Clemson vs Texas A&M: 3rd Quarter Film Review

By Metal Tiger Sep 12, 2018, 11:05am EDT

Coming out of the half, I was feeling confident that we could salt this game away. Maybe it was the bourbon, maybe it was the bourbon making me forget the botched snap on 4th and goal (that would have definitely broken A&M’s will). Whatever that feeling was, it was fleeting once the cracks in the defense started to show. Let’s take a look at the 3rd quarter and where things started to go awry.

Clemson opens the half after a touchback on the kickoff from the Aggies and Trevor Lawrence remains in at QB.

Opening Drive Clemson Ball on the 25, 14-3 Tigers

Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st and 10	11 personel vs Nickel	Zone read by TL to open the half against a C4 from A&M, Feaster bottled up for 1 yard	Both Simpson and Stewart get pushed backwards and the two DTs penetration kill the play
2nd and 9	11 personel vs Nickel	No idea since camera was off the play	ESPN cuts into a mild scrum on the ball in the backfield, the slow mo replay shows that TL was looking to the sideline when Falci rifles a snap past his head, thankfully Feaster tips it and avoids a major loss or turnover
3rd and 16	11 personel vs 335 Nickel	Rollout draw against a Sam Fire	Play goes nowhere as Anchrum lets the Sam blitzer across his face to make the play

After a decent Spiers punt but an even better return from A&M, the Aggies get the ball back in decent field position.

Texas A&M Ball, A&M 40 Yard Line, 14-3 Clemson, 13:05 To Go

Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st and 10	21 I formation vs 43 under	Sam Fire blitz, PA rollout and Mond drops a pass in behind Muse and in front of Terell, gain of 26	Muse gets caught with his eyes in the backfield and doesn't maintian a good depth allowing for the crosser to drop in behind him
1st and 10	21 I form, twins right vs 43 over	Motion the WR out of the twins, fake reverse, HB slam off LT against a C3 shell with Muse rolled into the box	Ferrell is immediately in the backfield, but the RB dodges, the fake reverse to the WR holds Muse just long enough for the RB to squirt upfield for 4
2nd and 6	11 Y-Trips vs 43 over	Zone read to the weakside of the offense against a C4 look from Clemson, gain of 4	Second time in 2 plays that BV has put the SAM way out wide in a nickelback look, Ferrell completely unblocked but gets too deep instead of scraping the line for a potential backside TFL
3rd and 2	21 I formation vs 43 over	HB slam of LT again, this time BV sends Wallace on a fire blitz off the edge	The DL clogs up the interior and frees up Wallace to clean up the RB from the edge, no gain, FIELD GOAL GOOD

The defense does a nice job to hold after giving up the long pass play to start the drive. But, the cracks with safety play are starting to show and will slowly begin to get worse and worse.

A&M kicks it deep and Cornell Powell brings it out from about 4 yards deep, only to get rocked at the 15 yard line. Not a smart choice. TL remains in the game at QB.

Clemson Ball, Clemson 15 Yard Line, 14-6 Clemson, 10:33 To Go

Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st and 10	11 Y-Trips vs 425 Okie	Stick routes vs a C3 with a boundary corner blitz, incomplete to Richard	Lawrence saw the blitz initially but clutched on the throw to Higgins on the hot read, instead of placing the ball where the FS could level Higgins, peels off to a mostly covered Richard, essentially a throw away
2nd and 10	11 Y-Trips vs 425 Okie	A&M continues to blitz from the secondary, sending a NB off the edge, Clemson wants a screen to the right with ETN	With the line sliding to the right to set up for the screen and a free rusher from the left, TL is forced to dump the ball early, allowing for an easy read and react for the D while the OL cant set their blocks, DE looked way offisdes on the bottom of the screen
3rd and 10	10 2x2 WRs vs 425 Okie	NB fire once again this time with a MLB bullet blitz with the NG playing a hook zone, it appeared to be a sail concept, pass complete on scramble drill just short of the sticks to Renfrow	Stewart doesn't the the MLB standing in B gap, instead doubles the DE with Anchrum, ETN is forced to cut the MLB down, thus giving the NB another free run at TL and forcing the scramble drill just short of the sticks

AM Q3D3

Will Spiers hits a decent punt to the 25 of A&M, but the coverage unit is slow to get down the field and A&M gets the ball up to the 40 yard line.

Texas A&M Ball, A&M 40 Yard Line, 14-6 Clemson, 9:04 To Go

Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st and 10	22 personel vs 43 over	PA deep post, Jimbo looking for us to sell out against run formation, we don't bust the C4, incomplete	Great job by Muse and Terrell here to cover the deep post
2nd and 10	12 personel vs 43 under	PA RB slip screen versus a Sam fire, big gain of 16 here, could have been more though	The DL fires off well and Big Dexy and Clelin are almost to end this play before it starts, unfortunately Mond gets it over them and now Williams has 3 OL and a lot of grass in front of him, Joseph sifts through downfield for the stop
1st and 10	12 personel vs 43 under	Bunch right with the two TE and a WR, OZ to the left against a Sam fire C2	Ferrell does a great job setting the edge, but Huggins over runs/gets washed past Ferrels edge set, thankfully Simmons runs it down from behind and Lamar slips in to assist
2nd and 8	12 personel vs 43 over	Bunch with the TE and WR again, PA roll to the right and we send Joseph on a Will fire from the right with a C3 over the top, Mond rolls and is forced to throw it away	Great job again by Muse and Terrell to first take away the WR on the slip route short (Muse) and take away the curl (Terrell) forcing Mond to toss it away
3rd and 8	11 personel vs Nickel	Dual LB bullet with Joseph peeling to the RB on the wheel, C2 shell with Clelin in a hook zone, PA crossers don't get open but Mond scrambles for the 1st but catches a cramp post play	Bryant came on a twist from LDE and gets caught in the same gap as Huggins, Lamar has a bead on Mond initially but Mond just shows his atleticism with a shimmy and a burst to the edge
1st and 10	11 personel vs 43 over	Starkel now in, and instead of playing it safe, Jimbo dials up a PA pass, Clelin slips through unseen, forces the fumble with Foster snags midair	Jimbo testing our guys with the backup to see if were thinking run the whole way backfires in a major way, great job to keep points off the board here

After Jimbo’s gamble to test our discipline doesn’t pay off, the Tigers take back over on offense with Kelly Bryant at the helm.

Clemson Ball, Clemson 30 Yard Line, 14-6 Clemson, 6:28 To Go

Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st and 10	11 personel vs Nickel	Wing and RB left, Rodgers in motion to the left on a jet action, PA deep shot to Higgins against a soft C2 big gain of 50	Higgins blows by the CB and KB lofts a ball deep to Higgins?.I didn't see a push off?(totally did though, better watch that moving forward Tee)
1st and 10	11 personel vs Nickel	QB lead ISO off of RT which is the same side A&M sends the NB on a blitz from, gain of 7	Richard blows 0/2 possible people on this play, ETN gets enough of the NB on the blitz to spring KB for 7, if Richard takes either the DE or the NB, it's 6
2nd and 3	11 personel vs Nickel	IZ off of the LT right under where the boundary corner came on a blitz for a gain of 5	If the boundary corner had played this better, he nails ETN for a loss, got too deep and ETN slipped underneath the blitz for the gain
1st and 10	12 personel vs Goal Line	A&M leaves the Nickel team in, but puts them in short coverage in a goalline look, it's a PA slant that KB drops in to Overton for 6	Absolutely beautiful play here by KB to drop this puppy in there and give the Tigers a solid lead

After BT Potter finally does not get a touchback or fair catch on a kickoff, A&M will take our solid lead and put the score back in jeopardy in just 2 plays. 2 plays. This is where the safety play goes from hot and hold to just lousy.

Texas A&M Ball, A&M 22 Yard Line, 21-6 Clemson, 4:52 To Go

Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st and 10	11 Personel vs 43 Over	PA sail against a C1 look from Clemson, Wallace busts and it's a big gain of 68	Wallace and Johnson both suck up on the PA, Johnson was the deep help and Wallace had the man who ran free. This is the beginning of the end on D, good hustle by Wallace to at least force another play
1st and Goal	11 personel vs Goal Line	Clemson keeps the 43 in and plays hooks all over with a 3 man rush, Mond breaks the pocket and lofts a chancy ball to the EZ but its caught for 6	Denzel Johnson has a bad drive here, as in my opinion, he should have had better depth in the EZ, but he sits on the goal line and the WR tracks all the way across the formation and Wallace can't get enough of the ball to make it incomplete

Well, that was less than ideal....Thankfully, KB and the Tiger offense would deliver a nice response on the following drive.

Clemson Ball, Clemson 25 Yard Line, 21-13 Clemson, 4:22 To Go

Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st and 10	11 Personel vs Nickel	Y Trips right, PA power boot right, against C2, Kelly lofts a nice ball to Renfrow for 40	KB taking multiple deep shots in a close game and connecting? Yes please, great concentration by Renfrow
1st and 10	11 Personel vs Nickel	Y Quads right (3 WR and 1 TE), Zone read lead for KB, Richard gets enough of the edge to make a seam, gain of 10	If it's not for the wet turf, KB gets more here, Richard finally shows a pulse
1st and 10	11 Personel vs Nickel	RB bucksweep right then pitches to Renfrow who then throws to KB!! Incomplete and a silly play	You're moving the ball with your regular stuff right now, don't get too cute.
2nd and 10	11 Personel vs Nickel	Sprint out to the left which hits Rodgers short of the coverage for 7	Picking up 7 yards on a simple and easy read is always nice, good velocity on this ball, KB needs to be put on the move more with half field reads
3rd and 3	11 Personel vs Nickel	C1 LB bullets from A&M against a corner flat combo from Clemson, Renfrow open in the slot and then he jukes the soul out of an A&M defender, gain of 8 and first and goal at the 8 now	Renfrow just doing Renfrow things
1st and goal	11 Personel vs Nickel	Inside zone stuffed up for 2	Richard back to doing Richard things (not blocking)
2nd and goal	11 Personel vs Nickel	Shovel pass to ETN off of a rollout right look, gains 5 to the 1	Beautiful call here, if only Anchrum seals the LB, it's 6
3rd and goal	11 Personel vs Nickel	We have Y-Trips to the right, bring Rodgers in short motion who cracks the OLB, Richard gets enough of the edge and it's TOUCHDOWN TIGERS	Great playcall again here, love the crack by Rodgers to start the edge and Richard does just enough to get him in

Here’s a GIF of Hunter taking a man’s soul via his ankles.

Great response here by the Tigers to make it a two score game again, I’m really liking that KB is at least pushing the ball down the field in a tight game. He needs to trust WRU more, but ball placement and timing will still be concerns moving forward, especially with his lack of arm strength.

Texas A&M Ball, A&M 25 Yard Line, 28-13 Clemson, 1:01 To Go

Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down and Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st and 10	11 Twin WR Right vs 43 Over	Fake dual OLB fire from BV, Simmons playing in the slot like a Nickel roll, bail out of the late blitz look to play a base C3, XT whips the RT but Mond flips it to the flat to the RB who is open, gain of 6	Mond finds the open guy against the C3, Muse is able to come up and make a play in space, XT shows why he was a 5*
2nd and 6	11 Y-Trips vs 43 Over	IZ give to Williams who finds a crease off the RT and TE combo of XT and Joseph, gain of 7	Both XT and Joseph got pinned inside after following the OL zone blocking towards the right of the D, Williams immediately hit the crease and Shaq Smith scraps back over to make the stop

END OF THE QUARTER

The quarter ends with A&M yet again picking up steam and driving against a Clemson D that is losing steam, but to this point, KB has been able to lead the Clemson offense to provide answers. But that will all change in Quarter #4.....