By Will Vandervort.
With Deshaun Watson out for at least the next four weeks, Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris says there will be some changes with the offense, but the expectations will be the same.
“We have to go back and get better at a lot of things and build on that,” Morris said Monday from Clemson’s WestZone. “There are some things we will be limited with, but there will also be some things we will be able to do with Cole (Stoudt) as we keep moving forward.”
There is no doubt the offense is completely different with Stoudt running the show. The 22nd-ranked Tigers, who will travel to Boston College this Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass., are more of a horizontal offense as opposed to a vertical one with Watson at the helm.
Stoudt has completed a pass for 69 yards, but most of that came on yards after the catch from wide receiver Artavis Scott. Watson has completions of 74, 56, 34, 30 and 27 yards that have all gone for touchdowns as well as other long passes he has thrown that did not go for scores.
With Watson, Morris wants to throw the ball deep at least three times every quarter. With Stoudt it appears to be a totally different game plan. Morris doesn’t agree.
“I’m not going to hamstring ourselves at all, I’m not,” Morris said. “Cole and even Nick Schuessler, these guys are on scholarship for a reason. Are there some things we have to be smart with on how we handle it and how we do and maybe game plan a little different for some more than others? Yes, that’s probably so.
“But my expectations for the offense are to be one of the most explosive offenses in the country and we have shown to be that over the last three-and-a-half years that I have been here. We have shown that for a good portion of the season this year.”
But Clemson (4-2, 3-1 ACC) has been more explosive when Watson is the quarterback. The freshman is averaging nearly five yards more per attempt than Stoudt and over five yards per completion. Watson has thrown for 1,176 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, while Stoudt has thrown for 649 yards and one touchdown despite throwing just 10 less passes.
By the way, both quarterbacks have played in six games and started three of them.
“Prior to Deshaun coming in and basically taking the job at Florida State, it was not because of the way Cole had played, it was more so about how Deshaun had performed during that time, which we all saw and all saw kind of a different look,” Morris said. “There were a lot of things that we were beginning to open up and really begin to do to exploit his talents.
“As we game planned for that last week, we knew we were going against a quality opponent and there was a lot of stuff in there that we were unable to get to. Not because Cole was not prepared for it, but more so from the fact that is how we game planned going in for Deshaun. Losing him on the second or third series of the game that took a little adjusting to try and get things back considering Cole had not practiced last week.”
One thing the Tigers need to do improve on to take pressure of Stoudt is running the football. Clemson managed only 72 yards against Louisville and just 2.2 yards per carry. The good news is it ran the football well for 41 yards on its last offensive drive of the game.
It will not be any easier running the ball against Boston College this Saturday. The Eagles are 10th in the nation against the run, allowing just under 100 yards per outing. It also doesn’t help that the Tigers will be playing with a make-shift offensive line for a third straight week because of injuries.
Last week, Clemson played all five starters the entire game up front.
“They weren’t perfect, but they played a whole lot better than probably what people think they played,” Morris said. “As a matter of fact, as a collective group, it might have been one of the better games they have played.
“We are going to build on that. We are going to build on that last drive and we are going to build on the fact that when we were able to get into a rhythm and we were able to play with some tempo, we saw what happened. The 12-play drive at the end of the game was huge and the fact that it burned up clock was big. I wish we could have got it in the end zone, but those are things we have to work on and get better at. We are limited in some areas and we are thin in some areas, but these guys are not going to complain and we are not going to make excuses for them.
“Our expectations are not going to fall because of this.”