Action. PBU = Pass broken up. Red Dog (overload) = LB and S/NB blitz on the same side. Robber = S or LB moves to take away crossing routes. C3 Sky = SS moves up two yards, takes flat, CBs and FS take deep thirds. Soft= CBs/NB playing well off the WR until he gets to the 1st down line. Stretch= zone blocked run just inside the last offensive player on that side. Stack = the 3 LBs are stacked directly behind DL. Stalk = WR blocks DB in front of him. Sweep = RB/QB run, often FB/ H-B lead play to the D gap. TO = Triple Option. ZR = Zone read option play.

Format

• Thoughts within a play are separated by a comma. (,)
• Each play is separated by an ellipsis. (...)
• First downs are separated by a paragraph.
• Comments on a drive are in italics.

Offensive personnel listed as a 2 digit number: # of RBs, # of TEs, # of WRs; 11 = 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 receivers; 22 = 2 RB, 2 TE, 1 receiver, etc.

While there is now a YouTube video of the entire game, in the full format, I used the “30 minute version” if the game for the film review. If you care to add any useful comments or wanna catch any of the plays, feel free to follow along with RT Sports Upload’s video.

Clemson ball, 15:00, Clem 40

104 Pistol Right vs 4-3, WR stacked two to a side, LB’s covering secondary receiver, handoff to Gallman through the B-gap, gain of 6…104 Pistol vs 4-3, WR stacked again, LB covering secondary receivers, handoff to Gallman through the A-gap, gain of 8, FIRST DOWN…

104 Shotgun vs 4-3, LE rushes the outside, Watson hit, fumble recovered by Clemson, loss of 6 on the play…104 Pistol vs 4-2 Nickel, 3 wide outs lined up to the right, defense in zone defense, Watson runs on quarterback draw, falls at the line of scrimmage, no gain on the play…104 Pistol vs 4-2 Nickel, 6 men in the box- all at the line of scrimmage, Watson pass to Cain incomplete…PUNT

Boston College ball, 13:11, BC 19

122 Ace vs 4-2 Nickel, 2 wide outs and 1 TE to the left, off-LT handoff, gain of 6…122 Ace vs 4-3, Boulware blitz, TE in the backfield pulls to the left, picks up block on OLB, handoff through A-gap, gain of 3…quick singleback play for BC, rush up the middle for gain of 2…FIRSTDOWN

122 Ace vs 4-3, spur lined up on the right, wideouts on either side of the line, play action, handoff to receiver on the reverse, gain of 30…FIRSTDOWN

113 Shotgun vs 4-2 Nickel, 3 receivers bunched on the right side, screen pass left to running back, gain of 7 yards…122 Ace vs 4-3, two receivers to the right, TEs on either side of the line, handoff through the 4-gap, gain of 1 yard…quick set-shotgun vs 4-2 Nickel, quarterback rushed, forced to throw ball low, pass incomplete…104 Shotgun vs 4-2 Nickel, Tankerlsey on the line of scrimmage, pass of the middle complete, gain of 4 yards…FIRSTDOWN

113 Ace vs 4-3, play action, fake reverse, pass complete to TE gain of 16…FIRSTDOWN

122 Ace vs 4-3, Boulware showing blitz on the right side, run through 5 hole, gain of 3 on the play…221 Ace vs 4-3, run through the A-gap, gain of 2…103 Ace vs 4-3, quarterback keeper, gain of 1 on the play…

On the next play, 4^th and Goal at the 1 yard line, Clemson jumps offside and causes a fumble, the play would be redone…

4^th & GL: 230 I Formation vs Goal line, 6 down defensive linemen, snap mishandled, loss of two yards… TURNOVER on DOWNS

Clemson ball, 6:46, Clem 2

122 Pistol vs 4-3, handoff to Gallman off LT, gain of two on the play…122 Pistol vs 4-2 Nickel, handoff to Gallman through 5 hole, gain of 2 yards…112 Pistol vs 4-2 Nickel, Watson play action bootleg, QB keeper, gain of 4…PUNT

Boston College ball, 5:07, Clem 49

Shotgun reverse around left side, gain of 5 on the play…212 I formation vs 4-3, handoff through the A-gap, gain of two on the play…113 Ace vs 4-3, WR motions to backfield, pitch right, pass from WR to the quarterback, gain of 4 on the play… FIRST DOWN

212 I Formation vs 4-3, play action, quarterback sacked, loss of three on the play…122 Singleback vs 4-2 Nickel, pass left incomplete broken up by Johnson…104 Shotgun vs 4-2 Nickel, pocket collapses, sacked by Wilkins, loss of 4 on the play…PUNT

Clemson ball, 1:49, Clem 12

104 Pistol vs 4-3, OLB and ILB covering slot receivers, Watson pass incomplete to Deon Cain…104 Shotgun vs 4-2 Nickel, pocket collapses, Watson pass incomplete to Fuller…113 Pistol vs 4-2 Nickel, draw run through the 4 hole, gain of 6… PUNT

Boston College ball, 1:19, BC 31

113 Shotgun vs 3-2 Dime, handoff run through the 5 hole, gain of 16…113 Shotgun vs 3-3, pass over the middle, gain of 12 on the play…104 Shotgun vs 4-2 Nickel, pass to right sideline, broken up…104 Shotgun vs 3-3, 3 WR bunched out to the right side, pocket collapses, pass thrown out of bounds…113 Shotgun vs 3-3, Spur to the right side, pass complete to the flats, gain of 10 on the play…FIRST DOWN

113 Shotgun vs 4-2 Nickel, QB rushes to the right, completely leveled by Boulware, fumble recovered by Dexter Lawrence III, flag on the play for targeting against Boulware, call was overturned, Clemson ball…TURNOVER (Fumble)

Boulware’s hit was sensational. It seemed as though all his aggression and frustration with how the BC offense was marching down the field. The hit was completely legal, he used his hands to hit the shoulder of the quarterback.

Clemson ball, :24, Clemson 24

122 Pistol vs 4-3, Watson pass incomplete to Leggett over the middle, flag on the play for PI…014 Shotgun vs 4-2 Nickel, Watson rolls out right, pass complete to McCloud for gain of 13…5 wide out vs 4-2, Watson pass complete to Cain, gain of 20…

Unfortunately, Cain did not get down in time to allow Clemson to call a timeout with :1 second left on the clock. Instead he tried to score and then realized what he was supposed to do, but it was too late. This ultimately costed Clemson a field goal; these mistakes cannot happen in the big games if they’re going to run the table like we saw in 2015.

Halftime