Clemson vs Wake Forest Film Review: 2nd Quarter

By Alex Craft@NotAlexCraft Sep 16, 2020, 6:05am EDT

Welcome back to film review for Trevor’s dominant quarter. I’ll continue through the 3rd quarter in another article until the starters (meaning Lawrence and Etienne) are pulled. This may change throughout the year as reserves are pushed into starting roles due to COVID or other injury. But for now, review will focus on the primary contributors.

Clemson ball, 15:00, Clemson 35, 14-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
2nd & 1	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Jet motion, backside TE screen sniffed out and tipped incomplete by Basham.	Good idea, one to bookmark.
3rd & 1	12 shotgun vs 4-3	ZR counter keeper gains 2.	Lawrence playing with fire, kept the ball in the face of a blitz and had to really round the corner to convert.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Counter to Rencher gains 8.	Galloway with the key block to seal a lane.
2nd & 2	11 shotgun vs 4-3	IZ dive to Rencher gains 3.	Brockhorst was blown backward into Rencher, who did well to regain momentum and get the 1st.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Dropback vs cover 4 Mike blitz, Lawrence stands in and throws a perfect corner route to Galloway, gain of 19.	Another elite throw, beneath the cornerback but well beyond the linebacker underneath.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Counter to Etienne gains 3.	McFadden missed a seal block at the second level and Etienne had to go laterally, safety flew the alley and tackled extremely well.
2nd & 12	12 shotgun vs 4-3	Counter to Etienne blown up, loss of 3.	Putnam beaten badly by the 1 tech, easy penetration allowed.
3rd & 15	11 shotgun vs dime	Out route complete to Ngata between soft cover 4, gain of 13. Potter converts the long field goal.	Ngata shows why he won the boundary job here, good timing on his cut, jump, and quickness to protect his frame while securing the catch.

Wake ball, 10:54, Wake 25, 17-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Dropback vs pure cover 3, deep underthrown deep fade vs Sheridan Jones is dropped.	Davis found early penetration and forced a heave, should've been complete though.
2nd & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	RPO, MYLES MURPHY SIGHTING, sack for a loss of 2.	Murphy getting early snaps at weak side DE. Wake said let's block this freshman with a tight end -- the OL was run blocking toward the strong side but when Hartman kept, Murphy had a mismatch.
3rd & 12	11 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Dropback vs pure cover 2, deep curl complete for a gain of 11, punt.	Bresee is your starting 0 tech in the 3 man front. He whipped all the way around the line on a stunt and almost got home. Sublime.

Clemson ball, 9:17, Clemson 41, 17-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	12 shotgun vs 4-3	Cover 3 corner blitz, Lawrence steps up and throws a crossing route to Galloway, shoved out of bounds in mid air, incomplete.	I'd like to see Ngata cut a hot route when his corner blitzes, or the chemistry to let Trevor knows he's gonna run past the safety trying to cover him deep in that situation.
2nd & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Flare screen to Etienne 13.	Great blocks by Rodgers and Powell both to give Etienne the corner and inside cutback respectively.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	ZR dive to Etienne gains 6.	Etienne had to break the unblocked defender's tackle, did so at the line of scrimmage and then cut upfield for tough yards.
2nd & 4	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Bucksweep to Bowman loses 3.	Allen was beaten on the edge and never recovered, Bowman didn't have a chance.
3rd & 7	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Dropback vs cover 2, Ladson is open on the corner route between zones Lawrence throws behind him, Ladson couldn't adjust in time, incomplete.	Ladson could've had this but Trevor didn't make it easy for him.

Wake ball, 7:15, Wake 20, 17-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	ZR vs overlap double linebacker bullets, Venables and Spector combine for TFL.	Here come the fun blitzes.
2nd & 12	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Dropback vs Mike/Sam blitz, quick out complete for 11 in front of cover 3.	Good tackle by Sheridan Jones and Spector to prevent a 1st.
3rd & 2	11 ace vs 4-3	QB sneak gains 2.	Whatever.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Cover 3 fire zone! Pressure forces an errant throw.	Venables has really cranked it up this quarter and letting his new linebackers have some fun. Jones and Venables came on bullets while Henry dropped into the boundary flat. Hartman threw a prayer up to Greene before being hit, but out of bounds.
2nd & 10	10 shotgun vs 4-3	ZR keeper, tunnel screen option pass hit for a loss of 1.	Zanders and Jones Jr. were all over it the option element, but Hartman blew this up himself by misreading the dive.
3rd & 11	10 shotgun vs 3-3-5	Inside linebacker bullets in front of man cover 2, Booth beaten after a jam attempt once again, deep go route wide open but dropped.	Booth again with another learning moment. He's consistently let people past him primarily by almost sitting in flat coverage or losing after a jam. I sitll think he'll be just fine, chalk it up to inexperience and jitters.

Clemson ball, 5:22, Clemson 9, 17-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun (trips right) vs 4-3	Power option keeper gains 3.	Correct read to keep but I don't really like running Lawrence up the middle in the opener...
2nd & 7	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Slant to Rodgers!! Automatic yards after the catch, gain of 13.	So simple, this needs to be a staple. Rodgers is due for a huge year, he brings an element we've never had in the slot (all due respect Mr. Renfrow).
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Quick drop vs Tampa 2, another slant! Ladson is wide open between the flat and hook zones, easy 20 yards.	Call me crazy for getting excited over slants, but everything we wanted to see in self-scouting offensively is unfolding before us.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs nickel	OZ to Etienne gets around the corner but slips on a cutback, gain of 1.	Wake's front has been better than expected, or the new offensive line hasn't been as solid in run blocking as many seemed to expect. Wake's safeties have been great in support as well, particularly in tripping Travis up instead of lining up to be run over like we're used to.
2nd & 9	11 shotgun vs nickel	Spacing concept (everyone runs a quick curl basically) against cover 4, Spector sits in a hole and turns upfield for an easy 17 yards.	Does Tony Elliott read STS? It's like he's calling up literal fan service here.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	IZ dive escapes a corner blitz in the backfield gains 6 tough yards.	It's felt like Wake has mostly held Etienne in check yet he still has a quiet 100 yards. McFadden with two crucial blocks to free enough space for Travis.
2nd & 4	11 shotgun vs nickel	Man cover 2, clean pocket, Lawrence finds a sliding Ngata on a deep out, gain of 15.	Put me on Ngata's hype train as well, he looks the smoothest and most polished of the outside receivers. Reliable hands, strong frame, large catch radius.
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	Power handoff to Rencher gains 3.	Putnam missed his block in the hole.
2nd & 7	11 shotgun vs 4-3	IZ dive to Pace stuffed, no gain.	Stewart whiffed, immediately climbed to block the Mike but let him run right past.
3rd & 7	11 shotgun (WR trips left, Chalk on the line on the boundary side) vs 4-3	Corner route to Chalk in the endzone vs busted cover 4, wide open, great catch to boot.	Victimized the corner here with play design. The corner stayed near the flat since there was no one else to cover Pace running his route into the flat. Chalk got past the Will's hook zone and the boundary safety was too far inside, the corner too far underneath to cover his deep quarter. Very well done.

Play design and execution. A no-win situation for the corner, Clemson preyed on the expected cover 4 call. The flats are exposed in cover 4, so Clemson sent Pace there out of the backfield. The corner couldn’t carry Chalk upfield as assigned with Pace unmarked underneath, and the corner was wide open. That the now 3rd string TE made an athletic catch is just icing.

Wake ball, 1:21, Wake 25, 24-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs 4-3	IZ stuffed for a loss of 2.	Davis knocks the guard backward and redirects the run right into Murphy, who again was only blocked by a tight end.
2nd & 12	11 shotgun vs dime	Hartman flused by a Mike bullet, curl along the sideline incomplete against cover 4.	Hartman found an opening between cover 4 layers but just missed.
3rd & 12	11 shotgun vs dime	Quick bubble screen vs soft cover 4, gain of 7.	Lots of yards after contact tonight but Spector eventually made the stop in traffic.

Clemson ball, :49, Clemson 34, 24-0 Clemson lead

Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
Down & Distance	Formation	Play	Analysis
1st & 10	11 shotgun vs dime	Dropback vs cover 4, Lawrence sacked when he tries to step up.	Stewart couldn't hold his block, though Bockhorst basically set a pick on him there was nothing Stewart could do once the nose slid around behind Brockhorst.
2nd & 1	11 shotgun vs dime	Checkdown to Etienne vs cover 2, makes a cut and knives upfield for 25.	Etienne in space is beautiful. Wake was in cover 2 to try and defend the sideline, but with 3 linebackers/safeties covering the middle underneath they should've corralled Travis. He made all their pursuit angles wrong.
1st & 10	Hurry up	Spike to stop the clock.	Lawrence's final incompletion of the evening.
2nd & 10	11 shotgun vs dime	Flare out to Galloway is undefended, gain of 5, 6 seconds left.	Wake is all but conceding a long field goal attempt, now Dabo's intent on it.
3rd & 5	11 shotgun vs dime	Quick out to Galloway again, timeout. Potter nails the long field goal to end the half.	Wake has 3 safeties deep and everyone else underneath in a stronger effort to dissuade a quick throw, but the corner was so soft on Ngata that the flat was still there for an easy 7 yards.