Clemson searching for right fit at quarterback

By Graham Schmidt  |   Friday, February 09, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

Clemson Tigers
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Clemson Tigers sophomore quarterback Cullen Harper saw limited playing time in 2006, but he looked promising during the team's last spring practice, completing 66 percent of his passes.

However, he is still largely untested in gameday situations and will certainly have his work cut out for him going into spring practice this year.

In addition, redshirt sophomore Tribble Reese appeared briefly against Louisiana Tech, but he also showed potential in '06 spring games. With a 56 percent completion rate, he accumulated more yards during scrimmages than the other Tiger quarterback candidates. Nonetheless, this promising 2003 recruit still has much ground to cover in the 2007 quarterback race.

Many believe that the future of the Tiger offense may rest in the hands of highly sought-after recruit Willy Korn. The South Carolinian star led his high school to two state championships. He's also already committed to the Clemson program. He enrolled early for this spring and has been working out on campus since January. After putting up tremendous numbers his senior year (39 TDs, 10 INTs, 3,485 passing yards and a 71 percent completion rate), the freshman could have an immediate impact for the Clemson offense. If Korn's not a starter next year, look for this promising QB to play a key role on the team in coming seasons.

Michael Wade, a 2006 recruit, is also getting attention as a potential '07 darkhorse quarterback candidate and is showing promise going into spring practice. Wade did not appear in any regular-season games last year, however.

But what does all this mean come opening kickoff on Sept. 3 against the Florida State Seminoles? According to head coach Tommy Bowden, not much. Bowden told Yahoo! Sports on Jan. 11 that the initial spring practice depth chart will be Harper, Reese, Wade and Korn.

"We're going to play the best guy...(the) competition will be there, and that's good. That's what you want," said Bowden.

He also mentioned that Wade has been productive on the scout team, and that the quarterback race was wide open. But all that matters to the Tiger faithful is whether Clemson's No. 1 quarterback (no matter who it is) will have the ability to aid the team's high-end running game, thus leading to victories.

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