Will Vandervort: Three Plays |
Three plays.
That’s the two words heard most around the Clemson camp this week when looking back at the first five games of the 2005 football season. Three plays. Pick any in the last three games on offense and defense, and that’s the difference from the Tigers being 5-0 and perhaps ranked in the Top 10 as opposed to their current 2-3 record and bringing up the rear in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division. “We have to find a way somewhere in the game to make those three plays,” said Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning Those three plays for Koenning’s defense would be the 25-yard touchdown by Miami’s Tyrone Moss in the third overtime, Boston College’s conversion on third down — keeping their winning touchdown drive alive — in overtime and any of the three busted coverages during Wake Forest’s 31-27 win last Saturday. “I have to do a better job of coaching and that falls back to my responsibility,” Koenning said. It also falls back to the players. For the majority of last week’s game, the Clemson defense held Wake Forest in check. After Gaines Adams forced a fumble midway though the second quarter, the Demon Deacons failed to pick up a first down and totaled just four yards through four straight possessions. Showing that when they stay with their assignments there aren’t many defenses better. “I think we are (getting) better,” said Koenning. “I wish two or three pass plays would have been different in that game, then everybody would have said what a great job we did on defense because we held the No. 1 rushing team to a lot less than their average and a lot less than what Clemson has held them the last few years. “But you can’t take those things away, those are things we gave up and we have to correct that.” Koenning hopes to correct some of that by benching one of his starters. Red shirt freshman Michael Hamlin will start over sophomore C.J. Gaddis at “cat” safety when the Tigers take the field Thursday at N.C. State. Gaddis gave up a 34-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-18 play in the second quarter against Wake Forest. “I think (Hamlin) deserves the opportunity because he has been steadier and more consistent the last few games,” Koenning said. “It is hard to sit down a guy who has earned a starting position through the spring and two-a-days unless it is really, really obvious. “C.J. did not play at the level that we expected in the (Wake Forest game), he played at the level he practices and that has been a constant battle with him.” Gaddis isn’t the only one Koenning is on. Cornerback Sergio Gilliam was credited with the busted coverage which allowed Wake’s Kenneth Moore to get 12 yards behind the secondary on the 74-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Koenning said he believed Gilliam was trying to break on the tight end underneath who he thought the ball was being thrown to. “He was really trying to take a chance and I think he was really trying to make a play,” Koenning said. “He was really thinking ‘I can go make a play.’” Though Koenning likes Gilliam’s effort, he wants his players to think things through before acting on them. Gilliam was burned on a similar play against Texas A&M in Week 1, except on that play, the Aggies used two tight ends as opposed to the one tight end and one wide receiver Wake Forest used. “It’s frustrating he will make that same mistake,” said Koenning. “You sit there and ask yourself, ‘Why are you having problems with the mistakes and the (missed assignments)?’ “That’s a very good question. I know there should be a learning curve with it, but by game five, all that should be gone. We’ll do it right four times, but on that fifth time somebody may not do it right. I have to continue to make our guys tougher and tougher minded, but that isn’t going to happen overnight.” And it isn’t just the younger players having problems; senior corner Tye Hill allowed Wake’s Kevin Marion to slide behind him for the winning score after getting suckered inside by the guy he was covering. “Should we have beaten Wake Forest? Without a doubt,” said Koenning. “We went up there with every intention and I actually felt better in warm ups about our mental state than I did before Boston College. “I think there is something in all of us where we can dig down deep and find something extra.” And that extra thing is letting the players know they are close. Everything that has happened to cause the three-game losing streak is correctable. Now, it’s the coaches’ job to get them to believe it. “We can’t lose sight of the fact we are three plays from maybe being 5-0 and eighth in the country right now,” said Koenning. “It isn’t one thing and it isn’t one guy… We are no better or no worse of a football team right now than we would have been had we got those three plays.”
Upgrade Your Account
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now
