By Will Vandervort.

Dabo Swinney made it clear coming out of Saturday’s Orange & White Spring Game – if Deshaun Watson was unfortunate enough to go down with another injury this coming fall, Nick Schuessler is ready to be the guy.

“He better be ready to start because he is definitely the backup coming out of spring ball,” Swinney said following the White’s 35-24 victory over the Orange in Death Valley.

Schuessler capped what Swinney classified as a very solid and consistent spring with a 201-yard, two-touchdown effort in front of a Spring Game record 37,000 fans in Memorial Stadium.

“From a personal standpoint, I know I have done all I can do,” Schuessler said. “Now it is up to the coaches to make that decision. I definitely feel like they gave me a bunch of stuff I can work on this summer.”

Schuessler opened the game with a 50-yard pass to wide receiver Mike Williams and then two plays later the two teamed up again for a 19-yard touchdown that gave the Orange squad a 7-0 lead just 55 seconds into the game.

“Anytime you start the game out like that, it is definitely a big confidence boaster,” Schuessler said. “Getting to play with some of the talent we have at receiver and in the backfield it’s amazing. If you just get the ball in their hands they are going to make plays. I think that is what you guys saw today.”

Playing for both teams, Schuessler continued to make plays with his arm and his feet. He had a 21-yard run on a zone-read play later in the first quarter and then rushed for eight more yards on the next play. He also had a 24-yard pass to Hunter Renfrow, a 20-yard pass to Artavis Scott for his second touchdown pass of the afternoon, a 20-yard pass to tight end Jay Jay McCullough, an 18-yard pass to Scott and a 15-yard pass to running back Tyshon Dye.

The only blemish was a fourth-quarter interception he threw to linebacker Kendal Joseph.

“I’m rather pleased with my performance,” he said. “I made a stupid decision when I threw that interception at the end of the game, but as a whole, I thought our offense did a great job on both sides.”

Schuessler finished the game completing 11 of 17 passes, which nearly matched his 11 of 17 and 10 of 16 efforts he has shown in the previous two scrimmages this spring.

“He has had a very consistent spring,” Swinney said. “He has prepared himself to be the starter because if he is not then he is cheating himself and he is cheating the team.”

Swinney isn’t the only guy impressed with how far and how consistent Schuessler has been this spring.

“Nick is a great talent and is a great athlete,” said quarterback Deshaun Watson, who had to miss his second straight spring game due to an injury. “The skills that he brings to the offense, he can run and pass, so he did a great job.”

Schuessler says he understand the pressures that come with being the backup quarterback, but he says even when he was the scout-team quarterback the last two years, he always prepared as if he was going to start the game.

“I think people expect if you are on the football team that the plays are just automatically downloaded in your head with no preparation,” he said.  “Like Coach says, we go out there every week preparing to be the starter. Yes, I’m not getting the reps, but I’m getting the mental reps. Yes, it is a lot easier to go out there when you are physically getting the reps, but our coaches do such a great job getting us mentally prepared that at any given moment you are ready to step out there and play.”

And for the first time in his career, Schuessler can step out there knowing he really is one play away from starting.

“That has to be your mentality when you are a player. Otherwise you are not going to have the edge and preparation that it takes,” Swinney said.