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At this point I’m out of praise to give; not even special teams disasters can get in Clemson’s way for long.
14-0 and yet another blowout. That this is the expectation and the norm against everyone but Alabama is mind-numbing.
It wasn’t all sunshine in the 1st quarter, however. Notre Dame found pressure; special teams almost gave Notre Dame cheap scores (Clelin Ferrell’s strip sack immediately after a 30 yard punt, Derion Kendrick’s fumble somehow being overturned); the offense was still predictably feeling out the Irish defense.
Sorry I keep hitting y’all with the boring quarter every Monday morning. There isn’t much else to complain about.
ND ball, 15:00, 25
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
| 1st & 10 | 10 shotgun vs 4-3 | Outside zone to Williams cuts back for 11. | Huggins was sealed out from the backside, Lamar blitzed inside, and Joseph overran the play which allowed a big cutback lane. |
| False start, 1st & 15 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | Inside zone stopped by Huggins, fumbled but recovered by ND, loss of 1. | Huggins' swim move inside the guard was dirty, immediately in the backfield. |
| 2nd & 16 | 10 shotgun vs 4-3 | QB draw gains 4. | Decent call against an aggressive DL, Mullen came up quickly in run defense from his cover 4 coverage thanks to the Boykin's curl route. |
| 3rd & 10 | Empty shotgun vs 3-3-5 (Wallace at NB, Turner at SS) | Dropback vs inverted cover 2 (corners and Mike bail deep, safeties play hook zones), Book scrambles and finds a man at the marker but it's dropped, punt. | Book pulled Joseph out of flat coverage when he left the pocket, the drop was fortunate. |
Clemson ball, 12:57, Clemson 14
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
| 1st & 10 | 11 pistol vs 4-3 | Outside zone to Etienne gains 1. | Falcinelli got worked, couldn't wash the nose outside and let him split inside when Etienne arrived. |
| 2nd & 9 | Empty shotgun vs nickel | Double LB blitz man cover 0, Lawrence aviods the rush and throws incomplete. | Hyatt had to take the Will blitz up the B gap, DE came free off the edge and should've been a sack. |
| 3rd & 9 | 10 shotgun vs nickel | Fade to Higgins vs man cover 2, incomplete. | Correct read with the safety bust but Higgins' left hand was held. |
Spiers delivers another poor punt and the Irish take over at Clemson’s 49, but Ferrell forces and recovers a Book fumble on the next play.
Clemson ball, 12:00, Clemson 47
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
| 1st & 10 | 10 shotgun (double stacked) vs 4-3 | Tunnel screen to Higgins gains 8. | Williams sprung a block on Love and Higgins made pursuing linebackers overpursue. |
| 2nd & 2 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | Quick out to Rodgers vs soft cover 4 gains 6. | Good catch on a rare poor throw, it was high and inside, Rodgers bodied up for it. |
| 1st & 10 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | RPO handoff to Etienne gains 8. | Etienne made a DE miss in the hole and delivered a blow to the safety. |
| 2nd & 2 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | PA power bootleg vs man cover 1, thrown away. | Clemson wanted the deep wheel to Renfrow but it was bracketed. |
| 3rd & 2 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | Flare screen to Etienne away from the jet motion, gain of 7. | Excellent play design, the defense flowed away and then it was simply 2 blockers vs 1 linebacker. |
Clemson settles for a field goal 3 plays later.
ND ball, 8:35, ND 25, 3-0 Clemson lead
ND ball, 8:35, ND 25, 3-0 Clemson lead
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
| 1st & 10 | 12 pistol vs 4-3 | Power handoff to Williams gains nothing. | Mullen on the corner blitz made first contact. |
| 2nd & 10 | 11 pistol vs 4-3 | Zone read dive stopped for a loss of 1. | The entire defensive line met Williams from 4 different angles simultaneously. |
| 3rd & 11 | 10 shotgun vs dime | Double safety fire vs inside RB screen, Williams navigates traffic for 16 yards. | A middle screen vs a blitz is usually a good play call. Williams is ND's best player and it shows. |
ND gets PI on the next play, field goal drive. 7:13 on game clock, 31:30 into stream
ND on the Clemson 44
ND driving from the Clemson 44
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
| 1st & 10 | 12 shotgun vs 4-3 | Counter option pitch to Williams gains 7. | Counter motion pulled XT in, nobody on the edge. Lamar did well to reach Williams around the corner. |
| 2nd & 3 | 10 shotgun vs 4-3 | Slot out vs cover 3 corner blitz gains 11. | Lamar was pulled out of his hook zone chasing the running back, which Ferrell had in his flat coverage. |
| 1st & 10 | 10 shotgun vs 4-3 | Dropback vs cover 4 fire zone, Book scrambles up the middle for 10. | Davis needed to do a better job attacking the running back lead block, but the hole was only there but Joseph was worked out of his lane and Wilkins was held in his backside pursuit. |
| 1st & 10 | 10 shotgun vs 4-3 | Inside zone gains 4. | First time we've seen this DL moved off the ball in who knows how long. Wilkins was doubled and Huggins was sealed out. |
| 2nd & 6 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | Man safety blitz, Book scrambles and eventually throws it away. | Huggins with another QB pressure. |
| 3rd & 6 | 10 shotgun vs 4-3 | Tunnel screen vs cover 4, Muse stays shallow and is there for the stop, gain of 4. | Ferrell had unreal recognition and quickness to get back outside but this stop is all Muse reading and flying the alley. |
Clemson ball, 4:26, Clemson 13, 3-3 tie
Clemson ball, 4:26, Clemson 13, 3-3 tie
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
| 1st & 10 | 11 pistol vs 4-3 | Zone read keeper gains 4. | We know Lawrence has straight line speed but we saw some whiggle here. Gilman never brought him down either. |
| 2nd & 6 | 10 shotgun vs 4-3 | Corner route to Renfrow incomplete, hit right when the ball arrived. | Renfrow was open for a moment but this wasn't a smart throw. 3 defenders surrounded him. If the corner had peeled rather than sat on Rodgers' underneath route it would've been an easy interception. |
| 3rd & 6 | 10 shotgun vs nickel | Out route to Renfrow vs man cover 2 gains 10. | Renfrow matched up on a Will is a quickness mismatch, easy out route. |
| 1st & 10 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | Called counter to Etienne but Lawrence pulls and hits Rodgers on the tunnel screen vs soft coverage, easy 5 yards. | Would've preferred to see Lawrence not check out of our best run play but 5 yards on 1st is successful. |
| 2nd & 5 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | Counter to Etienne, bounced inside for no gain. | Here's an example of Etienne being impatient and not following his blocks. Richard had the final seal on the edge which would've sprung a big gain with only a corner to beat. |
| 3rd & 5 | 10 shotgun vs nickel | Man cover 1, everyone covered and Lawrence is flushed, eventually run out of bounds for a loss of 5. | Renfrow was double covered. They're learning. |
ND ball, 2:05, ND 32, 3-3 tie
ND ball, 2:05, ND 32, 3-3 tie
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down & Distance | Formation | Play | Analysis |
| 1st & 10 | 11 shotgun vs 4-3 | Power handoff to Williams gains 6. | Pinckney was stood up and Huggins sealed out. |
| 2nd & 4 | Empty shotgun vs 4-3 | Man cover 1 robber, Book is flushed and runs out of bounds for 2 yards. | Every receiver was bracketed and Joseph was effectively a spy; took a good angle to prevent a 1st. |
| 3rd & 2 | 12 shotgun vs 4-3 | Quick curl vs cover 3 gains 4. | Zone wasn't quite tight enough. |
| 1st & 10 | 12 shotgun vs 4-3 | Cover 4 fire zone, Ferrell is in the backfield immediately and gets the sack, loss of 4. | Mismatch, tight ends can't block Ferrell. |
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