The Clemson Tigers are living out their nightmare scenario, trailing Syracuse at home at halftime after watching starting QB Trevor Lawrence go down with a head injury. This, of course, comes the week that backup Kelly Bryant announced his transfer, putting the Tigers in a tough spot. That prompted ESPN broadcaster Todd Blackledge to call Bryant’s decision selfish, leaving his team in a bad place: RELATED: Watch the hit that knocked Clemson QB out of game Todd Blackledge calling Kelly Bryant's transfer from Clemson "selfish" on the #SYRvsCLEM broadcast. Says he didn't put program first. Get. Out. Of. Here. — Mark J. Burns (@markjburns88) September 29, 2018 Naturally, that tweet was ripped by fans on Twitter, who weren’t about to let Blackledge’s slight of Bryant go unnoticed: Sean McDonough and Todd Blackledge would leave ABC if they were moved to camera man. Bet. The fact y’all are calling Kelly Bryant selfish for wanting to be a starter his last eligible season to play is absurd and ridiculous. Apologize to the young man. — cheeky (@SlingCheek) September 29, 2018 Like so many of you, I turned on Syracuse-Clemson to hear about how selfish the announcers think Kelly Bryant's transfer decision was. Todd Blackledge did not disappoint. — Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) September 29, 2018 Todd Blackledge just called Kelly Bryant selfish for transferring. I want to bash my head against a wall — Josh Neighbors (@JoshNeighbors_) September 29, 2018 Announcers just called Kelly Bryant selfish, which is atrocious slander of a young man who made a totally understandable business decision. Hey @Todd_Blackledge, if you were being phased out at your job, would you try to find a new network or stay just to be a “good team player”? — Josh McCann (@_josh_mccann) September 29, 2018 The number of ESPN personalities calling Kelly Bryant’s decision selfish or wrong right now is staggering. First Todd Blackledge, now Jesse Palmer. Imagine a few more similar takes are coming. — Curt Weiler (@CurtMWeiler) September 29, 2018 So Todd Blackledge thinks what Kelly Bryant did was selfish but I totally disagree. Well I’m sorry but Bryant wanted to play and he deserved to play as he helped lead the Tigers to the CFB playoffs a year ago. Not to mention, this was his senior season and he can start somewhere — Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) September 29, 2018 Put the college first! Sure the college and I have millions and you don't and you aren't going to play, but you need to put this job, for which you are not paid, first — The Blunt Doctor (@Blunt_Doctor_RX) September 29, 2018 https://twitter.com/Ikeyo_1985/status/1046089810174185473 It’s easy to call someone selfish when you don’t know the full situation, but as mentioned in the tweets, it’s ridiculous for Blackledge to say that when he would almost certainly leave ESPN for another network if his role was significantly reduced.<doc-sep>It has taken 4 games, but it is now official, Trevor Lawrence is QB#1 at Clemson. While some have been clamoring for a change all season, the coaching staff was finally convinced after Lawrence’s best game of the season against Georgia Tech. In 2017 one of the biggest issues with Clemson’s offense was the ability to score on big plays, in particular with big passing plays. With Kelly Bryant the offense was efficient, but that did not help against better teams when Clemson would need to pick up big chunks of yards on individual plays. This has continued into 2018, but we’ve seen apparent improvement when Trevor Lawrence is in the game. To try and quantify this, I took the play-by-play data for every offensive snap involving Kelly Bryant or Trevor Lawrence for analysis. I removed all snaps that occurred in garbage time, defined as one team being up 21 points in the 4th quarter, 27 points in the 3rd, 37 points in the 2nd, or 43 points in the 1st quarter. Below are the top level stats for Bryant and Lawrence. Kelly Bryant Success Rate Opponent Pass Plays Run Plays Success Passing Downs Opponent Pass Plays Run Plays Success Passing Downs Furman 11 7 7 6 Texas A&M 21 20 16 16 Georgia Southern 6 16 15 4 Georgia Tech 6 2 2 4 Totals 44 45 40 30 Success Rate 44.94% Trevor Lawrence Success Opponent Pass Run Success Passing Downs Opponent Pass Run Success Passing Downs Furman 14 10 14 5 Texas A&M 9 6 4 4 Georgia Southern 19 20 17 6 Georgia Tech 16 14 20 9 Totals 58 50 55 24 Success Rate 50.93% The big difference here is in success rate. With Lawrence at QB we see Clemson having success on 50% of snaps compared to 45% with Bryant. Over the course of the game this can end up being anywhere from 2-5 plays better. A successful play is defined as one that gains 50% of yards needed for a first down on first down, 70% on second down, and 100% on third and fourth down. It matters because if an offense is successful it gives them options. 2nd and 5 opens up the playbook a lot more than 2nd and 8. The more successful an offense is the easier it is to continue drives and even hit big plays because the defense has to be concerned about running and passing plays. With this in mind we broke down the game logs into passing plays and running plays to measure success. One thing we’ve talked about a lot is how the running game can be impacted by different QBs in the game. We wanted to look at that as well as taking a look at how successful each QB is when throwing the ball. Kelly Bryant Success Breakdown Opponent Run Plays Run Play Success Pass Plays Pass Play Success Opponent Run Plays Run Play Success Pass Plays Pass Play Success Furman 7 4 11 3 Texas A&M 20 6 21 10 Georgia Southern 16 12 6 3 Georgia Tech 2 1 6 1 Totals 45 23 44 17 Success Rate 51.11% 38.64% Trevor Lawrence Success Breakdown Opponent Run Plays Run Play Success Pass Plays Pass Play Success Opponent Run Plays Run Play Success Pass Plays Pass Play Success Furman 10 7 14 7 Texas A&M 6 1 9 3 Georgia Southern 20 8 19 9 Georgia Tech 14 10 16 10 Totals 50 26 58 29 Success Rate 52.00% 50.00% Here we see that Lawrence is much more successful than Bryant on passing plays. This comes despite both players having nearly identical completion percentages. But success requires advancing the ball and that just doesn’t happen as much in the passing game when Bryant is on the field. Most throws tend to be screens or other short routes. Lawrence on the other hand is throwing the ball down the field more, both deep balls and intermediate routes. Now there has been a lot of talk about the types of plays that are being called for Bryant versus Lawrence, and that is a fair discussion to have. These numbers aren’t going to capture a difference playcalling tendencies for each QB, but it is telling that the staff isn’t putting Bryant in the same situations as Lawrence. One nugget that was interesting to me was how success rate on running plays was almost the exact same. We’ve had a theory that Lawrence’s throwing ability allows the running game to be more successful because defenses must respect his ability to throw whereas with Bryant the defense can stack the box with defenders. It appears that Bryant’s ability to run coupled with our potent running game negates any “advantage” Lawrence’s passing ability would give our running game. That’s not to say the yards per carry numbers are the same for each QB, but it was interesting to see the success rates being extremely similar. Now the final stat that shows how Lawrence expands our offense is his success during passing downs. A passing down is defined as an obvious passing situation and it comes with 2nd and 8, 3rd and 5, or 4th and 5. The idea is that any distance to go greater than these numbers tips the hand of the offense. Once again we broke the passing down plays into rushing plays and passing plays below. Kelly Bryant Passing Down Success Opponents Total Passing Downs Passing Down Pass Plays Passing Down Pass Play Success Passing Down Run Plays Passing Down Run Play Success Opponents Total Passing Downs Passing Down Pass Plays Passing Down Pass Play Success Passing Down Run Plays Passing Down Run Play Success Furman 6 5 1 1 0 Texas A&M 16 7 2 9 1 Georgia Southern 4 2 1 2 0 Georgia Tech 4 0 0 4 0 Totals 30 14 4 16 1 Success Rate 28.57% 6.25% Trevor Lawrence Passing Down Success Opponent Total Passing Downs Passing Down Pass Plays Passing Down Pass Play Success Passing Down Run Plays Passing Down Run Play Success Opponent Total Passing Downs Passing Down Pass Plays Passing Down Pass Play Success Passing Down Run Plays Passing Down Run Play Success Furman 5 4 3 1 0 Texas A&M 4 4 0 0 0 Georgia Southern 6 5 2 1 0 Georgia Tech 9 6 4 3 2 Totals 24 19 9 5 2 Success Rate 47.37% 40.00% Here is where we really see a difference in Bryant and Lawrence and it isn’t even close. In situations where the defense knows Clemson has to pass and Clemson knows they have to pass Lawrence is a much more effective passer and more importantly he succeeds in getting the offense back on schedule. The one concern in these charts is Lawrence going 0/4 on passing downs against Texas A&M. My recollection is a lot of that had to do with shoddy OL play and some questionable calls, but those are the situations where Lawrence is going to have to step up to give Clemson a victory against playoff caliber teams. What is worth noting as well is that Lawrence’s ability as a passer does appear to have an effect on rushing success on passing downs. It is an extremely small sample size, with only 5 plays, but Lawrence is able to get a 40% success rate as opposed to Bryant’s 6.25% success rate. The only caveat I’d mention here is that the high number of rushes on passing downs by Bryant may come from strategic playcalling to improve field positioning or other game management decisions. But even with that caveat it is pretty telling. Ultimately all of these numbers tell us what our eyes have said all year. Trevor Lawrence provides Clemson with a lethal passing game and opens up the offense. With Lawrence Clemson can utilize the entire playbook and put together both methodical drives as well as explosive big plays. For Clemson to make, and possibly win the College Football Playoff the offense has to execute in both ways.<doc-sep>Mike Stewart/Associated Press The Clemson Tigers made a change at quarterback Monday ahead of their game against Syracuse on Saturday, naming Trevor Lawrence the starter over Kelly Bryant, per Matt Fortuna of The Athletic. Head coach Dabo Swinney noted Bryant will be involved in the game plan in some capacity, according to Kevin McGuire of College Football Talk. Lawrence, a true freshman and 5-star recruit, has lived up to the hype thus far, throwing for 600 yards and nine touchdowns with two interceptions. He lit up Georgia Tech on Saturday, completing 13 of 18 passes for 176 yards and four touchdowns with an interception. Swinney lauded Lawrence after the game, per Grace Raynor of the Post and Courier: "He really played well. It was certainly his best game. He was very poised, and I think the game has slowed down for him. He's making good decisions, and he's decisive with the ball. "He made some beautiful throws. Some beautiful throws. He's a work in progress every week, and every week is a season of its own. I thought it was definitely his best game." Video Play Button Videos you might like Bryant hasn't been poor in 2018, throwing for 461 yards and two touchdowns with a pick. He also brings another dimension to the offense with his legs, having run for 130 yards and two scores. Still, the timing of Swinney's decision had folks wondering if Bryant could transfer: Regardless, Lawrence has been good enough to start, even if he's said he's fine with any role the coaches give him: "I just had a feeling before the [Georgia Tech] game that this was going to be one of my better games, so it was good. I'm comfortable doing whatever the coaches want to do. If they want to split reps still, I'm going to do that and do the best I can with that. If they want to give me more reps, like whatever, I'm just going to go out there and play." Now, the next time he goes out and plays, he'll be doing so as Clemson's starting signal-caller.<doc-sep>
Bob Leverone/Associated Press Kelly Bryant's decision to transfer loomed large Saturday after Clemson Tigers starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered an injury against the Syracuse Orange. At halftime, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney indicated he'd welcome Bryant back to the team. "Heck yeah. I love that kid," Swinney said in an on-field interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe when asked about a possible Bryant return, per The Athletic's Bruce Feldman. Clemson confirmed to Morgan Moriarty of SB Nation that Bryant is still enrolled at the school. Lawrence took a hit to the head as he was stumbling to the ground in the first half. The State's Matt Connolly noted Chase Brice finished the half before Clemson ruled Lawrence out for the remainder of the game. The Tigers needed a big fourth quarter to earn a 27-23 come from behind win and stay undefeated. Bryant first told the Greenville News' Manie Robinson that he intended to leave Clemson after the Tigers made Lawrence their starting quarterback: "I feel like it's what's best for me and my future. I was just going to control what I could control and try to make the most of my opportunity, but at the end of the day, I just don't feel like I've gotten a fair shot." Going with Lawrence over Bryant made sense for the Tigers. Bryant, a senior and the returning starter, may have the experience edge, but Lawrence clearly boasts the higher ceiling and arguably outplayed his teammate. Video Play Button Videos you might like Lawrence had 600 passing yards, nine touchdowns and a 191.8 passer rating through four games, compared to 461 yards, two touchdowns and a 146.9 passer rating for Bryant. However, making Lawrence the first option under center meant potentially alienating Bryant, who would maintain one more year of eligibility under the NCAA's new rules by transferring now. Swinney may want Bryant to return—and Bryant hasn't officially transferred to a new school—but there could be no going back. Based on Bryant's comments, he wasn't happy with the way he was demoted, and he may rather have a full season in new surroundings than finish up 2018 at Clemson.