Clemson vs NC State First Quarter Film Review

Are we having fun yet

By Alex Craft@NotAlexCraft Nov 11, 2019, 9:05am EST

Another Doeren beatdown. There were few surprises this weekend in Raleigh unless you, like I, expected and wanted more than the 45 point difference we found after a nearly flawless performance found the Tigers up 42 at the half. I would say it couldn’t happen to a more deserving fella, but watching Doeren’s defense fall deeper into his ill-equipped bench than is fair or humane made me feel what must be as close to empathy as I can muster for the man; before his offense provided the derisive humor to put me back in the proper CHAMPIONSHIP PHASE frame of mind. Clemson did little more to embarrass NC State than State was already doing to themselves, but clutch thy pearls if you’re upset Clemson managed 13 second half points with its 3rd & 4th stringers if you can’t clutch trophies.

Clemson opening drive

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 pistol vs 3-3-5	PA boot vs cover 3 double LB bullets, Lawrence finds Higgins on the drag for 11	It took exactly one play for a Doeren defender to get away with a late hit out of bounds.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	IZ to Etienne gains 3	State as ever stacks the box with shallow safeties but compensates with soft corners (shallow safeties and deep corners equal about the same distance from the line). All 3 linebackers crashed.
2nd & 7	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	PA skinny post to Higgins vs soft cover 3 gains 15	State is aggressive everywhere but in the back end and these throwing lanes will be wide open if linebackers keep crashing.
1st & 10	12 shotgun vs 3-3-5	OZ to Etienne gains 4	DAVIS ALLEN OWNED THE EDGE, HELLO QUALITY TE PLAY.
2nd & 6	12 shotgun vs 3-3-5	PA deep corner to Ross vs inverted cover 2, gain of 20	Inverted cover 2 is weak downfield along the sideline because it asks a corner to play inside leverage like a safety would, but if I'm not mistaken this corner is a safety due to injury. Mismatch upon mismatches.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Power toss sweep to Etienne gains 8	Ross PANCAKED a fool but Etienne was tripped up as he rounded the corner.
2nd & 2	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Tunnel screen to Ross gets the edge for 12	Remember his sophomore slump? In consecutive plays Ross has sent a defender running in circles trying to cover, thrown a dude to the ground blcoking, and juked the leverage out of an edge defender as a ball carrier.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Power handoff was called but Lawrence tries to check out to Ross, pulls it, and tucks on a low key busted play. Still found 7 yards.	Tough to blame Lawrence for wanting the quick pass with defenders 10 yards off receivers outside. The run lane looked like a possible TD for Etienne though...
2nd & 3	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	ZR keeper gets to the edge for a touchdown	Lawrence lowered the boom into the endzone and you knew the game was over right then.

NC State opening drive

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	12 pistol vs 4-3	IZ stuffed for a loss of 1	Foster got inside his zone blocker and Skalski filled cleanly.
2nd & 11	10 shotgun vs 4-3	Tunnel screen vs soft cover 4, Kendrick came inside the blockers for the stop	State blocked this well aside from leaving Kendrick in favor of doubling Smith, could've been a big gain.
3rd & 6	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5 nickel	Deep comeback vs cover 6 fire zone, underthrown incomplete	Interesting cover 6 look (Kendrick and Muse took deep quarters, Turner the opposite deep half) in front of typical Venables havoc pressure.

Clemson ball, 9:09, Clemson 7, 7-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Bucksweep ZR keeper gets 30 off the edge	Easy read and easy yards.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	PA, green dog blitz flushes Lawrence into a throwaway	First win for NCSU on the night on a per pay basis.
2nd & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Rollout curl to Ross complete vs soft cover 4 gains 11	Ross bullying kids after the catch again.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	IZ to Etienne gains 11	Simpson took part in 2 separate double teams and pancaked the nose to clear the lane.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	PA, deep go to Higgins broken up/dropped in the endzone	Perfect throw by Lawrence against the preferred coverage, in slow mo you can see the DB got a hand in Higgins' face just when the ball arrived.
2nd & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Quick out to Ngata vs soft cover 3 gains 9	Looks like last year where Lawrence took all the out routes he wanted...
3rd & 1	12 shotgun vs 3-3-5	ZR dive to Dixon gains 2	That's the third or fourth time we've seen multiple TE sets in this quarter...with options beyond Chalk we're seeing Clemson enter its final form.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	OZ to Dixon strung out for a loss of 1	Dixon was bounced out and strung out when Cerenka hopped off the double too soon and Anchrum was left reaching inside.
2nd & 11	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Dropback vs Tampa 2, Lawrence steps up and tucks for 7	You can see just how shorthanded State is in the conservative zones they call, they attack the line of scrimmage up front but give up anything and everything beyond it. So much cushion that Lawrence found a surprising amount of yards against a zone defense.
Holding, 3rd & 14	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Deep go to Higgins wide open vs coverage bust	This is poor cornerback play regardless of coverage; he either busted man thinking he had help over the top, or busted cover 3, again thinking he had help when he didn't. State is a zone team but the rest of the defense appears to be in man cover 1 behind a 6 man rush.

State fumbles a zone read mesh 2 plays later and Clemson takes over deep in State territory; in 2 more plays Etienne took a shovel option pass into the endzone...and after 2 holding penalties on the ensuing drive, State drops the ball again.