Did anybody else watch parts of the Clemson game? Their starting quarterback (whose name I cannot spell or pronounce) was not performing well, so Dabo Swinney, in the title game and on national television pulled him and put in Cade Klubnick, the backup, who then passed for 279 yards, added another 30 rushing, and sparked a pretty solid victory over UNC.

I have said it before but I cannot understand why our coaches are (or were) so hesitant to AT LEAST TRY something different, when what they are doing is not working. If it hurts Shapen's feelings, that comes with the territory. The team should some before any one player - IMO.

Our coaches want to win more than anyone else. They are not concerned with feelings past trying to develop players to win.

The reason our coaches played Shapen is because they thought he gave us the best chance to win. They worked with both young men several hours a day. They studied film of both of them performing in practice and games.

In their professional opinion based on many hours of study and contemplation, they made a decision.

Its easy to second guess a coach. To us its a game. We get up and go to work on monday. Its not a game to the coach. Its their life.

I do not suggest that our coaches willfully make bad decisions to harm the team's chances to win a game. I also understand that they are the one watching and evaluating the players on a daily basis. However, Clemson coaches do that, too, and when their starter was struggling (and on a VERY public stage) they gave the ball to the backup who - in practices and their profesional evaluation - was not better than the starter, and FOR THIS GAME, it worked.

The Baylor coaches did not do that this season. That was my point.

DJ Uiagalelei

name pronounced ooh-ee-AHN-guh-luh-lay.

The clemson coaches thought the 2nd stringer could help them win the game. So they played him. Its not a matter of embarrassing anyone.

If our coaches ever got to the point where they thought the backup was better there is no doubt in my mind the would switch.

If you watched Clemson football this year, you would have known Dabo should have made the switch 6 to 8 weeks ago. DJ U was horrible.

HarryMehre said:

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If you watched Clemson football this year, you would have known Dabo should have made the switch 6 to 8 weeks ago. DJ U was horrible.

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If you watched Clemson football last year, it would be reasonable to conclude that Dabo started the wrong quarterback all season. Unfortunately for him, DJ U is just a bad quarterback.

Noname said:

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Did anybody else watch parts of the Clemson game? Their starting quarterback (whose name I cannot spell or pronounce) was not performing well, so Dabo Swinney, in the title game and on national television pulled him and put in Cade Klubnick, the backup, who then passed for 279 yards, added another 30 rushing, and sparked a pretty solid victory over UNC.

I have said it before but I cannot understand why our coaches are (or were) so hesitant to AT LEAST TRY something different, when what they are doing is not working. If it hurts Shapen's feelings, that comes with the territory. The team should some before any one player - IMO.

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I totally agree. I am not suggesting that we should kick Shapen to the curb or that he should not have been our starter. Everyone has slumps. Tiger Woods used to miss the cut. Sometime the second teamer lights the other team up. Just because you take the starter out does not mean that you cannot put him back in later.

Limited IQ Redneck in PU said:

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The reason our coaches played Shapen is because they thought he gave us the best chance to win. They worked with both young men several hours a day. They studied film of both of them performing in practice and games.

In their professional opinion based on many hours of study and contemplation, they made a decision.

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Even in the 4th quarters of the K-State or Tech games? Even after one of Shapen's many turnovers? Why didn't Drones or anybody get a series?

There are only a few reasons why he didn't.

1. Drones wasn't good enough
2. They were afraid it would create uncertainty on the team. There were enough issues
3. If they were going to lose a QB, they knew which one they wanted to lose

Most other choices are offshoots of these

Limited IQ Redneck in PU said:

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yep on 1 and 3. i dont think fear had anything to do with it.

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Jack Bauer said:

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DJ Uiagalelei

name pronounced ooh-ee-AHN-guh-luh-lay.

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Gesundheit

chorne68 said:

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Noname said:

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Did anybody else watch parts of the Clemson game? Their starting quarterback (whose name I cannot spell or pronounce) was not performing well, so Dabo Swinney, in the title game and on national television pulled him and put in Cade Klubnick, the backup, who then passed for 279 yards, added another 30 rushing, and sparked a pretty solid victory over UNC.

I have said it before but I cannot understand why our coaches are (or were) so hesitant to AT LEAST TRY something different, when what they are doing is not working. If it hurts Shapen's feelings, that comes with the territory. The team should some before any one player - IMO.

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I totally agree. I am not suggesting that we should kick Shapen to the curb or that he should not have been our starter. Everyone has slumps. Tiger Woods used to miss the cut. Sometime the second teamer lights the other team up. Just because you take the starter out does not mean that you cannot put him back in later.

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Exactly this. In last year's victory over OU Caleb Williams wasn't providing the spark the Sooners needed so they brought in Spencer Rattler for a few series to see what he could do. It ultimately failed and Williams came back into the game but at least the Sooners were willing to experiment and tried. It wasn't a knock on Williams' abilities as a QB but an attempt to win the game.

Dabo waited bout 10 games too long to replace DJ

This is probably all true. The depressing part is if we do not have a backup QB that is at least worth giving a shot in a game then that is pretty bad. Like others have said, at least see if someone else can create a spark to make some plays when the offense is bogged down.

When your opponent preps a game for your QB and you suddenly switch to another QB during a game, the backup will generally always look better.

The next game will usually show the backup wasn't any better when the opponent knows which QB they are facing.

With regard to Shapen, I don't think he ever recovered fully from his injury in the title game. And his OL was nowhere near last years level.

Aliceinbubbleland said:

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When your opponent preps a game for your QB and you suddenly switch to another QB during a game, the backup will generally always look better.

The next game will usually show the backup wasn't any better when the opponent knows which QB they are facing.

With regard to Shapen, I don't think he ever recovered fully from his injury in the title game. And his OL was nowhere near last years level.

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That is the entire point with all of this discussion. It is not a matter of who is better between Shapen or Drones. Defensive coordinators spend all week on their game plan to stop their opponent, especially the QB. If starter and backup possess the same skill set it does not force a change during the game, however if their skill sets are different, like one can beat you with his feet, the game plan has to change in real time during the game. It can be tough for opposing coaches to make the correct calls and often leads to a spark. We lost some close games this year where that change could have determined the outcome.

I mentioned two blowouts in my reply. Why didn't Drones play a series in the 4th quarter of those games?

I can't answer the question, but neither can anyone else here with certainty. One other possibility....could it be that what they saw in Drones in practice week after week was no better than Shapen at his worst?

The only direct comparison we have is the WVU game where Shapen went out. and Drones played in the 4th quarter. Lower down are the stats from that game for the two QBs. Drone's QB Rating was 30 points worse than Shapen's including panicking on one play and throwing the ball up for grabs in the middle of the field that resulted in an interception when we were already in the red zone range trailing by only 3 late.

Thinking that having Drones come in and things would be better may reflect fans' hopes much more than anything based in reality that the coaches saw week after week in practice and in what they saw in the WV game.


C/ATT
YDS
AVG
TD
INT
QBRBlake Shapen
14/22
326
14.8
2
0
88.5
Kyron Drones
7/14
95
6.8
1
1
55.7

Limited IQ Redneck in PU said:

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The clemson coaches thought the 2nd stringer could help them win the game. So they played him. Its not a matter of embarrassing anyone.

If our coaches ever got to the point where they thought the backup was better there is no doubt in my mind the would switch.

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Ok , so ur saying shapen who's conference td to int rate is 12 tds and 9 pics is cemented in as the forever , evermore , never change , stay the course , now and forever qb? And if the coaches don't think enough of a 4 star qb they recruited, to give him half a game , then perhaps replacing the qb is not enough,,,

bear2be2 said:

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HarryMehre said:

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If you watched Clemson football this year, you would have known Dabo should have made the switch 6 to 8 weeks ago. DJ U was horrible.

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If you watched Clemson football last year, it would be reasonable to conclude that Dabo started the wrong quarterback all season. Unfortunately for him, DJ U is just a bad quarterback.

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I don't think DJ U is a very good quarterback, but he seems like a really good dude. And at the end of the day, that will matter more. I hope this guy is successful.

This dude is something

(Via @bethhooleVNL) pic.twitter.com/X7kud1OSEH

— Woody Whitehurst - ACC Abandoner (@woodywhitehurst) December 4, 2022

Noname said:

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Did anybody else watch parts of the Clemson game? Their starting quarterback (whose name I cannot spell or pronounce) was not performing well, so Dabo Swinney, in the title game and on national television pulled him and put in Cade Klubnick, the backup, who then passed for 279 yards, added another 30 rushing, and sparked a pretty solid victory over UNC.

I have said it before but I cannot understand why our coaches are (or were) so hesitant to AT LEAST TRY something different, when what they are doing is not working. If it hurts Shapen's feelings, that comes with the territory. The team should some before any one player - IMO.

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Dabo has done that before this season when his qb wasn't playing well. The qb position should be no different than any other position. If you're not playing well, especially game after game, you should be replaced. Good for Dabo.

Limited IQ Redneck in PU said:

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Our coaches want to win more than anyone else. They are not concerned with feelings past trying to develop players to win.

The reason our coaches played Shapen is because they thought he gave us the best chance to win. They worked with both young men several hours a day. They studied film of both of them performing in practice and games.

In their professional opinion based on many hours of study and contemplation, they made a decision.

Its easy to second guess a coach. To us its a game. We get up and go to work on monday. Its not a game to the coach. Its their life.
What game film did they have of Drones? From high school or the few minutes they'd allowed him earlier in the season? Practice is different than games.

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