Monday, September 25, 2017

Second viewing thoughts and grades: Clemson

This team is better than their record and better than the current point differential. Watching the game again, you can see noticeable improvement in certain units. It shows that the coaches are still coaching and the players are still buying in. And it is not just watching that makes me think that. Monday morning, I talked to a person who sat among the players and coaches' families at Clemson (as a guest of BC). This person is no fan of Addazio. But the relayed message was clear: these families were into it. They were buying in during the game and in good spirits after. Addazio still has his staff and his locker room. That belief as well as the signs of improvement are what Addazio needs to save the season. Yet, I still don't trust him. The guy might be doing the right things behind the scenes, but he is giving these games away. He is terrible as a game manager. I don't know if we deserve to be 3-1 or 2-2 right now, but I do know the scores don't measure this team's potential. All they measure is that their head coach is inept in planning and execution of game strategy.

Offense: D

Brown did not play all that well. He had time and still made some bad throws and questionable decisions. He misses guys and is not being aggressive enough with some of his downfield looks. I know part of it could be coaching. Maybe they fear him forcing too much. But when he has the time he did against an elite D, he needs to make better throws.

I thought Dillon looked okay. He hits the hole hard and pushes the defense for another yard or two. In a game like this we needed him to either run over someone or make a few more guys miss. Hilliman was more decisive and looked okay in the passing game.

The Tight Ends blocked better and it made a difference. We even used them as H-backs at times.

If you want to bank on one reason for optimism, it is the OLine. They are getting better every week. Petrula is playing beyond his years. Lindstrom had his best game of the season. The left side did a good job opening holes and giving Brown time. Even Lazard looked better.

Smith had a nice long catch but most were short gainers. We need him to start shaking tacklers or something. White played well and hustled with good run after the catch. Sweeney was good.

I thought the game plan was bad. You are basically controlling the best front seven in the conference and you can't get first downs? Why not take more chances? Why not get the ball to guys who might actually break something open like Smith or White? When you dedicate so much time to running, there is going to be play action opportunities. We just didn't do enough of that. You can't beat elite teams when you only score seven points. I blame Addazio for most of that, but Loeffler shares some of the burden since we are still having trouble scoring on his watch.

Defense: C-

Landry played better. He let Bryant escapes a few times but overall was very disruptive and drew a lot of attention. Something remains off with Allen. He seems slowers. Merritt looked fine. Rayam looked okay as he got more time. Ray had some nice tackles. Ray Smith did a good job up the middle.

Bletzer had his best game and blew up multiple plays. Schwab was fine. Richardson was fine. Lamont looked good getting extensive playing time.

The DBs as a group were very good. Denis made multiple plays and had an INT. Harris still looks just okay and missed a few tackles. I don't know why he is not having the impact expected. Moore played well. Yiadom played well. Torres made a tackle.

Addazio said that the goal was to get Clemson to work it down the field. But what I appreciate is that we still brought pressure on occasion and got to the QB. The tackling wasn't great. The scheme was fine. My biggest problem is that we can't seem to stop the opposing QB from running on us. We've got to get that fixed.

Special Teams: B 

Mike Knoll might make first team all ACC. The only thing that frustrates me is that his good punts are helping rationalize Addazio's poor decisions.

The punt coverage has been good. Considering Clemson's play makers and the number of times we punted, only allowing one big return was good (and of course Knoll made the tackle).

Walker is being aggressive in his returns. I do think he will break something soon.

Colton Lichtenberg hit his only chance off the post. It was frustrating but not a terrible shank.

Overall: D

Things were going according to Addazio's plan right up until they didn't. I've belabored how antiquated his approach is and how he is a bad game manager. No need to rehash. One day it will work, but not against great teams with competent coaches. I am beyond frustrated. The only reason that another blowout didn't earn an F is because there is some noticeable improvement in certain units and some of the guys are playing their hearts out.

32 comments:

EL MIZ said...

"When you dedicate so much time to running, there is going to be play action opportunities."

as i was watching the first half I had this exact same thought. in Daz's first year as coach here were Amidon's longest catch of the game:

49, 51, 18, 15, 68, 69, 12, 25, 30, 9, 74, 52.

the 69 yarder was against Clemson! for context - so far this season Brown's long pass on the year is 37.

Ryan Day was constantly using that deep pass play to keep defenses honest against Andre. both Smith's (Thad and Jeff) and K. White have the speed to beat their man downfield. why do we never take a shot? oh wait - because Daz is a total putz. i'd bet $100 too that if he were asked the question he'd respond with some combination of inane platitudes about freshman qb's, not taking chances, pounding the rock, all in one long run-on sentence.

would be nice if there were some very public overtures from jarmond about daz coaching for his job. if he knew he needed to win some games maybe he wouldn't coach with his tail between his legs (or his head up his ass - not sure which it is).

Jazzyg said...

http://www.weei.com/media/audio-channel/bc-coaches-show-steve-addazio-talks-bcs-loss-clemson-specials-guests-joe




Steve addazzio with meter and Cronin talking bc football. Daz selling himself with some gems. If I didn't watch him coach he would of had got me. Hard to win with rookie center, rookie qb, rookie rb but imagine what he could do with 3 more years with them. Also guest appearance by former bc wideout Tony Gonzalez.

Unknown said...

Just get use to losing, ive come to accept nothing more then mediocrity from the football program.

Jazzyg said...

Sorry that quote about the players was from daz should have used quotations

modest34b said...

"This team is better than their record and better than the current point differential."

No, they are not. Stop putting lipstick on the pig

ObserverCollege said...

On doggone it. I was going to say those things as a joke, but Daz beat me to it.

UU last row said...

There is still a real possibility this team ends the year 6-6.

Unknown said...

They’ll likely finish 4-8.

Geezer eagle said...

6-6 ? Wow. Still a lot of delusional people on this site. Get real.

Unknown said...

Even if they did finish 6-6 who cares? Is 6-6 something to be excited about?

Knucklehead said...

If they are better than their record and better than their "point differential"(give me a break) then why is he instructing his players to merely keep it close going into the 4th quarter?

The guy is full of shit.

In the Globe he is quoted as saying the following "Our goal was drag them into the fourth quarter and then, at that point, it’s anybody’s game. We did that, we [dragged] them pretty deep into the fourth quarter. Fatigue set in just a little bit on us and caught us.”

Fatigue? Fatigue is conditioned out of the players by the coach. He cannot even cover for his own inadequacies well. Never mind the fact that that statement gets you fired from almost every other headcoaching job in America. Fatigue. He knows he shouldn't be saying that("a little bit") because it makes him and the players look bad. Moron.

The o-line looked good the last two weeks relatively speaking. Hilliman sucks as a runner. Dillion is on a mission. Brown is decent. The Wake game was bizarre.

Surprised that we didn't run a few trick plays early in the 2nd half and when we got down 14-7. Especially when we were down 14-7. Seems like the "coaching staff" threw their hands up and said "fuck it" at that point . . . because they were just trying to get it into the 4th quarter.

TGS said...

Each week is the same. ATL seemingly comes to his senses just after the game and admits the Daz must go.
Then a day or two later he reverts to form (inexplicably defending the idiot coach).
Makes one wonder why?

Unknown said...

ZERO FOR THE ACC YEAR 5 WHY are we keeping this WRETCH around. Again LEAHY approved
idiot Bates extension gross malfeasance by Bates and Leahy.

John said...

I digress - but how is Rick Petino still allowed to be a head coach.

Louisville should not be in the ACC. Petino and Petrino - two birds of a feather.

If families of high school basketball athletes are being paid, one would assume the same is true in football - especially at Louisville.

ACC made a big mistake with Louisville.

NEDofSavinHill said...

BC is averaging 12 points a game against Div. 1 foes ( Wake, ND and Clemson) this year. Last year they averaged 12 a game in the ACC. Does anyone see a pattern? The last three years with his players Daz has produced the most boring, least effective offense in the country. 2. If finances are a concern they could can Daz and replace him with Ricky Brown. The special teams have been the only productive part of the program. Give Brown a three year contract at 1.5 million. Bring Day back at OC. Day is only a position coach at OSU. Bring Washington in as DC. You could keep Reid, Paz and Campanale. Washngton could implement Brown's D. The money you save on the head coach could pay off Daz. If Brown produces you extend him. 3. Have the NFL owners already started to fold? No players took the knee in the Monday Night game during the anthem. The NFL business model may be in great trouble if they permit some to disrespect and dishonor our country, it's flag and anthem. The players may have an excuse. They are young, inexperienced and for the most part poorly educated. The owners have no excuse. They only exist because of our military, veterans and police and the sacrifices they have made. 4. Should Kraft go to jail for selling tap water? If he sold more than twenty cups at $5 a pop then he committed the crime of larceny over a hundred dollars which is a felony punishable up to five years in states prison. What a crook. Bellichik and Brady should be ashamed of themselves for dishonoring our nation. They aren't in their twenties. They don't have any excuse.

CT said...

Popovich sucks the worst. Belichek and all the dopey coaches understand that in order to win, to keep their lucrative jobs, they have to have everyone pulling in the same direction. When most of your players are black, you cannot alienate the worker bees. You must pull with them, or risk losing the locker room. What was this originally about? Equality, police reform. How did the uneducated mob conflate two different issues? I'm hoping the statement has been made but I'm doubtful this will end because there is no way to quantize progress on this issue. Millionaire black athletes wake up and go, "you know what? I don't feel the racism today." Yeah, no. The Cowboys were the least disrespectful. What is this world coming to if you can say that?

Daz wants to drag. I want to gag.

BCAlum2000 said...

"This team is better than their record and better than the current point differential."

This based on what? The stats? The stats that have us at the absolute bottom in the country for both offense (third straight year) and now defense as well? Can we please stop. This team and this program is unrecognizable to be as a proud BC alum of years past. They simply cannot compete with teams in the upper echelon and now that has even spread to being noncompetitive against mediocre at best teams like Wake Forest.

Total house cleaning is required.

Unknown said...

Don Brown , Ryan Day are great ideas. Add Doug Flutie as QB Coach and we are off to
glory "FOR BOSTON" UNLOAD the personification of loser!!!!!!

downtown_resident said...

"This team is...better than the current point differential"

Love the blog but I have to disagree. Take the Clemson game-- total yards: Clemson 482, BC 238; first downs: Clemson 27, BC 12; even Daz's all-important time of possession: Clemson 34:56, BC 25:04. This was a blowout, and not just on the scoreboard.

Sure, Daz suppressed Clemson's scoring chances for a while by playing for a close loss and punting four times inside Clemson territory (including 4th-and-3 at the Clemson 44 in the second quarter!) and once at midfield, but that shouldn't fool anybody who has lived through the past nine years of Spaz-Daz torture.

On the season, BC trails opponents 442 to 330 in total yards per game, 79-74 in total first downs, and (just for you, Daz) 31:01-28:59 in time of possession. BC has reached the opponent's red zone just 10 times all season (scoring TD's 50% of those times), while opponents have reached the BC red zone 18 times (scoring TD's 77.7% of time).

This is just an overmatched team, same as last year. Like last year, I expect future losses to Louisville, FSU, and Virginia Tech. We'll probably steal one against the trio of Syracuse, N.C. State and UVA. And we'll likely beat CMU and UConn. And so in this, the fifth year of the five-year rebuild, we're probably looking at a grand total of four or five wins, and no more than 1 or 2 in the ACC. That should leave Daz's career record in the ACC at around 11-29, and 3-21 in the last three years, and also with a sub -.500 record at BC and lifetime as a coach.

Your move, Mr. Jarmond.

John said...

According to the Don Best College Injury Report, QB Anthony Brown left the Clemson game with an undisclosed injury and is questionable for Saturday vs. Central Michigan.

Also questionable at this time Monteiro (lower body) and Richardson (knee).

John said...

That probably explains why Wade came in, but who knows?

Unknown said...

ATL is just such an asshole. To say they possibly could be 3-1? Which two "should" they have won?

Couldn't you just as easily say they "should" be 0-4?

TGS said...

Great fact based posts by Ned, CT and Downtown. More facts:
Over the past decade, according to FBI data, 40% of cop killers have been black. Officers are killed by blacks at a rate 2.5 times higher than the rate at which blacks are killed by police.

EagleEye2002 said...

Eagle in Atlanta, the washed up website where your old, racist, white, and male BC alums bitch about politics and nationalism instead of BC Athletics. Save those Fox News skewed stats for Facebook and Twitter.

If you are BC athlete who reads this blog, I sincerely apologize for the ignorance of a few. I'm done with this site. Ever to Excel.

John said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John said...

Let's talk about the post from 3:29.

modest34b said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
knucklehead said...

I'm copping two,
I think that was posted by the imposter.

Unknown said...

Look up the majority opinion upholding flag burning. You have big shock coming for you (AS)

Anonymous said...

. . . so be careful with the accusations.

dtrain1234 said...

Back to football...get ready for a 5-7 season and a trip to a bowl game. 2 ACC wins will buy Daz at least another year. The program cannot afford to eat $7.5 million and pay market rate for an ACC coach. 20 of us complaining on this blog will not change the general dynamic...not enough people care whether we win 5 games or 7 games.

XPhaktor said...

I think people are getting things too complicated. It's simple...hire a coach that implements gameplans and schemes designed to beat the living crap out of other squads, even if you lose. It's obvious in year 5 that the current coach does not encourage playing to the whistle and knocking better competition off their game through aggressive tackling and blocking. Recruit players like that, coach them correctly and you have the bedrock of your program. We have to realize that BC is at a competitive disadvantage in terms of recruiting the best players in the south and the West. However, that should not be a detriment to successfully recruiting the best in the region, more specifically, Massachusetts. In order to get these kids, you have to sell them more than playing the best, but the knowledge that you have the tools already on board to beat the best, with a track record to show how close you are to meeting program expectations. It's easier said than done, yes. I am an observer of bad football coaching however and the transformation of the program back to the one Jags left behind takes a coach with the sack to go and get the best in the immediate vicinity, coach them to compete all four quarters, not "drag" a team into the 4th and dissipate because of conditioning and talent gap. The talent is out there. The raw materials to create a football program with designs on competing for titles can be cultivated and forged. First, the fraudulence has to stop and fooling the student body, fans, recruits, etc must be effectively stamped out. Maybe it takes being replaced in the ACC to make that happen on a lower level of football.