My Paltry, Amateur Analysis

Sep 6, 2022, 3:09 AM

1.) The Offensive Line play is the problem with the Clemson offense. It was the big problem last year, and it was the main reason the offense struggled so much in the first half of the game last night. They were getting very little push on running plays, and there was more than one play where DJ didn’t have time to even pee his pants before they were all over him.

2.) DJ looked poor in the first half, but it wasn’t all on him. In fact, most of it wasn’t his fault at all. It’s hard to play QB when the offensive line is playing so badly. He played much better in the second half, and the same could be said for the O-Line. His passing was tremendously better than anything at all last year. I can’t remember but about two hideous throws he made in the game. Most of his passes were right where they needed to be. His TD pass to Collins was great, and his pass to Davis Allen was great. Collins should have also had another TD in the corner. GT defender had good coverage, but that’s a catch that Mike Williams, Tee Higgins, Hunter Renfrow, D. Hopkins, Jordan Leggett, Dwayne Allen, Sammy Watkins, or even 2020 Cornell Powell would have made. I think Bo Collins will become a great receiver. He just isn’t “out of the box” as good as some of those other WR guys from the last ten years.

3.) I remember reading on here about one of those “anonymous Clemson opponent coaches critique Clemson” articles a few weeks back. If I remember correctly, the big quote was basically “they don’t have those big, frightening WRs anymore. There isn’t anyone over there that just scares you.” (Paraphrase on my part). I think that’s almost as big of a problem as the O-Line play. In fact, I think those two things are much bigger problems than any QB problems from last year or last night’s game. Hopefully, these highly regarded rookies (Williams and Randall) along with Allen and Briningstool at TE will be great enhancements over poorer play from the WR group over the last two seasons (I do not consider Amari Rodgers and Cornell Powell to have been issues in 2020, but the macro WR play as a whole, I think, hasn’t been elite since 2019).

4.) I think we saw evidence of a rookie DC tonight. The defense played well, but I noticed that GT seemed to have a lot more success in the second and third quarters because they were letting Clemson’s superior pass rush become an exploitable thing. It seemed to me that the defense wasn’t quite as tight in the second and third quarters when compared to the first quarter. I think GT started making adjustments after the first quarter, and I don’t think the DC adjusted as well to that as Venables might have done. I don’t fault Coach Godwin that much because this is his first gig. I’m sure he will get better and better with each game.

5.) Special teams play was lights out. When was the last time we could say that about a Clemson football team? Just my opinion, but I can’t remember the last time that all three facets of special teams play was that awesome (KOs/FGs, Punting, and Coverage/Returns). That is most encouraging.

6.) Klubnik’s performance has to be taken in context, but the one thing that appears to be very obvious is that he is one heck of an accurate passer. I feel confident in saying that he’s probably going to prove to be the most accurate of the QBs, but it’s hard to say how great he might be as a starting QB until he’s been sacked about three or four times in one game. If the O-Line play doesn’t improve, it doesn’t matter who starts at QB because they will all be running for their lives (which might be a good thing because as some others have pointed out, both QBs did well while moving away from the pocket).

7.) DJ did nothing to lose his starting job tonight. He was much better than anything we observed last year. It’s also fair to point out that he was also injured in the later portions of the season. To me, his decisions to run, instead of trying to “force” bad passes when plays broke down, were much better in this game than anything I saw last year. If O-Line and WR play improves, I think DJ will have a solid year. Will that be good enough to win the conference or more? I haven’t a clue, but I was very encouraged by his improved play in the 2nd half, and it is certainly comforting to know that such an accurate passer can come in the game if DJ’s accuracy really begins to break down.

8.) No one wins any championships after the first game. For every lights out performance, like Georgia and USC had Saturday, there will ALWAYS be one or two games that will make your favorite team look like a middle school football team. Everyone seemingly lays an egg, at least once in a season, and since Dabo has been head coach, it seems his teams rarely look like national champions in the first quarter of the season. I usually find it hard to really judge the majority of his teams until October-December.

9.) Go Tigers! I hope everyone has a safe and blessed day.

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And you can try and blame one person, but football is a team sport, not tennis or golf. Do you honestly think that Clemson’s O-Line play was good last night or last year, for that matter?

Look, DJ did NOT have a good year last year. It wasn’t even average. It was bad on a purely statistical level. However, that was greatly enhanced by the awful O-Line play. Similar to that, DJ did not play bad last night. Did he play great? No, he did not, but very few outside of a few defensive and special teams players really did. Klubnik played great in the one series he was in the game. However, it came with less than 5 minutes to play against a defense that was gassed and had probably thrown in the towel at that point.

Now, having said that, that is by no means meant to minimize Kkubnix’s performance on that one drive. Personally, I think Klubnix is going to be a VERY good QB. He wouldn’t have won all those national HS accolades if he wasn’t very talented. You could see his accuracy in all but one pass that he threw (and that was a throw away). Additionally, I think, based on what Coach Swinney has said, Klubnix is better suited to the style of offense Clemson runs. If I remember correctly, DJ was the highest “pocket rated” QB in his class. That’s not probably the best type of QB in this offense. But, based on his two games from 2020, MULTITUDES of people, including me, thought he was going to steamroll in 2021, but that didn’t happen for a MULTITUDE of reasons, and certainly not due to the ridiculous assessment “DJ sucks.” He doesn’t, and, if it was proven an error to assume he would pick right up where Watson and Lawrence left off, it is just as erroneous to assume Klubnix would produce a 6000 yard offense based on one drive against a late game, GT defense that was already defeated. My gut says that Klubnix will eventually put up better numbers than DJ, if healthy, when both are given two full seasons as a starter. But, am I prepared to believe, with 1000% confidence, he most DEFINITELY will do that after one college game? No, I am not.

***I think I can best describe my apprehension toward immediately starting Klubnix by looking at the 2018 game at Texas A&M. Anecdotal example: Lawrence threw a TD to Higgins on his first drive, but a lot of that had to do with Tee Higgins. In fact, after that drive, Lawrence, to me, looked lost and timid at times in that game. I will always believe that had Kelly Bryant not been put back in that game, Clemson would have lost that game and perhaps may not have even won the National Championship that year. Was Lawrence a better QB than Kelly Bryant? There’s no question he was. Was he better the second game of the year, on the road, pitted against a spirited team and 100,000 fans? No, I do not believe he was, and I also think, similarly, that’s why Klubnix was not named the original, starting QB. Before the year is out, he just might become that, but he probably was not the best option to start last night. If he had been, I think he would have been named as such by the staff. Dabo and company may be loyal and honorable to their players, but, ultimately, winning is the name of the game if a big name, big contending D-1 college head coach wants to stay employed. Just my thoughts. Go Tigers, and have a great day!

My Paltry, Amateur Analysis

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