Clemson's Speed Was Winning the First Half

[teamster]

Clemson's speed was evident the first half on defense. They were very disruptive on defense. Also, their speedsters on offense were scary quick. What specifically did our coaches do to negate their effectiveness in both areas as the game wore on?

[Back In Black]

i think we just got used to it, and than game planned against it

[DaveH]

i think we just got used to it, and than game planned against it

What do you mean "get used to it"? It's not a cold pool

 

Anyway, the defenses tackling started to shore up especially in the second half. Offensively, their pass rush was neutralized by running between the tackles and some off tackle.

[MCAT800]

Maybe just maybe, the skers have a little speed to

[mmmtodd]

better coaching by us.

 

and a little thing called heart.

[krc1995]

better coaching by us.

 

and a little thing called heart.

 

That's what I think. Who on our team has speed besides Asante?

[Power-I]

better coaching by us.

 

and a little thing called heart.

 

That's what I think. Who on our team has speed besides Asante?

 

 

I think we neutralized their speed a little bit in the 2nd half with the gameplan. Ganz came out passing and hit Peterson, who used his size to get to the rock. Once we started throwing more it opened it up a bit for Q to hit those holes and break 'em.

[SouthBayHusker]

They used mis-direction plays, that's how castille broke the long runs. The best way to nuetralize SPEED is a cut back, they over pursue everytime.

[stewdawg68]

I will tell you what changed in the 2nd half......Clemson got COLD!!!!!!

 

 

I was in section 123, front row, behind the goalpost. Just after the 2nd half started I see a white man about 50ish walking out from the corner tunnel, behind the endzone, toward the Clemson sideline. He was not wearing Tigers gear, looked like a stadium employee.

 

I leaned forward to see what he was carrying, and it was 2 portable heaters!! I stood up and yelled to him "Is Clemson getting cold over there?" The people around me all looked at me, and I said out loud to nobody special that Clemson needed heaters on the sidelines, they are getting cold. It was that moment that I knew we would win the game, and told my 7 year old son the same thing.

 

 

Also, regarding the flow of the game, remember that the Tigers had 4 big plays, all leading immediately, or subsequently to scores. The game should'nt have even been as close as it was.

 

The Ganz option pitch, when it was clear he was hoppled on a sore ankle, gets taken back for 6. The muffed punt-next play 56 yard TD pass before the Blackshirts have their helmets on. The pik returned deep in our territory, and the 4th play that escapes my memory at the moment. But if any of those mistakes dont happen, we are breathing alot easier in the 4th then we were.

[Axl_sued_me]

better coaching by us.

 

and a little thing called heart.

 

 

 

 

That. Plus.....Castille.

[BigWillie]

Less sideline-to-sideline running. Plant your foot, get upfield at most. When we did go wide, we still got relatively nothing.

 

Clemson was running straight man on the outside with safeties creeping in the box. Our WRs could not run past them, so we finally decided to dink and dunk them to death. Force them to cover outs, crossing routes, etc., The only times we took real downfield shots we used stop fades or fades to let our bigger WRs use their size.

[HANC]

Personally, I think it was a combination of us getting our "game-timing" back on offense. We really do run an offense that is reliable on "timing" routes. The fact that we hadn't played at game speed for over 3 weeks, along with Clemson's front 4 and LB being so fast, caused us a tremendous amount of problems early.

 

No, speed is not "cold water", but you can "get used to it".... I think "adjusted" would be better terminology. We had to change our game plan a little on offense and the angles we were taking were off on defense early....partly due to their speed. I remember asking KC Husker during the 1st half if they were "that fast" or were "our angles that poor". It seemed like NU was always "reaching" rather than squaring up. In the 2nd half, our angles and tackling were a lot better....adjusted to their speed.

 

Plus, you could see their defense getting tired in the third qtr.... May because of momentum swing, or physical style of play....

[redout22]

I think it was a couple of things. For one I think the adjustments that were made helped and I think overall we just played better

[ClemsonU98]

Wanted to say great game and congrats on the win, but I posted on some thread on Huskerboard before the game in regards to predicting how the game would go and predicted that if your Defensive Line owned our offensive line that we would die a slow death, and that is exactly what happened.

 

It took a half and some change to see the full effects of this but in the end my fears were realized. Your D line destroyed our offensive line exposing our QB with a horrible mixture of concrete shoes and rabbit in his blood. Our great running backs were hit two yards deep behind the line of scrimmage negating any talent or speed advantage, and we never had time throw to our better than average receivers.

 

Despite our Defense playing great most of the game the offensive 3 and outs started piling up and the time of possession kept dipping further and further in your direction and they start missing tackles and loosing several steps in regards to speed. Combine this with your QB making some great throws and stepping up in the pocket and it all started slipping away. Your guys played poised and mature in the second half and our Defense just got wore down.

 

With the exception of the Florida State game this has been the blueprint for all our losses and it all starts with our O line getting dominated and everything else just spirals downward from there. Its tough as a fan to see so much talent and you cant do anything with it because our former coach never understood that it starts with the big boys up front.

 

Nebraska was a well coached team that has some great leaders, a lot of pride and one heck of a QB, not to mention a great fan base. I would love a home and home series sometime soon. I see your program on a steep upswing and I really have no idea which direction we will go. I like our new coach but he has to learn a lot very fast and I hope our program does not get left at the bottom of the learning curve.

 

Sorry for the long post but I plan on sticking around and lurking on the board next year to get the scoop on the Big 12 as we do not get to much info on you guys this way.

 

Once again, Congrats and hope we can return the favor sometime soon.

[SkullandBones]

They used mis-direction plays, that's how castille broke the long runs. The best way to nuetralize SPEED is a cut back, they over pursue everytime.

 

I agree we made some great adjustments, but watching the game again I noticed Q making alot of those adjustments on his own. On some of his big runs he WAS intially stuffed, but managed to plant or spin and bring it back aginst the grain. Can't overstate enough how big of an impact he had.