By Will Vandervort.
Hitch, hitch, throw or go!
That’s what Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris asks his Clemson quarterbacks to do when they step back to throw the football in the 21st-ranked Tigers’ up-tempo offense. But in the last three games, the quarterback situation has been more of a hiccup than go.
It’s primarily the reason why Clemson is missing its star quarterback so much. Deshaun Watson, who busted on to the national scene on a starry night in Tallahassee, Fla., on Sept. 20, was injured in the Tigers’ win over Louisville on Oct.11 when he broke his finger in the first quarter of their 23-17 win.
Since then, despite winning all three games, the Clemson offense has sputtered. When Watson was primarily used as the starting quarterback, the offense averaged 476 yards and 36 points a game. Since he broke his index finger in his right (throwing) hand the Tigers averaging a pedestrian-like 334 yards and 18.6 points per game.
Granted there are other injuries and factors that must be taken into account as well, but the bottom line is the Tigers are not very good offensively when No. 4 is not on the field.
“The one thing Deshaun brings as he moves in the pocket and as he steps up, his eyes are constantly and always down the field looking for that next guy that is coming open,” Morris said. “People have to cover the receivers for an extended amount of time and they can’t come off the receiver.
“We saw that out here when he hit Artavis Scott coming into the west end zone a few weeks ago after he slid around in the pocket before he ran.”
Watson’s ability to extend plays with his feet is a trait only a few quarterbacks have. It’s not something every quarterback can do. And defenses understand that.
Cole Stoudt, for all the good he does and his ability to understand Morris’ offense, he is not Deshaun Watson. With the lack of a consistent running game to back him up as well as a banged up and makeshift offensive line, defenses are viewing the senior as a sitting duck and bring pressure in hopes of getting the ball out of his hands early or hold it just long enough to where they can get to him with the pressure.
Either way Stoudt is not able to get the ball to the receivers that are running open down field. This is the major difference in why Clemson has had so many explosive plays with Watson and so few with Stoudt.
“We all saw what (Watson) was doing and there was some rhythm and some good things happening,” Morris said. “He was still making some mistakes and he was far from being perfect, but I think (the injury) definitely let some air out of the sails when it did happen, but he is going to be coming back soon and we will try to get him back into the flow and rhythm of things.”
Watson could return as early as next Thursday when Clemson visits Wake Forest for a Thursday night showdown in Winston-Salem, N.C. But odds are the true freshman will not return until Clemson visits Georgia Tech on Nov. 15.
That means the Tigers (6-2, 5-1 ACC) will more than likely have to go another week where the offense has to just do enough to win the game and let the nation’s No. 2-ranked defense continue to do the rest.
“Any quarterback, regardless of who it is—Tajh (Boyd), Cole, Deshaun—whoever it might be it is not going to be perfect. It is not going to be blocked perfect every time. There is going to have to be some element to the fact that you are going to have to step up, you are going to have make some guys miss, you are going to have to step in the pocket and set a rush point, slide, step up in the pocket and keep your eyes down the field.
“Deshaun was doing that really well and in knowing when, we call it hitch, hitch, throw or go. He knows when to go and when to take off. There were several times the other night that Cole did a really good job of that and would slide and get down.”
Now the question is can he do it for one more week?