Future Burns Bright For Clemson Football and Deshaun Watson

Future Burns Bright For Clemson Football and Deshaun Watson | RantSports

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By Jerry Landry @jerry2landry on December 30, 2014

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David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

In a truncated season, Deshaun Watson put up noticeable numbers. The Clemson Tigers freshman quarterback completed 68 percent of his passes, tossed 14 touchdowns against two interceptions and maintained an interstellar quarterback rating of 188.6. Thats a spectacular start for the once highly-touted recruit.

Watson wears the retired number of former Tigers great Steve Fuller, but upon Watsons arrival to Clemson, Fuller permitted the quarterback to use his archival No. 4. Its apparent that Steve Fuller understands talent thats as rare now as his was then.

A Watson-less 40-6 stomping of the Oklahoma Sooners in the Russell Athletic Bowl isnt the only indicator that points to promise for the Tigers. Just as Dabo Sweeney landed the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in 2013 (Watson, according to ESPN.com), hes continued to road-warrior his way into building this years No. 4 recruiting class, having already secured the No. 2 ranked offensive tackle in the country, Mitch Hyatt.

Not only is Clemson playing it tough on the recruiting trail, the Tigers are also scrapping together a perennially competitive schedule, a slate that featured the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens and the South Carolina Gamecocks as non-conference matchups in 2014. The Tigers conference draw also included the Louisville Cardinals, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Florida State Seminoles, all experiences Watson and company will draw from when they play guaranteed competitors South Carolina and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 2015.

Now just before we look ahead to 2015 for good, lets glance at 2014 one more time. Clemsons leading rusher, Wayne Gallman, is also a freshman. Clemsons leading receiver by yards, Mike Williams, is just a sophomore, and the Tigers leading pass-catcher, Artavis Scott, is a freshman as well. The idea of those three continuing to improve and perform in 2015 is as scary as it is exciting.

Clemsons future is as bright as their hue of orange, and this is good not only for the Tigers, but also for the ACC. With the Big Ten adding Jim Harbaugh into the college football bloodstream, the ACC needs to maintain their edge and continue to build their reputation within the Power 5. Gaining rapport begins with the heavyweights performing well. Clemson impressed against Oklahoma, but now the Tigers leap truly begins starting with Watsons rehab, and hopefully ending in next years College Football Playoff.

Jerry Landryis a writerfor RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter@Jerry2Landry,Likehim on Facebookor add him to your network onGoogle.

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Source: http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-football/2014/12/30/future-burns-bright-for-clemson-football-and-deshaun-watson/