What Dabo said about Clemson’s plan for the quarterbacks vs. Texas A&M
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is providing some insight into how the Tigers will use quarterbacks Kelly Bryant and Trevor Lawernce Saturday night at Texas A&M, but he is not going to come out and detail the exact plan for Clemson’s first true test of the season.
“We definitely will play both quarterbacks. There’s no doubt about that. Nothing happened Saturday to warrant not playing both of those guys,” Swinney said during his Sunday teleconference. “I certainly wouldn’t lay out what our plan is before we went into a game. You like to have a little bit of secrecy when it comes to what your plans are when you get ready for an opponent. But I’ll just tell you both of them are going to play. That’s a fact. But we’ll keep it internal as far as how we’ll manage.”
The senior Bryant and the freshman Lawrence both played well in Saturday’s opener against Furman.
Bryant played the first three series of the game, leading Clemson to a touchdown and field goal after his first drive ended with a turnover on downs.
Lawrence then played the final three series of the first half and Clemson had a field goal on his first drive before scoring back-to-back touchdowns.
Bryant played the first two series of the second half with Clemson turning the ball over on downs for the second time and scoring a touchdown. Lawrence then played two series with both resulting in touchdowns.
Lawrence led Clemson to four touchdown drives and a field goal during his five drives. He finished 9-for-15 for 137 yards and three touchdowns.
“He’s just very skilled. It’s easy to fall in love with his arm. To me that’s great, but that’s not what makes him special,” Swinney said. “What makes him special is his ability to process things. He’s got a great football IQ. For a young guy he’s a very focused guy when it comes to his preparation.”
But Bryant also was solid and showed off his versatility. The former Wren star completed 10 of 16 passes for 127 yards and a score and also rushed for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Bryant also has experience, having led Clemson to the ACC title and College Football Playoff last season. He won several tough road games along the way.
“It’s great. It’s a blessing. It really is. He’s not only started in games like this, he’s won them,” Swinney said. “You go to Louisville last year and it’s GameDay and Lamar Jackson is the other quarterback and the Heisman winner. Then you go to Virginia Tech and it’s GameDay and it’s a really tough place to play and he played well.”
INJURY UPDATE
Backup defensive lineman Jordan Williams could miss Saturday’s game against the Aggies. Williams had two tackles and half a sack against Furman.
“We came through it pretty healthy,” Swinney said. “The only guy that really got dinged up and may be a little questionable is probably Jordan Williams, but nothing serious or long term.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2018 at 7:09 PM with the headline "What Dabo said about Clemson’s plan for the quarterbacks vs. Texas A&M."