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Who should start at Quarterback against Virginia Tech?

Who should be the starting Quarterback in two weeks against Clemson?

  • Total voters
    170
  • Poll closed .
Even if I completely believed Kern should be the starter I still wouldn't throw him to the wolves at Clemson. Seems like a recipe to shatter his confidence early and set up an incredibly unfair comparison between his struggles and Mitch faltering against teams like ODU.
 
Yeah, I'm as frustrated with Mitch as anyone, but I say browbeat a clock into his head over the bye week and if he can't get it reasonably together by halftime, yank him.

I think Mitch's big problem is that he isn't seeing when WR's WILL BE open. They have to be wide open and by then it's usually too late. Contested catches and jump balls to the sidelines are also a part of this offense, and he just doesn't throw them. He's got to trust Banks and Key to be able to fend off guys in the air and make plays sometimes.

Or I guess you could use the next 2 weeks to get Kern acquainted with the first team.
 
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Demonwolverine said:
Yeah, I'm as frustrated with Mitch as anyone, but I say browbeat a clock into his head over the bye week and if he can't get it reasonably together by halftime, yank him.

Or I guess you could use the next 2 weeks to get Kern acquainted with the first team.

I think Mitch's big problem is that he isn't seeing when WR's will be open. Contested catches and jump balls to the sidelines are part of this offense, and he just doesn't throw them. He's got to trust Banks and Key to be able to fend off guys in the air sometimes.
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Griffis ability to anticipate is not awesome. The free play we had on our final drive was painful and a prime example. You could tell Morin was running by everyone, but Mitch held the ball until he got even with the safety and by that time the rush had arrived. Instead of a walk in touchdown it was an underthrow that got batted down and a 5 yard penalty. If Mitch hits that, I have no doubt we win the game the way our defense was playing.

If Griffis isn't cutting it after two weeks of practice, then Kern comes in with house money to see what he can do the rest of the game. I think it's extremely unlikely we win this game regardless of who starts, so I'd rather Kern come in with lighter expectations.
 
Benching Griffis (or anybody else) after 3 bad games to start his career as a starter for a guy who's never started a game in his college career - against Clemson, no less - is objectively fucking stupid.
 
But I have a feeling Clemson will roll anyway and could crush Griffis.
 
DCDeac said:
Even if I completely believed Kern should be the starter I still wouldn't throw him to the wolves at Clemson. Seems like a recipe to shatter his confidence early and set up an incredibly unfair comparison between his struggles and Mitch faltering against teams like ODU.
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This is something I disagree with. Kern in his 5th year, and he has paid his dues, he deserves an opportunity to start, especially considering how Mitch has played. He is not a freshman, he has played Clemson before, I think you are underestimating his ability to handle the moment. I would rather give him two weeks to prepare as the starter than 1 week against FSU or someone down the line. Gives him time to get in rhythm with his receivers, and gives the coaches time to gameplan around his skillset.

Secondly, this is not 2018 or 2020 Clemson. This Clemson team lost to Duke 28-7. LOST TO DUKE BY 21 POINTS. They are probably the upper quartile of the ACC, but not a playoff team. Do you know that Duke QB Riley Leonard only has 2 touchdown passes on the season? That's in 4 games mind you. This is a 2-2 Clemson team, that has lost to Duke and FSU and beat Charleston Southern and FAU. We are by no means throwing him to the wolves.
 
I've had the good fortune of playing in several PGA Tour Pro-Ams in my lifetime. One year I played in the Vantage at Tanglewood and was paired with Tom Kite (btw, one of the nicest people I've ever met).

Anyhow, I asked him while waiting on the group ahead of us, "... what would you say is the difference between elite Tour golfers and very good low handicap golfers?" He replied, "Timing. Much of it has to do with Timing".

I think that applies here with Griffis. People want to compare him with Wolford. IMHO, Wolford had great timing instincts in that he knew when the pocket was collapsing and knew when his receivers were going to be open.

I'm not sure you can teach timing skills. I guess Clawson is going to try over the next two weeks but it seems futile to me.
 
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TimmyClutch said:
This is something I disagree with. Kern in his 5th year, and he has paid his dues, he deserves an opportunity to start, especially considering how Mitch has played. He is not a freshman, he has played Clemson before, I think you are underestimating his ability to handle the moment. I would rather give him two weeks to prepare as the starter than 1 week against FSU or someone down the line. Gives him time to get in rhythm with his receivers, and gives the coaches time to gameplan around his skillset.

Secondly, this is not 2018 or 2020 Clemson. This Clemson team lost to Duke 28-7. LOST TO DUKE BY 21 POINTS. They are probably the upper quartile of the ACC, but not a playoff team. Do you know that Duke QB Riley Leonard only has 2 touchdown passes on the season? That's in 4 games mind you. This is a 2-2 Clemson team, that has lost to Duke and FSU and beat Charleston Southern and FAU. We are by no means throwing him to the wolves.
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First, how do we know his ability to handle the moment? He has played very little. Second, while Clemson is definitely not the juggernaut of a few years ago, they almost and probably should have beat #4 FSU last week but for a) a bizarre sack/fumble/long td run after a blown blocking assignment by the tailback and b) a missed chip shot field goal by the backup kicker. Clemson looked baaaad against Duke, I agree. But they looked much, much better v FSU.

Nevertheless, I don't think I'd start Kern at this point unless he's outplaying Griffis in practice. Another game or two from Griffis like the Tech game, and I certainly would consider it.
 
Colonel Angus said:
Absolutely - But is throwing Kern into the fire with a start at Clemson the prudent move with winnable games remaining on the schedule with competent QB play?

Whether a QB change should be made and whether it should be made for the game on 10/7 are two different questions.
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Hasn’t Kern played in live games before? Honestly, it can’t get much worse.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
Damn. We sacked the ODU QB 10 times a couple weeks ago. Didn't know we just needed one more!
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Should have purposely let the game go to OT to get the record. One more ODU possession would have been two more sacks the way the d-line was playing at the end of the game
 
Buttermaker said:
First, how do we know his ability to handle the moment? He has played very little. Second, while Clemson is definitely not the juggernaut of a few years ago, they almost and probably should have beat #4 FSU last week but for a) a bizarre sack/fumble/long td run after a blown blocking assignment by the tailback and b) a missed chip shot field goal by the backup kicker. Clemson looked baaaad against Duke, I agree. But they looked much, much better v FSU.

Nevertheless, I don't think I'd start Kern at this point unless he's outplaying Griffis in practice. Another game or two from Griffis like the Tech game, and I certainly would consider it.
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Imagine being a red shirt freshman getting called to come into to play against Clemson because your quarterback’s helmet popped off, and instead of calling a run, your coach tells you to throw it. No warm up, just get in there and let it loose. And in that one play you hit a streaking AT Perry for 58 yards. And then you’re done, back to the bench.

Shit, Kern is probably champing at the bit to get back in there and show it wasn’t a fluke.

Two weeks for Clemson to game plan for Mitch, only to see the depth chart come out and Kern is starting. Clemson had all off season to plan for Duke and didn’t do them much good. I like our chances a little better with Kern in.
 
I don't really have an opinion on who should start. The staff obviously thought the offense was going to be great at Griffis at the helm based on hundreds of hours of practices and scrimmages over multiple years, so I'm sure they will figure out why that hasn't come to fruition (e.g. is he playing materially differently than he did in practices? Is he holding the ball longer? Being less accurate with his throws? Or is the same stuff that was working well in practice not working in games due to some other reasons).

Not sure if this is a good analogy, but Justice Ellison has looked like a different guy running the ball the last couple weeks. I may be overthinking it, but I wouldn't be surprised if the week off when he was injured could have helped him,, where he would be able to be more detached watching the game but also helping mentor Claiborne and Carney somewhat similar things. Occurrences like that aren't uncommon in other aspects of life (e.g. the idea that teaching is the best way to learn). So even if there is still belief in Griffis, sitting for a little bit might not be the worst thing in the world if he comes at it with the right mindset.
 
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It really likely is a no-lose situation for Kern fans. Either we give him two weeks to prepare and see what kind of chops he has as the starter (my preference), or Griffis very likely sucks again vs. Clemson and either gets pulled or benched going forward. If we were playing State or Pitt, I'd feel a lot more strongly about Kern starting.

In the alternative universe where Kern starts all year, I think we beat ODU by 17, GT by 9, and are receiving a lot of votes. IN KERN WE TRUST.
 
Part of the problem is it's possible Kern could be the answer but we wouldn't see that since Clemson may destroy us anyway. If Kern looks bad to mediocre against clemson, do we bench him in favor of Griffis again next week? What if he could do better against a lesser defense than Clemson?
 
BeachBumDeac said:
Part of the problem is it's possible Kern could be the answer but we wouldn't see that since Clemson may destroy us anyway. If Kern looks bad to mediocre against clemson, do we bench him in favor of Griffis again next week? What if he could do better against a lesser defense than Clemson?
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But Griffis has already looked bad to mediocre against teams worse than Clemson.
 
BeachBumDeac said:
Part of the problem is it's possible Kern could be the answer but we wouldn't see that since Clemson may destroy us anyway. If Kern looks bad to mediocre against clemson, do we bench him in favor of Griffis again next week? What if he could do better against a lesser defense than Clemson?
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I think once Clawson makes his decision, there's no turning back. Just seems to be his personality. That's why I think Griffis gets the first half against Clemson and if he shits the bed I doubt we ever see him play again.
 
TheAbster said:
I think once Clawson makes his decision, there's no turning back. Just seems to be his personality. That's why I think Griffis gets the first half against Clemson and if he shits the bed I doubt we ever see him play again.
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Well then he should learn from Saban with Milroe or Belicheck with Mac Jones. Both guys were benched for a game to see what the team had on the bench.
 
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