Tuesday October 09, 2007

The Virginia Tech Game Worksheet

The Virginia Tech Game Worksheet
Offensive Goals Made
Red Zone Scoring-80%- 80%
More than 225 yards passing- 372

Offensive Goals Missed
Fewer than two turnovers- 2
Fewer than 3 sacks per game-4
More than 150 yards rushing- 8
More than 4 yards per carry- 0.3
Red Zone-60% touchdowns- 40%
More than 27 points-23
More than 20 first downs- 20
Better than 60% pass completions percentage- 56%

Defensive Goals Made
Fewer than 200 yards passing- 65
Fewer than 18 first downs- 9
Less than 55% pass completion percentage- 50%

Defensive Goals Missed
Fewer than 125 yards rushing- 154
More than 3 sacks per game- 2
Fewer than 3.5 yards per carry-3.8
Fewer than 18 points- 41
More than two turnovers-0
Red Zone-40% touchdowns- 50%
Red Zone Scoring-70%- 100%

Penalty yardage fewer than 50 per game- 53

Overall Report Analysis-Grades and Comments:
Offense-Rushing
Interior running game- Inexcusable. This was a poor effort and there is enough blame to go around. It is hard to imagine having talents like James Davis and C.J. Spiller who combined for 12 carries for 12 yards. Just plain inexcusable.
Perimeter running game- Clemson only had about 15 true rushing attempts so this was also a non-factor.
Option game-N/A.
Draws- I am nit sure why Clemson does not have any draw game/
Short yardage running game- The Tigers were 1 of 2 on short yardage runs.
Yards after contact- Limited attempts but Tech tackled very well. Eight yards rushing!

Offense-Passing
Pass protection- This was Ok but Tech was dropping more men on coverage.
Underneath passing game- The Hokie secondary teed off on Clemson receivers.
Intermediate passing game- Good except for tipped balls and a few over throws.
Vertical passing game- Tech played deep in their secondary not wanting to give up the big play so Clemson really could not do a lot deep.
Screens- The Hokies punished the skill.
Drops- Better this week. The Tigers still had some drops but when you throw it 67 times balls will get dropped.
Yards after catch- I thought Tech tackled very physical and very well.
QB throws on time- Harper was OK here. He held it too long at times but he was asked to throw it 66 times.

Offense-Overall
First down yardage- The Hokies dominated first down. Clemson had only three rushed for more than five yards on first down.
Third down conversion- Two of 18 is about as bad as I can remember.
Big Plays- The Tigers hit a few to Aaron Kelly but Tech was dropping very deep and played three and even four deep at times.
Trick plays- N/A

Defense-Overall
Tackling-Pretty good effort here except for a few plays were Taylor busted loose.
First down yardage- Tech had only three runs over three yards on first down.
Third down conversion- The Hokies were not very good here going 3 of 14.
Limit of Big Plays- Clemson gave up the 21 yard touchdown pass and the 52-yard run but played well aside from that.

Defense-Running game
Interior running game- The Tigers did not respect the Tech passing game and loaded the box. Clemson shut down Ore.
Perimeter running game- Except for one Taylor scramble the Tigers held Tech here also.
Option game- N/A
Draws-
Short yardage running game- The Hokeis converted their only short yardage run.
Yards after contact- Clemson tackled Ore much better this year but Taylor was slippery.

Defense-Passing Game
Pressure- Pretty good but you can’t really tee off on Taylor.
Underneath passing game coverage- The Hokies passing game was not a factor.
Intermediate passing game coverage-Taylor completed one post corner but that was it.
Vertical passing game coverage- Taylor hit one post route for a touchdown but nothing else.
Screens-Tech did not feature a lot of screens.
Passes broken up- Chris Chancellor broke up the only pass of the game for Clemson on the deep ball.

Open field tackling- Pretty good effort by the defense here.

Special Teams
Kickoff returns- Clemson is awful returning kicks. Once Ford went out there were no other threats.
Kick off coverage- Just pathetic.

Punt return/block- Spiller had one 38-yard return here.

Punt coverage-Snap, protection, punt, coverage- Snaps and protections were good and punts were very good but because they had to max-protect the Hokies were allowed huge returns. Just plain inexcusable.

Field Goals/extra points-snap, hold, protection, kick- Perfect. It was good to see Buchholz return to form.

Overall Team
Energy, Enthusiasm, Leadership- I thought the team was high as a kite coming down the hill and played hard the entire game.

Coaching
Emotionally prepared- Nowhere close. Tech hit Clemson in the mouth and the Tigers had no answers.
Game plan- Great on defense. The offensive line lead to problems on offense then they had to shift into passing every down.
Adjustments- The offense had no choice but to abandon the run.
Personnel-I do not understand not playing James Davis more unless he is injured. I would have let Korn have a series or two as well.
Time outs-The staff botched the time out before a kick-off because of a personnel issue then gave up the touchdown.

Miscellaneous Notes:Thank goodness that is over and I don’t have to think too much about that effort again. I am amazed that tech was able to hit the Tigers in the mouth without any answer. It breaks my heart to see someone push Clemson around in the Valley and hope to never see it again.

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