Once Again, Clemson D Faces Another Elite QB
Clemson’s defense has faced some pretty good quarterbacks this year. That will not change when the Tigers face Iowa State at the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando on Wednesday.
The Tigers faced off against ACC Player of the Year Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh. They faced Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman, who was the ACC’s second-team quarterback, as well as Louisville’s Malik Cunningham, Florida State’s Jordan Travis and NC State’s Devin Leary.
All five quarterbacks play at an elite level, and all five quarterbacks presented different challenges. How does Iowa State’s Brock Purdy compare to the other quarterbacks the 19th-ranked Tigers have played this season?
“It is a great challenge,” Clemson’s new defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin said at Sunday’s Cheez-It Bowl press conference. “During my time at Arizona, you always heard his name being he is a Phoenix area kid.”
Purdy was the 2020 First-Team All-Big 12 Quarterback, and this season was named as the second-team quarterback after leading the conference in passing yards per game (248.7 yards/game) and overall passing yards (2,984).
“He is a great player. He is very accurate. He does a lot of things well,” Goodwin said. “He plays well in the spotlight. He is a gamer. He is savvy. I can’t say enough great things about him. So, it is definitely a challenge for us, and we have our work cut out for us for sure.”
Purdy completed 73.1 percent of his 368 passes in the regular season. He is averaging 8.1 yards per attempt, and he has thrown 18 touchdown passes to just seven interceptions.
Three of those interceptions came in a Week 2 loss to Iowa, so he threw just four picks over the last 10 games of the season and went five straight games without throwing an interception.
Purdy is not easy to sack either. He has been sacked just 20 times all year. He is also the Cyclones’ all-time winningest quarterback with 30 victories during his career.
“Gamer is a good word to describe him,” Clemson linebacker James Skalski said. “He just makes things happen over and over again. He creates something out of nothing. Like Wes said, it is going to be a challenge for us.”
With Iowa State running back and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Breece Hall opting out of the Cheez-It Bowl, the Clemson defense should be able to focus more on Purdy on Wednesday, but it will still be a difficult challenge.
Clemson’s secondary allowed the fewest number of passing touchdowns in the ACC and held opposing quarterbacks to an efficiency rating of 110.42, the best in the ACC. The Tigers also rank second in the ACC and sixth nationally with 41 sacks.
