Two years after Deshaun Watson left Gainesville High, his Clemson Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the land. Had the flagship program in his home state expressed more ardor sooner, he might have become a Georgia Bulldog. Had that happened, Mark Richt might still be working in Athens.
“I had a pretty good relationship with coach Richt,” Watson said, speaking at the Orange Bowl’s Media Day on Tuesday. “But they didn’t show too much interest until later. By then, I was focused on graduating early.”
By then, Watson had decided the place to be was Pickens County, S.C., as opposed to the school based 42 miles from Gainesville. On such recruiting choices can programs rise; they can also fall. This season saw the Bulldogs turn to the Virginia transfer Greyson Lambert and then, more improbably, to the third-stringer Faton Bauta against Florida. Meanwhile, a Georgian who’d been rated the best dual-threat quarterback of his recruiting class was finishing third in the Heisman Trophy voting as a sophomore.
There’s precedent here. For all the Bulldogs’ recruiting success under Richt, this marks the fourth time in six years that a quarterback from Georgia has guided a team to the BCS title game or the College Football Playoff. Cam Newton of Atlanta’s Westlake led Auburn to the 2010 BCS crown; Nick Marshall of Pineview’s Wilcox County came close to doing the same three years later. Blake Sims, also of Gainesville High, was the quarterback for Alabama when it entered last year’s inaugural playoff ranked No. 1. Now comes Watson.
Yes, asterisks apply. Marshall signed with and played for Georgia – as a cornerback – before being dismissed from the squad for his role in a dormitory theft. Newton began his collegiate career at Florida before transferring to a junior college. Sims was Alabama’s starter only as a fifth-year senior. But still: Four quarterbacks from Georgia have led teams to the sort of game in which Georgia hasn’t played since Herschel Walker was an undergrad and Buck Belue and John Lastinger, both from Valdosta, were his quarterbacks.
Richt famously said that he thought Newton, maybe the best collegian since Herschel, would have made a great tight end, and it’s true that none of the four would have been an ideal fit for Richt’s pro-style offense. (Sure enough, Marshall is a cornerback for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.) Still, Newton threw for 2,854 yards in his one Auburn season; Sims passed for 3,487 yards in his year as an Alabama starter. And as Watson said Sunday: “I didn’t throw for 3,500 yards for no reason, and they weren’t always outside the pocket.”
All four Georgians could throw; all could also run. Newton and Marshall had 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Sims rushed for 350 yards last season, which by Alabama standards is high for a quarterback. Watson has rushed for 887 yards in his first full year as a starter.
Georgia was late to embrace Watson because it believed it had its quarterback of the future in Brice Ramsey, whose greatest collegiate moments have come as a punter. It was always curious that Richt, who at Florida State coached one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in Charlie Ward — the 1993 Heisman winner who was also a Georgian — only once deployed a dual threat at Georgia. That was D.J. Shockley, who started in 2005 as a redshirt senior and, not incidentally, led the Bulldogs to their most recent SEC title.
With more and more programs turning to the spread offense, the Bulldogs held to their pro set — even as Georgia products were excelling in spread offenses in neighboring states. Joshua Dobbs of Alpharetta combined for 2,917 yards at Tennessee this season. By way of contrast, Lambert had 1,844 yards passing and minus-35 yards rushing.
It’s a coach’s prerogative to run his offense of choice, but to ignore the changing times and the homegrown talent seemed short-sighted. Yes, Lambert and Ramsey are themselves Georgians, but it’s hard to imagine that the Bulldogs wouldn’t have been better with Watson at quarterback. Any team would have. He’s terrific. Clemson is 17-1 with him as a starter, and in the loss — at Georgia Tech on Nov. 15, 2014 — he suffered a torn ACL.
Even with Richt gone to Miami, it’s unclear whether much will change in Athens. Kirby Smart, Richt’s replacement, has hired Jim Chaney as offensive coordinator, and the quarterbacks at Chaney’s recent stops haven’t run the ball much. (Pitt’s Nathan Peterman rushed for 233 yards this season.) And the heralded recruit Jacob Eason is considered the No. 1 pro-style quarterback in his class.
Still, the point remains: Dual-threat quarterbacks from Georgia keep playing for the biggest prize, which the state university of Georgia hasn’t done for a very long time. Asked why that was/is, Watson said: “I’m not sure … I guess we all just wanted to get out of state or something.”
Guess so.
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