No matter what North Carolina’s Giovani Bernard does Saturday vs.
Maryland, Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd is the ACC’s Player of the Year.
Boyd moved into the lead with some amazingly productive
performances earlier in the month and sealed the deal last Saturday,
accounting for an ACC-record eight touchdowns in the Tigers’ 62-48
victory over North Carolina State. The previous mark was six by several
players, including Boyd.
In fact, the junior signal caller tied
that mark two weeks earlier in a 56-20 rout at Duke. It was part of a
string of performances rivaled by few players in ACC history culminating
with Saturday’s watershed afternoon.
Boyd has passed for nearly
1,500 yards in No. 12 Clemson’s last four contests. In that span, he’s
also tossed 18 touchdown passes and run for four, giving him an edge
over Bernard.
A redshirt sophomore, who ran for 1,253 yards last
season, Bernard has certainly been outstanding. In particular, his
262-yard rushing performance against Virginia Tech and 303 all-purpose
yards, which included a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown with 13
seconds remaining, to beat N.C. State have highlighted his season.
Bernard,
however, is affected in that he was injured in the opener and missed
the next two games. He also had only two carries in a rout of Idaho, and
after five games the Florida native had just 29 rushing attempts. Even
still, Bernard has rushed for 1,065 yards – averaging 6.8 yards per
attempt – and has caught 42 passes for 458 yards. He has also scored 18
touchdowns, including two on punt returns and five on pass receptions.
With
a big game versus the Terrapins this weekend, Bernard would normally be
a worthy player of the year. But Boyd’s season has been more
spectacular and he’s guiding a top-10 club.
“I don’t think
there’s any doubt Tajh Boyd is the difference in this team,” said
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. “He’s a much better quarterback than he was
at this time last year. He was a good player last year, but he wasn’t a
great quarterback. He’s a much better quarterback. That’s one of the
main reasons we’re 10-1.”
Boyd is second in the ACC averaging 306
yards passing per contest; three yards per-game behind N.C. State’s
Mike Glennon. But Boyd has completed 68 percent of his pass attempts
compared to 57 percent for Glennon. Boyd’s figures – 3,367 yards and 33
touchdown passes – are among the top totals for ACC quarterbacks that
have won the league’s top individual honor.
The only more
prolific passers to win the award were Boston College’s Matt Ryan in
2007 (4,507 yards) and N.C. State’s Philip Rivers in 2003 (4,491 yards).
Twelve quarterbacks have been so honored since 1990. Two have
won the Heisman Trophy in those seasons – Florida State’s Charlie Ward
in 1993 and Chris Weinke in 2000. And some others, including Virginia’s
Matt Schaub, Georgia Tech’s Joe Hamilton, who finished second in the
Heisman voting in 1999, and Virginia’s Shawn Moore, who was fourth in
the Heisman balloting in 1990, posted numbers similar to Boyd’s given
their eras.
Hamilton and Moore were also accomplished scramblers.
Boyd, who lost around 12 pounds in the offseason, improved his
quickness just enough to become a legitimate threat with his feet.
Not
only is he technically executing the role of quarterback by staying in
the pocket and not adlibbing as quickly on plays as he did a year ago,
which Swinney ways was a point of emphasis in the spring and summer, but
Boyd has also finally learned to trust his legs. Hence, he’s even more
dangerous than earlier in the season, courtesy of his growing
confidence.
The Virginia Beach native has run for 466 yards and
eight scores, and with a subpar game this weekend at home versus hated
rival South Carolina, Boyd likely will still finish the regular season
with more than 4,000 total yards.
Boyd’s new weapon has helped
him hit on more long pass plays because defenses are respecting his legs
more. In fact, he has connected on 54 percent of his passes of 21 or
more yards, a reason he has passed the 300-yard passing mark in six
games thus far. In dispatching the Wolfpack, Boyd ran for 103 yards,
passing the century mark for the first time in his college career.
“I’m so excited to get a win,” Boyd said, “but the 100 yards rushing is probably my most proud moment.”
Boyd
has two more opportunities this season to have proud moments, and maybe
he will return next fall to deliver Tigers fans more thrills. No matter
what, though, he will be the season’s ACC Player of the Year.
