Second viewing thoughts and grades: Clemson

Addazio wears his emotion on his sleeve. That is great when things are rolling. But in these beatdowns it makes everything more frustrating. When I watch these games back, Addazio's frustration is palpable. Based on the continued results, I don't think his approach is working. Maybe he should be a little more "rah rah" when things go bad. It might not change the outcome, but hopefully it will keep the team on his side. If he keeps walking around like he's sick of his team and sick of all of this with 20 minutes still left in the game, he's going to lose a lot more this season and next.

Offense: D

Live I thought Towles was bad. In the second viewing it wasn't terrible. His same mistakes were there, missing open men, waiting too long in the pocket, throwing it away to quickly. But his passing numbers were better than the stats (we had drops). He also wasn't as quick to throw it away. The dumbest thing he did was not protect the ball when running. It would have made a difference in the score but not the game. Wade did not look great in his limited time. His Pick 6 throw was off.

Jones has the ability to get through traffic at the line. For that reason alone he should be the feature back. He also runs with decent power. Hilliman wasn't terrible but he is less consistent. He busted out a long run late. Rouse and Willis didn't get many touches and just looked okay on offense. Congrats to Wolford on his TD.

Sweeney played well and made some nice catches. Smith had too many drops. Callinan was fine. Walker only caught one pass.

One excuse that was real was Baker going down. It screwed up so much of the timing thereafter. Lindstrom was probably our best Lineman of the night. Cashman was okay as a replacement. Johnson was fine. Lowery was better than he has been. Schmal struggled a lot. He needs to move his feet better if he is going to stop edge guys.

Run-Run-Pass. It wasn't every series that Loeffler called but it felt like it. The creativity in the second drive was effective. We need to do it more. I also think he's got to work with Towles more on his time in the pocket. He should know when the ball has to come out. (Wade has the same problems.) I hated the goalline sequence. I hope Addazio is not overriding play calls there. One pass to the endzone would have at least kept Clemson honest.

Defense: D

Landry was the lone bright spot of the night. He made good plays, showed that he has elite talent and kept fighting. Allen also looked good. Gutapfel had another quiet game. I don't know why he's not winning more battles inside. We need him to be more disruptive. Kavalec was okay. Smith made a play. Ray hustled.

Schwab played well but all the LBs got caught out of position on Clemson's first rushing TD. Milano was fine. Strachan showed speed...just not enough to stop a TD.

McClary had a rough night. It is one thing when you don't get help you were supposed to get or a guy makes a great catch. But he had a few catches where he was so far off even when the receiver did not make a dramatic cut. On the first TD Harris should have been helping out and was late getting over. Yiadom was okay. Johnson made a sack.

I like Jim Reid, but I don't think we are blitzing enough. I think that is part of the problem with the DBs. Because BC cannot get pressure and because we are playing so, so far off, they are getting burned. This same group was much more effective being very aggressive at the line and jamming. There are also so many more breakdowns and noticeable defensive mistakes this year. Maybe it is the change in all the position coaches, but we know these guys can play better. I hope Reid figures it out soon.

Special Teams: C-

The Special Teams started off well and then went down hill. The recovery of the first punt was great. As was the early coverage.

The kickoff coverage was not good. We threatened an onside and it turned into a mess and long return.

Rouse was overly cautious on the punt returns.

Willis had a rough night and had some issues on his returns.

Knoll was fine.

Overall: D

After the game, Addazio mentioned a few big plays changing the game and the team still being "in it" during the first half. There is some truth to that, however, he still never coached with the type of aggressiveness to keep BC "in it." Look at our first drive after the half. Still ultra-conservative followed by a punt.

I have many of the same thoughts as I did during the Virginia Tech game. Why does he keep punting when we are down so much? Why did he wait so long to give Wade a try? When you are down big, it is time to throw caution to the wind and trying anything.

This was another bad, bad game for Addazio. His coaches looked overmatched as did his roster. Even if he is safe this year, he's got to show some progress. If he doesn't, recruits are going to bail on him.