re: How Clemson's DB's Picked Off Tua Last Year and Stopped the Quick Slant - - Eyes on Tua

This and also don’t y’all think every other coach that has played them knows this as well and tried it??

Many of them on this board, insecurity I imagine

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don’t y’all think every other coach that has played them knows this as well and tried it??

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you'd think so... but maybe not. Tua has been getting away with those no-read (other than press man read) slants and outs all season.

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To be fair, a team has to have the personnel to successfully implement it. I'm not sure about the teams Bama has played thus far.

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How Clemson's DB's Picked Off Tua Last Year and Stopped the Quick Slant - - Eyes on Tua

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Tua was making pre-snap decisions last year. Then he relied on his arm, route precision, and accuracy. Trick him pre-snap, and you had a chance. This year he has improved post-snap recognition.

IMO, Aranda has been game-planning this one all year. The Divinity loss is bad. Hopefully Grant is good to go though. It will be interesting to see what Dave dials up. If it's Florida Part 2, I'll be very disappointed.

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Yeah and what happens when it's a slant and go.....and our cornerbacks are staring at the quarterback while their receivers run free down the field????

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DB's don't have to "stare" at Tua. They can make a quick glance. Tua gets rid of those quick slants/outs in way under a second from the snap. The instant he gets the ball.

It is a pre-snap read, and an instantaneous throw (on most of them). That is why they are so effective against man-coverage.

The first pick wasn't the result of a "eyes on QB" or "eyes on WR." It was the result of confusion between Tua and the receivers. Look at the play. Jeudy runs an out. The outside receiver, Devonta Smith, should be running the slant, but doesn't, instead turning his body as though he's about to block, as he doesn't plant his foot and turn inside, but rather shuffles to the CB square, as though he wants to block him. Tua throws the ball behind Jeudy, as though he expected Smith turn and run the slant.

It's also possible that Smith's "route" was part of the play design, as once Tua does the fake clap with his hands, he sees that Clemson is coming on the blitz, which means that Jeudy, running an out, should be completely open against Cover 1, man to man on the safety who is filling for the nickelback, who blitzes from the slot on that play. If you notice, the CB on the play pays absolutely no attention to Smith, and seems to have known what concept Bama would run against a blitzing player from the slot. This is good preparation on Clemson's part, getting Bama into a situation where they knew what Bama was likely to do, but the throw placement by Tua doesn't make sense for an out.

Clemson certainly were not in press-man, as the CB appears 7 yards from the LOS on that play. I think they were in Cover 1, as the safety in the middle of the field bailed, while the CBs stayed with their man. But they weren't playing press. Look at the play yourself if you don't believe me.

On the first Bama TD, Clemson did go man, and got beat badly, as Jeudy was in the slot, lined up on the safety. The safety hugging one hash meant the other side of the field was completely free, and if you notice, Tua had an open man running on the left side of the field, but instead threw a beautiful deep ball to Jeudy.

On Tua's second pick in first half, Clemson was not in press-man coverage either. They showed Cover 2 and then the CBs opened his hips and bailed into cover 3, which covered the seam route Jeudy appeared to be running from the slot, and took advantage of Tua's very bad throw.

Looking at the film, I honestly don't see them looking to Tua in when in man to cut out the slant in particular. A lot of Alabama's success in the passing game came in man coverage, on routes much deeper than slants. They do a good job of disguising coverages, hoping Tua will make the wrong pre-snap read, as he does on the second pick.

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Look at the play.

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Look at the play yourself if you don't believe me.

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Looking at the film,

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Zero links. Sad.

Did you see my edit? I acknowledged all that. But again, look at Smith's route and Tua's ball placement. Seriously watch what Smith does. It looks like he's attempting to block the CB. Regardless, I've found scant evidence that this somehow dissuaded Bama from calling the slant, as lots of Bama's plays were routes beyond 10 yards. There was a slant to Smith that went for 15 with around 9 minutes remaining in the first half. There was another slant that went for about 12 to Jeudy with about 5 remaining. Even with the pick, Tua was 11/13 for 157 yrds and 2 td's in the 1st quarter.

My point here is that I don't think the "eyes on Tua" concept did anything to take away the slant. There were three aspects of how Clemson played him that caused him problems. Firstly, Clemson did a good job creating pressure, from pretty much every combination of fronts. Secondly, they blitzed from a lot of different places, using a variety of different players, especially secondary players. Thirdly, they disguised coverages. But I'm seeing scant evidence that this concept in particular took away the ultra-quick slant. When Bama wanted something that was quick to get the ball out of Tua's hands, they seemed to go to some version of an out, especially to Irv Smith.

You said this in the OP:

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But basically, Clemson took away the ultra-quick slant by switching eyes to Tua at the instant of the snap, in man-coverage.

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I'm saying that I'm not finding evidence for that particular statement in the game itself. If you meant something else, say so, but again, the fact that Bama ran slants successfully undermines your notion.

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I'm saying that I'm not finding evidence for that particular statement in the game itself. If you meant something else, say so, but again, the fact that Bama ran slants successfully undermines your notion.

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The fact that "you can't find it" does not mean that it does not exist.

Not saying it took away ALL slants and outs, but took way the pre-snap man-to-man read & instantaneous throw.

Herbstreit explains the pick-6 in detail at 1:38 of linked vid. This move threw off Tua's timing for the rest of that game.

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