Brice ready, willing if number gets called
Although sophomore quarterback Chase Brice could spend the duration of his days with the Clemson Tigers in a backup position behind fellow sophomore Trevor Lawrence, who lit the college world ablaze in 2018 by leading his team to an undefeated season and a national championship, Brice is continuing to hone his skills and stay sharp in the event he is needed on the front lines.
Brice said that since last season, he has become more intimately familiar with Clemson’s offense and opposing schemes.
“I knew the offense pretty well last year and then coming back, I just feel more confident with the offense, any plays being called,” he said after team practice Tuesday. “... And then recognizing defenses. I feel like I've done a pretty good job with just knowing different exotic defenses ... blitzse and things like that. So, I think that's something that I worked on in the offseason and got a lot better at.”
This spring and summer leading up to the 2019 season, he has also worked on improving his throwing accuracy, he said.
“I feel like I'm a pretty accurate quarterback,” Brice said. “I want to give my receivers a chance every time. I think last year I could've, you know, gave the receivers a better opportunity … but going into the offseason, me and Trevor really, really honed in on being accurate, you know, giving them a chance, knowing the position of the receiver and things like that.”
Brice is often heralded as the “unsung hero” of the Tigers’ 2018 season, as the Grayson, Ga.-native came in off the bench against Syracuse and engineered a 27-23 comeback to salvage the team’s 15-0 season. Brice finished the game with 83 passing yards and went 7-for-13 in the win.
During the game, Brice led his team on a 94-yard scoring drive that featured a clutch fourth-down pass to Tee Higgins. The drive was later capped by a touchdown run from Travis Etienne.
A year later, and Brice still gets asked about that important day in Tigers football history.
“Yeah, fans still bring it up if they see me out and about,” Brice said. “It was definitely a big play. Obviously, it was fourth down … but I think after that game as a whole, we came together as a team.
“… I took a lot of confidence just from that game. I've always had confidence in general, but after that throw and finishing the game, you know, winning. ... From then on, I just kind of had greater confidence going into each and every other game. Knowing that I could go in if something were to happen again, I could go in and finish.”
Brice may be called on again or he may not, but in either case, he said he will be prepared.
“I mean, I come into work everyday and, you know, I'm always going to be ready no matter what,” he said. “If someone's sick or injured, I'm going to be ready for that.”
