Connor/O-line vs Wofford..play by play.

[cofcgamecock9]

I am posting this because there has been a lot of debate for last few days about what happened vs Wofford. Every pass attempt/Connor run is written out below, but you don't have to go through all of them. I just listed them in case someone really does want to know what happened play by play.

But overall, the things that really stood out to me:

1. Brandon Shell got beat a few times by the smaller faster DE. Corey also got beat. Protection up the middle was very good for the entire game.
2. Connor did have good protection for most of the game, but only short pass plays were called.
3. He really didn't take off running that much, but he did do it a few times, including the play where he was injured.
4. Now that I watched every play, I would say that the lackluster performance was more because of vanilla play calling than anything else. For the most part, Shaw did what he was supposed to do. There just weren't any play calls that had him throwing downfield. The coaches really did keep it completely simple for this game.
5. I actually feel a little better after doing this because I know we will not call this kind of game against Clemson.
6. Protection is bad on the first series, but then it gets much better with only one or two more break downs for the rest of the game. Overall, with the exception of first series, the O-line did a good job.



Pass 1 - 2nd and 6 - Quick Swing pass out to Bruce. Simple play with no problems.
Pass 2 - 1st and 10 - Out of shotgun - Connor almost gets sacked from blindside and has to dump it off to Kenny. DE just blew right past Robinson. Completely on O-line. Connor did the best he could.
Pass 3 - 2nd and 12 - O-line blocks fine and Connor takes off when he sees a little hole. Hole closes up and Connor loses two yards. He injures foot on this play. Nick Jones was wide open on crossing pattern. Connor shouldn't have taken off.
Pass 4 - 3rd and 14 - Quick wheel route to Kenny Miles. Connor could hardly stand up on this play. It was defended well.
Pass 5 - 3rd and 9 - Connor out of shotgun - Pocket breaks down pretty quickly and Connor does a great job of checking down to Kenny who picks up first down. Not great protection by O-line and Connor makes a good play.
Pass 6 - 2nd and 6 - Connor out of shotgun - As soon as he receives snap he tries to roll left but Justice Cunningham misses his block and Connor has absolutely nowhere to go. He tries to get away, but has no mobility with his bad foot. Sack. Connor had no option on this play and tried to get away.
Pass 7 - 3rd and 10 - Shotgun - Shaw has plenty of time in the pocket but he just stands there and will not throw it. Wofford is in a soft zone so only 3 guys are rushing. Shaw sees that little hole again in the middle and tries to take off but it gets bottled up forcing him to the outside. Then he throws it across his body and throws an INT. Kenny Miles was open, but Shaw just under threw him.
Pass 8 - 2nd and 1 - Shotgun and Shaw drops snap, but picks it up quickly - Wofford is rushing 4 and dropping 7. Shaw has a pretty good pocket and has time even with dropped snap. He is looking around and he sees what appears to be a wide open field to his left. I have to admit it does look like nothing but green grass in front of him. So he takes off running and gets sacked. He actually fumbles ball, but it is recovered. Also, Shaw immediately grabs his foot in pain. O-line did its job on this play.
Pass 9 - 1st and 10 - Shotgun - O-line protects very well and Shaw overthrows Justice Cunnigham on the sideline. Great protection on this play.
Pass 10 - 2nd and 10 - Shotgun - Have no idea what this play was supposed to be. Shaw gets snap and immediately looks to his right as if he is going to throw quick wheel route to Kenny. DE doesn't get blocked which takes away passing lane and Connor takes off to his left because of pressure. Good run by Connor. O-line broke down on this play.
Pass 11 - 2nd and 5 - Under center - trick play where Ace throws an incompletion.
Pass 12 - 3rd and 5 - shotgun - looks like a designed run for Shaw because he only fakes pass for about one second then takes off. Pretty good running lane for him and he gets close to 1st down.
Pass 13 - 2nd and 7 - shotgun - screen pass to Kenny for a first down. Good play.
Pass 14 - 1st and 10 - shotgun - good pocket for Connor. Looks like a designed dump off because he goes to check down very quickly. Mike Davis with a big gain.
Pass 15 - 2nd and 9 - shotgun - O-line blocks well and Connor has a great pocket with plenty of time. Good pass to Nick Jones on sideline for a first down.
Pass 16 - 1st and 10 - shotgun - Brandon Shell just flat out gets beat and Shaw gets sacked. Shaw had absolutely zero chance.
Pass 17 - 3rd and 17 - shotgun - quick inside pass to Ace on a crossing pattern.
Pass 18 - 3rd and 6 - shotgun - quick underneath dump to Miles for a first down.
Pass 19 - 2nd and 3 - shotgun - quick WR screen to Bruce for a first down.
Pass 20 - 1st and 10 - shotgun - quick WR screen to DL Moore for 3 yards.
Pass 21 - 2nd and 7 - shotgun - ONLY pass downfield so far!!! - Connor had absolutely zero pressure - O-line did great. Great comeback route to Bruce.
Pass 22 - 1st and 10 - shotgun - quick WR screen to Ace for a very nice pickup.
Pass 23 - 3rd and 6 - shotgun - Shaw drops back and has really good protection. But he decide to roll out to his right. He is still looking to pass it as he rolls out but eventually just takes off for marker and picks up first down. But he had really good protection so I am not sure why he rolled out to his right. He took off running very quickly for the protection he had, but he did pick up the first down.
Pass 24 - 2nd and goal - shotgun - pocket collapses quickly because Brandon Shell just gets beat - Shaw has no choice but to step up and run out of pocket - Short pass completion to DL Moore.
Pass 25 - 3rd and goal - shotgun - Protection is really good. Shaw tries to throw a quick slant to Bruce, but he gets held. Wow, actually as I watch this play it should have been pass interference. Missed call by refs.

Ok, that takes us late into game and I am tired, but you get the picture.

[Carolina4Life]

I read this in my Todd Ellis voice. Good Stuff!

[cofcgamecock9]

Originally Posted by Carolina4Life

I read this in my Todd Ellis voice. Good Stuff!

Haha. That was funny.

[cockyjordan3]

To be fair, Wofford has one of, if not the best defenses in the FCS.

[Carolina4Life]

Originally Posted by cockyjordan3

To be fair, Wofford has one of, if not the best defenses in the FCS.

VS. an SEC team, that is insulting.

[SpecOps Cock]

excuses excuses

[donbgamecock]

Pass 7 - 3rd and 10 - Shotgun - Shaw has plenty of time in the pocket but he just stands there and will not throw it. Wofford is in a soft zone so only 3 guys are rushing. Shaw sees that little hole again in the middle and tries to take off but it gets bottled up forcing him to the outside. Then he throws it across his body and throws an INT. Kenny Miles was open, but Shaw just under threw him.

Besides throwing across his body, it looked like his foot gave out on him and a lot was taken off the ball.

Your post was a nice breakdown. What I read into it was that collectively we did not execute very well. Hopefully, this type of performance does not carry over into this Saturday's game or it will be a long day.

[Red Devil]

Maybe Shell and Robinson need to sit.

[GamecockInHell]

If pass #7 was a little better it would have been a TD And Ace's pass was wide open for a TD too. If we had just hit these two passes the score could have been 38-7 and everyone would have been happy.

[Cock Kool-Aid]

Originally Posted by Red Devil

Maybe Shell and Robinson need to sit.

Good idea. Time to start utilizing all that depth we have behind them.

[Cock Kool-Aid]

Originally Posted by GamecockInHell

If pass #7 was a little better it would have been a TD And Ace's pass was wide open for a TD too. If we had just hit these two passes the score could have been 38-7 and everyone would have been happy.

Ace's pass was not wide open. There were multiple defenders playing underneath the TE. He did the right thing by throwing it high and away from the defense. You can't expect a WR to make those types of throws. Usually the point of a trick play is to totally fool the defense and have the intended receiver running wide open, not to have a WR trying to float a pass over a couple defenders into a tight area.

[HeadCockFan]

Originally Posted by Red Devil

Maybe Shell and Robinson need to sit.

Both of them have a shot at NFL money. You think they'd be motivated to keep improving. I'm hoping for big things from these 2 next year.

[cofcgamecock9]

Just FYI, Corey and Brandon were getting beat from the outside by guys that were much smaller than them. These guys were just a lot quicker and Brandon and Corey simply couldn't turn and stay in front of them. We didn't get beat up the middle the entire game. It was always from the outside.

The coaching staff will have to address this because Clemson's leading pass rusher is Beasley who is also a small, but quick guy. He is only about 225 lbs.