By Will Vandervort.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said he will not name a starter at quarterback for next Saturday’s Georgia State game until later in the week.
In his Sunday teleconference with the media, Swinney defended Cole Stoudt saying the senior’s biggest issue is his confidence. In Saturday’s 28-6 loss to Georgia Tech, Stoudt came in for the injured Deshaun Watson and completed just 3 of 11 passes for 19 yards, including three interceptions and two of those were returned for touchdowns.
Ever since being pulled in favor of Watson at Florida State in Game 3, Stoudt has struggled to be the kind of player the coaches reported him to be back in the spring and all during fall camp. Offensive coordinator Chad Morris called him “Steady Eddie” and said he made very few mistakes.
That’s not the case anymore.
In the last three games Stoudt has turned the football over seven times. The offense struggles drastically when he is in the game and in the three games he started when Watson was out with his broken finger the Tigers totaled just seven offensive touchdowns.
In the three-plus quarters he played against Louisville and Georgia Tech after Watson left the games, Clemson did not score an offensive touchdown. The Tigers totaled just 190 yards of total offense against Tech, who had the ACC’s 13th worst defense heading into the game.
Clemson (7-3) only had three combined touchdowns against Boston College and Syracuse with Stoudt behind center.
“It’s a tough world we live in right now. I mean it really is. It’s tough on these young people,” Swinney said. “At the end of the day, they are people and it is a tough situation. Back in the today somebody might write a bad newspaper article and you never saw it. Now, these guys live in a world where they are surrounded by things and it is hard for it not to affect them. That is just the reality of it.
“My heart hurts for him because he is a better player than what he played yesterday and he knows that. It was just one of those days and we all had bad days, but he had a rough day.”
Stoudt is having a rough year. The senior is completing 62 percent of his passes for 1,444 yards and five touchdowns to go with eight interceptions. Those are not exactly numbers to brag about.
So is Stoudt the guy who can lead the Tigers to the great finish Swinney is hoping for or is it Nic Schuessler?
“Cole brings everything we need to the offense to win,” Swinney said. “But, again, he has to perform like he is capable of. We have all seen Cole play well. He played well the last three years to be honest with you when given his opportunities and he was always ready.
“He came out of the gate and played well against Georgia and played well against South Carolina State, but I just think the competition and all those things – it’s tough when you lose a job and then he gets banged up. We have to get his confidence back. He can do everything we need him to do to win for us. There is no doubt about that and we have seen that. We have video evidence of that. We have to get him back and focused.”
Schuessler came in during a tough situation following Stoudt’s third interception at Georgia Tech and took what the defense gave him. He finished with a modest 4-for-4 afternoon for 19 yards.
“As far as Nick, he does not have a lot of experience, but he does know the system and he has really improved the last few weeks because he has gotten a lot of reps. I was pleased, he missed a protection and did not check it like he needed to on one of those sacks, but he did play smart and he did play within the system and he took what was there when he was in the game.
“We just have to play within the system and execute. Whoever is out there has to take care of the football. We will go back to work. We will evaluate and we will make a decision, put a good plan together and go get back on track this week.”