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Why the Defense did not stand up to the pressure of Clemson...
Posted on 1/8/19 at 4:12 am
Posted on 1/8/19 at 4:12 am
There are several things that came together in tonight's "perfect storm" against Alabama.
Our defense has significant flaws and the Clemson staff did a fantastic job of focusing on them.
Clemson used the specific plays/concepts that several teams exposed over the last half of the season. They pulled specific overload plays that capitalized on lack of maturity, leadership, and communication at the LB and secondary levels. The plays/concepts attacked the same flaws over and over but from multiple directions so our lack of experience could not simply adjust to a specific "play" and our DC did not appear to understand what was happening to him.
Clem o-line packed in to protect the middle push and our lack of edge speed could not get around them. Packing in gave them the ability to take the Q effect out of play. Our choice to only rush 3 or 4 played into their plan.
We had to keep 7/8 in coverage in an attempt to hide back-end problems. The attacked our back-end weaknesses. DT at safety was busy attempting to do other peoples jobs and forgot to do his at times. He had done this often and they chose plays to take advantage of this tendency. OU and GA had both done the same earlier but Clemson did it better.
At LB, we had two WIL LB's playing all season but no Mike. Both 30 and 32 are better at scraping but when 30 tried to attack, he often attacked the wrong gap leaving a crease. The recruiting effort going after 3 players to fill one hole(Lee / To'oto'o / Dean) show that Saban knows there is an issue.
On the edge, we had only one player between two slots capable of setting the edge (33) but he does not have the quick twitch to both set the edge and speed rush. After injury to 47/24/4 we were left with young options with speed but lacking strength and experience to both set the edge and rush. Clemson used that knowledge to focus on stopping the inside rush.
An experience DC can hide flaws early but a good staff after 14 games of film can see the flaws and beat them. That happened tonight. Clemson coaches did a fantastic job of finding and hitting the Alabama flaws.
On the offense side, Clemson's Dline was good enough to pressure and allow them to move things in the back-end and keep Tua and our Wr's in check. We could run the ball but after a few "self-inflicted" issues, Locks and Tua were trying to hit quick rather than drive it down their throat. Then there was no longer enough time to drive it down their throat and catch up.
Dabo and company out coached Alabama from the end of the 1st qtr to the final play. The Clemson players played a fantastic game but their coaches made the right calls to set them up. Their D was good enough that our O could not overcome our flaws. When the Alabama D needed to step up and help, the horses were not there. Too many left for the NFL early or we watching from the sideline due to injury.
We have missed in recruiting at Mike LB for the last 4 years and it caught up with us tonight. The LB room is filled with WIL skill sets and no option to fill the Mike role.
Our defense has significant flaws and the Clemson staff did a fantastic job of focusing on them.
Clemson used the specific plays/concepts that several teams exposed over the last half of the season. They pulled specific overload plays that capitalized on lack of maturity, leadership, and communication at the LB and secondary levels. The plays/concepts attacked the same flaws over and over but from multiple directions so our lack of experience could not simply adjust to a specific "play" and our DC did not appear to understand what was happening to him.
Clem o-line packed in to protect the middle push and our lack of edge speed could not get around them. Packing in gave them the ability to take the Q effect out of play. Our choice to only rush 3 or 4 played into their plan.
We had to keep 7/8 in coverage in an attempt to hide back-end problems. The attacked our back-end weaknesses. DT at safety was busy attempting to do other peoples jobs and forgot to do his at times. He had done this often and they chose plays to take advantage of this tendency. OU and GA had both done the same earlier but Clemson did it better.
At LB, we had two WIL LB's playing all season but no Mike. Both 30 and 32 are better at scraping but when 30 tried to attack, he often attacked the wrong gap leaving a crease. The recruiting effort going after 3 players to fill one hole(Lee / To'oto'o / Dean) show that Saban knows there is an issue.
On the edge, we had only one player between two slots capable of setting the edge (33) but he does not have the quick twitch to both set the edge and speed rush. After injury to 47/24/4 we were left with young options with speed but lacking strength and experience to both set the edge and rush. Clemson used that knowledge to focus on stopping the inside rush.
An experience DC can hide flaws early but a good staff after 14 games of film can see the flaws and beat them. That happened tonight. Clemson coaches did a fantastic job of finding and hitting the Alabama flaws.
On the offense side, Clemson's Dline was good enough to pressure and allow them to move things in the back-end and keep Tua and our Wr's in check. We could run the ball but after a few "self-inflicted" issues, Locks and Tua were trying to hit quick rather than drive it down their throat. Then there was no longer enough time to drive it down their throat and catch up.
Dabo and company out coached Alabama from the end of the 1st qtr to the final play. The Clemson players played a fantastic game but their coaches made the right calls to set them up. Their D was good enough that our O could not overcome our flaws. When the Alabama D needed to step up and help, the horses were not there. Too many left for the NFL early or we watching from the sideline due to injury.
We have missed in recruiting at Mike LB for the last 4 years and it caught up with us tonight. The LB room is filled with WIL skill sets and no option to fill the Mike role.
3
Posted on 1/8/19 at 4:34 am to Tw1st3d
They had seasoned coordinators that are great coaches where we have guys that are primarily recruiting gurus. We got outcoached really bad. It was a blood bath.
Posted on 1/8/19 at 4:46 am to Tw1st3d
Love the post. Thanks for breaking it down.
2 novice questions: what is scraping? And is Kaho a Will too or could he develop into a Mike? TIA
2 novice questions: what is scraping? And is Kaho a Will too or could he develop into a Mike? TIA
Posted on 1/8/19 at 6:38 am to Tw1st3d
That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the game, except in a much more knowledgeable about X's and O's kind of way. The defenses were the difference in the game. Theirs was very good and Venables (sp?) called a great game. Ours has been pretty meh, and Tosh looked green last night.
We lost to a better team. But, it's not the end of the world. Barring another rash of injuries, I think the defense will be greatly improved next year, and the offense is returning a lot.
We lost to a better team. But, it's not the end of the world. Barring another rash of injuries, I think the defense will be greatly improved next year, and the offense is returning a lot.
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