Question about Clemson's strategy in 3rd quarter

[gamecockcat]

Fluke turnover. UofL scores. 3-and-out. UofL scores. Mini-drive, fumble. UofL scores. Someone explain to me, UofL with all the momentum and running your defense ragged, why Clemson continued to run the hurry up? Their defense was gassed midway through the 3rd, LJ was finding a rhythm and Clemson continues to run the HU and give them the ball back with almost no rest for the defense. I don't understand this strategy at all.

In basketball, when the opponent gets on a run, you call timeout, slow it down, do something to break up the rhythm. I know you can't call a bunch of TOs in football but I don't understand the thinking behind continuing to sprint to the LOS and run quick plays when your D is gassed and the other team is in a groove.

 

[justanotherguy505]

I was wondering the same thing. Think about it; Lamar Jackson HIMSELF ran 75 offensive plays, and Clemson ran 62 AS A TEAM. Clemson's D actually played well, giving up 5.7 ypp. Clemson averaged 8 ypp. I personally don't like the Hurry Up offense, especially with all of the other rule changes.

 

[MrKentucky]

They basically kept playing their game. If their offense quit running the HUNH theyre out of their rhythm. Look at their beauty drive to take the lead for an example.

I think if they're going to slow it there, they should have continued to rush to the line but then sat on it once they got their.

 

[gamecockcat]

Warrior,
That was my thought. Get to the line to prevent substitutions but wait several seconds before snapping the ball. Slow the momentum down some. Run a misdirection or something different to perhaps capitalize on the D's adrenaline. Running 3 plays in a minute and giving the ball back is just foolhardy, imo.

 

[Beatle Bum]

I understand running your offense. And, when it worked, it worked well and quickly against UL. On their last drive, I thought they should have slowed down to kill clock, but I guess when you do that from behind, you run the risk of not scoring. I may be wrong, but I think BP was confident UL was going to score at the end and he killed clock by running Smith right up the middle on second down. At the time, I thought he did not want to leave any time on the clock for Clemson to again strike quickly. But, maybe he just saw something he thought would work. UL did not lose because the ran out of time. They ran out of downs.

 

[BlueRattie_rivals]

I imagine Clemson's coaches would tell you that going "fast" is part of what makes their offense effective. Getting the ball snapped before the D knows what's going on has its advantages. However, with a big lead and a gassed defense I would pump the breaks, or at least switch in and out of tempo to both kill clock and confuse the D.

If you're a thin team on defense (like UK), up tempo is a siren's call that will end in defeat.