Greensboro, N.C. — Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd is an engaging young man.
Sunday, at the ACC Kickoff in Greensboro, N.C., he engaged his listeners and writers with his knowledge of the NFL and the game of football.
Boyd referenced many different players and teams in the pros. He talked about different systems in college and why they translated to the NFL. He mentioned watching Chip Kelly move from Oregon to the Philadelphia Eagles and discussed how interested he is to see his up-tempo, no-huddle offense work.
“In football, there are a lot of things that people say won’t work,” said Boyd. “They said the spread wouldn’t work and now the game has evolved around it. You can even go back and look at Timmy Chang at Hawaii and Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech. I think that you can see the college game transition and the steps you can take to that next level.”
Boyd leads an ACC quarterback class that includes dynamic players such as Stephen Morris of Miami and Logan Thomas of Virginia Tech. With all of the intangibles he bring to the field, including the most deft of speed and the strong arm, Boyd may be able to mention himself in further years as one of those revolutionary players.
“Football is a tough sport; it’s not UFC, now, but it’s tough,” Boyd said. “Just because you run 15-20 plays doesn’t make it easy. I think you will see this type of system transition over.”
Boyd is talking about the speed with which he operates Clemson’s offense, and the individual speed that the Tigers have as his weaponry on the offensive side of the ball. He thinks the Tigers can ramp up the pace even more.
“I’m pretty sure we can go faster,” Boyd noted, “The offensive tempo is controlled by the center and myself. Break it down and you will have a certain amount of possessions per game. You continue to improve, upgrade, and revamp, such as terminology, hand signals, etc., and then that allows you to run even more plays.”
Boyd has literally rewritten the Clemson record book. He currently holds seven single-game records, 25 season records, 12 career records, and then 11 ACC records on top of those.
Boyd is option number one for the 13 defenses he will face the year. In fact, with the schedule that includes SEC rivals Georgia and South Carolina at the beginning and end of the season, the case is already being made that Clemson should run the table in an ACC that sees its toughest conference foes, Florida State, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, come to South Carolina. Not playing Virginia Tech also benefits the Tigers.
But Boyd cautioned about what has been a Clemson mantra of getting upset by league competition when the Tigers were decisive favorites. Last season’s 11-2 title was the exception, but in 2011, Georgia Tech took a 31-17 win from the Tigers in Atlanta; in 2010, there was a 7-6 loss at Boston College; in 2009 the Yellow Jackets won at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Week 2.
“We’ve got to make sure we can play at a high level regardless of the opponent,” Boyd said. “The Georgia game is a pretty big game and it’s kind of hard to ignore South Carolina, when you are in state. It will be a pretty big game for the legacy, etc., but right now I am worrying about Georgia.”