The other night, I was doing my usual can't sleep insomniac routine; flipping around channels aimlessly when I was struck by something I saw on one of the fitty-leven ESPN channels. It's a show called Detail, brainchilded by the late Kobe Bryant. It's a no frills look at what's really going on between the lines. It's in depth as can be, and it's great. I'm hooked. You can see the episode featuring Nick Saban dissecting Clemson vs. LSU on ESPN+, but I'd like to share with you what I gleaned from it.
It really does serve as an ingenious depiction of how to beat the strategies Clemson employs defensively, and what the Tigers can do counter balance, or self scout these tactics. Away we go.
- Saban mentions repeatedly that any defense is under the most pressure when the ball isn't thrown on time. Burrow seldom threw the ball on time in the national title game, and was routinely extending plays to the point Clemson had coverage breakdowns. Then, Clemson was hit with massive plays.
- Clemson got burned by Burrow runs each time they rushed five men. Saban harps on this again and again. They were in man during these blitzes, and had no spy. For some reason, Clemson did this repeatedly in the national title game, and I'm still waiting for it to work once.
- Clemson's safeties continued crashing the run pass option, leading to open slants behind them. Clemson simply cannot do that in the playoff again this year. The secondary must trust the front seven to stop the run on its own.
- By placing Jamaar Chase at random times in the slot, LSU earned a mismatch against Clemson's nickel and dime corners. In fact, LSU regularly positioned its players in a way that Clemson had to declare whether they were playing man or zone. Then, they audibled accordingly.
- Simulated pressures work well against explosive offenses like LSU's and Ohio State's. That could be useful information again for this year's CFP. A defensive linemen or two drops into coverage, and a player or two the offense doesn't expect rushes the quarterback in its place. This confused Joe Burrow a few times.
- For some reason, Clemson always had its top two corners lined up outside, even when LSU split its running back or tight end out there. I can't say this clearly enough; Clemson can't let this happen. The Tigers should always ensure, on every play, that their best corners are matched up with their opponents' best receivers, wherever they line up. Ja'Marr Chase on a slot corner. AJ Terrell manning up against Clyde-Edwards Helaire. Your fourth corner on Justin Jefferson as a result. That stuff can't happen moving forward.
- LSU hit Clemson with what I call "Opposite side screens." They'd line up four wide receivers to one side, drawing the defense's attention, then ran a screen to the other side. This caused Clemson significant issues catching up to the ball.
- Clemson got confused on man principles on defense when LSU was in a bunch formation. Clemson's linebackers and defensive backs simply were unable to identify which player they were responsible for. LSU took advantage of this for key 3rd down conversions.
- Saban mentioned that Clemson covered and pressure relatively well in this game, but Burrow's scrambles broke the camel's back.
What were your big takeaways from that fateful game? If the powers that be are watching, this could serve as great self scouting for Clemson this season, as they almost assuredly will find themselves in the College Football Playoff again.