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Clemson vs. Wake Forest Film Review: Second Quarter

By Dbbm
Wake Forest v Clemson Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images

Wake Forest Ball, WF 32, 15:00

Clemson 14, Demon Deacons 0

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
2nd and 3 20 vs. 4-2 QB dart + screen, Hinton keeps for couple of yards, hit almost immediately by Muse The safeties were pretty quick to fill against the run all day against a backup QB.
3rd and 1 11 vs. 4-3 under Inside zone handoff to Byrd, met by Ferrell and O'Daniel immediately at the line of scrimmage for no gain Van Smith was aligned over the slot, Venables has shown a lot of one high early in the game.

Punt

Clemson Ball, Clemson 20, 14:06

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
1st and 10 11 vs. 4-2 Wake's corners are giving up huge cushions, OL cut block, screen sniffed out by playside linebacker who almost drops Choice for a huge loss in the backfield, Choice shakes him off and gains five before being pushed out of bounds I'm not sure what exactly is off with the screens this year but it's been galling.
2nd and 5 11 trips vs. 4-2 Inside zone handoff, safety away from trips flies up in run support, good second level blocks from Falcinelli and Richard, Choice churns for a first down Hearn came out of his stance hesitantly and got beat once the end he was blocking saw where the play was going. At 6'5" 330 he's heavy for a tackle and tall for a guard.
1st and 10 10 vs. 4-1 Safety and linebacker blitz from WF, disguised cover three, inside zone handoff into a double A gap blitz, linebacker gets penetration but runs himself out of the play, Etienne bursts forward behind Josh Simpson Clemson didn't have six blockers to account for the safety blitizing late, if Wake Forest could tackle in space they probably would have turned this and the last first down into TFL's.
2nd and 4 11 vs. 4-2 Play action power, nickel blitz picked up by a pulling Simpson, Bryant steps up, follows blocks by Richards and Renfrow and gets tackled out of bounds Bryant has a tendency of getting locked into rushing when he feels early pressure
3rd and 1 11 trips vs. 4-2 Inside zone handoff, Morris clears a hole and Etienne is able to fall forward for a few yards Cameron Glenn, #2, did a fantastic job filling against the run. Wake has been showing quarters but mixing in cover three with Glenn dropping into the box all day.
1st and 10 10 vs. 4-1 Speed option, power read, tossed to Etienne, immediately met at the line of scrimmage by a trio of defenders Don't understand running the ball outside when you've got favorable numbers in the box and the Demon Deacons can't stop inside zone.

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
2nd and 9 11 trips vs. 4-2 Max protection, three verts, McCloud comes open on the comeback route on the far sideline, tackled immediately The cushions Wake's corners are giving up show how afraid they are of being beaten deep. Once McCloud makes his cut most corners aren't quick enough to recover.
3rd and 1 11 trips vs. 4-3 over MLB blitz, penetration between Falcinelli and Simpson, inside zone handoff, met instantly behind the line of scrimmage, Etienne can't fall forward for the first down Given how quickly Wake is attacking the run it's surprising Clemson hasn't called a play action or downfield RPO
4th and 1 12 vs. 4-3 under Safety walks into box, inside zone handoff, Etienne gains a couple of yards behind a wall of bodies The offensive line deserves a lot of credit for managing to keep an incredibly disruptive Demon Deacons front to only five TFL's on the day.
1st and 10 11 vs. 4-2 Cover four, immediate pressure off the edge (Richard's man, looks like Etienne was supposed to help), Hyatt gets entirely lost on an inside move, Bryant spins almost out of one tackle and keeps falling backwards before ultimately fumbling. At a certain point you have to go down or you get A) hit by someone with a long running start at a mostly stationary target B) stripped C) both or maybe D) lucky. Bryant's ability to scramble out of trouble is remarkable but this was an unforced error.

Fumble

Wake Forest Ball, WF 40, 10:05

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
1st and 10 11 vs. 4-2 Fifteen yard scramble brought back due to holding It's hard to keep gap control while stunting and either Lawrence or Huggins lost Hinton
1st and 20 11 vs. 4-2 Defense has trouble getting aligned and the slot is open, Joseph blitzes off the edge, fire zone coverage, sideline fade contested and incomplete Venables is bringing a lot of linebacker pressure off the edge, often shifting his 4-2 into a 5-1 look just before the snap or stunting into it post snap.
2nd and 20 Empty vs. 4-2 Three man rush, cover four, J.D. Davis follows the in route from the slot, opening up the in route from the outside receiver, pass falls incomplete Wilkins has been ruining the Demon Deacons right tackle's (#73) day
3rd and 20 10 trips bunch vs. DOD Four man rush, Simmons blitzes the edge, pressure up the middle but Hinton is able to find a gap to step up, trailed immediately by J.D. Davis, gang tackled after a ten yard gain Venables staying in zone left plenty of defenders to account for the quarterback, Hinton was never in any real danger of picking up a first down.
One of Venables’ favorite blitzes, this time from dime personnel with J.D. Davis and Isaiah Simmons aligned over the tackles

Punt

Clemson Ball, Clemson 20, 8:41

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
1st and 10 10 trips vs. 4-1 Inside zone RPO, hitch route to Overton complete against soft underneath coverage Given how aggressively WF has rolled their safeties into the box and how much of a cushion their corners are giving up plays like this should be stealing yardage.

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
2nd and 3 11 vs. 4-2 MLB blitz, inside zone handoff, two Demon Deacons wind up accounting for the same gap, Feaster makes one cut and is almost gone before being dragged down by the free safety Gain of sixteen, Wake Forest is selling out to stop runs at the line of scrimmage which leaves them vulnerable to big gains on the ground as well.
1st and 10 10 vs. 4-1 Inside zone read, handoff almost met in the backfield but Feaster cuts upfield for a gain of a few yards Bryant probably should have pulled it but a blitzing nickel was unblocked and I don't hate the decision to hand the ball off.
2nd and 7 11 vs. 4-2 Quick pass, double outs to the two receiver side, throw to Powell broken up on the sideline. Out routes are a good call against quarters defenses but require timing a lot of college offenses don't have.
3rd and 7 10 vs. 4-1 Four man zone blitz, Pollard gets beaten off the snap, Bryant is hit, hugged, looks sacked, keeps running, almost gets the first down and it's called back for holding The offensive line struggles with blitz pickup which isn't astonishing given how many players rotate through. We're up to two Kelly Bryant Yakety Sax scrambles this quarter alone.
3rd and 12 10 vs. 4-1 Three man rush, still immediate pressure up the middle after Hearn is beat, Bryant takes off scrambling again but is only able to get a handful of yards I'm not looking forward to NC State's front 7 at all

Punt

Wake Forest Ball, WF 4 (after a fantastic save by Powell), 6:07

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
1st and 10 11 vs. 4-2 Inside zone RPO, out route to the sideline complete against Mullen Mullen usually gets safety help but the inside zone threat took Mullen out of the play.
2nd and 1 10 trips vs. 4-2 Outside zone + bubble screen, nickel blitz, screen met by O'Daniel and Van Smith almost immediately. Blitzing the nickel was going to leave the screen open, good job by O'Daniel and Smith to keep it from being a big play.
1st and 10 11 vs. 4-2 Dropback pass, four verticals, incomplete, intended for Serigne Simmons had him locked up
2nd and 10 10 vs. 4-2 Dart read, Hinton pulls and is met in the backfield immediately, Ferrell makes Hinton slow down and Joseph gets the tackle. Dexter Lawrence eating two blockers left Joseph free to go make the tackle and Lawrence was still in a position to make the tackle if Joseph missed.
3rd and 10 10 bunch trips vs. 4-1 Offsides, defense
3rd and 5 11 vs. 4-2 Four man rush, cover one, Simmons serving as a robber/spy, fade route to the sideline knocked down by Mark Fields. Strong safeties also are known as rovers, monsters etc.

Punt

Clemson Ball, Clemson 40, 4:17

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
1st and 10 10 vs. 4-2 Inside zone read, gain of a couple after the nickel flies in to make the tackle Now the inability to threaten anyone with screens rears its head in the run game
2nd and 7 10 vs. 4-1 Dropback pass, snag concept, corner and snag covered, throw to the RB in the flats, Choice gains a few yards Bryant made his reads and let an open receiver get him some YAC
3rd and 4 10 vs. 4-1 Stick draw, Bryant makes the right read and has a lot of room but is dragged down after a tackle beats Falcinelli The QB draw has been deemphasized a lot since Watson left but it's nice to see the OC's have it in their back pocket for passing situations. Bad execution doesn't make this a bad playcall.
4th and 4 Punt vs. Punt return Will Spiers drops back, completes a comeback route to Powell who was lined up as a gunner. Did you know Will Speirs played quarterback in high school? Powell is making plays every time he can get on the field.
1st and 10 Can't tell, play was over before ESPN cut back from B roll Gain of three Going for it on fourth down from your own side of the field was aggressive and it's nice seeing the offense staying aggressive.
2nd and 7 10 vs. 4-1 Snag route to McCloud complete, immediately hit by a pair of defenders Wake is selling out to not get beat deep and as a result Bryant is dink and dunking his way down the field.
3rd and 4 11 vs. 4-2 OPI Sure everyone runs picks but Greenlee wasn't even pretending to be running a "rub route". That's going to be called every time.
3rd and 19 10 vs. 4-1 Three man rush, screen underneath to Feaster, follows a pair of lead blockers before being dragged down by pursuit Negative plays kill drives

Punt

Wake Forest Ball, WF 22, 0:59

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
1st and 10 11 vs. DOD Inside zone handoff, cutback is able to gain a dozen yards, dragged down by Mark Fields in the open field J.D. Davis overpursued but Clemson is clearly willing to give up yardage so long as they aren't scored on going into halftime.
1st and 10 Empty vs. DOD Problems getting lined up, four man rush, four verticals, sideline throw incomplete Hinton's lucky that throw into double coverage wasn't intercepted
2nd and 10 11 vs. 4-2 Five man rush, QB draw, met in the backfield but breaks a tackle, tracked down by Muse and wrestled out of bounds Gap control could come back to bite this defense
3rd and 2 11 trips vs. 4-3 under Six man rush, all in routes, quick pass to Dortch complete With the defensive backs focused on not getting burnt without safety help Dortch is near impossible to cover coming out of his break
1st and 10 Empty vs. 4-1 Five man rush, pressure off the edge, Hinton steps up in the middle before being dragged down by Austin Bryant Can we please just have someone spy Hinton
2nd and 7 11 vs. 4-2 Cover four, Bryant loses contain outside but nearly secures the sack, Hinton rolls out, throws to Dortch and hits him in the hands but incomplete O'Daniel had to come up to make sure Hinton didn't run, which left Smith without any help on Dortch.
3rd and 7 11 vs. 4-2 False start, offense
3rd and 12 10 trips bunch vs. DOD Four man rush, Hinton rolls out to the same sideline, draws multiple defenders before throwing downfield to Dortch. Either Simmons or Bryant has to keep contain

Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
Down & Distance Formation Play Anaylsis
1st and 10 10 trips vs. DOD Hail Mary, Hinton buys time before throwing a contested pass, knocked down in the back on the end zone We're lucky Dortch fell when he did, he could easily have ran his way into field goal range to end the half.

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