Florida State Seminoles

FSU Football: How Much Will Clemson Run Deshaun Watson?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:35 p.m. ET

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Nov 7, 2015; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) carries the ball while being defended by Florida State Seminoles linebacker Terrance Smith (24) during the first half at Clemson Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

FSU football will face a dangerous dual threat quarterback Saturday night. How much will Clemson use Deshaun Watson’s legs in their offensive attack?

FSU football has struggled with dual threat quarterbacks all season, and Saturday night will face the most complete quarterback they’ve seen all season.

Deshaun Watson has done damage on the ground against the ‘Noles the past two seasons. However, hasn’t relied on his legs as much this season as in seasons past.

That will probably change on Saturday night.

If Clemson defeats Florida State on Saturday night, they are virtually a lock to going into the ACC Championship game undefeated for a shot at making the four team college football playoff for the second consecutive season.

That means they’re going to run Deshaun Watson to help open up their offense.

Sep 6, 2014; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) prior to the snap during the first half against the South Carolina State Bulldogs at Clemson Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

Dabo Swinney Historically Runs His Quarterbacks In Big Games

Is this game as big as the last three seasons? No, it’s not but it’s still an important game for Clemson.

Their remaining schedule post-FSU is relatively week, so a loss would be detrimental even though they would still win the ACC Atlantic Division in that scenario.

Let’s take a look at the last five years when Clemson played FSU:

2011: Tajh Boyd ran 16 times

2012: Tajh Boyd ran 18 times

2013: Tajh Boyd ran 14 times

2014: Deshaun Watson ran 12 times(didn’t start the game)

2015: Deshaun Watson ran 16 times

Go back and look at the two playoff games when Clemson played against Oklahoma and Alabama last season.

Watson ran it 24 times against Oklahoma and 20 times against Alabama. It’s true that Watson has been running less this season for whatever reason. His numbers per game, yards and rushing touchdowns are all down significantly.

He’s going to run it Saturday night, a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised to see their first offensive play be a quarterback draw up the middle, you heard it here first.

Jan 11, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Clemson Tigers running back Wayne Gallman (9) celebrates with Deshaun Watson (4) after scoring on a 1 yard run during the third quarter in the 2016 CFP National Championship at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

When Watson Is At His Most Dangerous

Clemson will use Watson on designed runs, but he’s at his most dangerous on third and short or intermediate situations. In fact, he killed FSU football last season picking up first downs on critical third downs last season.

Clemson runs a lot of run pass option stuff, so it’s tough to defend a mobile quarterback that can also hit receivers on slants across the middle or short drag routes to pick up first downs.

As we mentioned in a previous article, Clemson had 29 first downs against the FSU defense last year. They were able to convert 7 of 19 third downs.

Five of the third down conversions were third and five or longer.

Holding Clemson to 36.8 percent on third down conversions was actually not bad, but the sheer number of third downs meant the FSU defense was on the field way too much as Clemson ran 85 plays last season.

Sep 10, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Charleston Southern Buccaneers running back Kelan Fraise (42) delivers a stiff arm to Florida State Seminoles linebacker Dontavious Jackson (5) in the second half at Doak Campbell Stadium. The Florida State Seminoles defeat the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 52-8. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

Conclusion

So looking at everything, we have all the key ingredients for Clemson to run Deshaun Watson in the dirt to try to get a win on Saturday night.

He torched FSU for 107 yards last season on 16 carries. The FSU defense will need to contain him in the run game by getting pressure up the middle and forcing him to make tough throws.

Ironically, he and his receivers have struggled a bit this season overall with inaccuracies and dropped passes.

Maybe they’ll have another “off” game on Saturday night?