By Will Vandervort.
When he learned following Saturday’s 73-7 victory over South Carolina State that quarterback Cole Stoudt was booed by some Clemson fans during the game, Dabo Swinney got a little mad.
So mad in fact, he brought it up in his weekly teleconference with the media on Monday.
“I think it is sad when you have fans boo a player,” he said. “I think that is really sad. I didn’t know that happened until after the game. That’s a shame when a guy has been playing his butt of for you. He is a dedicated, disciplined player that is playing well and gets booed because you have another guy that comes in and he gets cheered.
“I just think that is bad. I think you cheer for all your guys and trust the coaches to do their job and if they don’t do their job then hold the coaches accountable. Love the players.”
Despite throwing for 302 yards and touchdown in the rout of the Bulldogs on Saturday, Stoudt is getting very little love from the fans these days. Most of the Tigers’ faithful want to see Watson be the starter, but Swinney says he has never made a decision based on what the fans want and he isn’t about to start that now.
“Cole is our starter,” he said. “I’m not into pleasing the fans, that’s for sure. I probably would not still have this job if I was into pleasing the fans. That’s the last thing I’m worried about. I’m worried about doing what is best every single day for this team and these players to give the whole team the best chance to win.
“I’m sure some people want to have some big controversy, but we are not going to have a controversy. The best player is going to play and Cole Stoudt is our starter and that’s just the way it is. If something changes, then it will change on the field through performance. It has not changed to this point.”
Watson is doing his best to make it change. Though Stoudt is playing well, there is an argument that Watson is playing great. In the seven possessions he has played in, the freshman has taken the Clemson offense down the field and scored on five of them – all touchdowns.
In those seven possessions, Watson has completed 10 of 13 passes for 214 yards and four touchdowns. He was 8-for-9 against South Carolina State for 154 yards and three touchdowns. His passing efficiency rating after two games is 316.09, compared to Stoudt’s 127.94.
When asked has Watson earned any additional playing time after his performance the first two weeks, Swinney said they will continue to evaluate and manage the situation like every other coaching staff in the country.
“I have a pretty good quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator that I have a lot of confidence in and his input obviously is of paramount importance in all of those decisions. That’s why Cole Stoudt is the starter,” Swinney said. “(Chad Morris) and I both felt like that Cole Stoudt gives us the best chance to win and we are excited that we have another great quarterback. It is not a problem. It is a good thing and we think it is going to continue to produce good quarterback play for us.
“If there is a chance somewhere down the road, then there will be a change. It will happen. But let’s go play the game and let’s see where we are as we move through the year.”
But the reason Watson, as flashy as he has been, is not the starter is because Stoudt has been steady and has had a lot of success as well. He led the Tigers on two of their three scoring drives against Georgia and a potential third ended with a missed field goal from kicker Ammon Lakip just before halftime.
Against S.C. State, the senior engineered six scoring drives on eight possessions with one of those ending because of halftime. Through the first two games, Stoudt has completed an impressive 38 of 60 passes for 446 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
His numbers are very comparable to what Tajh Boyd did after the first two games last season, which incidentally were against the same two teams. Boyd was 32 of 53 for 439 yards and three scores.
“Cole Stoudt has played well for us,” Swinney said. “We know what we are looking at and we know what we are asking him to do. He has not played perfect, but he has played very well as the starter. It is frustrating when people don’t want to recognize that.”
But do the first two weeks guarantee Stoudt that he will be the starter the rest of the year? Swinney says, “No.”
“He has to perform at a high level just like every other position out there,” the Clemson coach said. “We know we have a very special talent in Deshaun Watson. That’s why we recruited him. It is not some big shocking thing to us. We know that and he has to play well with his opportunities.”
Included in those opportunities are practices and scrimmages which of course the media and the fans don’t see.
“Everything counts,” Swinney said. “We have been doing this since January. Cole Stoudt won the job and you take it as far as you can from a practice standpoint and the next thing is to go out and play games. We have only played two games to this point.
“Cole Stoudt’s job is to play at a high level and try to make us keep him as the number one guy. Deshaun Watson’s job is to try and beat him out. Our job as coaches is to evaluate that and that is what we do every day. We don’t listen to the fans.”