For my dog days of summer film review I’m going to review our offense over the last 5 games of the season. Offense is what I know best, and I am an amateur Air Raid aficionado. I don’t think I will go drive by drive, play by play, but rather try to break down interesting plays and themes.
First game up is the Notre Dame game. This was one of the most consequential games of the Dabo Swinney era and catalyzed the winning streak. Let’s dive in.
Dabo lit into the team during the week leading into the game. He wanted to set the tone and send a message, to bring the fire back. That carried over into the game. Our first play is from a 1x2 set with the TE offset from the line on the lone receiver side. The slot receiver (Tyler Brown) goes in motion and we run Split Inside Zone. The TE crosses the formation at the snap to kick out the defender on the end of the line of scrimmage. You can tell Dabo’s message got across; Putnam, Sewell, and Miller all drive their defenders down field on the first play..
Split Zone and Inside Zone would be constant calls during the game. We ran an almost identical look for Mafah’s TD, only difference is the motion is flipped. Split and Inside Zone are modern power football especially when you have a back like Mafah, who can showcase his patience and his wiggle. Having an OL who finishes their blocks also helps. When we needed yards late we went back to the well.
We also went with a double tight-end look, even against a 9-man box.
I think a little too much hay was made of us ditching the counter trey for this game. We would go back to it quite a bit in later games but ditched it this game for, in my opinion, a couple of reasons. First, our OL lacked confidence in knowing their assignments and running it properly. Secondly, ND had a talented front 7 who aggressively run blitzed and shot gaps. I want to highlight ND #12, their left DE on that Mafah truck stick run from earlier. He aggressively shot inside Miller, taking himself out of the play and giving Mafah a huge running lane. Their ability to shoot gaps had this play blown up except for Thomas’s effort. On this one, two guys gamble inside, a third overruns it, and Mafah has a nice lane. Flip the jersey colors and this could be a vintage Clemson defense shooting a backer in the A gap.
If you’re playing an aggressive defense who likes to gamble, throw them off balance with an outside zone. The DE shot inside and allowed Leigh to get to the second level. Note the pistol look.
The commitment to the run game helped set up this play-action, TE delay. I like this concept. I also like going PA with deep crossers after some big runs. Great catch by Stellato. I also think going with a rare shot play can shake things up. I really like the route design for Beaux on that play.
Cade had a bit of a rough start to the game but not all of it was on him, like when he waited for Brinny to clear a defender. He settled in though and made throws on time and in rhythm. Those last two throws and reads show how easy the Air Raid can be if the QB trusts his reads. First one is a simple 1-2 hi-lo read. Thomas is running a flare, Beaux is running a slant. The read is the WILL, #24. If he goes with Thomas, throw Beaux. The TD pass is Cade trusting what he’s been taught. This was discussed in a post about the Kentucky game. On the boundary we’re running Y-Corner, an Air Raid staple. Cade sees 2v2 on the field side, trusts that Brown can win, and hits him. Working the backside is an import part of the offense.
Cade is still prone to mistakes, like not seeing an underneath defender but if he had waited a split second longer Beaux is open for a 1st down.
We saw some vintage Riley offense, like motioning the RB way out to create more space in the middle. You also have this play. The QB and RB fake the standard hand off before the QB pitches it. It messes with the defense’s pursuit angles. Speaking about Riley offense staple, how about a PA Counter Trey with a backside WR screen.
Harris Sewell had his freshman moments but he’s going to be a good one. Notre Dame also aligned a defender head up on Putnam, which caused some issues at times but he also held his own. I really liked what I saw from Blake Miller too but if he holds his block and doesn’t slip we put away the game a drive earlier.
On the whole, really proud of the way the coaches and the players responded to a bad two weeks. Dabo challenged everyone and they responded. Riley put together a game plan that put the players in position to succeed but with enough wrinkle to keep ND off balance. I liked what I saw from Cade at times and I am very proud of the OL. Legendary game by Mafah. We were pretty close to breaking it open a time or two. But a win is a win.
I hope everyone enjoyed this, I know I like writing ‘em.
First game up is the Notre Dame game. This was one of the most consequential games of the Dabo Swinney era and catalyzed the winning streak. Let’s dive in.
Dabo lit into the team during the week leading into the game. He wanted to set the tone and send a message, to bring the fire back. That carried over into the game. Our first play is from a 1x2 set with the TE offset from the line on the lone receiver side. The slot receiver (Tyler Brown) goes in motion and we run Split Inside Zone. The TE crosses the formation at the snap to kick out the defender on the end of the line of scrimmage. You can tell Dabo’s message got across; Putnam, Sewell, and Miller all drive their defenders down field on the first play..
Split Zone and Inside Zone would be constant calls during the game. We ran an almost identical look for Mafah’s TD, only difference is the motion is flipped. Split and Inside Zone are modern power football especially when you have a back like Mafah, who can showcase his patience and his wiggle. Having an OL who finishes their blocks also helps. When we needed yards late we went back to the well.
We also went with a double tight-end look, even against a 9-man box.
I think a little too much hay was made of us ditching the counter trey for this game. We would go back to it quite a bit in later games but ditched it this game for, in my opinion, a couple of reasons. First, our OL lacked confidence in knowing their assignments and running it properly. Secondly, ND had a talented front 7 who aggressively run blitzed and shot gaps. I want to highlight ND #12, their left DE on that Mafah truck stick run from earlier. He aggressively shot inside Miller, taking himself out of the play and giving Mafah a huge running lane. Their ability to shoot gaps had this play blown up except for Thomas’s effort. On this one, two guys gamble inside, a third overruns it, and Mafah has a nice lane. Flip the jersey colors and this could be a vintage Clemson defense shooting a backer in the A gap.
If you’re playing an aggressive defense who likes to gamble, throw them off balance with an outside zone. The DE shot inside and allowed Leigh to get to the second level. Note the pistol look.
The commitment to the run game helped set up this play-action, TE delay. I like this concept. I also like going PA with deep crossers after some big runs. Great catch by Stellato. I also think going with a rare shot play can shake things up. I really like the route design for Beaux on that play.
Cade had a bit of a rough start to the game but not all of it was on him, like when he waited for Brinny to clear a defender. He settled in though and made throws on time and in rhythm. Those last two throws and reads show how easy the Air Raid can be if the QB trusts his reads. First one is a simple 1-2 hi-lo read. Thomas is running a flare, Beaux is running a slant. The read is the WILL, #24. If he goes with Thomas, throw Beaux. The TD pass is Cade trusting what he’s been taught. This was discussed in a post about the Kentucky game. On the boundary we’re running Y-Corner, an Air Raid staple. Cade sees 2v2 on the field side, trusts that Brown can win, and hits him. Working the backside is an import part of the offense.
Cade is still prone to mistakes, like not seeing an underneath defender but if he had waited a split second longer Beaux is open for a 1st down.
We saw some vintage Riley offense, like motioning the RB way out to create more space in the middle. You also have this play. The QB and RB fake the standard hand off before the QB pitches it. It messes with the defense’s pursuit angles. Speaking about Riley offense staple, how about a PA Counter Trey with a backside WR screen.
Harris Sewell had his freshman moments but he’s going to be a good one. Notre Dame also aligned a defender head up on Putnam, which caused some issues at times but he also held his own. I really liked what I saw from Blake Miller too but if he holds his block and doesn’t slip we put away the game a drive earlier.
On the whole, really proud of the way the coaches and the players responded to a bad two weeks. Dabo challenged everyone and they responded. Riley put together a game plan that put the players in position to succeed but with enough wrinkle to keep ND off balance. I liked what I saw from Cade at times and I am very proud of the OL. Legendary game by Mafah. We were pretty close to breaking it open a time or two. But a win is a win.
I hope everyone enjoyed this, I know I like writing ‘em.
