Wednesday September 05, 2007

The FSU Game Worksheet

The FSU Game Worksheet
Offensive Goals Made
Fewer than two turnovers- 1
Red Zone Scoring-80%- 100%
Fewer than 3 sacks per game- 2

Offensive Goals Missed
More than 150 yards rushing- 132
More than 4 yards per carry- 3.1
Red Zone-60% touchdowns- 50%
More than 27 points- 24
More than 225 yards passing- 160
More than 20 first downs- 16
Better than 60% pass completions percentage- 58%

Defensive Goals Made
Fewer than 125 yards rushing- 114
Fewer than 200 yards passing- 142
Fewer than 18 first downs- 8
More than 3 sacks per game- 5
Less than 55% pass completion percentage- 48%

Defensive Goals Missed
Fewer than 3.5 yards per carry-4.1
Fewer than 18 points- 18
More than two turnovers- 1
Red Zone-40% touchdowns- 67%
Red Zone Scoring-70%- 100%

Penalty yardage fewer than 50 per game- 46

Overall Report Analysis-Grades and Comments:
Offense-Rushing
Interior running game- I thought the Tigers ran the ball well with an inexperienced front going against a very talented defensive front. On his touchdown run James Davis made Andre Fluellen, Myron Rolle, Geno Hayes and Michael Ray Garvin miss him. Fluellen is an All-American candidate. Rolle is perhaps the top rated safety in the country. Hayes is an All-American candidate and Garvin is a track All-American. We saw James Davis line up as the fullback in the I-formation and he took a quick hitter for a good gain.

Perimeter running game- C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford got to the corner and made nice gains on the edge. Ford’s reverse was a key to getting the offense started. Spiller made several FSU defenders look silly on the perimeter.
Option game-N/A.
Draws- I would put the “Stallion” formation in the category of draws even though it is not a true draw or sprint draw. Spiller and Davis were very successful in this package. The motion package of Davis, Spiller and Ford and the Stallion formation will be awesome to watch this season.
Short yardage running game- The Tigers were four of five in converting short yardage situations. I think that is an excellent number.
Yards after contact- Ask FSU how they thought they tackled. One of the biggest keys to this offense Monday was the ability of the backs to get yards after the first contact. Davis’ touchdown run was a great example of that.

Offense-Passing
Pass protection- The Noles had only two sacks but they did get significant pressure on Harper at times. I thought this was a good effort against a highly thought of defense though.
Underneath passing game- I liked the game plan. I also liked the way they used Durrell Barry on the third down reception.
Intermediate passing game- Grisham and Kelly had some nice catches on the intermediate routes.
Vertical passing game- I thought the Tigers went vertical much more often than I would have believed. Brian Lithicum just outfought Roger Williams for the football on the first touchdown of the game. It was nice to see Aaron Kelly re-emerge as a weapon.
Screens- Kelly’s touchdown was the major factor in the screen game and he showed strength with his stiff arm. On the play he made Garvin and Jamie Robinson miss. Grisham also looked good on bhis screen reception.
Drops- I can remember only one drop in the contest.
Yards after catch- Obviously Kelly’s touchdown was the biggest deal here.
QB throws on time- There was a time or two where I thought Harper might have an issue here.

Offense-Overall
First down yardage- Clemson got at least 8 yards on 11 of its 29 first down attempts.
Third down conversion- This number needs to improve because 4-15 is not a great night. Penalties hurt this number.
Big Plays- Clemson had six plays of 15 or more yards including a 41-yard touchdown to Kelly and a 29-yard touchdown run by Davis.
Trick plays- N/A

Defense-Overall
Tackling- I thought Clemson tackled on the perimeter much better than FSU. Nick Watkins is a smart football player who excels in coverage and did a fantastic job in the passes in the flats and against the screens. He was the team’s leading tackler with 13 tackles.
First down yardage- The Tigers held FSU to four or less yards on 16 of their 23 first down attempts.
Third down conversion- FSU did not convert a third down in the first half and was just 3-17 on the night. This was a huge stat. The Clemson defense was able to get off of the field all night. They allowed only three drives of more than four plays from FSU.
Limit of Big Plays- The Noles had five plays of 15 or more yards.

Defense-Running game
Interior running game- Clemson shutdown the run with the exception of the 48-yarder by Smith. The participation chart tells us that Rashaad Jackson only played five snaps. Kevin Alexander played 20 snaps and Jamie Cumbie played 21.
Perimeter running game- Sapp, Merling, Cumbie, Alexander, Billie and Watkins contained FSU the entire night. Smith could not get to the edge as fast as Spiller and Ford could for the Tigers.
Option game- N/A
Draws- FSU ran a lot of draws but Clemson adjusted well.
Short yardage running game- At the beginning of the second quarter FSU had second and inches and lost yardage on the next two plays. Jarvis Jenkins was a big factor on the third down of that series.
Yards after contact- The Tigers did a wonderful job of getting FSU’s skill players to the ground and the yards after contact was not a bug factor.

Defense-Passing Game
Pressure- This was the biggest bright spot on defense. Clemson got pressure when they sent six, five, four and even three. It makes things easy when the front four can pressue without blitzing. Drew Weatherford lacked poise and composure as Merling, Sapp, Cumbie, Alexander, Billie and Watkins hammered him. I love the nickel package and loved DeAndre McDaniel coming off of the edge. The Tigers walked the Mike linebacker up to the middle of the line of scrimmage and sent Cortney Vincent and Antonio Clay.
Underneath passing game coverage- Watkins was the star here. He was fabulous in coverage and tackling. Also Scotty Cooper looked good pursuing the football.
Intermediate passing game coverage- FSU threw for only 142 yards all night because of the pressure and good coverage.
Vertical passing game coverage- Weatherford did not have time and the vertical passing game was non-existent.
Screens- This was the only option they had. Seven of their 17 completions went to the running backs.
Passes broken up- McDaniel had two break ups including one at the line of scrimmage and Antown Mucrhison had the other.
Open field tackling- Excellent. Grade A. Watkins shutdown any idea of big plays in the open field by tackling extremely well.

Special Teams
Kickoff returns- Spiller’s 52-yard return before halftime led to the field goal. I thought this was a big play in getting the momentum back.
Kick off coverage- Great job by Buchholz on the strength and direction of the kicks and great coverage. Give Chris Wade credit for a good open field tackle.

Punt return/block- 9.6 yards per return is very good. Spiller and Ford will be weapons here all year.

Punt coverage-Snap, protection, punt, coverage- Obviously this was the one area of concern. If the Tigers did not have the one bad snap and give up the punt block then FSU would have not had a chance.

Field Goals/extra points-snap, hold, protection, kick- It was nice to see this not being a factor in the FSU game this year as the Tigers were flawless.

Overall Team
Energy, Enthusiasm, Leadership- I think this was a big key. The stadium was electric and the defense provided more energy. Also the big plays on offense help. James Davis picked up the offense with his pep talk in the fourth quarter to show his leadership.

Coaching
Emotionally prepared- I thought the team was jacked up and ready to play.
Game plan- Great gameplan on bothsides of the ball. Offensively the Stallion formation was very effective. I liked the way the Tigers went vertical in the passing game. I liked the way they got the ball to Davis, Spiller and Ford. It did change when Austin and Pilgrim went down. Defensively it was a masterpiece. They mixed the zone and man coverages. I loved the way they brought the Mike linebacker right over the center. I love the nickel package with the pressure coming off of the edge. Brilliant game plan.
Adjustments- The offense had to adjust because of injuries and penalties.
Personnel- I thought the staff did a great job of using different personnel packages on both sides of the ball.
Time outs-This was not a factor.

Miscellaneous Notes:
*Ron Cherry delays game. Why does it take his crew so long to make a simple call. It seems they huddle and talk more than any crew. We should play all games officiated by Ron Cherry at 1:00 so the games can end by midnight.

*Field position was a key.

*After watching the tape I thought the offense did not play bad in the second half until the penalties piled up and stopped drives.

*The game was still 24-3 with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter when a few Clemson mistakes let the Noles back into the ball game.

*It was great to see Terry Allen, Jeff Davis, Billy Davis, Homer Jordan, Gaines Adams, Brenton Buckner, Andye McCrorey and other former Tiger greats back at the game.

864-834-6060

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency