Thoughts From A Gamecock: Watson And Tanneyhill

Make no mistake about it, Deshaun Watson has earned all of the praise he has gotten and then some. As much as it pains me to say this, his performance against South Carolina was amazing, considering what he was battling through. I have the upmost respect for that young man.

Now as far as upstate media thats a completely different story.

Im sure many of you much like myself saw the “Tater” medical miracle of the century reported close to midnight on the Sunday following the GT game. I cannot lie,

I honestly laughed as Clemson fans rejoiced. I found something about it rather comical but im getting off Subject.

Watson did put up mind blowing numbers in the four starts he won and you had to be impressed but then something happened that I still continue to find extremely overzealous. Heisman and National Title Chatter???? Whoa!!!!

Lets slow down just a bit.

As I admitted earlier, he is extremely talented but 4-1 as a starter and 2 early exits against the best two defenses he faced that season are enough of a reason for any rational human being to say “Umm Already?”.

Thinking about this made me think back 23 years ago about another freshman who set the world on fire. Not so much from a stat perspective but more so from a game managment one. And that freshman was Steve Taneyhill.

I will never forget 2 days before the Miss State game who happened to be undefeated and ranked 10th nationally at the time. Taneyhill made the statement, we will not lose another game! Now thats bold. But when you’re 0-5 and everything points to 0-11 THATS VERY BOLD!!!! Many would say delusional. But for what its worth, he almost pulled it. SC finished the year 5-6 with 2 wins over top ten programs along with a win over Clemson in the litter box. LSU Plays in Death Valley for those who wonder.

Now for any Clemson faithful who just so happen to be reading this and thinking I’m nuts. Then my job is done. I am merely comparing freshman seasons and not a entire body of work. As far as stats go, It’s Watson no contest. When it comes to heart, I would say thats neck and neck.

I take nothing away from Watson’s determination to play against and defeat my Gamecocks. I tip my cap to that. But when it comes to wins against giants, Taneyhill blows him out of the water.

Its painfully obvious to everyone that Watson had more weapons at his disposal than Taneyhill. And while Watson’s numbers are impressive, they came against teams with subpar defense and unranked.

Taneyhill managed to slay two top ten teams with an offense that finally jelled just enough to get the job done and he did it with his back against the wall. Im not saying one is better than the other. But I will say one clearly had a better freshman season and didnt need inflated stats to prove that point.

Article by Jason Taylor, Garnet And Cocky Staff Writer