By Will Vandervort.
When he first got to Clemson last January there were just a few people who knew who he was. After his performance at Florida State on Sept. 20th, and following his record-setting night against North Carolina this past Saturday, there is not a person on campus now that doesn’t know who Deshaun Watson is and what he looks like.
“When I am walking around now, a lot of people are taking pictures and saying, ‘Good Game!’ They are coming up and talking to me so it is kind of different,” Watson said.
But it’s expected, especially when he throws for 435 yards and a school-record six touchdowns in his first career start.
“I’m sure everybody wants to sit by him in class now and everybody wants to eat lunch with him,” Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris said. “He probably did not have anybody sitting by him in class and eating lunch with him the last few weeks.”
But Morris has warned his young quarterback about the traps and pitfalls that come with being the big man on campus. It’s a lot to take in for anyone, especially for a young man that is less than a year removed from high school.
“I try to just stay around the guys, around the team,” Watson said. “They know who I am and they know I love to be laid back and have fun. I talk to my mom, my mentors and just read the Bible when I can.”
Right now, life is good for Watson. On Monday, he was named ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against North Carolina as well as the conference’s Rookie of the Week.
“I just have to build on it, and maybe I will get better from it and find all the mistakes,” Watson said. “We can do a lot – a lot more than we did on Saturday.”
Watson did have a couple of bad plays, like his third quarterback interception when he says there was miscommunication on the play. There were also a few other plays too that both he and Morris said are things he has to get better at.
“The moment he starts reading how good he is and everyone in the country is going to want to come and talk to him,” Morris said. “We talked about that. I know everybody wants to talk to him and tell him how great he is, but let me tell you, he did enough stuff wrong the other night that we have a lot of stuff to keep him grounded. He knows that.
“But he is a very humble young man and we are going to keep him that way. The future is definitely bright for him, but we also have to be smart and understand that he is just a true freshman and he is going to make mistakes”
As for right now, Watson has done very little wrong. He currently ranks second in the country in passing efficiency and is first in the nation in yards per attempt. He has thrown for 914 yards and 10 touchdowns to only one interception.
He has also completed 72.7 percent of his passes, which ranks third in the country.
But Morris says there will come a day when Watson does not play as well and maybe shows that he is still only a freshman after all. How he handles those things is when everyone will see the true measure of his maturity.
“That’s just the way it goes. It comes with the position,” Morris said. “Like I tell (Watson), those same people that want to sit by you in class and eat lunch with you will be the same ones that don’t know you that next week and they want to turn their head at lunch. You will be sitting by yourself.
“Understand it is a week-to-week process. You have to stay humbled and grounded and know it is about getting better each week.”