The Clemson Insider

By William Qualkinbush.

–Right from the start, I’ll come out and say it: There simply isn’t a ton to say about this game. Lots of questionable football was played both ways, which made for a competitive game but not a great one to watch.

–The crowd was embarrassing. Third downs were louder when Wake Forest had the ball than when Clemson had it. Like I said, EMBARRASSING.

–Obviously, Wake Forest would be the first team all season to get a first down on an opening drive against the Clemson defense. The Demon Deacons picked up a pair of first downs on the drive. To his credit, John Wolford did what he could.

–From slow developing read option runs to predictable passes, the Wake offense was largely pitiful to watch. Wolford was a plus, and he should be well suited to improve over the years. He made a few plays I wasn’t expecting, especially considering the complete lack of a running game or any form of pass protection.

–Clemson’s first conversion of the game was questionable. Credit the left-footed spot of the line judge, because I’m still not sure Wayne Gallman got to the marker. The play definitely should have resulted in a measurement.

–Brandon Chubb is an unassuming monster on Wake Forest’s defense. He delayed a blitz until the protection was set on Clemson’s first drive, then he twisted around to the B gap and rocked Cole Stoudt. It was well designed and well executed by the Demon Deacons.

–Wake had a big run on its second drive, and we know why now. I can’t remember, but either Dabo Swinney or Brent Venables pointed out that Korrin Wiggins was responding to an action by a receiver that had been prominently featured in film study. It took him out of his run assignment and resulted in a gaping hole.

–On that same series, Shaq Lawson and D.J. Reader got into the backfield so fast they pinched both the quarterback and the tailback on a draw play. Reader was still being blocked, so he just drove the lineman back into the backfield. It was one of the most immediately dominant plays I’ve ever seen by a pair of D-linemen.

–Stoudt’s interception was just a bad throw. There was double coverage right over the top of Jay Jay McCullough, and there was actually a third defender in the vicinity. He threw a pass against zone coverage that should have been thrown against soft man, and he threw it very late. It was just a bad choice and a poorly executed throw by Stoudt.

–The Demon Deacons immediately came out with a trick play. The reverse pass back to the quarterback might have resulted in a touchdown if Wolford hadn’t had to wait for several seconds on the pass to arrive. It was a great call by Dave Clawson and his staff that caught Clemson completely by surprise.

–Poor tackling really plagued the Tigers early in the game. I’m not sure if it was the unreasonably slow pace of Wake’s offense after the ball was snapped or something else, but it was uncharacteristic for Grady Jarrett and Stephone Anthony to miss tackles in space against mostly stationary ball carriers.

–Both units looked much crisper after the start of the second quarter. The Clemson defense was dominant and forced a quick punt, while Stoudt got going with a nice wheel route throw to Stanton Seckinger.

–Later on that drive, somebody busted in pass protection. Reid Webster pulled on playaction, leaving the right guard spot in the protection wide open. As a blitzer ran free, Gallman failed to step up and halt his progress. The result was a sack that would have ended the drive had it not been for a pass interference penalty on fourth down.

–The screen pass called on third down that resulted in a Gallman touchdown came at a great time. Third-and-medium was generally a blitz down for Wake’s defense, and Morris dialed that screen up to take full advantage. Gallman needed only to follow his blockers to the end zone.

–The string of poor officiating seemed to begin with a pass interference call against Mackensie Alexander. The call was abysmal—like, not even close—and proved to be an precursor to more confounding penalties later in the game.

–Grady Jarrett had an uncharacteristically poor first quarter. He was ineffective and easily neutralized. However, the veteran was a disruptive monster in the second quarter. He lived in the backfield for the rest of the game.

–I’m still not sure what Adam Humphries was doing on the muffed punt. The ball was blown by the wind way over his head, so his choice was to turn his hands over and reach up high to try to catch it. The whole play was just bad from start to finish, and Swinney let his senior return man have it on the sideline later. The penalty led to a quick score by the Demon Deacons.

–Stoudt moved the chains on third down with a laser beam across the field to Artavis Scott, who ran a deep comeback route. It was one of the prettiest passes Stoudt has thrown and could be characterized as an NFL-type throw.

–Later in that drive, Stoudt made a little juke move as he scrambled out of the pocket to freeze a crashing safety. That subtle juke got him to the corner and allowed him to pick up the first down as a runner. It was an impressive display by a player not known for athleticism.

–We never got a great look at Jayron Kearse’s pass interference penalty, but it was funny to hear Swinney yell “That’s terrible!” very clearly to an official. Methinks he had a point.

–Also, Wolford scrambled backwards and just chucked the ball out of bounds on the next play. There was no way he was outside the tackle box, yet intentional grounding wasn’t called. I’m still puzzled about that one.

–KNOCK IT DOWN! One of my pet peeves in football is when players fail to just knock the ball down in hail mary situations. Jadar Johnson almost gave up a touchdown by trying to catch the pass. That’s just a dumb play to make.

–Props to the Wake Forest kicker for nailing a 50-yard kick with some weird wind blowing. That kick tied the game up at halftime.

–Gallman exploded through a hole on a first down run early in the third quarter, and he might have scored had the play worked correctly. Unfortunately, he ran right into Mike Williams, who was standing in the way without blocking anyone. That has to be frustrating for Gallman.

–On fourth down, Chad Morris dialed up another super play call. Stoudt rolled right and hit Scott on a simple out route, but it was more complex than that. Scott came in motion and was stationed behind another receiver at the snap. It allowed him to get a free run off the ball and gave him more room to maneuver, as he went from just a few steps off of the far sideline to just inside the right hash.

–The penalty that incensed Swinney was a tricky call. On one hand, Garry Peters grabbed and held the jersey of the Wake Forest wideout. On the other hand, the wideout initiated much of the contact and appeared to be blocking. Swinney obviously felt strongly about the play, shouting sarcastically after a throw-away by Wolford a couple of snaps later, “Was that pass interference?”

–The option call on fourth down was a good one, in my opinion. First of all, I would go for it there every single time. Wake can’t move the ball all the way down the field to score, and I’m looking for momentum for myself. Also, the play was open. It was about to produce points, but then reality set in and Scott couldn’t handle the pitch from Stoudt.

–Peters’ penalties in coverage seemed fairly random. In fact, many times, there were plays featuring a good bit of contact that didn’t draw a flag. Obviously, there were plenty of plays that did draw flags, which made it frustrating to watch on a play-by-play basis.

–Scott’s touchdown was huge to flip momentum. It was a simple jet sweep, but Scott stuck his foot in the turf and got upfield. He needed one block, he got it, and then it was just a matter of blazing speed down the field. Right after Wake Forest tied the game, to come back with a score on the next play was impressive.

–What an infomercial for the program Swinney has built at Clemson! Rece Davis, David Pollack, and Jesse Palmer—yes, even Jesse Palmer—raved for several minutes about the program as the Tigers were driving down the field to score the game’s final points. It was an excellent conversation in terms of describing the way Clemson has sustained success in recent history.

–On that note, it’s amazing the chemistry that has formed over time with that crew. Last season, the conversation seemed clunky, and it felt like Pollack and Palmer legitimately didn’t like each other. Now, there is a comfort level that provides a nice flow to the game. I was impressed given the struggles they had a year ago.

–Very quietly, that drive was the epitome of what Morris’ offense can look like when everything is clicking. Stoudt was creatively featured in the run game, playaction and misdirection created space for playmakers, the offensive line was on point, and the football was spread around to several different guys. If that’s the way Stoudt’s career as Clemson’s starting quarterback ends, it’s a good way to finish.

–It was nice to see Tyshon Dye get some low-stress carries at the end of the game. His workload wasn’t overly impressive or extensive, but it was something, and Clemson may need Dye to do a little more than that as the season winds down.

–On the last couple of drives in which he played, Shaq Lawson was absolutely firing off the ball. The broadcast crew called him the most disruptive player on defense in the game, and it was hard to disagree.

–The embrace Morris and Stoudt shared at the end of the game seemed like one of the redeeming images of this 2014 football season at Clemson. Stoudt lost his job, took it back over due to injury, and the team never lost a game. That’s impressive in hindsight, and he should be commended for his contributions.

God Bless!