Clemson vs Texas A&M: 1st Quarter Film Review

I know I’m not alone in feeling less than pleased with yet another escape after failing to put yet another team away, particularly because of all the mistakes in the secondary. I left Kyle Field with the very real sense A&M fans were happier than Clemson fans (this wasn’t merely my own frustration framing my thoughts, it was my impression in countless conversations with very wonderful Aggies on my way out). I wanted to do a full 1st quarter review and then simply re-watch the rest of the game before detailing my thoughts in this column preceding the review, but believe it or not three hours in the IAH terminal were only enough to barely finish detailing the 1st quarter. I’ll have more detailed thoughts on the entire performance later in the week, for now, all impressions beyond this quarter are from a simple re-watch.

Fisher, as usual, will run plenty of misdirection and stretch constraints to try and create a few cutback lanes against a quick and aggressive Clemson front, but I think it’s unlikely A&M will find an approach which Clemson won’t eventually shut down unless Mond became Jameis Winston this offseason.

First I have to apologize for writing that sentence because it’s exactly what happened. Had you told me Clemson would allow 70 rushing yards but only win by 2, I’d have thought neither team hit double digits. Next we have to give A&M and Kellen Mond all the credit for his performance. Mond made Clemson pay for its blitzes from the beginning and the A&M offensive line largely “held” up against the 4 man rush after Mond made Clemson tone down its pressure packages, and from there the coverage issues in the back end were due to be exposed. The coverage busts were glaring and Clemson’s weakness was proven worse than most anyone feared, and when your only solid player at safety tips two picks into touchdowns (plus dropped two more interceptions) you know it can’t get much worse.

There’s an obvious lack of safety depth which won’t be fixed for another year or two in recruiting, but I’m not quite ready to panic on this secondary yet. Against any other quarterback on the schedule we would’ve seen twice as many sacks and a handful of interceptions. In addition to Mond’s amazing plays, it must be noted he and A&M also enjoyed some crazy luck on tipped passes, dropped interceptions, and countless missed holding calls to stay in and ultimately fight back in the game. If one of those tips is picked (or simply not caught) or one holding flag thrown (seriously, the only holding call was on the final 2 point try) it’s a different game. I’ll have serious fears if we haven’t seen tangible improvement before Ryan Finley and NC State come to town next month.

Additionally, I’m concerned with the screen game, the interior offensive line, and punting. A&M threw pressure up the middle all night (this plus awful center and guard play are why Clemson running backs got so few carries), which Clemson usually counters with wide receiver screens and the tight end routes over the middle. A&M knew this, and without any receiving threat at tight end A&M was able to send pressure while flying to the screens. Perimeter blocking outside of Tee Higgins once again left much to be desired, and when Trevor Lawrence entered the game A&M threw even more pressure up the middle to prevent him having the time to stretch the field. It’s why he was ineffective in his two 2nd half drives and why Bryant played the remainder of the game. Right now I think you’ll see teams try and handle Lawrence like this until Clemson gives him max protection, or hits a heavy dose of screens to make teams think twice about selling out to pressure him before he can pick them apart. I would think screens can be effective since Lawrence gets the ball out so much faster than Bryant.

Lastly, Kelly Bryant’s improvement cannot be overstated; 2017 Bryant probably doesn’t win this game. His 3rd down check and throw to Amari Rodgers (which you’ll see below) and his 2nd half scoring drives were real evidence he has truly upped his game like the staff said all summer. When Lawrence started the 2nd half I thought we might be witnessing the changing of the guard, but Bryant proved a better option against A&M’s middle pressure and he delivered the win. This may be unpopular given it’s an unbelievably unique position in which Clemson has found itself, but this QB rotation is working. Clemson has the best of both worlds with two QBs at the moment, and each made crucial plays which the other may not have made to ultimately win the game.

Jimbo Fisher of course also deserves a tip of the cap for bedeviling Clemson once again. He threw his formation strength to the the boundary frequently, he threw a bunch of empty sets with two tight ends to stress the defense before the ball was even snapped, and he had options all over the field for Mond no matter the pressure he faced. Thankfully we’ll have a full season of film before we face the Aggies again.

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We’ll pick up with the Aggies driving to begin the 2nd quarter.