By Will Vandervort.
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said it best during Saturday’s telecast of Clemson’s 23-17 loss at top-ranked Florida State – “A star was born tonight.”
That star of course is freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson, who stunned not only the 83,000 Seminole fans packed into Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla., but the millions watching at home. Watson chopped up one of the nation’s best defenses all night as he nearly led the Tigers to one of the greatest victories in school history.
“Deshaun is special. No one can deny that,” defensive tackle DeShawn Williams said. “Down the road, Clemson is going to have one heck of an offense and defense because Deshaun gives us so much more.
“He is a great guy. You don’t come across too many quarterbacks that do that their freshman year. He is one of a kind. He is going to be great.”
What Watson did on Saturday was come into the game on the Tigers’ fourth series of the night and direct them on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took four minutes and 43 seconds off the clock.
On the drive, he scrambled for 13 yards on a third down play that was ultimately negated by a holding penalty. A few plays later he hit Mike Williams in stride for 33 yards to the FSU 44 and two plays after that he found Germone Hopper over the middle for 24 yards to the Seminoles’ 18. That set up a 30-yard Ammon Lakip field goal that tied the game at 3.
“He is extremely talented and he can extend plays and that is what he does best,” Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris said. “He is extremely smart in reading defenses and understanding what we are trying to accomplish.
“It’s exciting to watch him. We knew how good of a player he was coming out of high school. He was coached extremely well and played in a system that is very similar to ours. Now that we have him here and have had him here for the time we have had him and have watched him progress, the sky is the limit for him.”
With his scrambling ability Watson was able to extend a lot of plays against Florida State, including one where he moved up in the pocket, slid to his right, started to run and then saw wide receiver Adam Humphries coming open down the near sideline.
He hit Humphries for an 18-yard completion and a first down.
He went on to lead the Tigers, who will host North Carolina this coming Saturday, to two touchdowns after that, including a two-yard keeper himself. Watson finished the game 19 for 28 for 266 yards and ran 12 times for 30 more.
Despite the loss, his performance earned him ACC Rookie of the Week Honors.
“It’s pretty cool to know I was the ACC Rookie of the Week and all these accomplishments that I have the first three games of my college career have been great,” he said.
What’s been great is that two of those performances have come at Georgia and at Florida State – the latter coming against the defending national champions.
“The play of Deshaun Watson was special to watch unfold,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.
It was even more special to watch it play out in that environment and in that setting with the whole country watching.
“Just being calm and having the confidence that you make plays it causes all the other guys around you to realize they can do the same thing,” said Watson, who will start this Saturday against North Carolina. “If I’m out there all jittery, hyped up or nervous or not confident that I can do something then those guys will not have trust in me.
“I think that can go both ways.”
But what his teammates saw was a guy that was not caught up in the moment. He was calm and he was ready to play. What they saw was the birth of a new star.
“He played great. He took care of the ball and made some big plays,” Swinney said. “It was really amazing. I’m really proud of him. You never know until you see him in that situation. We know we have something special in that young man and to actually see him go and execute like he did was fun to be a part of.”