By Will Vandervort.
At Thomas County Central High School in Thomasville, Ga., Adam Choice ran the split-back veer the way it was meant to be run.
He ran it to perfection.
Choice, who made his Clemson debut in last week’s victory over South Carolina State, rushed for 5,095 yards in three years at Thomas County and he did it from the quarterback position. Running the split-back veer—two running backs split behind each guard—he demonstrated the art of pulling the ball out when the tackles crashed on the dive-man, forcing the defensive end to make a quick decision.
Often the defensive end made the wrong one and read the pitch-man, leaving Choice with an open lane up the seam that he turned into big yards. During his senior he rushed for 1,521 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. He had at least 100 yards in every game but one, including two 200-yard games.
Though he was a quarterback, Choice’s pre-snap reads were simple – read the down linemen and what kind of front they were in.
“I did not have to read many secondary players, but just like the front-seven or the front-eight. I was trying to run the play one way or switch to the other side,” he said.
When the play began, Choice had to see if the defensive tackles crashed down on the dive-back, if they didn’t he would give it to the dive-back over and over until it was stopped. If the defensive tackles crashed down, he would pull the ball out and continue the play down the line where his next read was the defensive end.
Choice then optioned the defensive end. If the defensive end attacked him, he would pitch it to the running back. But if the defensive end did not, he turned it up the seam between the defensive tackle and the defensive end, and because of Choice’s speed it usually went for big gains.
“It is kind of creeping away. It was interesting,” Choice said. “It fit the group that we had very well.”
What Choice now does at Clemson surprisingly is fitting him well. Though Chad Morris’ smash mouth-spread offense is nothing like the split-back veer that helped him land a scholarship at Clemson, the true freshman says he is learning things faster than he thought he would.
“It’s not as complicated as I thought it was going to be coming in,” he said. “The hardest part is making the transition from being under center and taking snaps to actually being offset and having to learn different assignments and what everybody has to do and try to go out there and do my part to help the play be executed.”
Against the Bulldogs, Choice helped the Tigers execute eight touchdowns and 735 total yards. He contributed to 74 yards on 12 carries, an average of 6.2 yards per carry.
“He provided a spark,” Morris said. “If he touches the ball, he can go the distance on any play.”
Choice also scored on a four-yard run for his first collegiate touchdown in the 73-7 win.
“Whenever they call my number I will be ready,” Choice said. “I do not expect to be called more than D.J. (Howard) because he knows it, but the bit I do know and the bit I plan to learn, because I’m never going to stop learning it, but as time progresses and I earn more trust with it then my number will be called more.”
Dabo Swinney says Choice’s number got called because of the foot injury that ended Zac Brooks’ season two days before the end of camp. That through a monkey-wrench into the coaches’ plans to redshirt the freshman and slowly bring up to speed on the offense.
Now he is learning on the run.
“From beginning of camp to now, I feel like I have made great strides, but at the same time I’m not where D.J. is, I’m not where Zac is,” he said. “I still know there is more that I can learn and I’m going to try and learn from them, Coach (Tony) Elliott and Coach Morris as much as I can so when I get to that point in my career, I can honestly sit there and when they call a play I know one hundred percent that this is what I’m supposed to do and I will know that I can execute it.”
The biggest thing Choice has had to adjust to is taking a hand off, knowing his assignments and pass protection. Because he was a high school quarterback, it has been an adjustment from taking the ball under center to taking a hand off.
Then there are his assignments and pre-snap reads, which are little different than what he did as an option-style quarterback.
“I’m still reading the down linemen, but now I’m reading more corners and safeties to try and pick up blitzes and stuff,” Choice said. “Just like in every offense, I’m trying to read the defense and see where pressure is going to come from or if I need to adjust my route off any pressure.”
As for blocking, well that’s been a whole new ballgame.
“It’s not too hard. It’s more of a technique thing if anything else, just learning to shoot your hands and timing and getting your pad level correct in order to be an affective blocker,” he said. “I have a long way to go in all the areas of being a complete back, but that’s one area I’m focused on and trying to improve.”
As the Tigers prep for their Sept. 20th showdown at top-ranked Florida State, Choice is hoping his attitude and willingness to learn at a fast pace, as well as his continued improvement, has earned him the opportunity to play in Tallahassee, Fla., especially considering his hometown is only a 30-minute drive away.
“I hope so,” he said. “It’s more about me going out and showing that I have tried to learn the offense and I’m trying to get better every day and I’m just trying to do the little things correctly.”