Clemson's Offense

[AURex 1,994]

Although Deshawn Watson and other Clemson offensive starters are leaving, we can bet that Dabo has a squad full of capable replacements on the roster. And given the simplicity (and effectiveness) of the offensive scheming, we can expect that Auburn will once again be challenged by the Clemson offense.

Here is a good article with detail concerning the kind of passing attack Clemson uses (and a little on the rushing scheme as well). The last example in particular is interesting, as it sums up the kind of reads and throws Watson was making during his years at Clemson.

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2017/2/13/14502352/2017-nfl-draft-team-breakdown-clemsons-offense

 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

22 hours ago, AURex said:

Although Deshawn Watson and other Clemson offensive starters are leaving, we can bet that Dabo has a squad full of capable replacements on the roster. And given the simplicity (and effectiveness) of the offensive scheming, we can expect that Auburn will once again be challenged by the Clemson offense.

You mean the Clemson offense that, with Deshawn Watson, only scored 19 points on us when we did everything in our power to give them the game?

[AURex 1,994]

Well, that's also the Clemson offense that beat Bama (and other teams) by a slim margin, and yet won the national championship.

 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

Yeah we do have to give them credit for being a substantially better offense by the end of the year than the beginning (like almost every program) 

 

Alabama was facing a different animal 

[keesler 5,924]

2 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Yeah we do have to give them credit for being a substantially better offense by the end of the year than the beginning (like almost every program) 

 

Alabama was facing a different animal 

They have a dang good offensive scheme and they recruit the players to execute it very well.

[meh130 1,043]

On 2/14/2017 at 7:15 PM, AURex said:

Although Deshawn Watson and other Clemson offensive starters are leaving, we can bet that Dabo has a squad full of capable replacements on the roster. And given the simplicity (and effectiveness) of the offensive scheming, we can expect that Auburn will once again be challenged by the Clemson offense.

Here is a good article with detail concerning the kind of passing attack Clemson uses (and a little on the rushing scheme as well). The last example in particular is interesting, as it sums up the kind of reads and throws Watson was making during his years at Clemson.

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2017/2/13/14502352/2017-nfl-draft-team-breakdown-clemsons-offense

 

Most of the rushing plays described are straight from Gus Malzahn's playbook that Chad Morris took with him from Tulsa to Clempson. The passing plays are not. Clempson ran some very similar passing plays as Malzahn's with Taj Boyd, but Clempson significantly updated its passing playbook over the last two years with Watson. There was a Baylor fan site which in previewing their SMU game had a bunch of Chad Morris Clempson plays from the Taj Boyd era. Back then the passing plays were very similar to Malzahn's. Watson is not Boyd, and to reduce the risk of injury to Watson on QB running plays, Dabo added a more sophisticated passing attack. That took Clempson to the next level.

Looking at the running plays on this page, what they call the "Read Option" is the Outside Zone Read/Inverted Veer/Power Read that Cam Newton made famous. The particular play shows the read defender as the play-side ILB. Cam mostly read the playside OLB/DE, but the blocking and the read defender can be moved around to confuse the defense. We did that a lot on the Inside Zone Read with Nick Marshall. The "Halfback Power" play is Malzahn's classic Power play.

Over the last two years Clempson also added a couple of new running plays. A "toss option" version of the Outside Zone Read/Inverted Veer/Power Read, and a Play Option Pass which combines an inside zone run with a read on the playside safety for a pass to the slot WR or TE on the play-side. Chris Brown at Smart Football covered these recently. He got a copy of Clempson's playbook. Clempson's current playbook still uses Malzahn's offensive player identification system, using numbers instead of letters.

These tweaks that Clempson did to evolve their offense and take some of the pressure off of Watson are just the kind of changes Auburn needs to implement. I think Lindsey is the guy who can do that. The changes Clempson made to the passing game include more trips formations and slants. CCL also likes to use trips and slants. CCL also likes to use more traditional drop-back passing. I think the potential changes to the offense, with the prospect of competent passers Stidham and White being our leading QBs could dramatically improve our passing game. CCL also likes the Play Option Pass, which might be a challenge for White, given his height, but given Stidham's taller stature and his quick release, could be devastating if defenses key on Pettway.