By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
CLEMSON — Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables is extremely impressed with the way Maryland is handling its quarterback situation.
The Terrapins (4-5, 2-3 ACC) will use their fourth quarterback of the season when they visit Death Valley for a 3:32 p.m. kickoff on ESPNU Saturday. Maryland has lost starter C.J. Brown, backup Perry Hills and freshman backup Caleb Rowe all to ACL injuries. Due to that, freshman Shawn Petty, a linebacker by trade, will be making his second start of the year.
With just one week of work at quarterback, Petty completed 9 of 18 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Georgia Tech.
“They did a terrific job under those circumstances,” Venables said. “What an absolute nightmare they are having to deal with right now. I think he has a good supporting cast and I know that has dwindled from what it was when I was watching games from earlier in the year.”
Injuries have decimated Maryland’s offensive firepower this year. The Terps rank last in the ACC in scoring and total offense, while they are 11th in rushing and passing yards.
“Offensively, obviously, they’ve suffered a lot of injuries,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.” I’ll tell you what, I was very impressed with what they did last week in just a few days putting it all together and taking a new guy and inserting him at quarterback.
“They’ll do some things that can cause problems. We’ll have to play a smart, physical football game.”
The Tigers (8-1, 5-1) will have to worry about wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who has caught 43 passes for 721 yards. Running back Wes Brown is another concern as is tight end Matt Furstenburg, who scored two touchdowns in last year’s game.
“They have some good skill guys and they have done a good job recruiting good players,” Venables said. “They have lost some dynamics with some of their playmaking ability, but I think (Petty) really gave them a chance to execute what they wanted to do… They are facing difficult circumstance to say the least.”
Preparing for Maryland’s new offense will be a little difficult, too. Clemson only has one game of film on him, and it gives the Terps a chance to throw a little more of the unknown at the Tigers, especially when it comes to tendencies and those things.
“Obviously, with him being a linebacker, he is a tough guy and is going to be difficult to bring down,” Clemson linebacker Spencer Shuey said. “We have to be able to hit him and affect him running and throwing the ball.”
Being a former linebacker, Petty could have a little advantage on Shuey.
“I definitely think so,” Clemson’s middle linebacker said. “He has those linebacker instincts and he should be able to tell what we are about to do. So it will be a little game of chess when he is at the line of scrimmage and is trying to figure out what I’m thinking and what we want to do.”
In the end, it’s all going to be about what the Tigers do in defending this makeshift Terrapin offense.
“We only have film for one week, but I think we have a pretty good understanding of what they are going to try and accomplish against us and we just have to be able to prepare for that.”