Thoughts Coming Out Of The Spring Games

The intrigue of the Kyle Paker/Willy Korn battle for the starting quarterback job at Clemson will continue into the summer.

In a perfect world, Tigers offensive coordinator Billy Napier says they’d like to determine the starter by the end of fall camp thus allowing about a week and a half before the opener against Middle Tennessee to allow whoever wins the job to settle in.

The prevailing opinion from those I talked to who watched Saturday’s spring game was that Parker has inched ahead.

I think the basis for that, from what I judged by watching, is the zip Parker is able to put on the ball. His passes are noticeably more potent than Korn’s. I think when it gets down to it the decision will be to go with the better arm and see where things fall from there.

I would be surprised to see each play significant minutes early (especially in the opener) in order to further sort out who should start.

Meanwhile, former Riverside High stand-out Michael Wade awaits at number three and made it clear Saturday that he’s still intent on continuing to get noticed by the coaches while true freshman Tajh Boyd could add another element if he returns in August fully healthy from major knee surgery.

Wade actually was pretty direct in his postgame comments Saturday noting that he didn’t come to Clemson to be a snail. That theme is another angle that shouldn’t be forgotten as August approaches. Will the guys competing for the Tigers’ top job remain on the high road or will their emotions start coming out in their quests to secure the job?

Meanwhile, it seems that South Carolina answered at least one major question on offense as redshirt freshman Kenny Miles and true freshman Jarvis Giles were dazzling in their spring game performances with other 80 yards each. Granted veterans like Brian Maddox and Eric Baker return but the two younger players appear to have that extra gear that the veterans don’t.

Each year when the fall arrives I usually think back to spring games to determine just what kind of impact they actually have on how things play out in the fall. Usually, they’re similar in their impact to first rounds of four-round golf tournaments or qualifying in NASCAR. Some players do some things to get noticed but in the end those guys usually are factors when it counts.

However, Clemson will rely on Parker or Korn and South Carolina will most definitely run Miles and Giles out there often.

So chances are the past weekends’ spring contests will play the role of spring boards more than window dressing.

Fans of each should hope for the former, not the latter, as at least one of the aforementioned on either side will need to make a major impact or his team could have a very bumpy ride in 2009.