Deshaun Watson is an absurdly accomplished young man.
The Clemson quarterback is 30-3 as a starter. He is the first player in FBS history to throw for 4,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a single season. A true junior who enrolled in college early, he earned his degree in communications studies two weeks ago – after taking 19 credit hours in the fall of 2015, 18 last spring and 20 over the course of two summer sessions. A kid who grew up in a Georgia home funded by former NFL star Warrick Dunn’s charitable foundation became the first member of his family to graduate from a four-year college.
He has done a lot, after once having very little.
But it’s what Watson still doesn’t have that is driving him right now.
He doesn’t have a Heisman Trophy, finishing second for the most prestigious individual award in sports earlier this month to Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, and third last year behind Alabama’s Derrick Henry and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey.
Nor does Watson have a national championship. He and Clemson finished second in that pursuit last year to Alabama.
Before heading off to the NFL as a likely first-round draft pick, Watson has a last opportunity to add that line to the résumé. The Tigers play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday, and a victory would propel them to the College Football Playoff championship game for the second straight season.
“He got some added motivation after what happened the last two years, with a certain award he thinks he should have won,” said Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. “But as he said, he wants the trophy nobody votes on.”
To get it, Watson may have to curb his impulse to make daring throws into tight coverage. He’s completed a bunch of those – but he’s also thrown 15 interceptions this year, a number surpassed by only three quarterbacks in the nation and one of the biggest reasons why he did not win the Heisman.
Putting the ball up for grabs against an opportunistic Ohio State defense that has 19 picks would be a high-risk strategy. While complimentary of Watson’s ability, the Buckeyes seem to believe they see a quarterback who is a little loose with the ball.
“Some of those [passes] are 50-50 balls,” said linebacker Chris Worley. “It just so happens he has probably the best receiving corps in college football, so he can get away with some of those throws.”
(Those are throws, by the way, that Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett does not attempt. Barrett has thrown just five interceptions this year, in part because he is quite cautious with the ball – which is by executive order. “One thing you don’t hear about our quarterbacks, ‘They’re gunslingers, they’re risk takers,’ ” coach Urban Meyer said. “That’s not how we do that.)
If you want a matchup to watch within this Fiesta Bowl, Watson and his deep array of receivers against defensive coordinator Greg Schiano’s “quarters” coverage is probably the best one. There will be plenty of NFL-level talent going at each other every time Clemson dials up a pass play.
“You’re going to see some competitive plays,” Elliott said. “We’ve got to win some competitive matchups. … Deshaun has confidence making every throw. He probably wants a couple of those [interceptions] back, but you don’t want to scale him back at all, because that’s what makes him special.”
Elliott believes that confidence flows from preparedness. Watson applies the intelligence and diligence that allowed him to graduate so quickly to his quarterbacking craft. You don’t see him at the Clemson football facility without a notebook in hand, ready to jot down what he sees on film.
“He takes meticulous notes,” Elliot said, “and he rewrites his notes.”
Watson rattled off a long list of quarterbacks he enjoys watching, both in college and the NFL. Coincidentally, the QB he grew up wanting to be like was Tim Tebow – he once told his mom, Deann, he intended to go to Florida and play for Urban Meyer. But now the guy he patterns himself after is the current king of the position, Tom Brady.
He doesn’t necessarily play like Brady – Watson is far more mobile – but it’s the rest of the package that he tries to emulate.
“The way he goes about his business,” Watson said of Brady. “Each week he’s prepared, he knows what he’s doing. It looks so easy because he knows where he’s going with the ball. … He’s a Hall of Famer. Guys love to play for him.”
One element of Brady’s play that Watson possesses: he can find a weakness and exploit it. An advantageous matchup, a coverage bust, a missed assignment – Watson feasts on those.
“If for one minute you stop doing what you’re supposed to do, he’s going to find that,” Schiano said. “He’s that kind of player. … He understands not only the plays they run, but he understands the game. You can see that.”
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Watson maximize his running ability in this game, either. He hasn’t run as much in 2016 as he did in 2015, but he kept the ball more often in the postseason last year and has started this year on a similar pattern.
In the 2015 ACC title game and playoff contests against Oklahoma and Alabama, Watson ran 24, 24 and 20 times. In this year’s ACC championship, he carried it a season-high-tying 17 times. If it takes 20 carries to beat Ohio State, Watson will likely do it.
He’s focused on adding at least one more major college accomplishment to a long list.
“I’m good, but good isn’t good enough,” Watson said. “I’ve got to keep striving to be great.”
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