Eaglekeeper {l Wrote}:Ryan Day made a huge rookie mistake by not going for it on 4th and 2 with 3 minutes left. He gained 35 yards with the punt, but he only had a 2 point lead with 3 minutes left and Clemson had 2 timeouts. That was a Daz move!
In fairness... it was 4th and 4 at the 39. The aggressive move is to believe in your offense to put the game away. But, most coaches would punt as a failed attempt would give your opponent a game winning FG in a mere 30 yards.
That said, I thought that entire series was a problem for HCRD. He reverted to his mentor and tried to runout the clock. The series before they moved the ball beautifully with tempo and quick throws. They had Clemson on its heels. Those quick plays were preventing Venables blitz to get to Fields. The OSU penultimate drive was a Dazoo special. Tons of runs. A lot of clock bleeding. Punt at the the opponents 39 in a short and manageable.
Hafley’s D was great. Generally, Clemson moved the ball only when their athletes burned them for chunks on busted plays where someone slipped or missed a tackle. Two TD drives were in series where Hafley’s D forced a punt but was pulled back onto the field because of a penalty (targeting and roughing the kicker). Between those give backs and the failed TDs to start the game, OSU simply let Clemson hang around too long.
Dobbins was great. He’ll be the first RB off the board. With the success of Jacobs and the money given to guys like Elliott, he will likely be a top 20 pick. Etienne... just don’t see it. He’s super fast. But, he’s more a WR than RB. Yeah. He’s deadly in space. But, in the NFL, he needs to be able to run in traffic. I always thought Dillon unfairly took a back seat to him.