Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said the standout freshman could have played Thursday night against Wake Forest, but senior Cole Stoudt was able to overcome a dinged up shoulder and lead the Tigers to a 34-20 win.
“(Watson) will take all first-teams on Monday,” Swinney said per TigerIllustrated.com. “We wanted to get through Thursday and not play him. He was ready to go if we needed him. We weren’t sure at one point that Cole would be able to make it through but he was able to gut it out.”
Stoudt started the season as the Tigers’ starter, but Watson showed his star potential and took over as starter in Clemson’s fourth game against North Carolina. Watson was injured two weeks later against Louisville and Stoudt returned to the starting role.
In Watson’s absence, Stoudt threw for 938 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions in wins over Louisville, Boston College, Syracuse and Wake Forest.
In all, Watson has played in six games (three starts), completing 75-of-112 passes for 1,176 yards, 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions.
Next on the schedule for the No. 21 Tigers is a road trip to Atlanta to meet No. 24 Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon. Now 7-2 (6-1 ACC), the Tigers still trail Florida State in the ACC Atlantic division standings.
For more Clemson news, visit TigerIllustrated.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Clemson freshman QB Deshaun Watson to start Saturday
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