Clemson’s QB Play Should Be Improved in 2009

By cutigerfan33  |   Tuesday, August 11, 2009  |  Comments( 3 )

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The past three years have been tough on Clemson fans when it comes to quarterback play. Three years ago, the Tigers trotted out Will Proctor as starting quarterback. This was year two of Offensive Coordinator Rob Spence. Everyone thought he was the missing link to Spence’s offense because of his ability to scramble. Needless to say, it was a disaster waiting to happen as Proctor was not the answer.

The next season, Cullen Harper is declared the starter. Harper started the season on fire, and the bandwagon began to pick up steam. However, once Clemson started facing the better defenses on its schedule, the offense faltered. Chatter began about how effective Harper really was. He beat up on the patsies of the schedule but hit a brick wall when facing the elite teams.

In Harper’s second season as the starter, more and more talk of high school phenom Willy Korn starting began to arise. However, the coaches stuck with Harper. Ultimately, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Bowden was forced to resign. Enter Dabo Swinney, and Willy Korn is starting game one under Dabo. The Korn experiment did not last long. As Korn set to throw, he was hit and damaged his shoulder. He would be on the shelf for the remainder of the season.

Clemson was forced to go back to Harper. The problem was Harper was incredibly un-clutch. The guy was a walking three-and-out. It got to the point where I was shocked to see Harper complete a 3rd and 6 or longer. Usually he would take a sack, overthrow a wide-open receiver, slide to safety a yard short of a first down, whatever...the list went on. It literally almost seemed like he had a talent for not converting.

Entering August camp, the quarterback position gets better by default. Clemson has 2 former Elite 11 quarterbacks vying for a starting spot. Clemson is in a better shape at quarterback than it has ever been in. Regardless of who wins the starting job, Clemson is going to have a phenom under center, and I truly believe that. Cullen Harper didn't have a quarter of the tools in his toolbox that Korn or Parker has, and even Michael Wade looked more effective in totality than Cullen Harper this spring.

All that said, Clemson fans should be confident about the quarterback position entering August camp as long as the offensive line holds up. Which that is a whole different topic…
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CommentsComments: 3  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
clemsoncannon		09:04 AM
08/12/2009
Cullen Harper led the ACC in passing last year despite playing behind a porous offensive line that let him get sacked 33 times....
No.2
cutigerfan33		11:01 AM
08/14/2009
Leading the ACC in passing doesn't mean anything. Also, as I stated in the article, most of his yards came against the patsies on...
No.3
clemsoncannon		04:37 PM
08/14/2009
According to my calculations Harper's average yardage against teams that finished as good or better than Clemson in 2008 was...
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