Morning After Thoughts

[IIIPete]

This game was troubling because we backed up from the 6 straight wins closing out last year.
ASU had more yards in penalties than they had passing ??
Run Defense was good...can it hold up against GS ? Remainder of 2015 Season ?
Special Teams was very promising from past years of being a very sore spot.
TL had a bad day...maybe his worst day...he played like a wide eyed freshmen
not someone who was a second year starter, that had closed out 6 straight wins
the previous season.

[sixtoes9134]

I rewatched yesterday and saw that too.

[Budman2154]

Agree with Double regarding a QB switch after the 3rd interception. I think Taylor, given the opportunity to watch several plays/series could have benefited. Play calling by the staff on 3rd down was abysmal. 3rd down and 3 and 3rd down and 4 and we throw the ball 15-20yds each time and not even close to a completion. We only needed 3-4 yds to keep the drive going. Hopefully Tqylor learns from his poor performance. He must make better decisions and take better care of the ball if we are to compete for the SBC.

[boonetown1]

I think it was a good experience for Taylor to stay in the game and "fight" through it. Keep in mind, he hasn't really had many games like that since coming to App. I think it will be more beneficial for him moving forward.

[sixtoes9134]

I think it was a good experience for Taylor to stay in the game and "fight" through it. Keep in mind, he hasn't really had many games like that since coming to App. I think it will be more beneficial for him moving forward.

I agree - the only argument for even considering Caruso would be some read option looks because he's a pretty darn good runner, but really, Clemson would have snuffed that out too which is why we didn't see any of it with Taylor.

Was a little surprised by the lack of H-Back lead blocking.

[eggers76]

Watched the replay last night. The left side of the OL was getting swamped. That DE for Clemson gave our left tackle fits. The right side OL run blocking looked very good to me. The front 7 on defense played very well in my opinion especially Blair and Law. I saw a lot to build on but we HAVE to avoid the big mistakes, turnovers, penalties, protect our QB, and our receivers have to do a better job getting open for us to play well enough to compete for the conference title. The ODU game should should give us a better view of this teams potential. We obviously need to pick it up and play our best in Norfolk.

[Longrifle28]

I'm okay with how this ended up. Wish we had played mistake free and were a little more prepared for their championship caliber defense and speed. Give Clemson credit, they have a great defense, and those guys were focused and prepared for the game. Minus mistakes we probably cover the spread.

I saw some good things watching this game. Our defense was pretty good and did a good job against the Clemson rushing attack. Our pass defense was okay, but when we couldn't get pressure or Watson had a chance to improvise, we got burned by the tall, fast wide receivers. Offense was completely overwhelmed by their defense during the first half. I think Taylor will learn from his mistakes. He was definitely rattled during the second quarter. I'm glad coach left him in and let him work himself out of it.

Our touchdown was against a lot of starters for Clemson. I noted that Watkins and Boulware were in during that drive, so our guys did get some confidence working against excellent competition.

We weren't the worst team that they will see this season, but they are probably the best team we will see by a long shot. Got to use this learning experience to get better.

[ASUMountaineer]

I was at the game and the defense played well and admirably. Honestly, giving up only 3 points in the first quarter was IMPRESSIVE. The offense had a B A D day, but we will not face another defense that skilled and fast the rest of the way. Clemson has the makings of a great team that can make the CFP. Personally, I don't put it all on the players. The coaches did not put our offense in position to succeed in many occasions. Honestly though, if Lamb was going to have a really bad game like this, it was better it happen against Clemson than another G5 opponent. I'm hoping he got this bad one out of his system.

I will also say this; to me, for the first time we really looked like a big-time program. Not just with unis or anything like that, but our guys were pumped, we were big and physical, we expected to win, and our fans traveled well. All-in-all, outside of the 2nd quarter, it was a great day for football.

[ASUMountaineer]

That interception when we were driving toward end-zone with a minute in the 1st quarter and down only 3-0 was a killer. I would have kept pounding with Upshaw (I love Upshaw's running ability).

Then in the 2nd quarter, what else to say other than Taylor was forced into making bad decisions. You gotta learn to take the sack or get rid of the ball. We played with them 3 quarters.

Our D and special teams balled out. Film will help with Taylor's decision making over the next two weeks.

As many have stated the offense was vanilla, even though Coach said earlier in the week there would be some wrinkles thrown in. Never saw them, but maybe the confidence wasn't there. Also, what happened to the H-Back lead blocking? Hope that shows back up.

This is true, and I also agreed with Satt's comments after the game. Paraphrasing, "Clemson played to our tendencies and they are one of the few teams in the nation with the personnel to take that risk." On offense, since they couldn't run the ball, they picked on Mondo. He was overwhelmed by Clemson's size (he's not tiny, but they were big). He had the speed, but not the size and their big WR's took advantage. You can't coach size.

[moonshine]

I plan on trying to watch the replay tonight so I may have more to add but why oh why did the coaches pull a page from JMU's playbook and have Lamb punt the ball? Either line up and go for it on 4th and two or at the very least try to draw them offsides, take the delay of game and punt. The other option is to actually put our punter in and try to pin them deep.

Granted they threw an INT on the next series but instead of taking over at their 46, App could have possibly been inside Clemson's 40 and had a chance to put points on the board first. Now I realize this doesn't change the outcome of the game but it could have been a huge confidence booster to put points up first.

On his first INT, (I'm sure he knows) TL should have just thrown it away to try and salvage a FG and tie the game up. IIRC, the pick 6 was a great defensive play call. The DL dropped back right into the passing lane. As that play was lining up, you could tell they were pressing our WR's and I told my brother a seam route to the slot guy on TL's left would have been a nice audible, at least from where I was sitting.

Also, how in world can you call a timeout and follow that up with back to back delay of game penalties?

[appmaj]

I am trying to remind myself that this is a game (at least I) did not expect us to win. I hate that we were not as competitive (in the second quarter) as I had hoped. In the end we are 1-1. Hopefully the bye week gives the coaches some opportunities & we go through the remaining schedule stronger.

[MtnDevil95]

In spite of the back-to-back offside penalties that gave up the game’s first 3 points, I was feeling pretty confident going into the second quarter. The Clemson fans around us were complimentary of the defense and making comments about making it a game. Then we broke a screen pass for 40+ yards and set-up in the red zone. Life was feeling pretty good, and texts starting coming in from friends and family watching on ESPN3.

Taylor didn’t throw the ball into the stands on a scramble and Clemson picked off the pass in the end zone. Our defense held, and there was hope. Then a Clemson big ugly picked the ball out of the air and lumbered into the end zone. I felt more deflated than Tom Brady’s footballs.

I suspect that was a common experience among App fans, both in the stand and streaming or listening. The second quarter was abysmal. The 1st, 3rd, and 4th quarters were pretty damn good. 2 days later I’m telling myself that App wasn’t expected to win the game, so might as well get the dumb mistakes and poor decisions out of their system against Clemson, nose down for the remaining 10 games, and run the table.

Clemson obliterated NC State last year, and are going to dismantle other P5 teams on their way through the season, so this loss is not acceptable (no loss will ever be acceptable), but it’s made somewhat palatable.

Our defense, especially the front 7, held their own against one of the better offensive units in the country. That should scare the crap out of Stink and the rest of the Sun Belt.

[Yosef84]

Also, how in world can you call a timeout and follow that up with back to back delay of game penalties?

I have to admit, that's a head scratcher. I wonder if the delays were intentinal in order to get a better angle on the goal. Last year, we were terrible at close kicks from the hash. From my seats, I couldn't tell if the angle was steep or not, but that is the only thing I can think of. Distance wasn't an issue, so maybe we needed a better angle at the goal.

[dubs21]

I don't think they had the kick team in until after we had to the two delay of game penalties. I think they were going for it with the offense prior to those. But I could be mistaken.

[Yosef10]

I just don't get how us, as fans, can call out "offensive scheme/play calling". What was our scheme? It's the same offense as always, run to setup the pass. We don't know what plays were called, any audibles made at the line, the gameplan installed during the week, any "weaknesses" of Clemson.the coaches found during film sessions. Just so many variables go into this type of thing and none of us are close enough to know what's really going on.

Our offense wasn't successful and that's because we're a run oriented team that uses the run to set up the pass. After we couldn't run I knew it was going to be a looooonnngggg day offensively. Taylor Lamb and company haven't seen a team as good as Clemson ever. Michigans team last year would've got smoked by this Clemson team. Our D will be lights out the rest of the year and O will be just fine when playing the comparable level of competition.

[Yosef84]

I don't think they had the kick team in until after we had to the two delay of game penalties. I think they were going for it with the offense prior to those. But I could be mistaken.

I know we initially lined up to go for it, but called the time out. The first delay might have been an attempt to pull them off sides. After that, I thought the kicking team was out there.

[MtnMan09]

I will start with the positives. Our defense looked heads and tails above what I expected. I'll agree with another poster, that was the first time I have ever felt like a "big boy" where we had a defense that was actually physical enough to compete with the a P5s OL. That was a breath of fresh air for once. Really the energy in our section after that Gibbs INT was about as good as it gets. Our fans travelled well also. I ran my tailgate out of Lot 1 near the stadium. We started at 7 and had the smoker going before many of their fans got their tents up. I think we impressed in that arena at least. I've heard similar things from other apps who tailgated.

Offensively, I so wish we could take that first INT back and keep that drive alive. I have no clue what scoring there would have done for our confidence or to theirs, but I surely would have liked to find out. It was a great drive. With regards to play calling, I don't think we can just write that off as "oh we are a run first team to set up our pass game, its not the coaches fault they took away the run." Good teams adapt and we showed an inability to do that on Saturday. It reinforced for me that while we like to think we have arrived, we simply are not there yet. I live for the day where we can play a P5 and not lose by 30 plus. Following the game, I wandered down to TTTs and fought several hundred Clemson fans to get the ECU game put on one of their TVs (they were all more than enjoying watching USC get beat by Kentucky). Despite sneaking out one over Towson last week, ECU looked good and almost walked out of the Swamp with a win. While Florida is not Clemson, I just don't think we have what it takes yet to go in like that and play P5 teams close yet. Its emotionally draining to ride that "hope rollercoaster," and as I alluded to in another post it makes me have empathy for Cubs fans. The goal for this year has and is to win a SBC championship. I think we have the talent to do that. Once we accomplish that goal, whether that be this year or sometime in the future, the focus needs to become how to compete outside the conference if we every want a reputation like Boise cultivated.