Monday September 15, 2008

The NC State Game Review

The NC State Game Review
The Tigers were a 17-18 point favorite on Saturday and won by 18. With that said, I saw some good and some bad from Saturday. Like last week, there are still many unanswered questions after Saturday’s game.

Sarah Palin
Here are the good looking things I saw Saturday afternoon:
*C.J. Spiller-I had questioned Spiller after his sophomore slump but he has come back a different player. He is tougher and more physical this season. I think we are now talking about one of the most explosive players in the country. Spiller put on a highlight film performance against the Pack.

*Jacoby Ford-This was Ford’s coming out party. He had his best game Saturday and was more involved in the gameplan. Ford had two carries for 48 yards including a key short-yardage run. The junior also had six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. What he brings to this offense is incredibly important especially when you consider the youth of the offensive line.

*Zero Sacks-NC State hammered South Carolina’s quarterbacks in their opener and the Tigers came into Saturday’s game with three freshmen starting along the offensive line. I am not sure anyone could have predicted the Wolfpack would leave Death Valley without a sack.

*Marquan Jones-For the second straight week we saw Jones impress. It was only a four yard run but he made the Pack defenders look silly by turning a for sure loss of big yards into a gain.

*Offensive Gameplan-Rob Spence got the ball in Spiller and Ford’s hands more often and in different ways. There were some new wrinkles and I loved how the Tigers attacked the edges. Spence took advantage of the major difference in team speed.

*Jimmy Maners-The punter was not supposed to start until Dawson Zimmerman pulled his hamstring in the pre-game warm-ups. Maners responded with a great performance. Two of his three punts where inside the 20 and he averaged 47.7 yards per punt.

*Special Teams-Maners did an outstanding job punting and the coverage was just as good. Byron Maxwell made a terrific play on punt coverage. Tyler Grisham was a demon on the kick off team. Buchholz looked good on his field goals and extra points and his kick offs were better. Jarvis Jenkins blocked State’s only extra point. Overall Clemson won the special teams battle.

*Aaron Kelly’s re-emergence-The senior had not had a huge game in the first two weeks but he came out swinging Saturday. His seven catches for 94 yards were highlighted by some physical yards after the catch. Kelly had a great effort against the Pack.

*Tyler Grisham’s toughness-The senior had only two catches for 26 yards but his main contributions came from his toughness. Grisham excelled once again in his blocking and made some terrific special teams plays.

*Cornerbacks’ coverage-State is not a good passing team and they are not talented at wide receiver but the Clemson corners held the Wolfpack to four completions to the wide receivers. Chris Chancellor and Crezdon Butler added interceptions also.

*Defensive improvement-NC State will not remind anyone of Southern Cal but the Tiger defense allowed one field goal in the nine Wolfpack offensive possessions.

Nancy Grace
Here are the bad things I saw Saturday:
*Nightmare start-It’s hard to start any worse than throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The entire team settled down and answered the bell after regaining their composure.

*Lack of an interior running game-I feel bad for James Davis but the offensive line has had a hard time creating running room for the All-ACC running back. Davis needs a little help but the line has not been able to afford him that with the exception of the first quarter last weekend.

*Poor tackling-The Tigers missed a bunch of tackles again Saturday. Give Brown, Underwood and Wilson credit but it is hard to be consistent on defense if you don’t tackle well.

*Scrambling quarterback-I guess you have to give Wilson credit but he escaped the pocket too often Saturday. The Tigers had chances to make the big sack and pin the Wolfpack back farther but could not contain his scrambling.

*Third down defense-The Wolfpack was 7 of 17 on third down conversions and several were longer third downs. They converted four third downs of seven or more yards. The defense has to be able to get off of the field better.

*Cullen Harper did not have his best game again. His pick six hurt on the first play of the game. He overthrew Durrell Barry on a potential touchdown and he pulled up on the third down scramble. He also fumbled deep in NC State territory. Harper did rebound after the first pass and had a high completion percentage.

*The officiating-Hopefully we get Ron Cherry’s crew only once more this season. A horse collar tackle should be called both ways. The personal foul on Kavell Conner was a joke. The crew is just bad.

*Empty seats in the student section-I was disappointed to see empty seats in the student section in the first half and very disappointed to see more on the second stanza. I guess it is hard to get out of bed for a noon ACC football game and even harder to stand the heat at the age of 18. Students can’t criticize their classmates because many of their efforts were worse. At least they have an extra hour this week. What else is a college kid doing at Clemson on a Saturday afternoon? I know they pay for tickets now with an activity fee but all you have to do is show up to pick up your tickets and show up for the game.

Rachel Ray
So here are the question marks I still have:
*Can James Davis get it going?

*Can this offensive line continue to improve?

*Can the Tigers afford to turn the ball over deep in the opponents’ territory?

*What will Rashaad Jackson mean to the defense when he returns?

*Will we see any improvement in the linebackers?

*Can Clemson win a close, low scoring battle where field position is important?

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