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September 3, 2013

Clemson rewind

A few points after watching the game:

  • I thought Langley's game was a mixed bag. He didn't allow Watkins to get alone behind him, but part of that was the cushion (by design) that he was giving.
  • Ramik Wilson got better at recognizing plays and what his assignments were as the game wore on. He got moved out of position the first few drives with men going in motion and the play action. Nothing terrible, but it bears watching.
  • The best example of that is the TD to Watson immediately after Gurley's long TD run. Wilson and Norman bit on the play action leaving Swann alone with a ten yard cusion on Watson. Swann's gotta make that tackle, but if Norman and Wilson are playing back, even a step, Boyd has to put some air on that ball instead of hitting Watson in stride.
  • Wilson looked really good on the blitzes.
  • I think I'm going to like Mike Thornton.
  • Offensively, Murray was off on the back shoulder pass. That was evident on the attempt to Bennett early that almost got picked. That had to have had some impact on the later goal line play calling.
  • WARNING, NITPICKING ABOUT THE OFFICIALS: Boyd got away with a grounding by throwing the ball out of bounds. Conley got a catch, but it was ruled an incomplete pass on that next drive. The pass interference against Matthews was a terrible, terrible call. Norman got pushed off on by Bryant later. There were several chop blocks called on Georgia but not called on Clemson. 
  • That 97 yard drive was beautiful. Hicks 37 yard run. Murray pass to Scott-Wesley for 11 yards. Murray run out of a collapsing pocket. 12 yard out pattern to Wooten. Murray throwing on the run to Wooten. Hick FB dive for a TD.
  • Giving credit where it is due: Venables made some very nice adjustments after Georgia just drove down the field for 97 yards. Georgia's next six drives netted 32 yards total. 
  • Most of that was just mixing up rushes and stunts. I don't think Georgia's line ever adjusted to that. Of course, that also led to Murray's INT inside the 20 later, as that guy had been on speed rush since the 2nd Q.
  • Which leads to the inevitable question, why didn't we throw to the TE a lot more (oh yeah, that INT was intended for Lynch)?
  • Yet, we managed to run block really well at times. Note: All of Gurley's big runs were with Hicks in to lead block.
  • Will Friend's group looked just as over matched on Monday night as they did on Saturday night.
  • I loved the big clanging balls call on the fake punt.
  • We only ran one play action bootleg play with all the blitzing. Why?
  • Was it me or was ABC's camera work really bad? Cutting away at bad times, missing key plays, weird angles.
Overall, we held Clemson to about the number of yards you'd expect. We didn't play nearly as competently as we'd hope on defense, but I still maintain most of what I saw was youthful mistakes and not out talented or poorly coached. 

Also, after re-watching the three plays that came before the botched FG attempt, I'm willing to give Bobo some slack, with the exception of the 3rd down call. There should have been a check down play if Clemson put all 11 in the box, which they did. Either some sort of pitch with Hicks and Hall seal blocking for Gurley or a play that slides Lynch out one way and Hicks/Hall/Gurley out the other.  Note I don't think we should have gone for it there. While I'd have been ok with going for it, I kicking the FG and tying the game there is a right call.

My final take away is that Murray played a very good game. He had an INT on a play that was very well called by Clemson. He was 20/29 with 333 yards passing. He was off on the back shoulder throws, but that is the only thing I can say was wrong with his game. If he completes 70% of his passes and throws for 4000 yards this season, he'll probably spend the second week in December in New York. 

This was a game Georgia lost because it made one mistake more. Giving Clemson that 16 yard field was the difference in the game. You have to give Clemson their due. They are a good football team. 
TD


4 comments:

gullyterrier . said...

Still Ugh. Are we always destined to come up short? It is frustrating.
Also what is up with signature games against UGA. WV wins and they are legit. BSU wins and they are legit. Clemson wins and the ACC is now legit.

Hey berto said...

What irritates the everloving crap out of me, is why other teams seem to come out in mid-season form despite youth and inexperience in key areas. Why can we not be the team that picks up where we left off? We can all point to the very valid reasons why, but its just maddening to see this happen to us every year, and it end up costing us down the line. There's a lot of season left to play, and as always its better to peak later, and I'm not trying to assign blame as much as I'm just wanting to say Dammit, this sucks that it always happens this way.

Bryan said...

The biggest part of my frustration is the fact that we're never able to get that "signature" win on the national stage. Whether it's West Virginia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl, the Alabama "funeral" in 2008, the USCe debacle in 2012, among others, we just can't seem to get over that hump and get the national respect and prestige that schools such as Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Meyer-era Florida, and Oklahoma receive. We're viewed pretty much nationally as the "Wisconsin of the SEC". In my short 29 years, I've seen Alabama win 4 titles, Florida win 3, LSU win 2, along with Auburn and Tennessee picking up titles as well. Is 11-2 and the Citrus Bowl the best we'll ever get?

Ginny said...

Meh, we are hardly the only team like that. The "ACC is legit" argument started with Clemson's signature win over LSU. Louisville got a signature win over Florida in the Sugar Bowl and now Teddy Bridgewater is a legit Heisman candidate. Texas A&M got a signature "they can hang with the big boys" win over Bama. You think Johnny Football would be as big as he is now had they not beaten Bama? Doubt it.

 
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