How Clemson’s Lawrence-Bryant QB battle compares to Watson-Stoudt from 2014

Clemson has signed its share of high-profile quarterbacks over the years, leading to a freshman battling a veteran for the starting job.

Last year, freshmen Hunter Johnson and Zerrick Cooper were competing with Kelly Bryant to be Clemson’s starting quarterback.

This year it’s Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall player in the country for the class of 2018, who is competing with Bryant to be the starter. The 2018 battle resembles the one in 2014 when the top dual-threat quarterback in the country, Deshaun Watson, was battling with senior Cole Stoudt.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who named Stoudt the starter for that season before he was replaced by Watson early in the year, was asked recently if he learned anything from 2014.

“It’s a totally different situation. I wouldn’t change anything about that particular season,” Swinney said. “It’s different people, different quarterbacks, different situations. At the end of the day I think the main thing you learn is that guys have to earn it, and you’ve got to have, especially at that position, you’ve got to have a great system in place as far as accountability, how you grade. Give guys an opportunity to compete in practice every single day and it’ll play itself out.”

Bryant is the leader to be Clemson’s starter when the Tigers open the season Sept. 1 against Furman, but there is currently a small gap. Lawrence, who starred in Clemson’s spring game, made up ground on Bryant this spring.

This situation is also different from 2014 in that Watson was hurt during that spring.

“The gap was wider with Cole and Deshaun coming out of spring that year,” Swinney said. “Deshaun was 180 pounds and coming off a broken collarbone. Cole was very settled. Cole didn’t regress at all. It’s just that Deshaun, that’s just what happened. All of a sudden he comes back and by the end of camp you’re like, ‘OK, man, this kid’s got a chance to be pretty special here.’ ”

Stoudt started the first game of that year, a 45-21 loss at Georgia, as well as the next two weeks against S.C. State and Florida State.

But Watson came in late in the first quarter against the Seminoles and played the rest of the game, nearly leading the Tigers to a victory before FSU escaped with a 23-17 overtime win.

“Deshaun kind of separated. He just took the job and he was ready,” Swinney said. “Our schedule was really challenging that year. Obviously, you’re going to Athens first game and then I can’t remember who we played at home, but we had an opportunity to play them 50-50. And then you’re going right into Tallahassee. But it just kind of worked itself out. And again, I think Cole really, in my opinion, didn’t regress.”

Watson remained the starter throughout the rest of 2014 when healthy, although Stoudt was called upon several times during the season as Watson battled injuries.

“This situation’s very different. It’s just not even the same,” Swinney said. “You’ve got a closer gap coming out of spring because you were able to see everybody for a full spring practice. You’ve got Chase (Brice) who’s been here now, has a real good grasp on everything. And Trevor has demonstrated really great aptitude, picking things up; obviously he’s got a great physical skill set. So it’s exciting, man. It really is.”

Clemson begins preseason practice next week.

This story was originally published July 25, 2018 at 10:01 PM.