Troy Film Review: 2nd Quarter

If you felt sick to you stomach after the Auburn game, you probably wanted to just crawl into a hole watching Clemson struggle against Troy. The Tigers looked out of form, particularly on offense, and it has cost us a few spots in the AP Poll. Of course these early polls aren’t that important, but when “Best is the Standard,” we expect more than a six-point win over Troy.

Hopefully next week we will see a completely different team than we have the last few weeks; Deshaun’s press conference at least gives hope to the Clemson faithful that he is going to be back in form from now on. Either way let’s take a deep breath and look at how the boys played in the second quarter against Troy:

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 (quarter, quarter, half) = coverage scheme by the secondary. DIME OF DOOM = 3rd down 3-2-6 havoc formation. FCB = Wideside 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. 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 = TB/QB run, often FB/ H-B lead play to the D gap. TO = Triple Option. ZR = Zone read option play.

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 is listed as a 2 digit number where it is listed: # of RBs, # of TEs, # of WRs like 21, which is 2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR.

Feel free to follow along with your own review using Tigerray’s link.

Clemson ball, 15:00, Clemson 27

2^nd & 20, 5 wide out spread vs 4-2 nickel, Renfrow stalks db, zone coverage, Scott picks up 10 yards…10 pistol vs 4-2 nickel, zone coverage, Watson flushed out, loss of 2 yards, 2 flags; (holding) against Clemson and (12 men on the field) against Troy…10 pistol vs 4-3, 6 blitz, Man coverage, Watson rushed, throws interception, Troy ball at Clemson 26…TURNOVER

Watson and Mike Williams have a miscommunication on the option route, which was to be based on the technique which the DB was defending Williams.

Troy ball, 14:10, Clemson 26

1^st &10, 10 Shotgun vs 4-2 nickel, RB motions out right, Man coverage, pass deflected by Wilkins, intercepted by Williams…TURNOVER

This seemed to be the theme of the entire game: put the defense in a tough position and watch them win this game for us.

Clemson ball, 14:03, Clemson 37

1^st & 10, 21 Shotgun vs 4-3, Scott motions from left to right, pitch to Scott, lead-blocks from Gallman and Leggett, fumbles and recovers, gain of 7… 21 Shotgun vs 4-3, 2 LBs blitz, handoff through B Gap to Gallman, gain of 6…

1^st & 10, 11 Pistol vs 4-2, RG and RT pull off to the right, screen pass to Gallman, gain of 2…11 Shotgun vs 4-3, CB blitz, Watson roll-out, pass incomplete to McCloud…10 Shotgun vs 4-1 Dime, pass deflected off linemen, falls incomplete…PUNT

Troy ball, 12:41, Troy 20

1^st & 10, 21 Shotgun vs 4-3, PA QB keeper through the B gap, gain of 12 yards…

1^st & 10, 20 Shotgun vs 4-2 nickel, slot receiver motions left to right, handoff to RB through 4 hole, gain of 8 yards…10 Shotgun vs 4-3 nickel, quick slant pass, gain of 4 yards…

1^st & 10, 20 Shotgun vs 4-2 nickel, PA Z-Read, pass intercepted by Joseph…INTERCEPTION

After more sickening play, the defense yet again comes up with a stop, young guys seem to be stepping up when needed most.

Clemson Ball, 11:06, Clemson 46

1^st & 10, 10 Shotgun vs 4-3, 6-man rush, quick pass to McCloud, gain of 11…

1^st & 10, 10 Pistol vs 4-2 nickel, pass in flats to Fuller, Z, CB gets into backfield for loss of 1 yard…10 Shotgun vs 4-1 Dime, pass deflected by DL…10 Shotgun vs. 4-2 nickel, 6-man rush, Watson pass to Renfrow caught in end zone...TOUCHDOWN

Chris Madden

SCORE: Clemson-10, Troy-3

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Troy ball, 10:06, Troy 20

20 Shotgun vs 4-2, handoff through the A gap, Lawrence shoots gap, loss of 1 yard…10 Shotgun vs 4-3, off-tackle handoff, gain of 2 yards…10 Shotgun vs 4-3, pass complete over the middle, gain of 8 yards…32 ace vs 5-4 stack, motion handoff…TOUCHDOWN

After the touchdown a flag was thrown for unsportsmanlike conduct, resulting in a 15 yard penalty for the kickoff. The kick would end up going out of bounds giving Clemson great field position, but I’m sure you can guess what they did with it...

SCORE: Clemson-10, Troy-10

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Clemson ball, 7:52, Clemson 33

1^st & 10, 10 Shotgun vs 4-2 nickel, zone coverage, curl route from Scott, pass complete, gain of 17…

1^st & 10, 10 Shotgun vs 4-3, Man, quick out pass to Williams for gain of 12…

1^st & 10, 10 Shotgun vs 5-1, long streak pass to Cain, pass incomplete…20 Shotgun vs 4-3, misdirection, hand off to Fuller, gain of 5... 11 Shotgun vs 4-2 nickel, designed QB keeper, center releases, gain of 4…21 Shotgun vs 4-2, designed keeper, Watson stopped short…TURNOVER

Ideally, we had 2 realistic options in my opinion. 1^st kick the field goal!!! Greg is going to need all the practice he can get before we go to these big games and are going to need the 3 points. Option 2 is simple; use the Jumbo package and let Gallman run the ball behind Wilkins or Lawrence.

Troy ball, 5:58, Troy 27

20 Shotgun vs 4-2 nickel, RB motion right to left, pass complete over the middle for gain of 5…20 Shotgun vs 4-3, screen pass left gain of 7 yards…

1^st & 10, 10 Shotgun vs 4-2, 6-man blitz, streak route down left side, pass incomplete…20 shotgun vs 4-3 (FALSE START) …10 Shotgun vs slot receiver motion left to right, 4 man rush, quarterback rushed by Wilkins, intercepted by O’Daniel…INTERCEPTION

Clemson ball, 4:15, Troy 40

1^st & 10, 12 Shotgun vs 4-2, pass in flats to McCloud, gain of 20 yards…

1^st & 10, 21 Shotgun vs 4-3. 4 man rush, Watson flushed out of the pocket pass complete to Williams, (Play called back because Williams foot was out of bounds)… 10 Shotgun vs 4-2, Watson quick slant pass, blocked by DL…10 Shotgun vs 4-2, Fuller in motion from left to right, pass complete over the middle, gain of 5 yards…FIELD GOAL

SCORE: Clemson-13, Troy 10

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Troy ball, 2:45, Troy 25

13 ace vs 4-3, hand-off through A-gap, gain of 4 yards…22 Shotgun vs 4-3, PA QB keeper, swallowed up by Lawrence, loss of 1 yard… 10 shotgun vs 3-3, rushed 5, QB hurried by Lawrence, pass incomplete…PUNT

McCloud’s infamous punt return…One of the most selfish plays you will ever see is when a guy drops the ball early because he felt the need to celebrate prematurely. He couldn’t hold onto the ball for another half a yard? I thought Dabo was going to get onto him worse than he did Teasdale at the Orange Bowl. Long story short, Clemson doesn’t get the touch down, and Troy gets the ball at their 25; moral of the story, FINISH THE PLAY!!!

Troy ball, 1:38, Troy 20

1^st & 10, 10 Shotgun vs 3-2 Dime, receiver motions right to left, shovel pass, gain of 8 yards…shotgun vs 4-2, bubble screen pass completed for gain of 11 yards…

1^st & 10, 10 Shotgun vs 4-3, defense in Z coverage, pass to post route for 28-yard gain…

1^st & 10, 10 Shotgun Stack vs 3-4, attempted go route, pass thrown OB…10 Shotgun vs 4-2, run through A-gap, tackle made by Boulware, gain of 2 yards…10 Shotgun vs 4-3, quick snap, run through a-gap, loss of 1 yard…FIELD GOAL MISSED

Half Time SCORE: Clemson-13, Troy-10

We actually did two reviews of the second quarter film. If you haven’t had enough, check out dbbm’s breakdown here.