Observations (Some Obvious, Some Maybe Not as Obvious)

[Hoov50]

I don't watch as much football (NCAA or otherwise) as I used to since my television is almost permanently tuned to Nick Jr. or Disney Jr. However, I did want to share some of my observations from last night.

Alabama's line play was far superior to Clemson's on both sides of the ball and overall some of the best I have seen in quite some time. Alabama has some big, strong dudes who can most importantly move extremely well. Clemson's offensive line stepped up at the end of the game, but for much of the time they were over matched needing double teams to handle the defenders on the LOS, which kept any running play from getting passed the LB level.

On the other hand, Clemson's offensive skill position players were of higher quality than Alabama's, with the exception of Scarbrough. Once Clemson's offensive line starting playing just a little bit better their skilled players were able to make plays. I thought the advantage Alabama had on the lines (for most of the game) was much larger than the advantage Clemson had in skilled players. Fortunately, for Clemson their line stepped it up (especially on offense) the fourth quarter.

If we are going to get to the level we need to in order to compete for ACC titles which, after watching and listening to Coach Babers, I truly believe is possible, we will need to upgrade our line through development and recruiting. We will probably never get to the level of Alabama, but if we can start off by getting just 1-2 players the level of Clemson's lineman, we can use Coach Babers's system to be very successful year in and year out.

I love the fact that our coach was on ESPN (yes, I know it was technically ESPN News) all evening. He had great interactions with the other coaches and it allowed him to showcase both his football knowledge and personality. If this is the type of publicity our new AD can get us with his connections, I am very excited. Things like this can have a huge positive impact on our recruiting.

 

[upperdeck]

This is why I think coaching cost Alabama the game. they didnt use the advantages they had very well. Some of the blocking by the Bama oline was really well done but they tried to get cute too much looking for big plays.

the Skill Clemson players stepped up especially Williams, but very few Clemson WR were open most of the night. Watkins made a ton of bad decisions with the ball but got away with them .

On D I think Bama spent so much time hoping to confuse Watkins when they really should have just attacked.

 

[Ish88888]

I don't watch as much football (NCAA or otherwise) as I used to since my television is almost permanently tuned to Nick Jr. or Disney Jr. However, I did want to share some of my observations from last night.

Alabama's line play was far superior to Clemson's on both sides of the ball and overall some of the best I have seen in quite some time. Alabama has some big, strong dudes who can most importantly move extremely well. Clemson's offensive line stepped up at the end of the game, but for much of the time they were over matched needing double teams to handle the defenders on the LOS, which kept any running play from getting passed the LB level.

On the other hand, Clemson's offensive skill position players were of higher quality than Alabama's, with the exception of Scarbrough. Once Clemson's offensive line starting playing just a little bit better their skilled players were able to make plays. I thought the advantage Alabama had on the lines (for most of the game) was much larger than the advantage Clemson had in skilled players. Fortunately, for Clemson their line stepped it up (especially on offense) the fourth quarter.

If we are going to get to the level we need to in order to compete for ACC titles which, after watching and listening to Coach Babers, I truly believe is possible, we will need to upgrade our line through development and recruiting. We will probably never get to the level of Alabama, but if we can start off by getting just 1-2 players the level of Clemson's lineman, we can use Coach Babers's system to be very successful year in and year out.

I love the fact that our coach was on ESPN (yes, I know it was technically ESPN News) all evening. He had great interactions with the other coaches and it allowed him to showcase both his football knowledge and personality. If this is the type of publicity our new AD can get us with his connections, I am very excited. Things like this can have a huge positive impact on our recruiting.

Good take, however, you are blatantly wrong with your assessment of the play upfront. Clemson played with bama on both lines. Last week, UW dline blew up the bama oline, it was bamas big rbs that made the plays. The Clemson dline played right with the bama oline and the Clemson oline was just as effective. Not sure how you can say the Clemson fronts were over matched when Clemson had >500 yds of offense, bama 340 yds on offense, 31 first downs for Clemson , and held bama to 2-15 on 3rd down? Case closed.

 

[orange79]

Good take, however, you are blatantly wrong with your assessment of the play upfront. Clemson played with bama on both lines. Last week, UW dline blew up the bama oline, it was bamas big rbs that made the plays. The Clemson dline played right with the bama oline and the Clemson oline was just as effective. Not sure how you can say the Clemson fronts were over matched when Clemson had >500 yds of offense, bama 340 yds on offense, 31 first downs for Clemson , and held bama to 2-15 on 3rd down? Case closed.

Case open again? The Clemson OL, while playing OK vs. the pass, opened up holes for a whopping 2.2 yd rushing average. Meanwhile, Bama averaged 6.5 YPC. It's not as if the Clemson OL kept Watson clean all game (4 sacks).

Clemson won. I'm glad. They beat the Darth Vader of CFB. But to say Hoov50 is blatantly wrong about his assessment of the play upfront is blatantly wrong.

 

[Hoov50]

Good take, however, you are blatantly wrong with your assessment of the play upfront. Clemson played with bama on both lines. Last week, UW dline blew up the bama oline, it was bamas big rbs that made the plays. The Clemson dline played right with the bama oline and the Clemson oline was just as effective. Not sure how you can say the Clemson fronts were over matched when Clemson had >500 yds of offense, bama 340 yds on offense, 31 first downs for Clemson , and held bama to 2-15 on 3rd down? Case closed.

Clemson did nothing in regards to run blocking for nearly the entire game. Watching the feet of the OL when comparing them to Bama's OL or DL there was a huge difference. Leaning into guys when double teaming or getting your shoulders turned completely sideways when pass blocking are not signs of a "just as effective" OL. Clemson won that game and got 250+ of their yards (and that's a conservative estimate) because Watson was mobile enough to avoid the rush or in many cases had a strong enough arm to make throws while back pedaling. Add to that the numerous times his receivers made spectacular catches and the huge chunk of yards from a screen pass (where allowing the DL through is the strategy) and you have loads and loads of yards created with average to below average blocking.

In addition to the 2.2 yards per carry stat, Watson made plays because he is a complete QB and not just a runner with an okay arm. Sure his WRs had a few drops, but the majority of his 20 incompletions were due to being pressured and only occasionally by blitzes, since a lot of the time Bama's LBs were spying him and not blitzing him.

On the other side of the ball Alabama averaged 6.5 yards a carry. Hurts had all sorts of time to find his receivers but since he is currently a great athlete and not a great QB he couldn't find his open receivers, which there were quite a few of throughout the night.

Using yards as the main way to determine quality of line play doesn't show the whole picture. I stand by my original statement that Alabama for the majority of the game had superior line play on both sides of the ball.

 

[Ish88888]

Case open again? The Clemson OL, while playing OK vs. the pass, opened up holes for a whopping 2.2 yd rushing average. Meanwhile, Bama averaged 6.5 YPC. It's not as if the Clemson OL kept Watson clean all game (4 sacks).

Clemson won. I'm glad. They beat the Darth Vader of CFB. But to say Hoov50 is blatantly wrong about his assessment of the play upfront is blatantly wrong.

Clemson's oline played well enough, a draw at least. Watson holds on to the ball and 4 sacks aren't a big deal. When an offense goes for 500+ yards, 31 first downs are you really gonna argue? Cant do that without solid play upfront. The dline penetrated all night, yes, scarbrough had some runs, 16/96. Not huge. Bama was 2-15 on 3rd down. The dline had alot to do with that. Case closed.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

I was amazed Alabama didn't run even more than they did ... They had some stalled drives in the second half, before Scarborough left injured, that could have used some run plays.

 

[tipphill]

i still believe we desperatly need the bigs on the ol.big and strong period. we need bigs strong and mobile on the dline. our lines are way below grade for d1. not trying to degrade our current players as they did what they could against superior players. i am anxious to see the redshirt ol and dl guys that some think are the answer. at this point in the recruiting game i do not see much of an improvement in the ol line albeit some recruits for lb and de on defense.
i still say that we need to improve recruiting with gains in the northeast and in particular, nj,nyc and li ,eastern pa,western ny, and the va. md. areas.
i would also like to play rutgers every couple of years for our presence in the talent rich garden state. plus the fact that it is an easy away game to get to and despite what most think, they are a hated fanbase rivalry.
we were always pretty good when we had jersey guys, going way back and through most of good years.

 

[SoBristol]

i still believe we desperatly need the bigs on the ol.big and strong period. we need bigs strong and mobile on the dline. our lines are way below grade for d1. not trying to degrade our current players ....
i still say that we need to improve recruiting with gains in the northeast and in particular, nj,nyc and li ,eastern pa,western ny, and the va. md. areas.
....

Babers will need to upgrade the bigs, the RBs, the secondary ... Our lines don't match up well, but to be fair, which units on the team have average ACC talent in the starting groups? The receivers were up to par in 2016, but only because of the upgrade via bringing in a grad transfer.

With both lines, a main issue in 2016 was the lack of our share of 4th and 5th year players. Babers had to play too many 1st and 2nd year linemen. Development in the program, year over year, will give the team a better chance, as early as this season. But you are right -- it takes recruiting as well as development, and part of that is winning head to head recruiting battles in the northeast.

 

[TheCusian]

i still believe we desperatly need the bigs on the ol.big and strong period. we need bigs strong and mobile on the dline. our lines are way below grade for d1. not trying to degrade our current players as they did what they could against superior players. i am anxious to see the redshirt ol and dl guys that some think are the answer. at this point in the recruiting game i do not see much of an improvement in the ol line albeit some recruits for lb and de on defense.
i still say that we need to improve recruiting with gains in the northeast and in particular, nj,nyc and li ,eastern pa,western ny, and the va. md. areas.
i would also like to play rutgers every couple of years for our presence in the talent rich garden state. plus the fact that it is an easy away game to get to and despite what most think, they are a hated fanbase rivalry.
we were always pretty good when we had jersey guys, going way back and through most of good years.

Drum, beaten.

 

[B1GACC]

I don't watch as much football (NCAA or otherwise) as I used to since my television is almost permanently tuned to Nick Jr. or Disney Jr. However, I did want to share some of my observations from last night.

Alabama's line play was far superior to Clemson's on both sides of the ball and overall some of the best I have seen in quite some time. Alabama has some big, strong dudes who can most importantly move extremely well. Clemson's offensive line stepped up at the end of the game, but for much of the time they were over matched needing double teams to handle the defenders on the LOS, which kept any running play from getting passed the LB level.

On the other hand, Clemson's offensive skill position players were of higher quality than Alabama's, with the exception of Scarbrough. Once Clemson's offensive line starting playing just a little bit better their skilled players were able to make plays. I thought the advantage Alabama had on the lines (for most of the game) was much larger than the advantage Clemson had in skilled players. Fortunately, for Clemson their line stepped it up (especially on offense) the fourth quarter.

If we are going to get to the level we need to in order to compete for ACC titles which, after watching and listening to Coach Babers, I truly believe is possible, we will need to upgrade our line through development and recruiting. We will probably never get to the level of Alabama, but if we can start off by getting just 1-2 players the level of Clemson's lineman, we can use Coach Babers's system to be very successful year in and year out.

I love the fact that our coach was on ESPN (yes, I know it was technically ESPN News) all evening. He had great interactions with the other coaches and it allowed him to showcase both his football knowledge and personality. If this is the type of publicity our new AD can get us with his connections, I am very excited. Things like this can have a huge positive impact on our recruiting.

Clemson's OL play improved later in the game because Clemson ran 99 plays vs Alabama. The average amount of plays Alabama's defense faced all season was about 66 plays. Since Alabama does not substitute their DL often due to supposedly less depth at that position, they essentially played 1 1/2 games. Clemson's OL is good enough to take advantage of that fatigue, as noted by the extra time Watson had to throw the ball later in the game.

 

[AAM62]

Good take, however, you are blatantly wrong with your assessment of the play upfront. Clemson played with bama on both lines. Last week, UW dline blew up the bama oline, it was bamas big rbs that made the plays. The Clemson dline played right with the bama oline and the Clemson oline was just as effective. Not sure how you can say the Clemson fronts were over matched when Clemson had >500 yds of offense, bama 340 yds on offense, 31 first downs for Clemson , and held bama to 2-15 on 3rd down? Case closed.

Honestly, if 99 on clemson didnt get hurt, then their D line would have clearly outplayed the bama oline. He was killing. Without him it was only a slight edge to clemson.

 

[tipphill]

Drum, beaten.

i can always count on you for an enlightened reply. by the way how is our class stacking up against ru these days?? i haven't checked lately,i decided to wait until signing day is over after the big decomit days at ru

 

[Newhouser]

Honestly, if 99 on clemson didnt get hurt, then their D line would have clearly outplayed the bama oline. He was killing. Without him it was only a slight edge to clemson.

Did he get hurt on the same play as the BAMA RB? Even trade off.

 

[TheCusian]

i can always count on you for an enlightened reply. by the way how is our class stacking up against ru these days?? i haven't checked lately,i decided to wait until signing day is over after the big decomit days at ru

I didn't think it warranted an in-depth response, given we've all read that same point of view x1000. "OL/DL and NJ recruiting"

They lost a couple of guys and sit at #35. Never a good sign when your OC leaves after one season:

"Chris Ash's plan for continuity at Rutgers just got torn to shreds.

Drew Mehringer -- arguably the most important member of Ash's coaching staff -- will take an assistant's job under his longtime mentor Tom Herman, the new coach at Texas.

NJ Advance Media confirmed earlier reports with a source. Neither Ash nor Mehringer returned messages seeking comment.

It is a huge blow to Rutgers, which will be left looking for its eighth offensive coordinator in the last eight years under three head coaches.

Despite calling plays for an offense that ranked at or near the bottom of the nation in all major categories, Mehringer, 29, was a hit in recruiting as he used his age and similar interests to close the deal with high-profile recruits like quarterback Johnathan Lewis, wide receiver Bo Melton and offensive lineman Micah Clark."

 

[AAM62]

Did he get hurt on the same play as the BAMA RB? Even trade off.

touche, even though the other rb was still pretty good.

 

[gbo]

Clemson did nothing in regards to run blocking for nearly the entire game. Watching the feet of the OL when comparing them to Bama's OL or DL there was a huge difference. Leaning into guys when double teaming or getting your shoulders turned completely sideways when pass blocking are not signs of a "just as effective" OL. Clemson won that game and got 250+ of their yards (and that's a conservative estimate) because Watson was mobile enough to avoid the rush or in many cases had a strong enough arm to make throws while back pedaling. Add to that the numerous times his receivers made spectacular catches and the huge chunk of yards from a screen pass (where allowing the DL through is the strategy) and you have loads and loads of yards created with average to below average blocking.

In addition to the 2.2 yards per carry stat, Watson made plays because he is a complete QB and not just a runner with an okay arm. Sure his WRs had a few drops, but the majority of his 20 incompletions were due to being pressured and only occasionally by blitzes, since a lot of the time Bama's LBs were spying him and not blitzing him.

On the other side of the ball Alabama averaged 6.5 yards a carry. Hurts had all sorts of time to find his receivers but since he is currently a great athlete and not a great QB he couldn't find his open receivers, which there were quite a few of throughout the night.

Using yards as the main way to determine quality of line play doesn't show the whole picture. I stand by my original statement that Alabama for the majority of the game had superior line play on both sides of the ball.

Of course Bama has superior line play. They recruit better than anyone in the nation at that. They impose their will on everyone. No one beats Bama trying to go hat on hat. You obviously have to scheme around it. Clemson has a great oline and dline as proven all throughout the year. Clelin Ferrel was in the backfield all night before he got injured.

I guess that superior line play worked well getting them a runner's up trophy.

 

[tipphill]

I didn't think it warranted an in-depth response, given we've all read that same point of view x1000. "OL/DL and NJ recruiting"

They lost a couple of guys and sit at #35. Never a good sign when your OC leaves after one season:

"Chris Ash's plan for continuity at Rutgers just got torn to shreds.

Drew Mehringer -- arguably the most important member of Ash's coaching staff -- will take an assistant's job under his longtime mentor Tom Herman, the new coach at Texas.

NJ Advance Media confirmed earlier reports with a source. Neither Ash nor Mehringer returned messages seeking comment.

It is a huge blow to Rutgers, which will be left looking for its eighth offensive coordinator in the last eight years under three head coaches.

Despite calling plays for an offense that ranked at or near the bottom of the nation in all major categories, Mehringer, 29, was a hit in recruiting as he used his age and similar interests to close the deal with high-profile recruits like quarterback Johnathan Lewis, wide receiver Bo Melton and offensive lineman Micah Clark."

seems i read that ash made two very good hires jerry kill and someone else---name escapes me

 

[TheCusian]

seems i read that ash made two very good hires jerry kill and someone else---name escapes me

Kill - reminds me something...

 

[sutomcat]

seems i read that ash made two very good hires jerry kill and someone else---name escapes me

Who thought that Kill was a good hire? Even Ash must have thought it was a terrible choice.

Minnesota was an awful team on offense while Kill was there. Someone broke it down the success of the Kill coached Minnesota offense in a previous post. The stats were not good. They were ranked in the 100-120 range consistently. I bothered to do it for 2015. In that year, they were 103rd in total offense, 101st in first downs offense and 106 in scoring offense.

Their defense was good and if Kill was hired to try and fix their horrific defense, it might have been a good hire.