Kelly Bryant is back, and so are Clemson’s playoff chances

Dabo Swinney tried to calm the nerves of his fan base before Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech.

The Clemson coach told the Tiger faithful his junior quarterback was fine and that he’d start against the Yellow Jackets.

Kelly Bryant said the same thing, but not everybody was of the same belief.

Many were on edge about Bryant’s ailing ankle, not to mention a concussion he suffered in a 27-24 loss at Syracuse on Oct. 13.

Bryant looked nearly immobile at Syracuse. He made the start on the road a week after spraining an ankle against Wake Forest. He looked fine before the game and got off to a hot start passing, but after tweaking the injury in the first half, he was unable to make the typical moves in and out of the pocket that had gotten No. 7 Clemson off to a 6-0 start.

He was out of the game when he tried to escape a defender and was slammed to the turf before halftime.

The Tigers went on to lose the game and the blame game began.

Did the coaches’ decision to play him (or not take him out earlier) cost Clemson a shot at an undefeated season?

The truth is that Bryant leaving the game was only one of the many reasons the Tigers couldn’t escape the Orange. The defense struggled mightily with missed assignments. The kicking game was abysmal. Penalties piled up. The list goes on and on.

It was an uncharacteristic performance from one of the most consistent programs of this decade.

But losses happen. Now, the Tigers can’t suffer another one or else a return trip to the College Football Playoff is very likely over for the defending national champs.

Some folks wanted Bryant to rest against Georgia Tech, even though he had an entire bye week to heal up, pass concussion protocol and get treatment on the ankle.

Swinney decided Bryant was his best chance at beating the Yellow Jackets.

He was right. The QB picked up right where he left off before the injury, completing 22 of 33 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-10 victory over Georgia Tech.

Bryant also rushed for a team-high 67 yards on 12 carries. That might have been the most important stat of the game, and maybe the season.

“I was feeling it Monday,” Bryant said about when he was back to full health. “I didn’t feel that there was any limp. I was feeling like I was back to my usual self. Actually, I was feeling a little bit better prior to it.”

Clemson’s offense is predicated on the QB run. Without it, the Tigers are more predictable and easier to scheme against.

Bryant, who helped lead the offense to 428 yards and 21 first downs, was able to execute everything Saturday night, even in the driving first-half rain. He had zero turnovers and got Clemson out to a 7-0 lead on a 38-yard TD pass to Deon Cain a little over two minutes into the game.

Bryant is back, and so are Clemson’s playoff chances. While it’s not fair to pin the Syracuse loss solely on Bryant not playing that second half, he is the key in avoiding another let down in the regular season.

He’s not Deshaun Watson from a passing standpoint. That doesn’t mean Bryant isn’t extremely effective and important, especially to a playoff committee that’s putting out its first rankings of the season on Halloween night.

Clemson could, and probably should, be in the top four Tuesday. It matters because if the Tigers are up there and they win out, they’re headed back to the four-team postseason scramble for the third consecutive year, and for the first time without Watson.

Bryant, the second leading rusher on the team who’s accounted for 13 touchdowns this season, is clearly Clemson’s best option at the position. That’s not a knock on redshirt freshman Zerrick Cooper or true freshman Hunter Johnson. How many teams currently in the playoff hunt are starting QBs that young?

Bryant is confident. He knows the offense. He’s incredibly difficult to stop in the zone read.

He’s slowly improving as a passer, and the continuity he builds each week on the field is critical for Clemson’s postseason success.

“For him, as a young quarterback who’s still trying to create his own identity and being the leader of our offense, to come out and perform the way he did in those conditions early in the first half was comforting for us,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “I think that just boosts his confidence going into a tough game next week (at N.C. State).”

Could the Tigers have beaten the Yellow Jackets without him behind a stingy defense that rebounded in a big way? Maybe, but the rest of the season looks a lot brighter now for Tiger Nation as many fears were put to rest Saturday night.

This story was originally published October 29, 2017 at 12:29 AM with the headline "Kelly Bryant is back, and so are Clemson’s playoff chances."