Two quarterbacks - different directions

Kyle Parker will get the start in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, but Tajh Boyd is expected to play.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Dec 22 12:32:36 GMT-04:00 2010

CLEMSON – Two quarterbacks. One game.

Two different directions.

When the Clemson Tigers take to the Bank of America Stadium turf on New Year’s Eve in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, it will be with the expectation that both quarterbacks are going to see playing time. And for a while, it will be one direction and one goal.

Following the game, it will be diverging directions. One will have played his last game in a Clemson uniform and will begin preparations for a professional baseball career. The other will return to Clemson with the keys to the Clemson offense in his front pocket, ready to go to work with HIS receivers and with HIS team.

Kyle Parker will start the game and try to erase from his mind - and the minds of the Clemson fans - the last game, a loss to South Carolina that saw him benched early in the third quarter following a costly interception.

Parker said after practice this week that he is indeed looking at this game as redemption.

“You could say that, and the biggest thing is just going out there and getting a win and getting a good taste back in my mouth,” Parker said. “Getting a good feeling about everything. After all the things I’ve accomplished here, all the work I’ve put in and all the relationships I’ve built here, it will be a better ending if it could end on a high note. It motivates me to work hard and put my teammates and myself in the best position to win.”

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said he has been impressed with Parker’s work during bowl preparations.

“He’s been sharp, very into it,” Swinney said. “He’s worked extremely hard and come ready every day. He’s been very studious in the meeting room. When you’re a competitor and things don’t go so good last time out, you want to get out there and play again. That’s just what’s in your DNA when you’re a competitor. He’s just a tremendous competitor. Obviously, his last game wasn’t quite like he wanted it.”

Parker has been the target of criticism of many Clemson fans on the message boards, but he said he pays scant attention to the boards and instead focuses on what he hears out in public.

“Those boards are not the voice for the majority of Clemson fans,” Parker said. “Their views are not expressed in a forum like that. It goes a long way for me and my teammates when we are out places and people encourage us and say good things. We concentrate on that, not on things that are posted. I keep my mindset on that.”

Tajh Boyd, the redshirt freshman who will be handed the reins of the Clemson offense as soon as the bowl ends, said that bowl practice has been extremely beneficial for his development.

“Practice has been going really well. I have been learning a lot,” Boyd said. “I know there have only been seven practices, but it’s been great because there hasn’t been a game to prepare for this week. To have a full week of learning without shortening it up for game work has been going really well for me. There have been some things that have just come into perspective for me, like picking up blitzes and knowing where they are coming from and what I am doing and why. Checking down to a receiver instead of the deep receiver. It’s been really good.”

Boyd was asked what part of his passing game has seen the most improvement, and he said learning to take what the defense gives.

“Really, most of the time I have a guy wide open in the flats,” he said. “But with me being me, I like to go for the 80-yarder or the 50-yarder and not taking what the defense gives me. So now I am going through the progressions and checking down to the guy that is open, because it’s all about moving the chains.”

Boyd said he knows he will get the chance to move the chains in the bowl game, and he has been getting first team snaps during practice this week. He just doesn’t know much he will play.

“I will play, I just don’t know how much or when I will come into the game,” he said. “Hopefully I can get into the game early and help the team out. The first day of bowl practice was slow, but it started picking up every day and now we [Boyd and Parker] are splitting reps with the first team.

“That has been good – just being comfortable with the first team line and earning their respect. I don’t want them to see me as that young guy anymore. I want them to see me as a guy that can help this team win. Being a freshman, I have to go out there and earn that, and this has been helpful for that.”

The redshirt freshman said he knows the offense has to get better if the team is to improve on six wins next season – and he wants to be a part of it.

“This team, the defense has been outstanding. We know that,” Boyd said. “But I think this offense has the capability of being explosive. We have a lot of good players coming back and some good people coming in. I am looking forward to it. And the minute – the minute –this thing is mine, we are going to work.”