Clemson vs. Wake Forest Film Review: 1st Quarter

By Alex Craft@NotAlexCraft Oct 9, 2017, 8:10am EDT

NCAA Football: Wake Forest at Clemson

Clemson ball, 15:00, Clemson 25

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	PA/RPO curl to Renfrow, gain of 11.	Breaking tendencies with a 1st down throw, more of this please.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Power option keeper up the middle, huge lane for Bryant, gain of 14.	Clemson always opens the game with scripted drives and it's marvelous to the see the pace at which they run after an initial first down.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Slant to McCloud vs soft cover 4, spins outside for a gain of 9.	Run action is keeping the linebackers from getting to the flat in cover 4 and the deep coverage is too soft, easy yardage.
2nd & 1	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Power handoff to Feaster, fights through the line and churns for a gain of 8.	Impressive power running from Feaster as usual.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Go route to Cain vs cover 3, Cain can't quite separate and drops a one-handed catch attempt in the end zone	Decent throw, could've been better placed if we're nitpicking; Cain couldn't go up for the ball.
2nd & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	QB lead draw vs cover 3 Mike bullet, Feaster blocks the Mike but Crowder couldn't hold his block on the DE, gain of 6.	Crowder disappointing again.
3rd & 4	11 shotgun vs nickel	Quick drop and release vs man cover 1 bullet, Cain is isolated and beats his man easily, 28 yard touchdown.	That's more like it.

Wake ball, 12:53, Wake 21, 7-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	21 shotgun vs 4-3	Triple option keeper, immediate penetration from Ferrell destroys the play but Hinton finds a way forward, loss of 1.	Ferrell's inside move is unfair.
2nd & 11	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Quick out vs cover 3 (Mike fire SDE drop) complete to the TE for a gain of 6.	More zone blitz trickery from Venables.
3rd & 5	01 shotgun vs 4-3	QB draw just barely escapes Lamar and Ferrell off opposite edges, Muse and Bryant plug the hole up the middle, gain of 3.	Excellent fill to prevent an escape up the middle.

Clemson ball, 11:25, Clemson 24, 7-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	PA handoff, inside tunnel screen to Renfrow hit for a loss of 1.	No chance, Richard was the only blocker for three defenders
2nd & 11	11 shotgun vs 4-3	ZR dive to Feaster who breaks a tackle at the line and churns for 9.	When your speed back is also a power back :)
3rd & 2	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Quick comeback route to Cain vs soft coverage complete, easy gain of 7.	So far Wake is taking the Louisville approach to defending Clemson which is not going to work...
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Bucksweep to Feaster corralled at the line, gain of 1.	Crowder was late on his pull and penetration slowed Feaster at the line.
2nd & 9	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Fake screen left, inside tunnel screen to Renfrow again and guess what, it's destroyed again.	Inside screens usually end up as tackles for defensive linemen. This is unkind to Renfrow.
3rd & 9	11 shotgun vs nickel	Dropback vs cover 3, no pressure, Bryant delivers a post to Renfrow between the two inside backers, beautiful, gain of 16.	It's the deep balls to Cain which the offense needs to truly be dynamic but when Bryant is hitting the intermediate throws like Watson, this is when defenses have real problems.
1st & 10	10 shotgun vs 4-3	Screen to Cain, Richard can't hold his block and Cain loses 2 yards of course.	I'm over it.
2nd & 12	11 shotgun vs 4-3	IZ to Etienne, ducks under a tackler at the line and bursts through for 17.	This dude is a freak. Imagine when he has a year or two in a college weight program under his belt.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Delayed counter to Choice, nifty running to avoid penetration and gain 5.	I had all but written off Choice in the preseason but he definitely has a role on this team.
2nd & 5	11 shotgun vs 4-3	RPO dig (the Mike Williams play) to Overton gains 19.	My favorite play in the book.

The RPO victimizes the free safety (#2) every time. If he crashes the run, there’s an easy throwing lane. If he sits in coverage, there should be a better chance for yardage on the ground.

Choice punches it in a couple of players later.

Wake ball, 6:11, Wake 30, 14-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	RPO slant works inside O'Daniel and slips past Smith, who bit on the run, nobody home, gain of 45.	O'Daniel played with outside leverage but this is on Smith; he flew the alley on the run fake.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	ZR dive, Carter blitzed from the boundary and makes an ankle tackle from behind, gain of 1.	With the boundary receiver aligned off right tackle, Carter was in prime position to shoot the edge.
2nd & 9	11 shotgun vs 4-3	ZR keeper completely destroyed by Bryant, loss of 4.	Yeah we really might have 4 1st rounders on this DL.
3rd & 13	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Dropback vs man cover 1 robber, corner route vs O'Daniel thrown incomplete, field goal missed.	The first of Wake's many deep shots thrown against O'Daniel, none of which were completed.

Clemson ball, 4:37, Clemson 20, 14-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	IZ to Feaster, no gain.	Solid hole initially, but Simpson missed his block.
2nd & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Dropback vs cover 4, nobody open and Bryant eventually throws it away.	Smart play with nobody open and no running lane.
3rd & 10	11 shotgun vs nickel	Deep in to Higgens complete with pressure in Bryant's face, absolute money throw and catch, gain of 20.	Throws like this have me more excited than the deep go's.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Power option keeper again gains 15 yard chunk up the middle.	Anchrum got a good seal and Simpson was able to lead block, but whiffed in the open field. Didn't matter to the play, but still not pretty from Simpson.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	PA rollout, nobody open, Bryant eventually chucks it to Higgins, out of bounds.	Worth a shot when you have Higgins 40 yards downfield.
2nd & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Delayed RPO to Feaster, big hole up the middle and again Feaster is free for 10.	Simpson mauled on this one!
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Tunnel screen to Rodgers gains 6!	Chase isn't the strongest blocker but at least sealed a lane along the sideline.
2nd & 4	11 shotgun vs 4-3	IZ to Feaster, stuffed for no gain.	Every lineman had a solid block except Simpson, who couldn't find the linebacker filling. Not a pretty series for Simpson unless he's engaged on a block from the snap.
3rd & 4	10 shotgun vs nickel	Quick out complete to Renfrow, gain of 4.	Of course.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	ZR keeper to Bryant strung out and forced out of bounds, loss of 1.	Ran out of real estate on the boundary side run.
2nd & 11	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Quick out to Chase tipped at the line, incomplete.	Would've been an easy 5 yards at minimum vs soft coverage.
3rd & 11	11 shotgun vs nickel	Checkdown to Feaster out of the backfield off target and incomplete.	Would've been a minimal gain anyway.

Field goal bounces off the post, no good. Wake runs a play before the quarter expires.