By Will Vandervort.
ORLANDO, Fla. — There are a lot of unknowns when the 17th-ranked Clemson Tigers take on No. 24 Oklahoma today in the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
For one what will Clemson’s offense look like? Former offensive coordinator Chad Morris is now the head man at SMU and running backs coach Tony Elliott will be calling the plays from the press box, while wide receivers coach Jeff Scott will be relaying what he sees from the field. Both young coaches are now the Tigers’ co-offensive coordinators.
Secondly, how will quarterback Cole Stoudt look? The senior will be making his eighth start of the season, but with new quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter on board and four weeks to prepare for the Sooners, will Stoudt resemble more of the quarterback that started the season against Georgia with a ton of confidence or the one that came off the bench and threw three interceptions in a loss at Georgia Tech?
“He is going to try and finish the season 6-2 as a starter. It will obviously be a great way for him to go out and for him to finish his career here. We will find out on Monday night,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.
Stoudt of course is getting the start after Clemson decided to shut down freshman Deshaun Watson for the season so he could go ahead and have surgery to repair his torn ACL and get a jump start on his rehabilitation program. The hope is to have him ready when the summer workout program begins.
As for Stoudt, Swinney feels they will get the senior’s best against the Sooners.
“I think he has really prepared well,” Swinney said. “He’s had some really good moments for us this year. When he did not play as well—Louisville and Georgia Tech are the two that jump out—he didn’t prepare as well. He was not expecting to play in either one of those games and I think it showed.
“When he has gone into it knowing he was going to play and be the guy, he has played fairly well. We are going to need a big game from him. He is the best we got. He has to play well. We are not going to win this game if he does not play well. He has to have a great game and I think that he will.”
As for his new offensive coordinators, Swinney is interested in seeing how they call a game so he can get a feel for how they do things in game-situations.
“Just the way it all worked out, this is really just a blessing for us as a staff,” Swinney said. “It has allowed me to be able to transition and get things settled, instead of having to deal with all of that after the bowl season.”
The Clemson coach is excited to see how it all works out.
“We will see how it goes, but I’m excited about Tony being up top. I think that is going to be a good situation for us,” Swinney said. “He and Jeff will work great together. They’re excited. It is going to be a lot of fun.
“It will be different not having Chad around. It might be a little calmer on the sideline, between Chad and Brent I’m wore out after every game. So not having him down there might be a little bit different, but it is going to be fun. I’m really, really pleased with how the staff has come together over the last few weeks.”