Thoughts on Defense and Offense

[vegasvolfan]

People have been calling for heads on our defensive staff. We just saw a team, like many others, put up a lot of yards on us only to lose like some of the others. Yes Clemson missed 4 field goals, but one was deflected and that still would not have given them the dub.

As Swinney said, yards don't win games. Points are the name of the game. In that category, we improved from the 90th defense in the nation last year:

2021 Team Defense | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

... to the 36th this year.

2022 Team Defense | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

Another interesting stat: Clemson put up over 30 points on all but 2 teams this year, yet we held them to 14.

I also liked how some of our guys looked in this game. I said at the beginning of the year we need to see improvements and people flashing star talent on both sides of the ball, and Joe Milton to have shown improvements by the end of the season, to have any sort of realistic, high expectations for next year.

Sticking to defense, Beasley looks like he will be a star next year. Hadden played very well against Clemson as well as the rest of our defense. I believe we have a healthy number of guys returning and some star talent joining us next year. We should be fine.

Moving to offense, Squirrel, Keyton, McCoy are all poised to have great years and Milton looked solid for once against the #7 team in the nation. What's even better is a healthy number of our OL guy's are coming back. Wright can probably start cracking 100 yards in games next year behind that OL and with the balanced passing attack. Sampson has shown he will he a solid contributor. Small is we all know is solid.

People are saying Milton isn't our guy. Only one other team put up 31 or more points on Clemson this year. Clemson had the #26 defense in the nation. You could talk about them missing their NFL DE in this game, but we were missing two NFL calibur receivers. We were spoiled on Hooker this year, so don't expect Milton to be Hooker. Still, Milton has all Spring and Summer to practice as the #1 guy. I think he is going to be productive for us.

I am not sure how we will fare at TE. Would love it if someone could post who all is coming back and who is coming in that is new that can help immediately!

 

[WillisWG]

3 teams. ND beat Clemson 35-14. They beat Syracuse 27-21. But your point is taken.

 

[vegasvolfan]

3 teams. ND beat Clemson 35-14. They beat Syracuse 27-21. But your point is taken.

3 teams including us? I updated it to 2 lol

 

[sjt18]

It was an ugly win in a lot of ways. The D played too many plays. They couldn't get off the field until Clemson got in scoring position. The O couldn't stay on the field or even consistently get the big strikes like they did with Hooker.

I think again that the D has more talent than some do. I think the pieces are there to have been better all year long. I think the pieces are there with a little more help to become a very good D next fall. I am still not sold on Banks.

I'm also not sold on Milton yet. I like him. Love the arm. Love the story. I think he's a good guy. But there was something about Hooker that spread confidence.

Also didn't like that UT was not more effective running the ball especially in light of the D playing over 100 plays.

A win is always better than a loss but this was one of the weirder wins by this kind of margin that I've seen.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

It was an ugly win in a lot of ways. The D played too many plays. They couldn't get off the field until Clemson got in scoring position. The O couldn't stay on the field or even consistently get the big strikes like they did with Hooker.
I think again that the D has more talent than some do. I think the pieces are there to have been better all year long. I think the pieces are there with a little more help to become a very good D next fall. I am still not sold on Banks.
I'm also not sold on Milton yet. I like him. Love the arm. Love the story. I think he's a good guy. But there was something about Hooker that spread confidence.
Also didn't like that UT was not more effective running the ball especially in light of the D playing over 100 plays.
A win is always better than a loss but this was one of the weirder wins by this kind of margin that I've seen.

Well, I did tell you folks the game was going to be a grind. Despite the score, that what it was.

 

[DC_Vol]

It was an ugly win in a lot of ways. The D played too many plays. They couldn't get off the field until Clemson got in scoring position. The O couldn't stay on the field or even consistently get the big strikes like they did with Hooker.

I think again that the D has more talent than some do. I think the pieces are there to have been better all year long. I think the pieces are there with a little more help to become a very good D next fall. I am still not sold on Banks.

I'm also not sold on Milton yet. I like him. Love the arm. Love the story. I think he's a good guy. But there was something about Hooker that spread confidence.

Also didn't like that UT was not more effective running the ball especially in light of the D playing over 100 plays.

A win is always better than a loss but this was one of the weirder wins by this kind of margin that I've seen.

I was pleased to see us win a more grind-it-out kind of game than we were used to seeing this season.

Milton looked much improved. He hit his open guys and was putting the ball where it needed to be. He took care of the football, both in his decision making and when taking hits behind the LOS.

The defense did what it needed to. Bent but didn’t break. Props to the D line. IMO, they won the game for us. Cade was running for his life half the night.

My biggest gripe is still with the DBs. Just turn around and there were easy break ups or INTs there for the taking. Instead we spotted Clemson 15 yards and a new set of downs 4-5 times.

I will file this game beside the Alabama, LSU, and Kentucky wins as one of their finest performances of the season.

 

[sjt18]

Well, I did tell you folks the game was going to be a grind. Despite the score, that what it was.

I didn't participate in a lot of the pre-game discussions mostly because I feared UT was going to lose.

IMO, Heupel once again outcoached someone with a talent advantage over his O. Clemson has talented depth on D.

I think those who recognized the obvious... that Klubnik's performance would be the biggest key for Clemson... were right. UT harassing him and forcing his mental mistakes was huge. Keeping Shipley from running wild was another big key. I wish UT could get a guy who runs like him.