Fiesta Bowl Third Quarter Film Review: Clemson vs. Ohio State

Clemson Ball, Clemson 25, 15:00

1^st and 10, 11 vs. 4-2, jet sweep + power read, handoff good for a few yards… 2^nd and 8, empty vs. 4-1, quick hitch to Leggett… 3^rd and 4, 10 vs. 5-1, fade to Renfrow incomplete…

Bad perimeter blocking kept the first run from gaining much yardage. After that an incomplete pass on third down will always end a drive, not sure why Watson chose to go long.

Ohio State Ball, Ohio State 26, 13:43

1^st and 10, 11 vs. 4-3 under, C1 five man blitz, roll out and Barrett throws an out route… 2^nd and 2, 11 vs. 4-3 over, jet sweep fake, handoff power, there’s confusion lining up and Weber finds a crease before fumbling… FUMBLE

Clemson is in cover three and able to keep this play from becoming a big gain because Jadar Johnson is flat footed at the snap and comes uphill quickly to stop the run. The complete lack of fear of a big play in the passing game makes it hard for Ohio State to find creases for long runs. Great job stripping the ball by Kendall Joseph.

Clemson Ball, Ohio State 41, 13:13

1^st and 10, 10 trips vs. 4-2, PA, Williams open on the post route to the single receiver side…

Ohio State is playing cover one, meaning there’s little to no help in the deep outside thirds. Ohio State is betting they can take advantage of their excellent corners and leave Mike Williams 1 on 1. It’s not working well.

1^st and 10, 11 vs. 4-2, fake power read, counter away…

This is a counter to the variation of power read covered in a recent smartfootball article.

2^nd and 2, 11 vs. 4-2, fake jet sweep, zone read, Gallman gains a couple…

1^st and 10, 11 trips vs. 4-3, zone read + hitch, throw to Williams on the single receiver side… 2^nd and 2, 11 vs. 4-4, jet sweep + power read, handoff and Scott fights for a couple yards behind Gallman and Leggett lead blocks…

1^st and goal, 12 vs. 4-5, zone read keep shut down in the backfield… 2^nd and goal, 21 vs. 4-4, power handoff to Gallman shut down in the backfield, Milan Richards was too slow to the hole to block… 3^rd and goal, 11 vs. 4-3, roll out pass, Pollard is looking inside and misses his man, Watson sacked… FIELD GOAL NO GOOD

Clemson put together an impressive drive early on, particularly by isolation Mike Williams to the one receiver side and letting him go to work. Gallman is being used more as a lead blocker while Watson and jet sweep handoffs or fakes are setting up the majority of the running game. Missed blocks in the red zone keep the Tigers from scoring.

Ohio State Ball, Ohio State 20, 9:02

1^st and 10, 11 trips vs. 4-3 under, Dorian O’Daniel’s ability to play as quasi nickel corner underneath is allowing Clemson to stay in a run first defense versus 11 personnel, power read, Curtis Samuel’s makes Jadar Johnson miss… 2^nd and 4, 10 vs. 4-1, Smith and Boulware meet to tackle the flare route… 3^rd and 6, empty vs. DOD, C0 six man rush, Fields breaks up a pass…

When Clemson makes tackles reliably there’s not a lot of ways for Ohio State to move the ball, particularly when the secondary is sitting on underneath routes.

Clemson Ball, Clemson 41, 7:40

1^st and 10, 11 vs. 4-3 under, jet sweep, fake inside zone, flare route to RRM3…

It looks like this is be a run pass option where Watson and Gallman either run a zone read if the weak side linebacker covers RRM3 or RRM3 gets the ball on what is in essence a bubble screen.

1^st and 10, 10 vs. 4-2, PA QB power, jump pass to Gallman incomplete

This is a great way to potentially punish linebackers for coming up too quickly against the QB run game while keeping Gallman involved.

2^nd and 10, 11 vs. 4-2, jet sweep handoff run down to the outside… 3^rd and 7, 10 vs. 4-2, C1, five man rush gets to Watson… PUNT

Pollard is blocking the right guy and getting abused, while Hearn never slides over to account for #6 stunting into the B gap. While Clemson has shown some creative ways to punish teams for overcommitting to the run game an incomplete pass on first and ten puts the offense in a hole it can’t dig out of.

Ohio State Ball, Ohio State 12, 6:00

1^st and 10, 10 trips vs. 4-2, Barrett finds a crease on QB power, Joseph gets blown out of the hole…

1^st and 10, 11 vs. 4-3 under, jet sweep cut down by backside pursuit, Boulware and Ferrell set the edge several yards in the backfield… 2^nd and 13, 10 vs. 4-2, cover three, five man rush, go route open but overthrown… 3^rd and 13, 11 vs. 4-3 under, C0, Ferrell is able to beat his man looping around and sack Barrett… PUNT

Ohio State can’t afford to give up negative plays. The inability of Barrett to pass the ball reliably downfield combined with the need to move the ball downfield quickly have put the Buckeyes into a bind with no good solution.

Clemson Ball, Ohio State 40, 4:09

1^st and 10, 11 trips vs. 4-2, fake power read, QB counter, Ohio State is rolling a safety towards the trips side and no one is left to tackle Watson until he gains a first down…

1^st and 10, 11 vs. 4-2, zone read handoff, Crowder does a great job blocking to the second level and Gallman follows…

1^st and 10, 11 vs. 4-2, inside zone, Gallman makes a linebacker miss before being taken down by pursuit… 2^nd and 4, 11 vs. 4-3, inside zone handoff bounced outside, tackled for a short loss… 3^rd and 6, 11 trips vs. 4-3 under, fake power read, QB counter…

Ohio State has no answer for this play while it insists in rolling to the trips side, there’s just not a force defender there and Watson is too quick. A mix of misdirection and option principles combined with an OL running power and inside zone blocking schemes well is enough to move the ball downfield quickly. Forty yards, two minutes, no passes.

Ohio State Ball, Ohio State 35, 2:00

1^st and 10, 11 closed trips vs. 4-2, PA QB power, PI on Edmond…

1^st and 10, 11 trips vs. 4-2, five man rush, PI on Fields…

1^st and 10, 11 trips vs. 4-2, Boulware blitz, handoff to Weber on inside zone, O’Daniel misses outside, Van Smith run over… 2^nd and 2, 11 vs. 4-2, clean pocket, Barrett pass overthrown, tipped, lands in the lap of Tankersly…

Ohio State was driving before a poorly thrown pass and a little bad luck combined to even the turnover margin.

Clemson Ball, Clemson 19, 0:52

1^st and 10, 11 trips vs. 4-2, Guillermo can’t corral a linebacker, zone read handoff barely gets back to the line of scrimmage… 2^nd and 9, 11 trips vs. 4-2, zone read bootleg, Williams drops a badly underthrown pass in the flats… 3^rd and 9, 10 vs. 3-2, Watson run negated by a hold… END OF QUARTER