Cane4life18
Senior
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2018
- Messages
- 3,795
Losing sucks. Losing 42 - 17 to Clemson on primetime sucks even more. I get it, I see a lot of you guys venting and posting your frustrations about the program. Good, we all love this program and want to see it achieve greatness as we know it can but these are the growing pains that we're going through. Let's hope this team matures because of it. Lets keep things in perspective, Trevor Lawrence's only loss as a starter is last year's National championship game against LSU. Think about that for a second. That 2 year record includes games against great Notre Dame, Alabama, and Ohio State teams. This was our litmus test, and we found out we still have a ways to go before reaching that level. A few takeaways from my view of things about last night:
Offense
• The Oline is still a work in progress. Last year the offensive line gave 10 sacks to an above average UF Dline. Last night we gave 6 to a really good Clemson Dline. Garin Justice needs to do a better job of preparing our lineman on knowing their assignment, especially when a blitz is sent. Too many leaks in our wall, that starts with coaching. I would've like to see Miami shortened their splits to aide the Oline. We struggled to pass block last night but our run blocking was non-existent all night.
• Offensive creativity was lacking on our end and that falls on Lashlee. Watching Clemson's first 2 drives made me envious. Clemson knew how to attack our aggressive style. Quick passes to Rogers to widen our defense and stress the edges of our defense. Outside zone to the smaller end Roche. Clemson constantly had pre-snap motion to create conflict among our hyper aggressive defenders. We see our Oline struggling, where is the rollouts or read option to slow Clemson's defense? Where was the screen pass to catch Clemson off guard? Where is the 5 wide sets to create distance with Clemson blitzers?
• I'm not as down on our receivers as everybody else seems to be. Our receivers definitely need to play better but there is blame to go around. King underthrew multiple deep balls. Lashee's play calling left much to be desired. The underutilization of Will Mallory and Brevin Jordan last night baffled me. Of all of the receivers last night, Wiggins was the biggest disappointment.
• I don't have much to say on our RB's. They were dealt a bad hand last night with the way the Oline played. One thing I can criticize is pass blocking/blitz pick up.
Defense
Our defense played hard and played with heart last night. They kept us in the game. They roughed up Trevor Lawrence in ways I haven't seen Alabama, Ohio State, or LSU do. For the score to be 21 - 10 at the half when the game felt like it should've been 35 - 3 was a testament to our defense.
• Blake Baker deserves praise and blame. Blame for the first 2 drives resulting in TD's and setting the tempo for Clemson on the night. Praise for adjusting thereafter. Players were in position to make plays but just didn't. At one point in the 2nd quarter Travis Etienne had 10 rushes for only 30 yards and Lawrence was feeling pressure and had gotten hit a few times already.
• Dline played a respectable game. 10 Qb pressures on Lawrence isn't bad. Lawrence's jersey was dirty after the game and he may have played through a minor concussion. I would've liked to see us get home more though, 1 sack isn't enough against Clemson. Our ends have to do better with setting the edge. We've been killed repeatedly on outside runs and inside runs that bounce outside. Roche had a good night rushing the passer, he frustrated Clemson's best Olinemen. Jalen Philips got his first sack but I was expecting more out of him. I would love to see our DT get more of a push to collapse the pocket on passing downs. Ford is boulder on run plays but he doesn't make plays which is a consistent thing with him. Nesta's effort will always be appreciated. JHH needs to develop his hand usage, if he doesn't win with his quickness he stops playing.
• Our LB play has been subpar. I haven't been impressed by anybody. Jennings didn't have any glaring misses but also didn't make any plays that popped off the screen. Brooks made a few nice plays last night with the hit on Etienne and the pass deflection. I see a lot of people calling for Brooks but he gets swallowed up too easy in the run game for him to be steady player at LB right now. McCloud is too inconsistent. He'll make a play that you expect a 5th year senior to make but then have a lapse in judgement that just baffles you. I'm not sure why Flagg got so much PT yesterday but I'll say this, he was always around the ball and seemed like he knew what he was doing. One real criticism of Flagg is his lack of speed. Watching him chase down Etienne was depressing, knowing he wouldn't get home.
• Gil and Keontra played fast and physical. If I'm coach Diaz, I tell Keontra good hit on Lawrence. Refs were on some BS last night. Lawrence got golden boy treatment last night.
• CB play was below average last night. I get that as a corner you'll have some losses no matter how good you are but I don't see enough wins from our corners to offset the losses. Blades got beat on a 9 route by Ladson. Ladson should've had another one on Ivey too but I'm not sure if I can truly blame Ivey on that one seeing how Ladson was all by himself, I think the play was cover 2 shell defense and Ivey was expecting Balom to cover over the top. Tackling and getting off blocks was a problem last night. Need better from this unit.
• Safety play was okay considering the cards they were dealt. Bolden played with heart last night. Seeing that blood flow from his nose reminded me of an old school Cane. Bolden made plays on special teams as well. Carter made a bone headed play but he hit the right person in doing it. Lawrence felt us last night which was important. One aspect that is missing from our safety play with Bolden, Carter, and Hall is range. I want to see our safeties have more of an impact in the passing game. Balom is a true freshmen who was put in a bad spot. He isn't ready yet and needs more time to cook.
Special Teams
• I hope the people who were begging for Restrepo to be on punt return hasn't come out of hiding yet, stay in those caves. Boy played terrible. Made bad decision after bad decision.
Get back on track against Pitt next week Canes.
Offense
• The Oline is still a work in progress. Last year the offensive line gave 10 sacks to an above average UF Dline. Last night we gave 6 to a really good Clemson Dline. Garin Justice needs to do a better job of preparing our lineman on knowing their assignment, especially when a blitz is sent. Too many leaks in our wall, that starts with coaching. I would've like to see Miami shortened their splits to aide the Oline. We struggled to pass block last night but our run blocking was non-existent all night.
• Offensive creativity was lacking on our end and that falls on Lashlee. Watching Clemson's first 2 drives made me envious. Clemson knew how to attack our aggressive style. Quick passes to Rogers to widen our defense and stress the edges of our defense. Outside zone to the smaller end Roche. Clemson constantly had pre-snap motion to create conflict among our hyper aggressive defenders. We see our Oline struggling, where is the rollouts or read option to slow Clemson's defense? Where was the screen pass to catch Clemson off guard? Where is the 5 wide sets to create distance with Clemson blitzers?
• I'm not as down on our receivers as everybody else seems to be. Our receivers definitely need to play better but there is blame to go around. King underthrew multiple deep balls. Lashee's play calling left much to be desired. The underutilization of Will Mallory and Brevin Jordan last night baffled me. Of all of the receivers last night, Wiggins was the biggest disappointment.
• I don't have much to say on our RB's. They were dealt a bad hand last night with the way the Oline played. One thing I can criticize is pass blocking/blitz pick up.
Defense
Our defense played hard and played with heart last night. They kept us in the game. They roughed up Trevor Lawrence in ways I haven't seen Alabama, Ohio State, or LSU do. For the score to be 21 - 10 at the half when the game felt like it should've been 35 - 3 was a testament to our defense.
• Blake Baker deserves praise and blame. Blame for the first 2 drives resulting in TD's and setting the tempo for Clemson on the night. Praise for adjusting thereafter. Players were in position to make plays but just didn't. At one point in the 2nd quarter Travis Etienne had 10 rushes for only 30 yards and Lawrence was feeling pressure and had gotten hit a few times already.
• Dline played a respectable game. 10 Qb pressures on Lawrence isn't bad. Lawrence's jersey was dirty after the game and he may have played through a minor concussion. I would've liked to see us get home more though, 1 sack isn't enough against Clemson. Our ends have to do better with setting the edge. We've been killed repeatedly on outside runs and inside runs that bounce outside. Roche had a good night rushing the passer, he frustrated Clemson's best Olinemen. Jalen Philips got his first sack but I was expecting more out of him. I would love to see our DT get more of a push to collapse the pocket on passing downs. Ford is boulder on run plays but he doesn't make plays which is a consistent thing with him. Nesta's effort will always be appreciated. JHH needs to develop his hand usage, if he doesn't win with his quickness he stops playing.
• Our LB play has been subpar. I haven't been impressed by anybody. Jennings didn't have any glaring misses but also didn't make any plays that popped off the screen. Brooks made a few nice plays last night with the hit on Etienne and the pass deflection. I see a lot of people calling for Brooks but he gets swallowed up too easy in the run game for him to be steady player at LB right now. McCloud is too inconsistent. He'll make a play that you expect a 5th year senior to make but then have a lapse in judgement that just baffles you. I'm not sure why Flagg got so much PT yesterday but I'll say this, he was always around the ball and seemed like he knew what he was doing. One real criticism of Flagg is his lack of speed. Watching him chase down Etienne was depressing, knowing he wouldn't get home.
• Gil and Keontra played fast and physical. If I'm coach Diaz, I tell Keontra good hit on Lawrence. Refs were on some BS last night. Lawrence got golden boy treatment last night.
• CB play was below average last night. I get that as a corner you'll have some losses no matter how good you are but I don't see enough wins from our corners to offset the losses. Blades got beat on a 9 route by Ladson. Ladson should've had another one on Ivey too but I'm not sure if I can truly blame Ivey on that one seeing how Ladson was all by himself, I think the play was cover 2 shell defense and Ivey was expecting Balom to cover over the top. Tackling and getting off blocks was a problem last night. Need better from this unit.
• Safety play was okay considering the cards they were dealt. Bolden played with heart last night. Seeing that blood flow from his nose reminded me of an old school Cane. Bolden made plays on special teams as well. Carter made a bone headed play but he hit the right person in doing it. Lawrence felt us last night which was important. One aspect that is missing from our safety play with Bolden, Carter, and Hall is range. I want to see our safeties have more of an impact in the passing game. Balom is a true freshmen who was put in a bad spot. He isn't ready yet and needs more time to cook.
Special Teams
• I hope the people who were begging for Restrepo to be on punt return hasn't come out of hiding yet, stay in those caves. Boy played terrible. Made bad decision after bad decision.
Get back on track against Pitt next week Canes.
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