Film Study: Clemson (Second Half)

3rd Quarter Clemson 17 Auburn 3

It is hard to happy with much of what has been done on offense thus far and the defense has been far from perfect but considering all of that, to be down by 14 points and getting the ball out of half time it is easy to tell this game is far from over with. Obviously dramatic improvements will need to be made along the offensive line and Newton will need to make some better decisions and passes but it is within reach.

15:00 - Washington fields the kickoff at the 8 yard line and returns it 21 yards to the 29. There was also a 15 yard facemask penalty tacked onto the end of the run.

14:50 - Newton carries up the middle for a gain of 3. Still not very good blocking as we use Isom and Greene to double team the play side tackle who ultimately still makes the tackle. Also Eric Smith whiffed on his block on Bowers which meant Berry who pulled into the gap had to pick him up. After Smith's whiff he failed to find anyone else to block which could have helped.

14:29 - Dyer carries up the middle for a gain of 4. Isom got beat to the inside by his man and is called for holding. Everyone else seemed to make pretty good blocks including Smith who made a great block on Bowers but it looked like Dyer picked the wrong hole. He had the right side of the line sealed off with Berry free to lead him off tackle with a good block on the outside by Burns. Isom's hold would have negated it either way but the play looked better on the outside.

14:07 - Pass complete to Adams for a gain of 35. You can't leave this guy in one on one coverage. Great protection by the O Line giving Newton plenty of time to pump fake and hit Adams down the side line. The pass was slightly under thrown which allowed the defender to catch up to Adams, if not that could be a touch down.

13:46 - Newton's pass intercepted by Brewer. We motioned McCalebb into the backfield and faked the hand off then took a shot at Kitchens down the sideline who was running a wheel route. If Newton throws the ball a couple seconds earlier he could have gotten him before the corner got over into coverage but once again he held the ball too long and stared down his receiver. Fortunately the ball was spotted at the 1 yard line.

13:39 - Harper carries up the middle for no gain. Great push by Fairley up the middle and Bynes was free to come up and make the tackle. If he attacked the hole a little harder he could have gotten the safety. Clayton also did a great job holding his ground and fighting off the block to get in on the tackle.

13:02 - Parker scrambles right for a gain of 2. Clemson called a play action bootleg pass to try and hit something down field but everything was covered. Good pursuit by Goggans and Clayton to force the play out of bounds after a short gain. However, while Goggans pulled up seeing Parker running out of bounds, Clayton seemed to forget that this was a quarterback and drove him out of bounds and slammed him down. A killer 15 yard penalty getting Clemson out of the shadow of their end zone.

12:40 - Harper takes the toss right and is dropped for a loss of 1. Great play by Carter who avoided Allen's block and blew up the pulling guard 3 yards behind the LOS. This left Harper with little room to run. Washington, Bynes and Clayton were all there to finish the play. Great defensive effort.

12:04 - Ellington carried off right tackle for a gain of 2. Goggans finally got some push against Allen and was able to force the play a little further outside which didn't allow Ellington to build up as much speed around the corner. Also it looks as if Roof now has our corners looking back at the play because they have been much faster to react to running plays so far this half. Bynes fought off the block of the center and combined with Washington to lay a big hit on Ellington.

11:22 - Parker pass falls incomplete. Antoine Carter burns the left tackle around the edge and has pressure on Parker within a second of him taking the snap. This forces Parker to roll out to the right and attempt a dump off to the fullback in the flats who isn't able to make the catch. If he does make the catch Bates and Washington are there to make the tackle.

11:16 - Clemson's punt travels 51 yards and is fielded by Carr. When Carr makes the catch his knee is on the ground and the play is whistled dead.

11:09 - Reed back in at wildcat carries up the middle for a gain of 2. Not much blocking again except Smith who laid a good block on the end. Berry looked slow on pulling around and sealing off that side.

10:37 - Newton carries for a gain of 7. This time Greene and Isom hold their blocks well one on one and Ziemba pulls into the hole. Newton makes a good cut to bounce it outside though probably shouldn't have made the second cut outside around Adams. Either way it was a nice gain, albeit against their second string D Line.

10:02 - Pass to Adams complete for 34 yards. Great protection from the offensive line giving Newton plenty of time to look down field. This pass looked slightly under thrown as well but in this case I believe it was on purpose. The defender was a step in front of Adams which allowed Adams to cut behind him and jump up to make the catch. Great play by a great receiver. Gutsy play call by Malzahn on 3rd and 1.

9:44 - Newton carries up the middle for a gain of 2. Again we line up with the unbalanced line with Ziemba outside of Greene. Newton keeps it on a zone read but once again no hole developed. The outside run seemed there once again but instead we opt for the rugby scrum.

9:13 - Newton scrambles for a gain of 4. He initially pump faked on a quick screen to Zachary which appeared to be setting up a pass down field but pressure on that side forced him to roll to his right. He didn't see anything and the camera angle doesn't allow me to see either but he does what he can to pick up decent yardage and set up a managable 3rd down.

8:32 - McCalebb carries for 12 yards and a touchdown. Newton faked the hand off to Dyer right and gave it to McCalebb on the end around. Ziemba and Berry simply collapse the left side of the line giving McCalebb one man to beat to turn the corner and Smith out there blocking for him. Smith fortunately gets away with a hold with gives McCalebb that corner but it is interesting that the Clemson player, Branch, decided to throw his hands up looking for the flag instead of diving for McCalebb who he easily could have shoved out of bounds. Once McCalebb got the edge he made one cut inside juking the corner and was into the end zone.

8:24 - Extra point good.

8:24 - Short kickoff fielded at the 20, returned 12 yards to the 32.

8:17 - Ellington carries to the right for a gain of 3. Goggans and Fairley get a good push on the left side and Blanc does a great job of getting off his block as Ellington is coming through. Carter also shows good speed in backside pursuit. Bates also stuffed the center who was trying to create the hold on the second level.

7:50 - Ellington carries up the middle for a loss of 2. The defensive line does a nice job occupying blockers but this play is all on Bynes who slips past the left guard who is supposed to pick him up and blows Ellington up behind the line. Great read by Bynes and a perfect tackle.

7:11 - Parker fumbles the snap, scrambles for a gain of 6. It is hard to say what would have happened on this play as Parker couldn't handle the shot gun snap. Goggans and Fairley were getting a good push on the left side while Carter, Bates and McNeil all converged quickly on Parker before he reached the first down. McNeil planted his helmet in the small of Parker's back on this play which left Parker writhing in pain.

6:32 - Clemson's punt carries 33 yards and is fair caught on the 27 yard line.

6:26 - McCalebb carries around right end for a gain of 15. This time Burns lines up in the wild cat and hands it off to McCalebb running towards the unbalanced line. Again Smith lays a good block to allow McCalebb to turn the corner but his speed does the rest. Newton and Blake are on that side laying good blocks out to the first down marker.

6:00 - Dyer carries around right end for a loss of 1. A.J. Greene is unable to hold his block on Bowers and Dyer gets stopped short of the LOS. If Dyer were able to turn the corner he would have had a chance to out run the safety down the sideline as he had a good block by Blake down field.

5:27 - Pass complete to Adams for a gain of 19. The play action fake to McCalebb didn't fool anyone but the line does a good job holding the four man rush. Newton gunned it on a rope right on target and Adams took a big hit from McDaniel but held on. Great completion for a big first down.

5:16 - Dyer carries off right tackle for a gain of 9. Finally he bounces it outside and picks up a decent gain. Lutzenkirchen helps Greene seal off the right side but Zachary missed his block on McDaniel who eventually made the tackle down field. Dyer made a great move to avoid the corner at the line of scrimmage and some how was able to cut it up field.

5:07 - Dyer carries up the middle for a gain of 23. Clemson's defensive play call worked played right into this inside run. The tackle lined up over center cut outside while the end was supposed to stunt inside. Ziemba neutralized the tackle while Pugh sealed off the end. Isom pancaked the other tackle with a little help from Greene who also got a hand on a linebacker (though I'm not sure it made a difference). Clemson's linebacker's and McDaniel were all reading Berry who pulled right and Dyer was past them by the time they realized he had the ball.

4:57 - Dyer carries up the middle for a gain of 5. It's official, Malzahn has reached ludicrous speed. Three straight plays snapped with 25 seconds remaining on the play clock. It appears as if this was the exact same play just with slightly less success due to Clemson's MLB recognising it sooner. Good blocks by Ziemba and Pugh and it looked as if Isom tried to reach the second level and block the MLB but couldn't get there fast enough.

4:29 - Dyer carries around right end for no gain. Smith is unable to hold the edge blocking Bowers one on one which doesn't allow Dyer to follow his blockers up field right away. This allows the corner time to get off Isom's block and the back side pursuit to catch up.

3:46 - Newton pass completed to Adams for a 8 yard gain and a touchdown. Absolutely beautiful catch by Adams in the end zone. Great focus to drag his right toe in bounds while making the catch. Great pass by Newton after he got more great protection from the O Line and for all the negatives I've had for Greene this game I need to mention that he has done a terrific job against Bowers in pass protection.

3:41 - Extra point good.

3:41 - Kickoff fielded three yards deep in the end zone and downed for a touch back.

3:41 - Parker pass falls incomplete. They tried to fake a toss left and then roll right to the slot receiver releasing after chipping on Carter. Problem is Carter was too fast. By the time Parker turned around Carter was in his face and he was forced to throw it in the dirt.

3:36 - Draw to Ellington for a gain of 21. Carter and Clayton do a good job of beating their man but Ellington slips past them. Goggans identifies the draw early enough it seems but was slow to fill the gap and made a weak effort to make the tackle when he got there. Bynes get blocked by the center who released up field and Bates gets screened by the umpire allowing Ellington to get into the secondary. Ethridge eventually makes the tackle.

3:15 - Harper carries for a gain of 1. The play was designed to go up the middle but the line does a great job of filling all of those holes, especially Goggans who beats the outside lineman (unbalanced to the left) and Bynes who blows up both lead blockers in the designed gap. Goggans misses the tackle on the cutback but Bell and Savage are there to finish the play.

2:32 - Harper carries up the middle for no gain. Clayton does a great job of beating his man to the inside and Fairley pushes his man 2 yards into the backfield which doesn't allow Harper to bounce it out to the left. When he tried to cut back right Carter is there on the backside pursuit to wrap him up.

1:57 - Parker pass falls incomplete. Ted Roof dialed up another blitz, this time bringing all 6 defenders who lined up in the box. With more blitzers than blockers Stevens was left with a free shot at Parker. Fairley also didn't take long to beat his man and create pressure up the middle. With the quick pressure Parker tried to roll right and hit a receiver cutting back but the pass sailed high.

1:51 - Clemson's punt travels 41 yards and is fielded by Carr who returns it 1 yard to the 17.

1:42 - McCalebb carries around right end for a gain of 5. It looked like Clemson's corner would stop this play for a loss but McCalebb makes an amazing cut up field and gets a great block by Smith on the line backer. McCalebb stiff arms McDaniel and picks up another 2 yards before being gang tackled at the 22.

1:16 - Newton Pass completed to Zachary for 78 yards and a touchdown. Great protection by the O Line, great pump fake by Newton, great route by Zachary and also Zachary showed amazing balance as his tight roped the side line after the catch. Right as Newton released the pass he was hit by a defender and the ball still traveled nearly 60 yards in the air and hit Zachary right in stride. Since the interception Newton is now 4 for 4 for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns.

1:03 - Extra point good.

1:03 - Kickoff fielded at the 2, returned 21 yards to the 23.

0:55 - Parker pass falls incomplete. Pass interference called on Washington. Upon replay it shows this is a horrible call. Washington never makes contact until the receiver makes the catch and the he swats the ball out of his hands. Not much pressure from the four man rush on that play.

0:46 - Harper carries up the middle for a gain of 5. Clayton demolished on this play opening up a big hole on the right side while Lemonier who is in for an injured Carter gets double teamed by the tackle and a tight end before the tackle releases to block Stevens. The center released up field and occupied Bynes. Blanc is able to shake loose of his blocker but can only get an arm on Harper and is carried for the remainder of the five yard gain before Thorpe and Clayton come in to help.

0:19 - Harper carries around right end for a gain of 6 and a first down. Unfortunately, after rebounding well so far in the second half, Goggans returned to getting demolished by Clemson's tight end Allen. Blanc gets taken out by a chop block which wasn't called (and fortunately didn't hurt Blanc) while Bates ate up the block of the fullback and Bynes took on the pulling guard, both of whom held their ground forcing the play to the outside. Washington perhaps left his feet a little early and wasn't able to hang on to Harper's ankles to make the tackle. Savage was late getting to the edge and Harper hurdled him to convert the first down.

4th Quarter Clemson 17 Auburn 24

24 unanswered points will do just fine, thank you very much. You can't ask for better half time adjustments. The defense gave up practically nothing all quarter while the offense gained 259 yards and scored 21 points and could easily have been more with Cam's interception on the goal line. Auburn clearly has the momentum but Clemson has the ball at midfield.

15:00 - Ellington carries up the middle for a gain of 22 yards. The D Line gets caught slanting right and Ellington cuts it back against them. Stevens is in perfect position to make the tackle but attempts a weak arm tackle after being juked. Blanc recognises the cutback well and gets in position to make the play but also only gets an arm on Ellington followed by Bynes doing the same. Bates gets off the block of a lineman who reached the second level only in time to see Ellingto accelerate past him. Washington had outside contain (which is even more reason that Stevens should have not fallen for the juke and made the tackle) and was caught up in traffic trying to chase the play down. Ethridge and Savage eventually make the tackle down field.

14:33 - Parker pass falls incomplete. The four man rush doesn't get much pressure and again Goggans is neutralized by Allen, freeing up the left tackle and guard to double team Fairley. The pass was intended for Harper who ran a wheel route but this time Stevens was running stride for stride with him.

14:26 - Pass complete to Jones for a gain of 3. Another slip screen this time Fairley, Eguae and Blanc all recognise it quickly and are able to stop it for a minimal gain.

13:48 - Pass complete to Dye for a gain of 9. Another six man blitz from Roof and Eguae and Stevens get through to provide pressure but Parker releases it in time. Dye catches the pass just as he turns around on a 10 yard hitch route. Thorpe has tight coverage, perhaps a little too tight as he is flagged for interference.

13:32 - Harper takes a toss right for a gain of 6. Allen gets away with a hold on this play otherwise Carter blows it up in the backfield for a loss of 5. Once Harper gets the corner Clemson uses a fullback to take out Bynes and Ethridge takes an agressive angle and allows Harper to turn the corner. Bates comes all the way from the opposite side to force him out of bounds.

13:10 - Screen pass to Ellington complete for a gain of 11 yards. Stevens is coming on a blitz around left tackle and Ellington chips on him before releasing for the pass which leaves the left side wide open. The defense is in man coverage which has the cornerbacks running with their backs to the ball already five yards past the first down marker. Bynes does a good job avoiding the lead blocker but severely underestimates Ellington's speed and watches him run right past him. Thorpe and McNeil combine to make the tackle at the 2.

12:40 - Ellington carries up the middle for a gain of 2 and a touchdown. Not a bad job by the D Line but against a goal line package from Clemson we kept our 4-3 personell on the field which was simply over powered. Clemson had two tight ends outside the tackles and motioned a third to the left side then led through that hole with a full back as well. To defend that left side we had one end, two LB's (one lined up on the LOS), 2 corners and a safety. Not enough beef. I'm not sure why we didn't but I would have liked to see us sub out one of the safeties for a third tackle which would have given us much more beef on the front line.

12:36 - Extra point is good.

12:36 - Kickoff fielded at the 4 by Washington, returned 32 yards to the 36 yard line. On the play Sanders is called for a 15 yard late hit and though the hit was made after Washington went down the wistle had yet to be blown. Bang-bang play, and tough call. It should be noted that Sanders pancacked 3 guys on that one return.

12:25 - McCalebb carries around right end for a gain of 11. Newton holds the read long enough to keep Bowers (unblocked again) at bay which gives McCalebb just enough space to use his speed to get around the corner. Clemson was in man coverage so both receivers on that side ran their corners out of the play.

12:09 - Newton carries up the middle for a gain of 3 yards. Ziemba and Berry were responsible for double teaming Jenkins on this play and he fought through both and dove at Newton's legs at the LOS forcing him to leave his feet and fall forward for a moderate gain. Other than that everyone else made decent blocks.

11:38 - Zachary takes the reverse for a loss of 7 yards. After having amazing success with this play last year, thus far this year on 3 attempts it has lost 11 yards total. This time McDaniel followed Zachary from the other side of the field, used his speed and cut right through the line to take him down for a loss. If someone is able to pick him up (Pugh's man was already down and he possibly could have cut him off) than Zachary had room to run around the corner.

10:50 - Newton sacked for a loss of 6. This is one of the first times that Clemson has brought a blitz and the do so with a six man pressure. I'm not sure who the protection call falss on to but Ziemba picked up all the wrong people. Auburn had seven blockers against a six man rush yet Clemson's linebacker ran in untouched and two more guys weren't far behind him. Branch finally got the best of Greene (and to add injury to insult Greene's leg was rolled up on during the play, breaking his ankle and likely ending his season) and Smith was left to block the other end, Branch one on one. After Jenkins stunted Ziemba went inside to double team the other tackle instead of picking up the blitzing linebacker.

10:27 - Shoemaker shanks this punt out of bounds after just 29 yards to the Clemson 48.

10:18 - Harper carries up the middle for a gain of 2. Fairley sucked up a double team by the left tackle and guard while Goggans occupied the outside lineman of an unbalanced line. Allen motioned to that side who picked up Ethridge who you could tell read run early. Bates blew up the full back at the line of scrimmage and Bynes dodged the pulling guard and stepped up to make the tackle.

9:42 - Draw to Harper for a gain of 1. This time Clayton draws the double team and he is neutralized while Carter runs up field leaving a huge hole for Harper to run through. However, our linebackers stayed at home and Bynes is there to force Harper to try to bounce it outside. Carter makes a terrifically athletic play to work his way back towards the LOS and make the tackle.

8:58 - Parker sacked for a loss of 8 yards. Clemson pays the price for leaving Fairley one on one as he burns past the right guard with ease and lays a lick on an already hurting Parker. Clayton was double teamed on this play by the center and left guard.

8:20 - Clemson's punt carries 41 yards and is fair caught at the 16.

8:12 - Newton carries it up the middle for a gain of 8. Good keeper on the read option. I think this play would have gone for a huge gain in Dyer's hands as the entire right side was collapsed but Berry got beat to the inside which would have blown the play up in the backfield. Newton fought through arm tackles for a solid gain.

7:51 - Dyer carries around left end for a gain of 15. Great run by Dyer. Lutzenkirchen laid a great block on Branch but after that it was all Dyer. He cut the run outside Lutz's block but when Clemson's LB was there to stop him he juked inside and was up field in a flash getting the LB completely turned around. He got in behind a great block by Burns before finally getting run out of bounds.

7:32 - Newton carries up the middle for a gain of 2. On this play there was a big hole but Greene's replacement, Sullen, got beat too quickly and his man was able to come around behind Newton and trip him up. If Sullen slows him down one step there was a lot of room for Newton to run.

6:56 - Pass complete to Smith for a gain of 8. Newton finally delivers one accurately to Smith and he shows what he can do with it. He dodged one tackler than was initially hit four yards before the first down marker by McDaniel but he just kept driving his legs and fighting for yardage and picked up just enough.

6:41 - Dyer carries for a loss of 1. Isom and Sullen double teamed one tackle while Lutzenkirchen demolished his end but Pugh was left one on one with Jenkins who was able to force his way into the backfield and grab hold of Dyer's shoulder pad and pull him down. If Dyer gets past him, a quick cut right and he would have been off to the races.

6:00 - Newton scrambles right for a gain of 8. Newton had good protection with no pressure getting through but he must not have seen anything open. We finally got a good shot of the receivers running down field and there was good coverage. It looked like he could have hit Zachary with a shart pass on a 10 yard post but it would have been a tough throw. He rolled right and also could have tried to hit Zachary deep who by now had cut upfield and had a step on his corner but Newton kept it and got a good block from Dyer which alloed him to get up field for a solid gain.

5:10 - Newton carries for a loss of 1. This appeared to be an option play with McCalebb running behind him. The line got terrific blocks with Ziemba demolishing the left side tackle, Smith picking up the end and Isom pulling to pick up the stunting tackle. Newton just didn't hit the right hole (TWSS) and missed an opportunity to pitch it to McCalebb. The linebackers were all looking in at Newton and if he pitched the ball to McCalebb he would have easily found the edge and had Burns and Blake out there blocking for him.

4:25 - Shoemaker punt carries 35 yards and is fair caught at the 9.

4:18 - Ellington carries up the middle for a gain of 12. Clemson lined up in a two tight end set and simply over powered our line. Carter beat the tight end (it was actually the full back lined up as a tight end) on his side but Ellington fought through his arm tackle. The right tackle went directly to the second level and actually blocked Stevens into Bynes, taking both out of the play. Savage was screened by the umpire and couldn't come up to make the tackle. He was eventually chased down by Thorpe and Blanc (I had to watch it twice, but yes Blanc was twelve yards down field and caught Ellington. Great effort!).

4:08 - Ellington carries up the middle for a gain of 7. Clemson gave Auburn a taste of ludicrous speed which didn't allow ESPN enough time to come back from replay to see the beginning of the play. Stevens did make the tackle.

3:41 - Harper carries up the middle for a gain of 2. Clemson used the left guard to crash down on Blanc and released the left tackle to the second level to occupy Stevens but Goggans was able to beat the full back (again lined up at tight end) and combine with Bynes to make the tackle. Once again Fairley ate up a double team.

3:04 - Harper carries around right tackle for a gain of 17. Again Clemson comes out in a jumbo set with no receivers, three tight ends, and a full back to block for Harper. Auburn lines up in the same formation as on the goal line but this time Clemson's tight end motions to the right side. The right tackle and guard double team Fairley and take him out of the play. The outside lineman crashes in on Goggans while the motioning tight end picks up Washington who is on outside contain. This leaves Bates to take on the full back and a pulling guard assigned to Bynes. The right side colapses and for some reason Ethridge is still 10 yards behind the LOS. Fortunately this wasn't Ellington or that is a touchdown. Savage ultimately makes the tackle.

2:43 - Ellington carries up the middle for 3 yards. The D Line slants right and Ellington again tries to cut back. This time Washington and Stevens have good contain. By the time Ellington cuts it back up the middle Carter has his man beat and Fairley has worked back towards the gap and they converge to make the tackle.

2:09 - My DVR cut off on this play but before it did you could tell Clemson was running a reverse and we were going to blow it up for a loss. The next recording picks up before their next play with it 3rd and 9 so it was dropped for a loss of 2.

1:40 - Pass falls incomplete. Clemson ran Allen on an out and up and Parker had him wide open but the ball was just out of his out stretched reach. Savage was converging quickly and got a good lick on him mid air. Again Roof called a six man blitz but this time Clemson had enough blockers, unfortunately for them, the right guard couldn't hold off Carter who provided pressure on the play and likely forced the errant pass.

1:34 - Clemson punt carries 45 yards and is returned by Carr for 5 yards to the 12.

1:23 - Dyer carries up the middle for no gain. Auburn lined up with only Berry and Lutzenkirchen left of center while Isom, Sullen, Ziemba and Smith were all on the right side. On top of that Berry pulled right leaving only Lutz on that side and it appeared as if thought the run was going to the right. Isom did get beat to the inside but instead of Dyer bouncing it left he should have and could have bounced it right and it likely would have gone for a solid gain.

0:49 - Dyer carries up the middle for 5 yards. Decent blocking by the line to create a hole but Pugh needed to hold his block a little bit longer. Also Ziemba crashed down and collapsed his side but needed to do a better job of knowing when to release onto the second level.

0:04 - Dyer carries up the middle for no gain. Clearly we were just playing for overtime. Dyer chose to bounce it outside hoping for a big gain but there was good blocking up the middle. It was obvious both sides were ready just to finish regulation.

Overtime Clemson 24 Auburn 24

Not overly happy with the decision not to try to score before the end of regulation with 83 seconds left and two time outs but being backed up inside your own 15 there is probably a greater chance of something bad happening than good. We tried to gash them with a quick run which if it got more yardage maybe we would have tried something but it was stopped short and here we are. A lot of credit goes to Clemson for surviving the onslaught of the 3rd quarter and rebounding with good defense in the 4th and coming up with a one more big scoring drive. Auburn's defense played great only allowing 7 second half points.

Clemson won the coin toss and chose to play defense first, Auburn chose to play on the side of the student section.

1st and 10: Newton carries up the middle for 2 yards. Newton made a wise decision to keep it on this zone read as McCalebb would have been blown up for a loss which could prove deadly in an overtime situation. Pugh got a good initial block but his man was able to spin back into the gap and take down Newton for a short gain. Otherwise Isom and Berry were already on the second level with at least room for a first down.

2nd and 8: McCalebb takes the jet sweep around right end for a gain of 2. Sullen got beat bad to the inside by Jenkins otherwise the play should have been for Burns to keep it in the wildcat. Clemson defenders far out numbered our blockers and only McCalebb's speed allowed us to gain the two yards, however McCalebb paid for it with a brutal hit that likely ended his night.

3rd and 6: Newton pass falls incomplete. It wasn't a bad decision to throw it to Adams but it would have required a perfect pass which he nearly delivered but it was just out of reach. At the snap he faked a hand off to Dyer then faked the end around to Zachary however after Zachary released the only person there to cover him was a linebacker nearly 10 yards away. If Newton went to his next progression Zachary easily would have picked up the first down, possibly scored a touchdown.

4th and 6: Byrum 39 yard field goal is good.

1st and 10: Parker pass completed to Brown for a gain of 4. Parker rolled right and found Brown on a quick out. Decent coverage by Bates and Washington but it was a perfect pass. Goggans once again had the tight end one on one on the side Parker rolled to but he couldn't create pressure.

2nd and 6: Ellington catches the screen for a gain of 8 and a first down. Stevens and Bates were in position to make the tackle on Ellington but they underestimated his acceleration and he blew past them. Bynes came over to make the tackle.

1st and 10: Ellington carries up the middle for a gain of 5. Again Ellington was able to find the cut back lane out of a two tight end set. Carter was forced towards the middle of the field and Stevens crashed into the pile giving Ellington the edge. Bynes fought off a block to combine with Washington to make the tackle.

2nd and 5: Ellington carries left for no gain. Again in the two tight end set with Allen motioning to the left side. The line does a good job clogging up the middle but Ethridge makes a terrific play fighting off the fullback and making a diving stop on Ellington before he can get outside.

3rd and 5: Parker pass falls incomplete. Auburn may have gotten away with an offsides on this play as Stevens jumped up to show blitz and stepped barely over the LOS but it wasn't called. Parker faked the hand off and the end around and rolled to his right finding Brown open in the end zone but throws it just out of his reach.

4th and 5: Clemson 26 yard field goal good. Initially there was a flag calling Auburn offsides on this play, however after discussing it the correct call was made in that the center double clutched the snap which was a 5 yard penalty on offense.

4th and 10: Clemson 31 yard field goal no good.

FINAL: Clemson 24 Auburn 27