My Take re Future of Clemson Futball

Sep 24, 2018, 7:27 AM

The jury has been keeping close tabs on the progress of out team under the leadership of our two QBs. It now appears there is a degree of separation based on performance and the ever-present "eye test". None of my remarks are intended to belittle Kelley but to emphasize the talent level of Lawrence. One play in Clemson's victory over Georgia Tech demonstrates this point. While running to his left, Lawrence threw a perfect strike to Renfrew for a TD. Only the best can make a play like that.

Kelley's lack of success in the vertical passing game simplifies the defensive strategy of our opponents by stacking the box. This tactic impacts our running game and often times leads to a 3rd and long and thus, a pressure play. Kelley's role as a running back diminishes the opportunities for our bevy of excellent running backs to touch the ball and increases Kelley 's chances for injury.

There seems to be a different response by our other offensive players when Lawrence enters the game. Lawrence's ability to produce a "wide open" passing game spreads the field and, as a result, opens up our running game. I don't have the time at hand for our scoring drives but our time of possession for the entire game was about 24 minutes. Thus, six offensive TDs were scored in less than 24 minutes and that includes the time when we had drives that did not result in a TD. Georgia Tech is Georgia Tech, nevertheless, it does demonstrate Lawrence can produce a high powered offense.

A high powered offense that can move the ball downfield in a short time span, does produce one problem. In the game with Georgia Tech, their time of possession was about 36 minutes, resulting in our defense being on the field much longer than our offense. That could be a problem for some teams
but Dabo and staff have developed depth and can substitute freely without loss of talent on the field.

On the downside is Kelley's role in the future. He has earned the respect of all Tiger fans in leading us to the final four last year. But in the final analysis, the main point of the game is to win, and the player that demonstrates he is the best one to achieve that goal, gets the call.

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My Take re Future of Clemson Futball

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