Greetings folks! This is mainly to throw out some comment fodder following the annual Orange vs. White Spring Game that took place Saturday, April 6. These events only give slight ideas into what we might expect in the fall. The staff knows this is out there on TV and for all the world to see, and the fans need to always remember that they often control what they really want folks to see and know as a result. Adding the element of essentially one finger touch to down a QB also skews this away from something you can fully assess.
However, it was football and we like to talk football around here so here we go!
Rendrick Taylor Award: This is something I made up in honor of a former Spring Game hero who really did not do much in the actual games during his career. Sadly Taylor suffered a terrible leg injury in 2006 that pretty much ended things for him as a Tiger. However, he was known for being built like a Mr. Olympia candidate and for having a huge Spring Game during the Tommy Bowden era. This year’s award goes to third team QB Trent Pearman. Pearman was the talk of the spring game around my circles and definitely looked the best of the QBs on Saturday.
Now, I’m not going to go crazy and start talking like this should make Pearman QB1. I will remind folks of how the Kelly Bryant/Hunter Johnson battle looked in the spring ahead of the 2017 season. Bryant had a terrible game but was clearly the best QB on that team that year as things played out.
I will say this for Pearman, he is decisive and there is a lot to be said for being decisive as a player, particularly at QB. How successful a play is can often come down to a quarter of a second of decision time at this level. This is one of those things that made Deshaun Watson so special: he rarely hesitated and either ran or threw with complete conviction the vast majority of the time. This is a step that Cade is hopefully taking but Pearman shows he is wired to do that, and I do believe the offense can function if they need to use him at any point and he isn’t just another Daniel/family kid they threw a bone to. The better he actually is, the better that is for the QB room to push CV and Cade.
The OL: Clemson fans in any year as far as I can remember, which is a while back now, worry over the offensive line. There are plenty of years where those worries have been fully warranted. Matt Luke is now trying to be both the technical teacher that Robbie Caldwell was (and he was very, very good folks) with the type of recruiter that this staff needs to really help bridge the gap back with UGA. The Spring Game is awful for OL evaluation for typical fans because the best five are not together at any point. You tag that fact with Clemson’s top line DL depth and it makes for a bevy of TFL and sack numbers nearly every year at this game. We saw guys barely graze the QB and get the play blown dead on Saturday.
That said, it does appear that the mental breakdowns that were largely plaguing the OL in 2021-2023 are getting cleaned up. The next step is getting guys better fundamentally. Dabo made his OL coaching move largely because I think he believes he has gotten adequate talent to be better up front on offense than what we have seen. Luke’s job is to maximize the existing talent while obviously working to upgrade it on the recruiting trail at the same time. I still look back at the ND game last year as a point of reference that when the OL seemed to really know what to hit they could do it plenty well enough to win against a top 15 defensive front. I didn’t recall any terrible snaps which was good to see. You can’t really evaluate the running game much from the O and W game. QBs looked like they could break a keep on a zone read all day but when you only have to touch the QB, they aren’t going to defend it the same way. We did see that CV and Pearman can both run plenty well enough to be threats in that aspect.
The WR: My eyes, and I’m sure most others, were on Bryant Wesco in his first open live action in a Clemson uniform. He certainly flashed his five star talent enough to show he will be some kind of factor if his health holds up. I did think that both Adam Randall and Antonio Williams look healthy and ready to play which is what you would hope to see from two veteran guys entering their third years. Nobody looked like Nuk Hopkins did in his final spring game when it was completely obvious he was going to be a dominant force, but I was mostly encouraged by the WR play from guys who are going to matter in the fall. The route mistake that led to the first interception was not good though.
DEFENSE: Clemson’s defense once again showed off its depth in this split-squad format and largely dominated the action once again. Seeing Trey Williams and Demonte Capehart side by side was imposing to be sure. Young guys like Hoffler and Lawson and Green flashed enough to show that Clemson’s strength across its front four is not going away any time soon. This defensive staff is probably the best group I can remember now with Rumph’s addition to the mix. Eason and Reed are known stars, and Conn’s work with the safeties has been underrated in my opinion. I still won’t equate Wes Goodwin with Coach V as a LB coach but the gap is not huge there now either. Goodwin made huge strides in year 2 as DC and will be poised to put a great unit on the field in 2024 with a fantastic staff to work with.
You can safely say that Avieon Terrell is going to be CB 1 for this team to replace Nate Wiggins and the competition for that #2 corner will be fierce between Shelton Lewis, Jeadyn Lukus, and newcomer Tavoy Feagin who flashed on Saturday. Things have come a long way from the beleaguered unit that got exposed early in 2022. Terrell, Lukus, and Lewis all have gotten high leverage snaps in the last year and Lewis got through his trial by fire in the bowl game looking like a better player for it.
Fans will have to wait for the fall to see Peter Woods at DE since Woods was held out due to having to recover from mono. It will be hard to find a more physically imposing front four than what Clemson will roll out with a projected starting front of Woods, Capehart, Page, and Parker. Clemson seemed just fine at DE in this game, with Woods out and Parker playing very little. Rumph was a big upgrade from Hall as a position coach IMHO and I think we are already seeing the results of that change with some of the depth guys showing improvement.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Clemson is set at punter for another season thanks to Swanson’s return, but the PK job situation remains fluid. It certainly looked like Houser is the better FG guy as his kicks were true and he seemed confident from the start. Gunn is a weapon with his leg strength and you’d hate to lose him for that reason, but the name of the game is putting it through the pipes when it matters and Houser won the day for sure. The Tigers certainly need production there with two full scholarships allotted to placekickers!
Now the Tigers turn the page to preparation for a giant test against what will be the likely #1 ranked UGA team in Atlanta. UGA just took the lines of scrimmage to another level since 2020 and created a gap with just about everyone else in the country. Dabo has countered by hiring Matt Luke and Chris Rumph. His biggest splash hire, Garrett Riley, is on the clock now in year two to show Clemson can once again put an offense capable of putting pressure on a team like UGA the way Clemson’s 2015-2020 run of offenses did. The defense will be stout but every team in modern college football will have to win some form of a shootout once or twice in a season now. Even 2021’s ridiculous UGA defense got into a high scoring game with Alabama that year. In fact, UGA’s ascension to the very top was built on how much better on offense they got. Clemson’s ability to return to that type of contention is also predicated on improving offensively more than anywhere else. The fourth quarter of the Gator Bowl was a positive sign that could happen, but the jury is definitely still out.
