The Clemson Insider

By William Qualkinbush.

Clemson played their best game of the season defeating NC State 41-0 Saturday afternoon in Death Valley. In today’s edition of Qualk Talk we take a look back at the victory over NC State.

DeShaun Watson was on fire from the get-go on Saturday, including the first touchdown toss to Mike Williams. Watson threw to an open man after Williams ran a double move against a tricky coverage. It looked like either cover 2 with man-to-man underneath (poorly executed, I might add) or some amorphous cover 2 or cover 4. Honestly, it looked weird because of how hard the cornerback bit on the underneath route and the safety bit on Williams’ outside move.
Another sign Watson was really feeling it was his propensity to throw the ball into coverage with very little chance of success. He chucked balls downfield on several occasions when the coverage was good, including a couple of deep balls and an end zone fade route to Germone Hopper.
Williams’ diving touchdown catch was simply a tremendous individual play. It looked like the Wolfpack was in a cover 4 look, and Williams just split the corner and safety and outran them to the goal line. Watson threw it exactly where it should’ve been thrown. Exceptional play by the Tigers.
I’m sure it was something they saw on film, but Chad Morris and his staff definitely made it a priority to run their stuff out of a similar set early in the game. From the beginning of the game, Morris called a bunch of plays with Watson in the shotgun, a tailback offset behind him, and an H-back offset in front of him to the opposite side. In every case, that H-back was either Adam Humphries or Artavis Scott, and in every case, that player went in motion across the formation. The result was a Chip Kelly-ish play design that allowed for a give, keep, or screen option for Watson. I liked it, and it worked consistently in spite of the repetitive way in which Morris employed it. The Tigers used that look a whopping 12 times in the first quarter, then only three times thereafter.
The Clemson defense was as good as it’s been. However, this is actually its second shutout as a unit this season, counting the S.C. State game. Two shutouts in six games, no matter the opponent, is no joke in today’s game of football.
The Tigers seemed to confuse Jacoby Brissett early in the game by rolling some coverage, either up to cover 2 or down to cover 1, or even switching up personnel so the alignment was as expected, but unexpected players comprised the parts of the zone. Brent Venables schemed Dave Doeren to death in this one.
Brissett was obviously frustrated and rattled by the confusing coverages and the unrelenting pass rush. He flushed himself from the pocket unnecessarily over and over again, made some horrific decisions with the football, and was so indecisive that he was caught on separate plays by defensive tackles Grady Jarrett and Deshawn Williams on the sidelines.
It was a simple thing, but Watson’s patience in waiting for Wayne Gallman to come open on a first-quarter screen pass was perfect. Frankly, Cole Stoudt would have thrown an incomplete pass or set Gallman up to lose yardage. Instead, Watson bought some time and allowed Gallman to pick up a first down.
Speaking of Gallman, his burst up into the hole was nice to see. He and Adam Choice were particularly effective in making sure they got chunks of yardage when opportunities presented themselves on the ground. Gallman also showed a willingness to look for a second or third hole when the designed play didn’t work.
Watson looked like a track athlete when he hurdled a Wolfpack defender on his way to the end zone on the third drive of the game. His form was immaculate.
I still don’t really like Ammon Lakip’s kicking motion. It feels like he kicks the football the way I hit a golf ball or shoot pool when I’m trying hard to put left spin on the ball. I don’t really see many other kickers striking the ball that way.
Brissett’s first fumble is still a mystery to me. Clemson had seven defenders in the box, with all 11 within eight yards of the line of scrimmage. The defensive alignment screamed blitz, yet Brissett only had six blockers since it was a four-wide bunch set. The Tigers sent six rushers—fortunate for the Wolfpack—but Clemson overloaded the left side of the protection, and pretty soon, the whole thing collapsed.
On the other side of things, every facet of the Clemson pass rush was incredibly good. The front four got pressure constantly. The linebackers were active, showed great discipline, and kept gap contain. The defensive backfield locked down the N.C. State receivers. It was an all-out assault on the Wolfpack passing game, and it worked like a charm.
I’ll repeat the rule of thumb: DO NOT SCREEN CLEMSON. It does not work. You will not succeed. It will frustrate you. Just say no.
After almost an entire half of futility, N.C. State had to call an absurd play just to get a first down. There was playaction that allowed the play to flow to the left, then Brissett tried to shovel pass the ball against the grain—except the Clemson defense read the play. It took an awkward overhand push pass from Brissett to pick up any yardage on the play.
I felt bad for Cole Stoudt. In his only first half action, he got pinned back against his own goal line, then there was a holding penalty on first down. Two running plays and poor pass protection later, and the Tigers punted for the first time. The poor guy had no chance.
At the end of both halves, Doeren showed embarrassingly inept clock management. On what would prove to be the final play from scrimmage, State took a delay of game penalty after spiking the ball on the previous play. This is outrageous. Then, the play call was a playaction bootleg across the field from under center—perhaps the play that takes the longest to develop of any goal-to-go types of plays. It was poetic justice that the clock ran out on the Wolfpack. That was a horrible, horrible choice.
In the second half, it was nice to see Jordan Leggett on the same page as Watson during a scramble play. There has been a greater emphasis placed on scramble drills in practice recently, and Leggett broke free from his coverage downfield to pick up a first down in the third quarter when Watson was scrambling toward the Clemson sideline.
The play we’re referring to as the “Vic Six” was masterfully executed by Vic Beasley. He basically just ran around two blockers—both tight ends—who were on the left side of an unbalanced offensive front. Beasley did the rest, as he stripped the ball, grabbed it out of the air, and waltzed into the end zone.
At the outset of the fourth quarter, Kellen Jones made a great play on Shadrach Thornton to swipe the ball out of his hands. Then, B.J. Goodson auditioned for a running back role after he scooped up the fumble. The spin move he used to break free in the middle of the field was a thing of beauty.
Both Stoudt and Nick Schuessler played fine in second half mop-up duty. It was particularly nice to see Schuessler take a few semi-meaningful snaps in a conference game given his status as the third-string quarterback.
Earlier, I mentioned Doeren’s idiotic clock management before halftime. It wasn’t any better in the second half, either. On his team’s final drive of the game, as it attempted to avoid a shutout, he used two timeouts—an absolutely noble decision given the stakes involved in scoring points on that possession. But when fourth down came around, he sent out the punting unit. Why in the world would a coach punt there? What would possess someone to do that? It was a colossal waste of time to invest in a drive there—using timeouts along the way—if the end result was a punt on fourth down.

God Bless!