FSU-Clemson, game of the year (sofar)

[Ramius]

FSU-Clemson was the game of the year so far. Once clemson ran out of trick plays and was forced to play straight-up big boy football, we dominated them. Went on a 35-3 run in about a quarter of gametime. Our DL and OL just wore out their lines on both sides of the ball, and in the second half, we finally got consistent pressure on Taj "Dough" Boyd. Our OL then just started blowing holes open for the running game, and Wilder/Thompson ran roughshod through their D. I also think Clemson made some coaching mistakes in that they focused too much on getting Sammy Watkins the ball on trick plays instead of utilizing him as a true WR. He torched us last season, but was held to 6 catches for 24 yards, and i think 4 or 5 of his catches were on little flips or shovel type passes. In the end, it was nice to beat some clemson ass, and it was great to see Dabo get his ass handed to him. He's one of the most overrated coaches in Div I football.

 

EJ Manuel finally stepped up and showed the player he can be. Did the light finally go on for him? I hope so. Thats 2 consecutive big games where he's stepped up in the clutch (the other was the bowl game vs ND). If he keeps improving like i think he can, then the sky's the limit. Its like i've been saying, he's at roughly the same number of starts where Ponder was when the light finally went on for him in running Jimbo's offense here. He's big, tall, can run the ball, and can make all the throws. He's got excellent accuracy in the short passing game, and a good feel for when to run. His feet are a weapon, and he's finally learned to get OOB or slide instead of taking a hit. But he's got the size to lower his head and get the extra yards when needed.

 

The negatives about EJ have been the following, and i hope that since he didn't show these last night, he's on his way to fixing them. He tends to float mid range and deep passes. For some reason, he puts a lot of touch on those balls. Sometimes its needed, but sometimes you need to drill the ball in there. He's got the arm strengh, so i don't know why he does it. He's got to get better at feeling the pressure in the pocket. He can turn a broken play into nothing, but needs to work on feeling the pressure and sliding in the pocket to buy time.

 

If he keeps improving, i think he's the ideal QB to run a Gailey spread offense.

[Bmwolf21]

The trick plays thing was what frustrated me. While I don't mind a trick play here and there, I hate gimmicky offenses like what Clemson was running.

 

The reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat made an interesting obersvation - how many plays did Clemson actually just send Watkins out into a pattern versus all the pre-snap decoy stuff and throwing and all that? Watkins is so tough to cover, I'd send him out and take my chances with mismatches - either the opponent trying to cover him one-on-one him, or double-covering him and leaving Hopkins or Elllington in single coverage.

 

EJ was phenomenal. I kept waiting for the big mistake, the INT, or the miss blitz read, but he was outstanding. Really, really impressed with his play.