Thanks to Candy Turner for providing these shots.Friday, January 9, 2009
FINAL WRAP-UP OF THE GATOR BOWL
As painful as it was, I finally watched the replay of the second half of the Gator Bowl. It took me a little over four hours to watch 30 minutes of football because I watched plays over and over and over, making over five pages of notes in a spiral notebook I had sitting in my lap. I watched most plays in slow motion in order to watch the offensive and defensive line, pass routes, tackling and so forth.
After watching both halves the same way, DVR remote in one hand and a notebook in the other, I can tell you in my honest opinion that Cullen Harper is not the reason we lost this game. I admit that I have been a little on edge over the past week because many of my fellow Tigers fans have blamed the loss on Harper and I couldn't see it. I reserved my judgment until I could take my time, watch the replay, and really break the game down.
Now that I've done that, I think there is plenty of blame to go around as to why we lost. Trying to put the loss on the shoulders of one member of the team in this case is very short-sighted. Mistakes were made by lots of individuals that are part of the team and you win or lose as a team. If the team learns from these mistakes and corrects them, then we've taken something positive out of the loss instead of dwelling on a bunch of negativity. Let's take a look at the second half highlights and lowlights:
HIGHLIGHTS:
Chad Diehl fumble recovery
Diehl is one of those guys who is kind of like an offensive lineman from the standpoint that he does not get a lot of publicity. He just does what he is asked to do, which is block and play special teams. In this instance he made a big play on special teams by recovering a fumbled punt by Nebraksa that gave the Tigers the ball back with great field position.
Cullen Harper/Jacoby Ford
Jacoby Ford and Cullen Harper had already connected for 3 catches and 55 yards in the first half, the key play being the 46 yard pass reception on 3rd and a mile to get the Tigers from their own 3 to mid-field. Ford and Harper followed up with two fantastic plays in the second half: The first one came in the third quarter as the offensive line did a great job of blocking and giving Harper time to throw. Jacoby ran a great route and Harper lofted a beautiful 41 yard pass right down the middle that Ford caught for a TD. The second play was on 4th and 4 late in the 4th quarter, when Harper hit Jacoby for a 16 yard strike that kept the drive going. On a side note, even Steve Beuerlein toned down his criticism of Harper in the second half and gave him credit for standing in the pocket with the corner blitzing and hitting him after he threw on this play.
Da'Quan Bowers
Bowers had a great first half with two tackles for loss and three QB pressures. He came out in the second half and followed that up with two more tackles for loss and two more QB pressures and was credited with a tackle assist. The official stats. only credit Bowers with three TFL's but according to my eyes and notes, he had four. In any event, it was Bowers' most dominating performance all season. As he continues to develop and mature, it is going to be fun to watch him wreak havoc on our opponents.
Andre' McDaniel
McDaniel is another Tiger that continued to make plays in the second half (with one exception) after forcing the Ganz fumble and returning it for a TD in the first half. Andre' had three tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the second half and finished the game with 6.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a QB pressure, a forced fumble and a TD.
LOWLIGHTS
Tackling (or lack thereof)
In the second half, there were a lot of missed tackles that resulted in Nebraska turning what should have been short to medium gains into big plays. Just a few: On Nebraska's 2nd series of the 2nd half, Chris Clemmons was in perfect position to make a tackle after the whole defensive line (except for Bowers) was blown off the ball but let RB Castille run right by him. The play went for 58 yards. Three plays later, Nebraska scored a TD.
More failure to tackle
In the 4th quarter, with Nebraska facing 3rd and 13, Ganz completed a short pass over the middle and McDaniel was in position to make the tackle and missed it. Instead of the Tigers holding on 3rd down and giving the ball back to the offense, the play went for 20 yards and Nebraska was able to chew up more time off the clock. Later in the 4th quarter, on Nebraska's second to last offensive series of the game with time winding down, RB Castille takes the handoff on their own 41 up the middle and Brandon Maye just flat out misses the tackle. Clemmons also misses him and Castille is off to the races, barely being pushed out of bounds before the goal line. This results in a FG and a five point lead for Nebraska instead of a 2 point lead when the Tigers get the ball on their final possession. A stop by the defense with no points allowed on that drive and a FG on Clemson's drive would have resulted in a win.
Offensive line
Once again in the second half, the Tigers struggled to run the ball. James Davis had 3 attempts for 3 yards, Spiller had 3 attempts for 4 yards and Ford had 1 attempt for 3 yards on an end-around. For the entire game, these three players accounted for a net 46 yards rushing on 20 attempts for an average of 2.3 yards per carry. Let's face it: Nebraska has an outstanding defensive line and their nose tackle Suh would certainly go in the 1st round of the NFL draft if he were to declare himself eligible this year. He almost single-handedly controlled the line of scrimmage and was dominant throughout the entire game, even moreso than Bama's Cody.
Suh practically lined up against everyone on the offensive line and no one could really block him one on one. He constantly crashed through the line and either sacked Harper, made a tackle for loss or just made a "normal" tackle. When we double teamed him, sometimes it didn't matter but other times it provided blitz opportunities or allowed someone else to go free. Suh finished the game with two sacks, four tackles for loss, six solo tackles, two assists and Lord only knows how many QB pressures. Nebraska had a total of five sacks and eleven tackles for loss in the game.
There were so many plays where offensive lineman missed their blocks in the second half that resulted in their man either making the tackle or getting pressure or a sack on the QB that I don't want to take the time and space to list them all. Here is just an overview: Bobby Hutchinson missed two, both on Suh and also had an illegal procedure penalty on third down. Landon Walker also missed on Suh. Mason Cloy missed a block on Suh, Antoine McClain missed a block on Suh and Chris Hairston missed a block but I couldn't get the player's number. The only offensive lineman that I did not note missing a block that resulted in a tackle for loss, QB pressure, sack, etc. is Thomas Austin.
Dropped passes
Midway in the 3rd quarter, Harper threw an accurate bubble screen pass to Jacoby Ford that hit him right in the hands. In my opinion, after watching the replay numerous times and in slow motion, Jacoby lost his focus because in his peripheral vision he could see the Nebraksa defender Amukamra (#21) was closing quick. The ball popped up in the air off of Ford's hands and was then intercepted. Despite what the announcers said, Nebraska really didn't make a great play. Ford just didn't catch the ball.
On next series in the 3rd quarter, facing 3rd and 6, Harper threw an accurate swing pass to a wide open C.J. Spiller that hit him right in the hands but was dropped. Spiller had open field in front of him. On the next play, Maners' punt was blocked, Nebraska got great field position and scored a FG.
In the 4th quarter with a little over eight minutes remaining, Clemson faced 3rd and 4 and Harper threw a pass to Aaron Kelly which hit him in the hands but was dropped. It would have resulted in a first down but instead the Tigers had to punt. The announcer (Beuerlein) said Harper did not make a good throw. It appeared that the ball might have been slightly off line but it hit Kelly in the hands. As soon as Kelly made his break on the slant route, the ball was there and I'm not sure he was ready for it. Another possibility is that like Ford, it could be that Kelly saw the defender coming to put a hit on him and lost focus momentarily. I think if the ball hits you in the hands, you should catch it.
On Clemson's last drive of the game with time winding down and no time outs, the Tigers faced 3rd and goal from the 26 after Harper's sack. The pass from Harper to C.J. Spiller was perfect but the Nebraska defender made a great play on the ball and knocked it away. I don't know if you can really call this one a dropped pass. It was more of a pass break up or pass defended. It could have been caught and maybe it could have even been called pass interference since the defender's body came into Spiller from the back and his hand was on Spiller's helmet.
Blocked punt
In the 3rd quarter, Jimmy Maners' punt was blocked when Sadat Chambers didn't get a good block on the Nebraska player who was rushing in from his right side. It looked like he attempted to just give the guy a push to knock him off balance rather than slide over and get in front of him to get on his pads.
After watching both halves the same way, DVR remote in one hand and a notebook in the other, I can tell you in my honest opinion that Cullen Harper is not the reason we lost this game. I admit that I have been a little on edge over the past week because many of my fellow Tigers fans have blamed the loss on Harper and I couldn't see it. I reserved my judgment until I could take my time, watch the replay, and really break the game down.
Now that I've done that, I think there is plenty of blame to go around as to why we lost. Trying to put the loss on the shoulders of one member of the team in this case is very short-sighted. Mistakes were made by lots of individuals that are part of the team and you win or lose as a team. If the team learns from these mistakes and corrects them, then we've taken something positive out of the loss instead of dwelling on a bunch of negativity. Let's take a look at the second half highlights and lowlights:
HIGHLIGHTS:
Chad Diehl fumble recovery
Diehl is one of those guys who is kind of like an offensive lineman from the standpoint that he does not get a lot of publicity. He just does what he is asked to do, which is block and play special teams. In this instance he made a big play on special teams by recovering a fumbled punt by Nebraksa that gave the Tigers the ball back with great field position.
Cullen Harper/Jacoby Ford
Jacoby Ford and Cullen Harper had already connected for 3 catches and 55 yards in the first half, the key play being the 46 yard pass reception on 3rd and a mile to get the Tigers from their own 3 to mid-field. Ford and Harper followed up with two fantastic plays in the second half: The first one came in the third quarter as the offensive line did a great job of blocking and giving Harper time to throw. Jacoby ran a great route and Harper lofted a beautiful 41 yard pass right down the middle that Ford caught for a TD. The second play was on 4th and 4 late in the 4th quarter, when Harper hit Jacoby for a 16 yard strike that kept the drive going. On a side note, even Steve Beuerlein toned down his criticism of Harper in the second half and gave him credit for standing in the pocket with the corner blitzing and hitting him after he threw on this play.
Da'Quan Bowers
Bowers had a great first half with two tackles for loss and three QB pressures. He came out in the second half and followed that up with two more tackles for loss and two more QB pressures and was credited with a tackle assist. The official stats. only credit Bowers with three TFL's but according to my eyes and notes, he had four. In any event, it was Bowers' most dominating performance all season. As he continues to develop and mature, it is going to be fun to watch him wreak havoc on our opponents.
Andre' McDaniel
McDaniel is another Tiger that continued to make plays in the second half (with one exception) after forcing the Ganz fumble and returning it for a TD in the first half. Andre' had three tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the second half and finished the game with 6.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a QB pressure, a forced fumble and a TD.
LOWLIGHTS
Tackling (or lack thereof)
In the second half, there were a lot of missed tackles that resulted in Nebraska turning what should have been short to medium gains into big plays. Just a few: On Nebraska's 2nd series of the 2nd half, Chris Clemmons was in perfect position to make a tackle after the whole defensive line (except for Bowers) was blown off the ball but let RB Castille run right by him. The play went for 58 yards. Three plays later, Nebraska scored a TD.
More failure to tackle
In the 4th quarter, with Nebraska facing 3rd and 13, Ganz completed a short pass over the middle and McDaniel was in position to make the tackle and missed it. Instead of the Tigers holding on 3rd down and giving the ball back to the offense, the play went for 20 yards and Nebraska was able to chew up more time off the clock. Later in the 4th quarter, on Nebraska's second to last offensive series of the game with time winding down, RB Castille takes the handoff on their own 41 up the middle and Brandon Maye just flat out misses the tackle. Clemmons also misses him and Castille is off to the races, barely being pushed out of bounds before the goal line. This results in a FG and a five point lead for Nebraska instead of a 2 point lead when the Tigers get the ball on their final possession. A stop by the defense with no points allowed on that drive and a FG on Clemson's drive would have resulted in a win.
Offensive line
Once again in the second half, the Tigers struggled to run the ball. James Davis had 3 attempts for 3 yards, Spiller had 3 attempts for 4 yards and Ford had 1 attempt for 3 yards on an end-around. For the entire game, these three players accounted for a net 46 yards rushing on 20 attempts for an average of 2.3 yards per carry. Let's face it: Nebraska has an outstanding defensive line and their nose tackle Suh would certainly go in the 1st round of the NFL draft if he were to declare himself eligible this year. He almost single-handedly controlled the line of scrimmage and was dominant throughout the entire game, even moreso than Bama's Cody.
Suh practically lined up against everyone on the offensive line and no one could really block him one on one. He constantly crashed through the line and either sacked Harper, made a tackle for loss or just made a "normal" tackle. When we double teamed him, sometimes it didn't matter but other times it provided blitz opportunities or allowed someone else to go free. Suh finished the game with two sacks, four tackles for loss, six solo tackles, two assists and Lord only knows how many QB pressures. Nebraska had a total of five sacks and eleven tackles for loss in the game.
There were so many plays where offensive lineman missed their blocks in the second half that resulted in their man either making the tackle or getting pressure or a sack on the QB that I don't want to take the time and space to list them all. Here is just an overview: Bobby Hutchinson missed two, both on Suh and also had an illegal procedure penalty on third down. Landon Walker also missed on Suh. Mason Cloy missed a block on Suh, Antoine McClain missed a block on Suh and Chris Hairston missed a block but I couldn't get the player's number. The only offensive lineman that I did not note missing a block that resulted in a tackle for loss, QB pressure, sack, etc. is Thomas Austin.
Dropped passes
Midway in the 3rd quarter, Harper threw an accurate bubble screen pass to Jacoby Ford that hit him right in the hands. In my opinion, after watching the replay numerous times and in slow motion, Jacoby lost his focus because in his peripheral vision he could see the Nebraksa defender Amukamra (#21) was closing quick. The ball popped up in the air off of Ford's hands and was then intercepted. Despite what the announcers said, Nebraska really didn't make a great play. Ford just didn't catch the ball.
On next series in the 3rd quarter, facing 3rd and 6, Harper threw an accurate swing pass to a wide open C.J. Spiller that hit him right in the hands but was dropped. Spiller had open field in front of him. On the next play, Maners' punt was blocked, Nebraska got great field position and scored a FG.
In the 4th quarter with a little over eight minutes remaining, Clemson faced 3rd and 4 and Harper threw a pass to Aaron Kelly which hit him in the hands but was dropped. It would have resulted in a first down but instead the Tigers had to punt. The announcer (Beuerlein) said Harper did not make a good throw. It appeared that the ball might have been slightly off line but it hit Kelly in the hands. As soon as Kelly made his break on the slant route, the ball was there and I'm not sure he was ready for it. Another possibility is that like Ford, it could be that Kelly saw the defender coming to put a hit on him and lost focus momentarily. I think if the ball hits you in the hands, you should catch it.
On Clemson's last drive of the game with time winding down and no time outs, the Tigers faced 3rd and goal from the 26 after Harper's sack. The pass from Harper to C.J. Spiller was perfect but the Nebraska defender made a great play on the ball and knocked it away. I don't know if you can really call this one a dropped pass. It was more of a pass break up or pass defended. It could have been caught and maybe it could have even been called pass interference since the defender's body came into Spiller from the back and his hand was on Spiller's helmet.
Blocked punt
In the 3rd quarter, Jimmy Maners' punt was blocked when Sadat Chambers didn't get a good block on the Nebraska player who was rushing in from his right side. It looked like he attempted to just give the guy a push to knock him off balance rather than slide over and get in front of him to get on his pads.
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