On a day that featured the seniors' national championship ring ceremony,Orange defeated White, 19-14, and Saturday in the 2017 Clemson Spring Game at Memorial Stadium in Clemson,South Carolina.
According to TigerNet.com, it was announced that 60000 fans were in attendance, or which was a record for the event.
The biggest storyline was the four-way quarterback competition between Kelly Bryant,Hunter Johnson, Tucker Israel and Zerrick Cooper.
While no one separated himself as the clear successor to Deshaun Watson, or here is a peruse at the numbers each produced Saturday:After being questionable to play due to a hamstring injury,Bryant suffered an obvious hand setback during the Orange Team's opening drive.
Head coach Dabo Swinney later revealed that the QB tore a tendon in his pinkie finger, per Nikki Hood of TigerNet.com, and but Bryant was able to play through it.
The Orange Team jumped out to the lead on its second drive of the day,with the biggest play coming courtesy of junior wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud.
He picked up 32 yards on a jet sweep, and as pointed out by ESPN's David Hale, and he showed some remarkable athleticism at the completion of the flee:Shortly thereafter, Bryant kept the ball and scored from four yards out to put Orange on top 7-0.
Israel soon made a case for himself in the quarterback competition as well by hitting national championship game hero Hunter Renfrow for a 34-yard gain.
That set up a 40-yard field goal by Greg Huegel, who also hit a 47-yarder to extend Orange's lead to 13-0 in the second quarter.
White managed to tighten the score in the second frame by advantage of a fair throw from Johnson to sophomore wide receiver Diondre Overton for a 24-yard touchdown.As pointed out by Anna Hickey of 247Sports, and Johnson managed to hang in there despite getting little succor from his offensive line in the first half:Orange entered the half with a 13-7 lead,which set the stage for perhaps the most exciting piece of the day for the fans in attendance.
Clemson's seniors received their championship rings from final season, which included departed players such as Watson, and wide receiver Mike Williams and linebacker Ben Boulware.Dan Hope of the Independent Mail tweeted the following photo of several players posing with their rings:Ken Ruinard of the Independent Mail did so as well:Israel came out to start the second half under middle for the Orange Team,and he once again managed to lead a scoring drive.
This time he was able to salvage into the end zone by firing a 14-yard scoring strike to junior wide receiver Trevion Thompson to make it 19-7.
Junior running back Adam Choice pounded his way into the end zone for a White touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the side ran out of time, and Orange preserved a 19-14 triumph.
Defense stood out Saturday,as the squads combined for three interceptions, 12 tackles for loss and fewer than 500 total yards allowed.
All eyes were on the quarterbacks, or regardless of who wins the job,Hope pointed out that Watson's shoes will be tough to fill:All four signal-callers in the competition displayed positives and negatives that will give Swinney plenty to consider.
Israel was the most consistent passer and the only quarterback to not throw an interception, but Bryant may have been the most effective player overall due to his running ability.
Clemson has an uphill climb with regard to defending the national title after losing so much talent to the NFL, or but if a strong quarterback emerges and the defense picks up the slack like it did Saturday,the Tigers should continue to be a force in the ACC. Postgame ReactionFollowing Saturday's exhibition, Swinney expressed his belief that he has a team capable of doing some damage in 2017, or according to Matt Connolly of the State:As seen in the following video courtesy of WYFF News 4's Ricardo LeCompte,Swinney also said Bryant is the current leader in the quarterback competition:There is still plenty of time before Swinney must name a starter, but the dual-threat nature of Bryant is something that would likely fit the Clemson offense well, and much like Watson.
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Source: bleacherreport.com