Harper shines in spring game tuneup

Front line struggles continue as defense registers 11 sacks

By WILL VANDERVORT - Special to The State

CLEMSON — There were some exciting plays on offense, and the defense showed some glimpses of why they have the potential to be one of the ACC’s best this fall. But the overwhelming feeling after Saturday’s 16-7 Orange team victory in Clemson’s annual Orange and White game at Death Valley is that none of it really means anything.

“It is kind of a basic game,” Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper said.

And for the most part things were basic. Other than Harper’s two touchdown passes — one to rising sophomore Xavier Dye and the other to Tyler Grisham — and a couple of trick plays to wake up the 20,000 or so fans in attendance, the glorified scrimmage was just that, a scrimmage.

“There is not a whole lot (to take) as far as grading the film and seeing anything,” Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said.

What, or whom, they will take from Saturday is the performance of Dye. The backup to all-ACC receiver Aaron Kelly caught six passes for 87 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown from Harper which gave the Orange team a 6-0 lead with 8:05 to play in the first quarter.

“He has had a good spring,” Bowden said. “He made some good catches. You have to catch the ball. You still have to run the right route and catch it with people around you, and I think Xavier did a really good job of that. And he has kind of done that all spring.

“He has shown that he might be in a position now to help us.”

With Kelly playing on the White squad, Dye said he took advantage of the opportunity to play the role of a first string receiver.

“I just wanted to show the coaches I was confident so they can be confident in me catching the ball,” he said. “I had a great day today, and I feel good about it. And I just wanted to end the spring on a good note.”

Kelly finished with eight catches for 108 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass from fellow receiver Nelson Faerber on an end-around pass. That score got the White team on the board and made it 13-7 with 4:11 to play in the first half.

With the spring now complete, the questions about the offensive line will linger into the summer and fall after both defenses combined for 11 sacks.

“There are still a lot of question marks there,” Bowden said. “There is still a lot of dust to settle.”

But Saturday was not the time to answer those questions. Clemson used the 13 practices prior to the Orange and White game to try and answer them. The Tigers likely will use much of the summer to fill in the gaps.

Saturday was for the fans, and Clemson did its best to give them a show.

“I asked the coaches to throw it (the ball) a good bit,” Bowden said. “You know people are going to come to your spring game, so you don’t want to sit there and run it a whole bunch and try to work the clock. So I asked both of them to throw it as much as you feel comfortable doing it. You lose some continuity in that, but I still feel like you accomplish some things.”

Clemson did throw it a lot. Tiger quarterbacks threw 56 passes for 389 yards. Besides Harper’s numbers — 13-of-18 for 142 yards and two touchdowns — for the Orange team, second-team quarterback Willy Korn threw for 117 yards on 14-of-24 passing to lead the White team.

Harper got his second touchdown pass of the afternoon in the second quarter when he rifled a pass to Tyler Grisham from 10 yards out with 12:20 to go. That gave the Orange a 13-0 lead. Kicker Richard Jackson later added a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter to cap the scoring.

“It’s good to come out here and get some work (done) ... and have some success,” Harper said. “That can build some confidence in some players.”