Boyd uses negativity as motivation

Boyd's MVP trophy was a sign of redemption following performance in ACCCG

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Dec 24 15:22:07 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – Following Clemson’s loss at Georgia Tech in October, Clemson quarterback Tajh BoydTajh Boyd
RS So. Quarterback
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Boyd was hailed as a Heisman Trophy candidate and was a big reason for Clemson’s 8-0 start to the season, but the loss to Georgia Tech showed him that fame has a fickle side as more of the boo birds and naysayers came out.

It got worse as the Tigers lost three out of their last four games, including a 34-13 debacle at arch-rival South Carolina. Callers to call-in shows said he was running scared in the pocket. His offensive coordinator wondered publicly where the confidence had disappeared to.

A week later, however, Boyd returned home to find out that his home had been “oranged” in a salute to Clemson’s 38-10 win over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game, a win that resulted in a berth in the Discover Orange Bowl in early January.

Heading into the game, Boyd had thrown seven interceptions and only four touchdowns passes in his previous four games. Against the Hokies, however, he completed 20-of -29 passes for 240 yards, ran for 34 yards and was the game's most valuable player.

He reflected this week that one of the things he needs to learn as he matures as a quarterback is to listen to all the people who tell him how great he is, and to not listen to those who want to tear him.

In fact, he said, he learned a valuable lesson this season as he learned to deal with all of the negativity that surrounded the late-season slide and he learned to use it to his advantage.

"I feed off that all the time," Boyd said this past Tuesday. "You think you establish things, but things don't change regardless of the situation. When we are doubted, I feel like that's what fuels us and gives us that spark and that fire. When things start to go really well, you start to forget about things - getting all this praise, getting all this and that. Things that you think don’t matter actually do matter in that situation.”

Boyd said he never believed things were as bad as many were saying, and when Clemson head coach Dabo SwinneyDabo Swinney
Head Coach
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“I don’t think things were as bad as people were saying,” he said. “We were just not doing the little stuff, and that started to add up and it ended up being big things. It was more about focus than performance and talent. It was the little things that we got away from. The week of the ACC Championship, we got that focus back.

"There was a lot of blame that went around. It's not like it was a couple of players; it was everybody. And everybody had to be accountable. Guys were worried about other people not doing their jobs, and they weren't even doing theirs."

As a result, the quarterback took much of the blame for the slide, but he knew things had changed when each player stood up the week of the championship game and gave an oath to become accountable.

"That's when I knew we were going to have a chance, that this was going to be fun," Boyd said.

The team then went out and dropped 38 points on the Hokies, and Boyd found oranges instead of eggs at his home.

“That was a lot better experience, seeing a bunch of oranges rather than eggs,” he said. “This was a learning experience. You have to take the good and the bad and take everything in stride. You just have to focus on the things you can control, and you learn that the only people you can have faith in are your teammates and yourself.”