During his press conference Wednesday, Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris issued a direct challenge to the Tigers’ offense around true freshman starting quarterback Tait Reynolds.
With the Tigers ranking last in the ACC in passing yards per game – and last in the FBS with just two passing touchdowns all season –heading into Saturday’s game vs. Virginia Tech, Morris made it clear that in order to significantly improve the offensive production, the rest of the roster must elevate their execution to support their young quarterback.
Morris candidly stated, “We’ve got to help this kid out.”
“I’ve challenged all our guys is that, look, we do have a young guy at quarterback, and he’s growing and he’s doing some phenomenal things. We’ve got to help him. We’ve got to help this kid out,” Morris said.
That challenge from Morris wasn’t aimed simply at one certain position group or room.
It’s “everybody” that needs to step up around their young signal-caller, according to Morris, who even noted that the challenge extends to the coaching staff.
“That’s all positions,” Morris said. “So, that’s been my challenge to our guys, is let’s help out the guy back here that’s making this thing happen. And how can you do that is your awareness, your sense of urgency, your attention to details has got to raise. And that’s everybody. That’s from the coaches, that’s all of us. So, we do that, then everybody gets better.”
The Tigers enter Saturday’s home matchup with the Hokies (7 p.m., ESPN) at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in ACC play, while Virginia Tech comes in at 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
While Clemson’s early season struggles on offense have been frustrating for Morris and the fan base alike, especially regarding the lack of explosiveness in the passing game, Morris believes the unit is slowly undergoing growth in his system with a talented but inexperienced QB at the helm.
“We’ve seen this team slowly get better, and there’s growth happening,” Morris said. “Some of this stuff that I’ve shared with Tait is that, no matter what you do, you’re going to have to go through this process to get to where we want to get to. We can’t bypass something and get you to the end result. It’s not going to happen. And that’s part of him being a young guy, and that’s just kind of the way it is with him.
“But man, he’s got a phenomenal arm. We just need other guys around him to help out. … We’ve gotta be able to help him out, and when we do, great things happen.”
–Photo by Dawson Powers