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Message: [QUOTE="Crusty, post: 3565096, member: 2265"] Obviously, we were blacked out here in SC so I alternated between the chat board and ESPN gamecast. A few hours later, I watched the replay of the full game. Reading the chat posts, which were influenced by very low expectations and checking the box score, my perspective was reasonably positive. We were matching Clemson on the ground, in the air not so much. However, at 27-14, we were very much making it a game. Now, giving up 27 points in a half can never be considered good, our run D was finally working, albeit at the expense of the passing D, but this is Clemson with Travis Etienne and Trevor Lawrence. Gotta sell out against something. Clemson was starting to take command in the 3rd Q but we held them to one score, which we matched with Rex's bomb to Nykeim. Lopsided offensive stats, but still a game. As a matter of fact, if not for Rex's fumble, it's 27-21 heading into the last quarter. (Worthy of note is that our 5th string RB got beat resulting in the scoop and score.) Had the game ended that way, I venture to say the tone of this board would be ecstatic. Watching the replay, I got a less positive perspective. I thought Clemson was not energized and made uncharacteristic mistakes. Lawrence threw badly behind his receiver and the ricochet resulted in his first career pick six. I have been harping on the softness of our edge vs. the running game. However, yesterday Clemson picked us apart in the flat all game long (especially in the 2nd half). It remains an issue. Defense Lots of good things about run D. Only one long run for 25-yards by Etienne and an average of 4 yards per carry. Our youngsters hung with the big dogs. Passing D was weak. Clemson had an average reception of 10.6 yards and far too many long gains. There were many scenes of Clemson receivers making catches with 4 or 5 white shirts in the TV frame. Our zone needs work. Offense Lots of positive posts about the offense, particularly the oline. I did see some good blocking on some outside zone blocking schemes, which work well for Tucker with his great patience and vision. However, the pass blocking was only about 2 seconds. Most of the pass plays seemed short. Rex did get the ball out but his decisions were very poor leading to 3 picks and hurried inaccurate throws. The oline has a considerable way to go. Let’s see what happens against Wake Forest. So, while I think we may have farther to go than we might want, there is undeniable young talent on this team. Queeley and Hendrix seem to have good hands and appear to know their routes. Tucker is obviously special. The defense is loaded with good young players with more on the way. The chances of some reasonable depth in 2022 is excellent. We will need to know more about the players who have not seen the field before we can be confident about 2021. One thing we know is that there is no quit in this team. Clemson didn't score the last 8 1/2 minutes of the game. [/QUOTE]

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