Whitehurst Ready To Move On

by Trey Manning - Correspondent - Sun Jul 24 23:55:01 GMT-04:00 2005

Heading into the 2004 season, the bar was set very high for returning quarterback Charlie Whitehurst. The expectations were not unwarranted. Whitehurst had just become the second player in ACC history to pass for over 5,000 yards in his first two seasons. When Whitehurst did not meet expectations, the high hopes were quickly replaced by criticism.

Head coach Tommy Bowden dismissed Mike O'Cain and brought in Rob Spence during the offseason. Last week, Coach Bowden tried to shoulder some of the blame for Whitehurst's struggles, but on Sunday Whitehurst reiterated he was indeed responsible for his play.

"I appreciate Coach Bowden taking responsibility for my struggles last season. But I think everybody needs to take responsibility. He does, I do, and everyone on the offense does. It's a team effort. We took it as a learning experience and now we just need to move forward. We need to store it in the back of our brain so it doesn't happen again. You have to move forward, and I think we are," said Whitehurst.

The number one question surrounding Clemson's football team in 2005 is which Charlie Whitehurst will show up? The question has been asked in every local and national media outlet. Whitehurst believes his play will improve, as a result of improved overall team play.

"We're a little more experienced at some vital positions. We've been through the ups and downs and we know how to handle just about every situation. Of course we're extremely hungry, coming off a bad year," said Whitehurst.

After a solid spring and excellent attendance in voluntary workouts, Whitehurst believes this team is more ready than any other team he has played with.

"We showed some improvement coming out of spring ball. A lot of the procedures and formations that Coach Spence brought in, we already knew. We had to pick up the new terminology quickly, of course. We still have a lot of work to do, that's pretty obvious. We were better offensively this spring than at any time last season," said Whitehurst.

Though the question may become extremely tiresome, Whitehurst will have to wait until September 3rd to prove his critics wrong.