Shortly after I submitted my last post, news--very good news-- came out that Watson had not torn his ACL as earlier reported and only had a bruised bone and LCL sprain. He is currently listed as day-to-day and although he will not see the field this week against Georgia State, he might be able to suit up and play November 29th when rival South Carolina comes to town. It was quite the turn of events the past few days for Clemson fans but things look much more positive now with the possibility that Watson may return this season.That is great news not only for the Tigers and their goals set out for this season, but also for Deshaun's health moving forward. An ACL tear this late in the year would have kept him out of many off-season drills and workouts heading into spring ball. As of now he will not require surgery and while I would love nothing more than to have him on the field against the Gamecocks next week, that only needs to happen if he is ready and healthy. I want this madness and streak to end as much as anyone but risking your quarterback's health and future (both for the program and for Watson himself) for one game is simply not worth it. Even against your rival. Swinney told the media today that he truly does not know at this time if Watson will play against South Carolina though he is hopeful he will. "Its an LCL sprain--it doesn't require surgery. You just put a brace on it and go play," Swinney said. Tiger fans and the coaching staff alike can only hope that his injury is a lower grade one which typically allows players to return to the field as soon as 1-2 weeks.
So who gets the start this week against Georgia State? During his weekly press conference Coach Swinney told the media that Cole Stoudt would remain the starter for the Tigers. "He (Stoudt) brings everything to the offense we need to win," Swinney said. He added that Cole simply had a bad, bad day last week against Georgia Tech and he has responded well so far this week and led the Tigers to key wins the past few weeks despite battling an injury of his own. The good news is that this is a game where Stoudt may be able to gain some of that confidence back again. Georgia State is 1-9 on the year and are nearly 41 point underdogs to the Tigers Saturday. While #18 will start I fully expect us to also get a good look at Nick Schuessler as well. The sophomore from Georgia is a high school teammate of running back Wayne Gallman who believes Schuessler is more than capable of running the offense if he is called upon Saturday or next week against South Carolina. Swinney believes that Cole is ready to finish the season and will finish this season and his career at Clemson on a positive note. Hopefully he is right.
Only time will tell who will go under center for the Tigers first series against South Carolina. If Clemson is smart, they won't make that known to the public until kickoff November 29th. Make the Gamecocks, who have had issues all year defensively, have to prepare for all three of the quarterbacks as right now it appears that either of them could be the guy next week. Hopefully we can jump out to an early lead Saturday and get Schuessler in the game and get him more valuable experience and playing time so that he will be more prepared if the situation arises that he is needed next weekend. But for now, its time to rally behind Cole Stoudt and hope this is the week he finally gets back on track and look like the guy we saw in Athens and who beat out Watson for the job to begin with.
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