Clemson vs Pitt Film Review: 1st Quarter

In a surprise to almost no one, Saturday was overall one of the most impressive performances Clemson delivered so far this season. Pitt is much better than Clemson made them look, and you almost have to feel bad for them taking what FSU deserved. Trevor Lawrence was brilliant in his return, the defense looked sharp and competent again with its best players healthy in the middle, and even the run game exceeded admittedly modest expectations against one of the best defensive fronts in the nation.

There were plenty of lulls in the second and third quarters, but rotating walk-ons heavily into the rotation early rather than sticking with the two-deep can make it hard to keep a mental edge - like when you see Will Swinney getting WR snaps in the first quarter. Save the walk-ons for garbage time in order to build the competent depth you’ll actually need throughout the year and beyond (in fairness, the wide receiver walk-ons may have been on this week’s two-deep). Regardless, Clemson found its edge again later in the third quarter before adding style points in the fourth, and Clemson’s first quarter was so dominant that national voters and writers were already checked out before Clemson sputtered in the second.

Here I’ll dive into a highlight-filled first quarter, though not explicitly each play as usual given the sheer length of the quarter and the lack of any lengthy drive charts to compile between quick Clemson scores and Pitt turnovers. DLG will cover the second quarter later this week along with anything he deems prudent in second half garbage time (little if anything other than gratuitous Lawrence highlights I would imagine).

Championship Phase has visibly been engaged. Venables threw at us yet another new wrinkle, with Trenton Simpson playing weakside DE and James Skalski the lone linebacker in a 4-1-6(ish) dime look to begin the game. Malcolm Greene provided a spark at nickel corner for the first time this year, and Joseph Charleston looked much better in place of the injured Zanders. A young team is at last showing true improvement with healthy veterans returning to the fold. This should be a very fun December.

Clemson scores in 3 plays on an RPO fade to Williams (with the obligatory bubble option to Rodgers underneath), highlight gif party commences.

Andrew Booth immediately gives us another jaw dropping play...

I won’t even pretend to tell you I know what coverage this was unless Booth was just freelancing.

Ok, for real, this would be like the 9th drive chart, and we’re not even halfway through the quarter. In a few plays Pickett throws another INT off a drop/deflection and Clemson is in striking distance again...

Dixon punches it in on the next play to close out the best, most comprehensive quarter I’ve seen since probably the entire second half against Bama in the 2018 title game. By far the best Clemson has looked on both sides all year. The much-maligned OL and Dixon closed the quarter with power we had yet to see. Powell has become a beast both in the air and after the catch; QT is vindicated. I can’t wait for that Notre Dame rematch at full strength, and might even come around to wanting a piece of Bama or OSU based on the trends we can take from this game...