He had nothing to lose by doing it. It’s not like UNC is a playoff contender.
Clemson reminds me of 2010 Tide
- Thread starter bigjue24
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Mack Brown has never been known as a great in-game management kinda coach. He's a CEO and motivator. This was the bad in-a-vacuum game management decision but it was ballsy and maybe that moxy is more important for establishing his program there.
That must have been the section I missed because I was at work.
That's idiocy for you.
I agree if the game was in Death Valley.
AT HOME......he may not be a contender, but he's not one of the academies or an overmatched Oregon State playing at LSU.
He should have taken his chances with overtime at home.
When this happened, I told my wife Mac just lost the game for UNC. My only surprise, given how the game was going, was that UNC scored another TD afterwards.
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Clemson is risking a lot if they think they can lose a game and still get in.
2014 Florida State has been mentioned. Ok so they went 13-0 and won the ACC, a year after going 14-0 and winning the NC. So, 27 game winning streak and all, and they still fell to #3 in the CFP standings.
If Clemson loses, they are out unless mass chaos ensues.
I would bet 2 teams out of Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, and Florida are going to make the playoffs.
One of Ohio State/Wisconsin/Iowa is going to make it.
No one is beating Oklahoma. They're in.
What are you going to do with an 11-1 Notre Dame, whose only loss was on the road to Georgia? (Not that I think the Irish will finish 11-1)
What about a 12-1 Washington/Oregon/Utah?
There are simply too many really good teams this year for Clemson to be assured that one loss in that putrid conference won't sink them, no matter how many aw shucks and gosh darn its Dabo uses.
2014 Florida State has been mentioned. Ok so they went 13-0 and won the ACC, a year after going 14-0 and winning the NC. So, 27 game winning streak and all, and they still fell to #3 in the CFP standings.
If Clemson loses, they are out unless mass chaos ensues.
I would bet 2 teams out of Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, and Florida are going to make the playoffs.
One of Ohio State/Wisconsin/Iowa is going to make it.
No one is beating Oklahoma. They're in.
What are you going to do with an 11-1 Notre Dame, whose only loss was on the road to Georgia? (Not that I think the Irish will finish 11-1)
What about a 12-1 Washington/Oregon/Utah?
There are simply too many really good teams this year for Clemson to be assured that one loss in that putrid conference won't sink them, no matter how many aw shucks and gosh darn its Dabo uses.
This ^^^^. The more film DC's get, the more familiar they get with the player's tendencies and weaknesses. We saw it first hand with Tua last season. You could tell as the season wore on, and more film was available, opposing DC's had adjusted and found (on film) his tendencies and weaknesses.
Trevor Lawrence looks like he's regressed, and that is the main reason they've looked wobbly so far. Not sure if it is partly DCs having a bead on his tendencies, or him having personally swallowed the rat poison. Probably a bit of both. But the answer to people studying film and keying on tendencies is coaching to change up the tendencies. So if Clemson is faltering I put it on the coaches more than the players.
From what I've seen, I feel very good about a rematch with Clemson, if one happens. I'm a lot more worried about LSU, the Barn, and Georgia (and only mildly worried about any of those three, though sweeping all three is probably a 50-50 venture).
Look, I've refrained from comment on Trevor Lawrence for one particular reason.......anything I say that folks on another board (or even some of our great fans here) will automatically be dismissed as sour grapes because Clemson beat us.
Did he have some impressive numbers last year? Yes.
Did he a really good game passing the ball against us? Yes.
But he wasn't why Clemson won the game, either (as DeShaun Watson was in 2016).
Go look at the box score stats:
Alabama had the ball longer
Alabama had more rushing yards
Alabama had more first downs
Alabama only had 39 fewer total yards than Clemson did, the equivalent of one good drive for a possible FG (if you have a decent kicker)
Where did we lose it?
2 turnovers to 0 for Clemson (Lawrence had minimal to do with this, though he gets credit for not throwing picks)
6 penalties for 60 yards to one 12-yard penalty on Clemson (not Lawrence's doing)
4 for 13 on 3rd down conversions (which Lawrence had nothing to do with at all)
3 failed 4th down conversions (which Lawrence again had nothing to do with)
So while he did play a very good football game.....I never got why folks were thinking this was the second coming of Peyton Manning.
He did have two big games against Notre Dame and Alabama but this was not the 2016 Tide defense, either.
I kept reading here all off-season about how great this guy is, and I'm just telling you that he's a solid player and seems to be a likable kid with a good head on his shoulders - but his stats so far this year are about what I expected.
Good? Yes
Transcendent? Hell no.
Did he have some impressive numbers last year? Yes.
Did he a really good game passing the ball against us? Yes.
But he wasn't why Clemson won the game, either (as DeShaun Watson was in 2016).
Go look at the box score stats:
Alabama had the ball longer
Alabama had more rushing yards
Alabama had more first downs
Alabama only had 39 fewer total yards than Clemson did, the equivalent of one good drive for a possible FG (if you have a decent kicker)
Where did we lose it?
2 turnovers to 0 for Clemson (Lawrence had minimal to do with this, though he gets credit for not throwing picks)
6 penalties for 60 yards to one 12-yard penalty on Clemson (not Lawrence's doing)
4 for 13 on 3rd down conversions (which Lawrence had nothing to do with at all)
3 failed 4th down conversions (which Lawrence again had nothing to do with)
So while he did play a very good football game.....I never got why folks were thinking this was the second coming of Peyton Manning.
He did have two big games against Notre Dame and Alabama but this was not the 2016 Tide defense, either.
I kept reading here all off-season about how great this guy is, and I'm just telling you that he's a solid player and seems to be a likable kid with a good head on his shoulders - but his stats so far this year are about what I expected.
Good? Yes
Transcendent? Hell no.
Clearly, Lawrence has spotty accuracy at times and his decision making had definitely regressed some this year.
However, there are specific throws that he tends to be very accurate with and those also tend to be NFL type throws. For example, back shoulder throws he is absolutely deadly on those. Sure he has WRs that help him out but so does Tua on slants. That doesn't make Tua any less deadly on slants. When Lawrence is on his ball placement is high level IMO.
He also has great physical tools with a cannon of an arm, big/tall, and surprisingly fast when he runs.
All this to say that he is good but I do think Tua is better. Lawrence especially as a college QB. I do think Lawrence will actually be a better Pro player than college player.
It also wasn't just one game where he played well FWIW.
But unlike Clempson, Bama's schedule gets progressively more difficult against progressively better teams as the season goes on.
Clempson plays East Popcorn State and Sisters of the Poor for the rest of the season - even if the DCs discover weaknesses they likely won't have the personnel to do anything about it.
The last play, if viewed as a single moment in a game against a better opponent, makes sense. But that play, and the 4th and 1 earlier in the 4th quarter, taken into the greater context of how that game was playing out, make no sense at all. Yes, the world would have celebrated the call if it had worked. But its success or failure are not the only things to consider when evaluating the decisions.
I agree with you the first time he went for it on fourth and one was unnecessary. There was plenty of time in the game and they had a great chance to pin Clemson deep. At that point Clemson's offense was struggling mightily and the pressure would have shifted to Clemson. Instead he goes for it and fails and gives Clemson the boost they needed to put up another TD.
I really like the decision to go for two after the TD for a couple of reasons. First is the way that UNC drove down the field on Clemson for the final score. It was a long methodical clock draining drive that involved lots of positive run plays. At that point the offense had asserted its will a good bit and had Clemson back on their heels. Can't blame them for saying lets push this in here and knock off the champs. The other reason I like it was because UNC was overmatched in that game depth wise. I don't follow UNC but my buddy who does said they were down a bunch of defensive players before and throughout that game. At some point you have to think the dam will break and why not try to get a win by gaining a couple of yards.
However, I really didn't like the final play call. Honestly would have been happier just running it straight at them than what they ended up doing. The call seemed to play into the strength of Clemson rather than the hole they had exploited all game.
As far as the comparison to the 2010 Tide, I don't think it's the best comparison. 2010 Alabama really had troubles with injuries. I know everyone remembers the complacency but that was one of our worst injury seasons as far as injuries to star players. Clemson this year reminds me more of 2014 FSU or 2015 OSU. Both of those teams had loads of talent coming back and just never looked right the entire season.
Their best win will probably be A&M who will have 5-6 losses at seasons end. They may not have a single top 25 victory..
Can't argue with that....at all. LOL! But even the east popcorn states will watch film, notice tendencies, notice weaknesses and do their best to exploit them. I watched Northwestern St do it against Burrow and LSU. You could tell their staff schematically knew what to do to confuse Burrow. But the problem was, they didn't have the athletes to execute it for very long.
Unless Lawrence and staff can self evaluate and make the adjustments to any weakness that their opponents can't take advantage of, then when they come up against a team who does have the talent. They will get a very rude awakening.
I guarantee they are watching film of every major contender and preparing plans. They can. They don't have to prepare for their regular games.
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