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Clawson Credibile! (will reconsider if he sits Newman for another scrappy gym rat QB)

Pilchard said:
Not sure what game I watched on Saturday.

WF never punted after the 11 minute mark of the 3rd quarter.

WF went for it on 4th down on three consecutive 2nd half possessions (failed to make it on all 3 occasions).

WF should've gone for it even more often on 4th down and should've done so earlier in the game (like on the 4th and 22 from its own 10 yard line)?

For the game, WF punted 3 times and went for it on 4th down 3 times.
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24 min TOP has a lot to do with that.
 
Pilchard said:
Not sure what game I watched on Saturday.

WF never punted after the 11 minute mark of the 3rd quarter.

WF went for it on 4th down on three consecutive 2nd half possessions (failed to make it on all 3 occasions).

WF should've gone for it even more often on 4th down and should've done so earlier in the game (like on the 4th and 22 from its own 10 yard line)?

For the game, WF punted 3 times and went for it on 4th down 3 times.
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For the record, I wasn't speaking about GT specifically. The App game could have benefited from more aggressiveness, as could the FSU game. Or the BC game last year, to name a few. The only truly conservative call in the 2nd half was the run on 3rd and 8.

I will say, however, that aggressiveness is not limited to deciding whether to go for it on 4th down. Style of offense and the types of plays called matters as well. And we are not a team that really tries to threaten the other team and inflict our will on them on the offensive side of the ball.
 
One thing I did like in the GT game was that we threw it deep more than usual. Teams in the past have, rightfully so, been able to stack the box against an already subpar OL because they knew we were never going to throw it more than 10-15 yards downfield.

With a pretty accurate senior QB and a combo of Dortch, Cam, Washington, Lewis, and Hines, I want to throw it deep 10-15 times a game, and strike fear in opposing DCs and DBs. Absent an awful throw, I think we're going to complete close to half of those throws against single coverage, with very little chance of an INT. Plus, it makes the LBs, and especially Safeties, less likely to come straight downhill against the run.
 
Pilchard said:
Not sure what game I watched on Saturday.

WF never punted after the 11 minute mark of the 3rd quarter.

WF went for it on 4th down on three consecutive 2nd half possessions (failed to make it on all 3 occasions).

WF should've gone for it even more often on 4th down?
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Yeah this thread seems completely disconnected from the actual GaTech game. On our first TD drive we ran the hated inside run on 3rd and 7. Converted it. O-line was getting push on just about every hand-off. Play-calling was excellent and the execution made it look even better. Threw three straight times on our very first possession for a 3 and out, then ran the ball a bunch before mixing in a variety of pass plays. Hines drops a perfect touchdown and we go right back at him for the score. It was pretty badass. Same with the Wolford TD run after we were killing them with inside handoffs. Great half of football minus giving up the field goal at the end on a dumb penalty.

Then the 2nd half starts off with a near safety on a bad snap. The O-line gets no push on a 3rd and 1. Defense gets sloppy and gives up a 50 yard TD when we had a spy on the QB. Offense goes for it on 4th for the next 3 consecutive possessions with pass/pass/run and we get 0% of them.

I understand a discussion about what adjustments GaTech made at halftime versus the adjustments that Wake didn't make once things started to go south, but so many of those critical plays were simply poor execution. Maybe we were out of gas by the end, but we were giving up sacks on critical passing plays and getting stuffed on critical 1 yard running plays... Doesn't leave a ton of options when you struggle to run it for a single yard or when Serigne is barely 4 steps into his route before Wolford is getting tackled.

It's interesting to listen to the post-game stuff, because I definitely get the sense that this coaching staff has a game plan, sticks to it pretty much no matter what, then is constantly saying things like "well we'll have to go look at the film to find out why we weren't able to get our run game going in the 2nd half." But a lot of college teams are like that. I suspect some more depth on the line and one more elite skill player would do wonders for this team, and the coaches.
 
PhDeac said:
Something largely wasted by Lobo. Barclay was talented enough to get POY in any college offense. He'd probably have stuck in the NFL longer in this era as a 3rd down back.
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Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm surprised he wasn't given a better shot. I don't recall how good he was as a pass catcher, because we really didn't use him that way.
 
He played a few seasons in Europe, so teams got a good look at him. The smaller backs hadn't really taken off yet and I don't think Barclay was a good return man. Ironically, one of the few backs from his class still in the league is Sproles, who stuck around long enough to become utilized to his full potential.
 
Regardless of his skills as a football coach (which I think are considerable) Dave Clawson is a perfect representative for Wake Forest. Last fall, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He died on October 27. He was a lifelong Wake fan and a member of the class of '65. Two days after my dad died, I went to the Wake homecoming game because I knew it was what he would have wanted me to do. I actually didn't miss a home game all season because it was the one thing that brought me some joy. Several months after we won the Military Bowl, I wrote Clawson a letter thanking him for the season and telling him what a gift it was to me during an impossible time. Today he called me personally to talk to me about my dad since the one year anniversary of his death is coming up. I can't think of many football coaches that would take time to do that in the middle of the season.
 
Wow. That is impressive.
 
LilburnDeac said:
Regardless of his skills as a football coach (which I think are considerable) Dave Clawson is a perfect representative for Wake Forest. Last fall, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He died on October 27. He was a lifelong Wake fan and a member of the class of '65. Two days after my dad died, I went to the Wake homecoming game because I knew it was what he would have wanted me to do. I actually didn't miss a home game all season because it was the one thing that brought me some joy. Several months after we won the Military Bowl, I wrote Clawson a letter thanking him for the season and telling him what a gift it was to me during an impossible time. Today he called me personally to talk to me about my dad since the one year anniversary of his death is coming up. I can't think of many football coaches that would take time to do that in the middle of the season.
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Very cool.
 
Way to go, Dave. I'm glad he reads the mail from the fans.
 
LilburnDeac said:
Regardless of his skills as a football coach (which I think are considerable) Dave Clawson is a perfect representative for Wake Forest. Last fall, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He died on October 27. He was a lifelong Wake fan and a member of the class of '65. Two days after my dad died, I went to the Wake homecoming game because I knew it was what he would have wanted me to do. I actually didn't miss a home game all season because it was the one thing that brought me some joy. Several months after we won the Military Bowl, I wrote Clawson a letter thanking him for the season and telling him what a gift it was to me during an impossible time. Today he called me personally to talk to me about my dad since the one year anniversary of his death is coming up. I can't think of many football coaches that would take time to do that in the middle of the season.
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:bowdown:
 
inspectah said:
:bowdown:
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Not nearly on the same level, but when we lost our house to a flood in 2015, we got a signed football (and basketball) and some pom poms for my girls with a letter from the staff. Basically, they heard we lost memorabilia and wanted to restart the collection. I thought is was very cool.

Actually, I also received some t-shirts and stuff for my kids from the Alumni office. Wake Forest is a helluva place.
 
That is what it's all about. From Caldwell to Grobe and now Clawson, we have had some great men at the helm in my lifetime.
 
LilburnDeac said:
Regardless of his skills as a football coach (which I think are considerable) Dave Clawson is a perfect representative for Wake Forest. Last fall, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He died on October 27. He was a lifelong Wake fan and a member of the class of '65. Two days after my dad died, I went to the Wake homecoming game because I knew it was what he would have wanted me to do. I actually didn't miss a home game all season because it was the one thing that brought me some joy. Several months after we won the Military Bowl, I wrote Clawson a letter thanking him for the season and telling him what a gift it was to me during an impossible time. Today he called me personally to talk to me about my dad since the one year anniversary of his death is coming up. I can't think of many football coaches that would take time to do that in the middle of the season.
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What a great tribute and gesture. Sometimes I feel that WFu has lost its specialness, but reading this reaffirms that is not the case.
 
LilburnDeac said:
Regardless of his skills as a football coach (which I think are considerable) Dave Clawson is a perfect representative for Wake Forest. Last fall, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He died on October 27. He was a lifelong Wake fan and a member of the class of '65. Two days after my dad died, I went to the Wake homecoming game because I knew it was what he would have wanted me to do. I actually didn't miss a home game all season because it was the one thing that brought me some joy. Several months after we won the Military Bowl, I wrote Clawson a letter thanking him for the season and telling him what a gift it was to me during an impossible time. Today he called me personally to talk to me about my dad since the one year anniversary of his death is coming up. I can't think of many football coaches that would take time to do that in the middle of the season.
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There are things that disappoint me at times about Wake football, Dave Clawson is not one of those things.
 
Lobo was one of the nicest people that I've ever met, but he was a terrible OC. Ruggiero is not worse and it isn't close.
 
LilburnDeac said:
Regardless of his skills as a football coach (which I think are considerable) Dave Clawson is a perfect representative for Wake Forest. Last fall, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He died on October 27. He was a lifelong Wake fan and a member of the class of '65. Two days after my dad died, I went to the Wake homecoming game because I knew it was what he would have wanted me to do. I actually didn't miss a home game all season because it was the one thing that brought me some joy. Several months after we won the Military Bowl, I wrote Clawson a letter thanking him for the season and telling him what a gift it was to me during an impossible time. Today he called me personally to talk to me about my dad since the one year anniversary of his death is coming up. I can't think of many football coaches that would take time to do that in the middle of the season.
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I know he is a very high character man but now I know how hard he works to act on his best impulses. He has a very tough job and I want him to succeed for the benefit of Wake Football.
 
DeaconCav06 said:
Lobo was one of the nicest people that I've ever met, but he was a terrible OC. Ruggiero is not worse and it isn't close.
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Ruggiero is a terrible OC and is worse, and it isn't close IMHO
 
You can tell on the sidelines and in the interviews how frustrated Clawson is getting. I actually really like him in that regard. Nice to see some emotion, although sometimes it may be better directed.

It would be really awesome if he brought in a young, Lincoln Riley (at ECU not now) type OC and really opened things up. Clawson's personality and our offensive identity really don't match at all, which is weird.
 
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