Just like Ohio State, we’re prepping for the Sugar Bowl against Clemson. We began by watching game tape of Trevor Lawrence, and by extension, it also led us to watch the defense as well. It has been a pretty solid defense for most of the season, although Clemson has not played a lot of top-tier offenses. Teams have been able to pass more consistently than get the ground game going, and some of that has been teams trying to climb back into the game. But against the pass, Clemson is a “bend don’t break” style of defense.
Quarterbacks seem to have more success if he is also mobile. This places some stress on the defense to choose between committing to stop the running quarterback, or breaking off of a route or zone or continue to play a spot and allow the quarterback get into the second level. As the game continues, the defense adjusts to the trends. Justin Fields, surely a guy that can use his legs a bit, has to play within the game and not try to make too many things happen for this to work.
Clemson relies on quarterbacks trying to force plays downfield as it stops the run up front. Taking the small completion or scramble is the easiest way to move the ball on the Tigers. The defense will give up some bigger plays, only if it is guessing wrong on reading the quarterback. The defense tries to get to third down, which is where defensive coordinator Brent Venables licks his chops with aggressive tendencies.
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Fields said Clemson does a lot on defense and they need to come prepared and execute on the field.
— Lantern Sports (@LanternSports) December 28, 2020
On third down, the defense gets a lot of exotic looks and confuses offenses. The “read” is often wrong as Clemson will show one look only to do a complete opposite. Staying ahead of the sticks is going to be huge for the Buckeye offense because Fields has not down well recently in those types of situations against Indiana and Northwestern.
If Justin Fields can work his way down the field, it should open up other options with the running game and play action. The Buckeyes can’t afford to force the big plays and allow the game to come to the offense in due time. Patience will be key to beating the Clemson defense.
But yes, it can be done with discipline and positive yardage on the first two downs.
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