Tuesday October 23, 2007

Central Michigan Worksheet

The Central Michigan Game Worksheet
Offensive Goals Made
Red Zone Scoring-80%- 100%
More than 225 yards passing-315
Fewer than two turnovers- 1
Fewer than 3 sacks per game-1
More than 150 yards rushing- 341
More than 4 yards per carry- 5.6
Red Zone-60% touchdowns- 100%
More than 27 points-70
More than 20 first downs- 35
Better than 60% pass completions percentage-85%

Offensive Goals Missed
None

Defensive Goals Made
Fewer than 18 first downs-15
Fewer than 125 yards rushing- 76
Fewer than 3.5 yards per carry-3.2
Fewer than 18 points- 14
More than two turnovers-4

Defensive Goals Missed
Fewer than 200 yards passing- 216
Less than 55% pass completion percentage- 56%
More than 3 sacks per game- 0
Red Zone-40% touchdowns- 100%
Red Zone Scoring-70%-100%

Penalty yardage fewer than 50 per game- 15

Overall Report Analysis-Grades and Comments:
Offense-Rushing
Interior running game- The offensive line looked much better this week and it showed in the running game. James Davis, C.J. Spiller and Sadat Chambers had big gains between the tackles.
Perimeter running game-The Tigers were able to spring a couple of big plays on the edge. Jacoby Ford had another nice run around the end.
Option game- N/A.
Draws- For the first time this season Clemson utilized the draw and it looked good. I liked the fake pass draw look they ran a couple of times.
Short yardage running game- The Tigers converted four of their five short yardage runs.
Yards after contact- Excellent. I thought Spiller made some yards after contact for the first time this season. Davis was his usual self and Chambers made some tough runs.

Offense-Passing
Pass protection-Harper was only sacked once and he plenty of time to throw downfield. I thought the protection might have been the best of the season.
Underneath passing game- The Tigers completed 85% of their passes so that meant balls were thrown well and caught well.
Intermediate passing game- Both quarterbacks threw the ball well and the receivers and tight ends made plays. Harper consistently found Kelly open.
Vertical passing game-Harper under threw the first deep ball and it was picked off in the end zone but he looked terrific on the deep ball to Kelly later. One of his biggest assets is the deep ball.
Screens- It was nice to see screen passes to running backs for the first time this season. I liked the fake slip screen then screen to the back.
Drops- I can’t remember a drop in the game. When you complete 23 of 27 it is hard to find anything wrong with the passing game.
Yards after catch- Terrific again. Kelly, Grisham and Ford turned short passes into nice gains.
QB throws on time- Excellent. The protection was good and the receiver got open so it made it easier to throw on time.

Offense-Overall
First down yardage- Clemson dominated on first down. The Tigers gained four or more yards on 26 of 42 first down. In fact they had nine or more yards on first down 13 times.
Third down conversion- Because first down went so well third down was a breeze. I can’t remember Clemson having a better performance than 12 of 16 on third down. In fact the Tigers punted only once the entire game.
Big Plays- Balance was great even in this area as the Tiger hit on big plays in the running game and passing game. A pair of 63 yard touchdowns keyed the effort. Clemson had 13 plays of 14 or more yards.
Trick plays- N/A.

Defense-Overall
Tackling-Pretty good. Clemson did miss some open field tackles and could not sack LeFevour even though they hit him.
First down yardage- The Chippewas actually had success on first down. They had four or more yards on 12 of their 27 first down plays.
Third down conversion- The Tigers faired OK here as they held CMU to 5 of 13 on third downs.
Limit of Big Plays- Excellent. Central Michigan had only one play of more than 16 yards.

Defense-Running game
Interior running game- Clemson shut down the running game by holding Central Michigan to 76 yards rushing. That number is impressive when you consider they did not have any sacks.
Perimeter running game- I thought the Tigers contained very well. CMU had no chance on the perimeter.
Option game- N/A.
Draws- Here is another example of where Clemson took CMU out of their game.
Short yardage running game-
Yards after contact- Central Michigan only converted one of three short yardage runs.

Defense-Passing Game
Pressure- I thought the Tigers had decent pressure on the quarterbacks but they could not get them on the ground.
Underneath passing game coverage- I felt Clemson contained the underneath passes and tackled fairly well in space.
Intermediate passing game coverage-Here is one area where Central Michigan had success. LeFevour is talented and he was accurate against the zone.
Vertical passing game coverage- The Chippewas could not hit any long passes against the secondary Saturday.
Screens-This was not a big part of the Central Michigan game plan.
Passes broken up- Hamlin and Clemens broke up passes but the best of the day was Maxwell in the corner of the end zone.

Open field tackling-This was a pretty good effort. Clemson tackled the running backs and wide receivers well but could not sack LeFevour.

Special Teams
Kickoff returns- Ford hit on the 82-yard return to start the second half. It seems it has been weeks since we talked about a big return for the Tigers.
Kick-off coverage- When you kick off 11 times it gives us plenty of opportunities but the Tigers held CMU in check. This was one of the best efforts of the year.

Punt return/block- Clemson has not blocked a punt in a while and the return game is lacking. In this contest the Tigers had one Punt return for 7 yards.

Punt coverage-Snap, protection, punt, coverage- Perfect. The Tigers only punted once and the protection, snap and punt were good then they recovered the muffed punt. Fantastic effort.

Field Goals/extra points-snap, hold, protection, kick- Buchholz missed the one field goal badly but hit all 10 extra points.

Overall Team
Energy, Enthusiasm, Leadership- Considering the Tigers were on a two-game losing streak and a lackluster crowd I thought the Tigers were ready to play.

Coaching
Emotionally prepared- It was not needed but Clemson looked focused. I have seen this kind of opponent not get the Tigers attention in the past.
Game plan- How can you argue with the results?
Adjustments- The defense adjusted well after the first drive. The offense needed no adjustments.
Personnel-Reese is the new number two quarterback and I have no problem with Korn red-shirting.
Time outs-N/A.

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