It was only his 6th start and you could see he was a little rattled to start. He even admitted that the atmosphere was tough on him early. Hopefully the game starts to “slow down” for him and he starts looking down field and not at the rush and goes through his progressions. He played much better in the 2nd half obviously and that 11 yard run on 3-10 might have been the biggest play of the game. One criticism I had. I’m not a fan of the bubble screen, but it would have been nice to get him an easy throw on one of those early series to get him more confident. Hopefully he improves a little bit every game
Clifford
- Thread starter BFPSU
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Agree that it would be good to continue to see more of the screen game, though admittedly I didn't break that part of this week's game down. It looked like Iowa most often played rush 4, drop 7 with their safties like 25 yards off the ball to limit big plays. Against Maryland's blitz heavy rush those often worked perfectly.
It was good that even he admitted it was a bit tough to start - that's the first step in thinking through the reasons why and how to correct it. While I'm confident the team isn't looking past Michigan, I think one of the benefits of coming out of this game with a hard-fought W is that (hopefully) Cliff won't be nearly as rattled in East Lansing in 2 weeks. It'll be sort of a 'been there, done that' type of thing.
I thought that they would have run the ball more at the start to get Clifford into the flow of the game. Instead they dialed up theee throws for the first three plays. That certainly calmed his nerves.
Based on this weekend's Iowa game, it seems that Clifford did have some unfortunate nerves but he was also the victim of some ill-advised play calling. If you were to compare Clifford to McSorley, what made McSorley so effective was the ability to manage a three-headed offense...running game (Barkley/Sanders), passing game, and QB running game. As of now, it seems that the QB running game is the last option when it should be used as an unpredictable resource. In addition, during the Iowa game, Clifford rarely passed for more than 8 yards, which did not allow him to stretch the field. I think Clifford has the skillset to manage and execute a three-headed offense, but he just needs more reps/confidence, and sufficient play calling from Rahne. Unfortunately, as of now, I think Rahne is going to be the difference between a playoffs-caliber team and a very good team. Maybe Franklin needs to rip Rahne a new one, just like he ripped Pry a new one in the days after the Michigan State loss last year.
I'm not sure that you are aware of this, but Clifford tied with Cain for most carries on the team. If not for his sacks, would be leading in yards, too.
So I don't think the QB running game has been "the last option". He's carried the ball as many times as the leading RB on the team.
His pocket presence is the biggest problem right now. He moved into some sacks and could have avoided other sacks with a little more feel for it. That will come in time. To win most of the games this year he has to simply avoid TO's and be a game manager with this defense. To beat the top teams, he has to make more plays. Next year could be special for this program.
I coached QBs for 15 plus years. I like Sean a lot but like most young QBs he struggles with a couple of things. His footwork is the first thing that goes to hell when he is pressured. Ricky needs to put him in more footwork drills at practice to eliminate this tendency. I like low bags, agility ladders, pressure drills, multiple ball and receiver drills. It’s very fixable. That leads to his other item and that is deciding to climb the pocket. That’s a skill that is counterintuitive as you are heading into the direction the rush is coming from. In some of the drills I mentioned above you can also work on climbing the pocket. It’s a tough skill that many pro QBs suck at. As the game slows down for him and he gets more comfortable with his oline this will get better but I needs to force himself to climb not bail.
There is no doubt in my mind that he will be a very good maybe great QB. His leadership skills are already outstanding. Part of that is coming from Steve Spects program at St X.
I would also like to see Ricky use the middle third of the field more with intermediate routes like digs, zig in, seam, skinny post, use clearing routes more. I think that will help him too. Less time for him to have to hold the ball.
The best part so far is Sean has been smart with the ball only 2 picks. Michigan has good DBs and they grab and commit a lot of uncalled PI. He and the receivers need to be ready for that crap. Wideouts need to punch has part of getoff.
There is no doubt in my mind that he will be a very good maybe great QB. His leadership skills are already outstanding. Part of that is coming from Steve Spects program at St X.
I would also like to see Ricky use the middle third of the field more with intermediate routes like digs, zig in, seam, skinny post, use clearing routes more. I think that will help him too. Less time for him to have to hold the ball.
The best part so far is Sean has been smart with the ball only 2 picks. Michigan has good DBs and they grab and commit a lot of uncalled PI. He and the receivers need to be ready for that crap. Wideouts need to punch has part of getoff.
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