-----
The makeup of a quarterback battle
By: Larry Williams
On a late-September afternoon in Atlanta four years ago, Jeff Scott was marveling over the homecoming spectacle Trevor Lawrence had just delivered in a 49-21 trouncing of Georgia Tech.
We reminded the Tigers' receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator what he'd said about the quarterback competition a month earlier, during August camp:
"Coach Swinney says all the time he doesn't mind playing a freshman or a sophomore. But if it's against a senior, a guy with experience, it's got to be a knockout shot."
The obvious question that day, after Lawrence came off the bench to slice and dice Georgia Tech, was whether Swinney's exceptionally high bar had been reached.
So we asked Scott if it had.
He elected not to comment, but the smile on his face said it all.
Sure enough, Lawrence was named the starter over Kelly Bryant a few days later. And a few months later he and Clemson stood above mighty Alabama and everyone else as the first 15-0 team ever.
Cade Klubnik will get his share of quality snaps this fall. The questions are how much and how soon. (Ken Ruinard - USA Today Network)
There are some important differences between the current quarterback battle and those that unfolded in 2018 and 2014. Chief among them: This year's freshman challenger, Cade Klubnik, is probably not the ready-made superstar that Lawrence and Deshaun Watson were when they arrived at Clemson.
Most everyone who's been around the program believes Klubnik has all the ingredients to be a star in time. But the key part of that, relative to this topic, is "in time."
One thing that's surely dawning on Clemson fans now is that Watson and Lawrence probably warped everyone's expectations of what 5-star quarterbacks should be capable of delivering in Year 1.
Consider these two notions:
Had Watson stayed healthy in 2014 -- he played just 330 snaps over eight games because of injuries to a hand and knee -- he'd probably have been a worthy candidate for the Heisman Trophy.
And if the Heisman voting took place after the most important games of the season instead of early December, unquestionably Lawrence would've won it in 2018 over Oklahoma's Kyler Murray.
Heisman aside, both quarterbacks showed right away, unequivocally, that they were among the best players in the country.
That is not normal.
And for Clemson to have two of them basically back-to-back is simply astounding.
Consider the career progression of quarterbacks who have claimed national titles since Lawrence and the Tigers humiliated Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide in January of 2019:
Joe Burrow looked like one of the best quarterbacks in college football history the next season with LSU, and at Clemson's expense in the national title game. But he was a senior that year, and previously there was very little inkling that he was about to blossom into a transcendent, generational star.
Mac Jones was in his fourth year at Alabama in 2020 when he was the masterful triggerman for a national title team. Entering that season many considered it a surprise that he beat out incoming freshman Bryce Young.
A year ago at this time, Stetson Bennett was basically forgotten amid the ascent of J.T Daniels to the starting role at Georgia. But after Daniels suffered an injury early, Bennett emerged to give the Bulldogs everything they needed at quarterback on the way to a championship. Bennett was in his fifth year in Athens.
The example of Young at Alabama is surely useful here. In 2020, he not only didn't challenge Jones for the starting job but looked shaky as a backup in games.
A year later, he was an absolute magician in winning the Heisman and leading the Tide to the national title game where he could not overcome Georgia's murderous defense.
This time a year ago, Clemson fans scoffed at the idea that Young was in the same class as Uiagalelei. That was based on the 2020 two-game sample size of Uiagalelei looking like he was following precisely in the footsteps of Lawrence and Watson.
Those notions proved premature last season when Uiagalelei was startlingly human over 13 games as the starter. In Klubnik, the Tigers now have someone capable of pushing Uiagalelei if he cannot carry offseason improvement to games. They didn't have that last year in Taisun Phommachanh.
And it's useful to present a bit more historical perspective here: Tua Tagovailoa delivered a national title in breathtaking fashion in 2017 when he came off the bench with the wheels falling off against Georgia in the national title game, but it took him all year to unseat Jalen Hurts.
We have no idea how things will unfold in Clemson's quarterback competition, and the coaches probably don't either.
It was much different in 2018 and 2014, when everyone watching knew the freshman was the best player on the field and that it was only a matter of time.
Those instances were the exception, not the norm. Not just at Clemson, but everywhere.
Up to 70% OFF (CLEARANCE) on officially-licensed CLEMSON gear at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
The makeup of a quarterback battle
By: Larry Williams
On a late-September afternoon in Atlanta four years ago, Jeff Scott was marveling over the homecoming spectacle Trevor Lawrence had just delivered in a 49-21 trouncing of Georgia Tech.
We reminded the Tigers' receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator what he'd said about the quarterback competition a month earlier, during August camp:
"Coach Swinney says all the time he doesn't mind playing a freshman or a sophomore. But if it's against a senior, a guy with experience, it's got to be a knockout shot."
The obvious question that day, after Lawrence came off the bench to slice and dice Georgia Tech, was whether Swinney's exceptionally high bar had been reached.
So we asked Scott if it had.
He elected not to comment, but the smile on his face said it all.
Sure enough, Lawrence was named the starter over Kelly Bryant a few days later. And a few months later he and Clemson stood above mighty Alabama and everyone else as the first 15-0 team ever.
Cade Klubnik will get his share of quality snaps this fall. The questions are how much and how soon. (Ken Ruinard - USA Today Network)
There are some important differences between the current quarterback battle and those that unfolded in 2018 and 2014. Chief among them: This year's freshman challenger, Cade Klubnik, is probably not the ready-made superstar that Lawrence and Deshaun Watson were when they arrived at Clemson.
Most everyone who's been around the program believes Klubnik has all the ingredients to be a star in time. But the key part of that, relative to this topic, is "in time."
One thing that's surely dawning on Clemson fans now is that Watson and Lawrence probably warped everyone's expectations of what 5-star quarterbacks should be capable of delivering in Year 1.
Consider these two notions:
Had Watson stayed healthy in 2014 -- he played just 330 snaps over eight games because of injuries to a hand and knee -- he'd probably have been a worthy candidate for the Heisman Trophy.
And if the Heisman voting took place after the most important games of the season instead of early December, unquestionably Lawrence would've won it in 2018 over Oklahoma's Kyler Murray.
Heisman aside, both quarterbacks showed right away, unequivocally, that they were among the best players in the country.
That is not normal.
And for Clemson to have two of them basically back-to-back is simply astounding.
Consider the career progression of quarterbacks who have claimed national titles since Lawrence and the Tigers humiliated Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide in January of 2019:
Joe Burrow looked like one of the best quarterbacks in college football history the next season with LSU, and at Clemson's expense in the national title game. But he was a senior that year, and previously there was very little inkling that he was about to blossom into a transcendent, generational star.
Mac Jones was in his fourth year at Alabama in 2020 when he was the masterful triggerman for a national title team. Entering that season many considered it a surprise that he beat out incoming freshman Bryce Young.
A year ago at this time, Stetson Bennett was basically forgotten amid the ascent of J.T Daniels to the starting role at Georgia. But after Daniels suffered an injury early, Bennett emerged to give the Bulldogs everything they needed at quarterback on the way to a championship. Bennett was in his fifth year in Athens.
The example of Young at Alabama is surely useful here. In 2020, he not only didn't challenge Jones for the starting job but looked shaky as a backup in games.
A year later, he was an absolute magician in winning the Heisman and leading the Tide to the national title game where he could not overcome Georgia's murderous defense.
This time a year ago, Clemson fans scoffed at the idea that Young was in the same class as Uiagalelei. That was based on the 2020 two-game sample size of Uiagalelei looking like he was following precisely in the footsteps of Lawrence and Watson.
Those notions proved premature last season when Uiagalelei was startlingly human over 13 games as the starter. In Klubnik, the Tigers now have someone capable of pushing Uiagalelei if he cannot carry offseason improvement to games. They didn't have that last year in Taisun Phommachanh.
And it's useful to present a bit more historical perspective here: Tua Tagovailoa delivered a national title in breathtaking fashion in 2017 when he came off the bench with the wheels falling off against Georgia in the national title game, but it took him all year to unseat Jalen Hurts.
We have no idea how things will unfold in Clemson's quarterback competition, and the coaches probably don't either.
It was much different in 2018 and 2014, when everyone watching knew the freshman was the best player on the field and that it was only a matter of time.
Those instances were the exception, not the norm. Not just at Clemson, but everywhere.
Up to 70% OFF (CLEARANCE) on officially-licensed CLEMSON gear at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
