Are high expectations getting to Deshaun Watson?

Perhaps no single player had more pressure entering the 2016 college football season than Clemson’s Deshaun Watson. Though the season is still young, that pressure appears to have gotten to the quarterback.

He looks nothing like the Heisman finalist from last year. Not only that, but his Tigers are lucky to have gotten out of the first two weeks with wins against teams that really had no business hanging with this program.

Watson was far from sharp in Week 1 against Auburn, and Clemson escaped with a narrow 19-13 win in a game many expected to be a blowout.

Gus Malzahn used three quarterbacks, none of which were able to move the ball effectively, and Auburn managed just 2.1 yards per carry. In a game like that one, where the opponent cannot score or move the chains, the No. 2 program in the nation should run away with it.

Obviously that did not happen. Watson was off target throughout the contest, going for 248 yards with one touchdown and one interception on 19-of-34 passing. He also struggled to make headway on the ground, gaining just 21 yards on 11 carries.

It was an inauspicious way for Watson and the Tigers to kick off the season.

But surely they’d bounce back in a major way against lowly Troy. Right?

Not so.

Troy put up an epic fight against Clemson in Death Valley Saturday, never giving an inch to the Tigers. Ultimately, the home team did pull off a 30-24 win.

The final score would have been slightly more in Clemson’s favor if not for a ridiculous lack of good judgement by receiver Ray-Ray McCloud on a punt return (more on that here).

But this one shouldn’t have been close.

Watson was downright atrocious and spent vast portions of the game completely out of sorts.

This was a contest in which we should have seen Watson dominate during the first half and then take a spot on the sidelines to enjoy an easy win. Instead, head coach Dabo Swinney left him in the entire game to see if he could work out of his funk.

He finished with 292 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 27-of-53 passing, adding another 55 yards on the ground. It was another sloppy outing, and if he continues to play like this in 2016 there is no way the Tigers will get back to the playoffs.

Clearly, the Heisman is the least of Watson’s concerns right now. At this point, given how poorly he and his offensive teammates have played the first two weeks of the season, one wonders how this unit will perform against the big dogs in the ACC as the season progresses.

Since entering 2016 with the spotlight shining directly on him, Watson has withered. There is no other way to describe what has transpired.

The Tigers will certainly take a tumble in the rankings after Saturday’s showing, and Watson’s Heisman run is almost dead in the water. Offseason expectations couldn’t have been higher, which makes what has happened all the more stunning.