Hangin' with Chad |
CLEMSON – Highlights from offensive coordinator Chad Morris’ meeting with the media Monday in the WestZone.
The Tigers take on Boston College at 3 p.m. this Saturday in Death Valley. On beating Virginia Tech “Any time you get a win on the road – you absolutely will take a win all day long. We missed a lot. Tajh wasn’t where he had been. He missed some throws and wasn’t quite as sharp as what I was hoping he would be. He made some great plays for us and we dropped some balls early. We missed some things. The tempo wasn’t where I wanted it to be, I wanted it faster. But after being home four weeks and it being the first road game, there is no question there is a long way to go still. Everybody in the country is telling them how great they are right now, and rightfully so, but 5-7 [if they don’t win another game] is not a very good year and that is something I have to remind them of. We are going to coach them hard, and they have to show me they are going to respond. I will be the biggest rear end there is. If we want to be a championship ball club there are a lot of things we can do better.” On tempo “We were right around the 15-18 second mark [seconds left on play clock when ball was snapped] the other day, and a lot of that was crowd noise and Tajh communicating to the offensive line what we were doing. I really thought that even after a play we were slow. I have to tell Tajh to keep looking at me. He was looking at the ball carrier, and waiting on him to get up and walking around. We have backed off our team tempo period in practice because that is real strenuous. We backed off that trying to save their legs, but it shows me we can't back off on them. “ On
Mike Bellamy “It is a trust is what it is. I have to trust guys to put them on the field. You are not going to earn playing time on Saturdays. If you haven’t done well during the week, then don’t come stand by me during the game saying you want to play. Last week, Mike had the best week of practice he has had, and that was promising - to see him step to the forefront last week. He is still not where we want him to be but he has gotten better. Coach [Tony] Elliot was telling me that he [Bellamy] had a fresh set of legs and it was the right thing to do [put Bellamy in]. I told him to preach ball security before we get on the field. I think you see that Mike has earned our trust, and my trust. We have to continue to bring him along this week, but he has proven we can trust him in a crunch situation. We just have to make sure Mike continues to grow and develop because he is such a weapon for us.” On health of
Andre Ellington “I thought Andre would be at 100 percent, but to go out on a field like we had, and its’ slick is tough. We are seeing flashes of Andre, but he has not just turned it loose. I have met with him and talked with him and he is a huge part of our success, hopefully. We will keep waiting on him to break out. I think he is trying so hard. One thing I am telling him is to relax and go play. “ On
Sammy Watkins “We missed him a few times. We had the spot screen out on the edge, and Tajh throws highs. They were in man and we thought we could split the seam. Even the great catch Sammy made across the middle was high. They were defensing us in two things – the short pass, and they said ‘if you are going to run the football on us, you are going to have to wear us down.’ They were going to put an extra hat in the box. We had the opportunity to do things; we just didn’t make a couple of plays early on. That’s okay. There are definitely things we can build on after this. We want to be physical, they [Virginia Tech] take great pride in being physical, but we knew that if we could maintain the tempo, and in the run game keep mashing and working the defense we would be successful. We felt like we did that.” On drops “We had more than we have had. Andre had a couple, and Dwayne had one. Martavis had one across the middle. There were probably five or six, which is out of character for us. We have caught the ball really well.” On offensive line “This was our best performance from our offensive line. We still had some busts up front, but not nearly what we had. They are showing some improvement and I thought we pass protected well. “ On Boston College “The thing that stands out to me is that they are well-coached and big and physical on their defensive front. One thing you have to remind yourself is that Clemson hasn’t scored an offensive touchdown on Boston College in two years. That is a little alarming, and we have to figure out how to score a touchdown. They are going to play the ball and be physical.” On Tajh throwing the ball away “Some of those five throws in the red zone were some of his best throws because they allowed us to come away with a field goal and we went up 3-0.” On team getting recognition “These guys have been getting a lot of publicity and recognition, but that stuff doesn’t bother me. I don’t care if we get anything like that because we haven’t done anything yet. 5-7 is not a really good season and that is one thing I am going to stress to these guys - yes you have made strides but it’s not the first five games you are going to be remembered by. We will put our arm around them and tell them how much we love them, but I will put a size 10 ½ up their tail if they are dragging. You don’t have the right to say you have arrived, because you haven’t.” 
Mike Bellamy
Fr. Running Back
#5 5-10, 175
Nocatee, FL
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playing at crunch time 
Andre Ellington
RS Jr. Running Back
#23 5-10, 190
Moncks Corner, SC
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Sammy Watkins
Fr. Wide Receiver
#7 6-1, 200
Fort Myers, FL
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