Clemson had its most tangible sign of offensive improvement Saturday against Florida State.
Once Will Shipley crossed the goal line late in the fourth quarter to cap a 21-yard touchdown run for his personal highlight reel, the Tigers’ offense had scored its 23rd point in what turned into a 30-20 win for the home team inside Memorial Stadium. The last time Clemson had cracked the seal on 20 regulation points against an FBS opponent before then? That College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Ohio State back in January.
As marginal as it may be, Clemson’s offense has been making strides for the better part of a month now. The Tigers still rank 114th out of 130 FBS teams in total offense, but after averaging just 226 yards against its first three FBS opponents, Clemson has accumulated at least 314 in each of its last four. The best performances — 438 yards against Boston College and 377 against FSU — have come since the start of October, though five turnovers in the last two games haven’t helped the Tigers in their attempt to cash in more on the scoreboard.
But there’s one facet of the offense Clemson can largely thank for those strides: A ground game that’s finding some consistency.
While the passing game continues to be sporadic (177.8 passing yards per game), Clemson’s rushing totals are trending up. Yes, the Tigers still rank in the bottom half nationally in that category, too, but it’s much closer to the top half — 81st nationally, to be exact — than any of the Tigers’ other major statistical categories on that side of the ball.
Clemson kept running into Georgia’s brick wall to the tune of 2 net yards in its opening loss and didn’t surpass 158 yards on the ground against anybody other than FCS member South Carolina State through the season’s first month. Since then, the Tigers are averaging nearly 175 rushing yards over their last four games, including 188 against the Seminoles.
Clemson is averaging 4.7 yards per carry during that span — 1.7 more than its first three games against FBS foes.
“Just better execution,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We’ve always run the zone, some variation of it whether it’s the inside zone or outside zone. We run the counter. We run the quarterback plays. We run the power and get on the edge some. Just doing a little better job than we were in the early part of the year.”
The encouraging part for the Tigers beyond just the sheer uptick in the numbers is the fact it’s happening despite doors in the backfield and along the offensive line that won’t stop revolving. Matt Bockhorst’s season-ending knee injury against Pitt forced Clemson to go with its fifth different starting combination up front against FSU while the Tigers’ leading rusher, Kobe Pace, wasn’t available last week because of COVID-19 protocols.
With Lyn-J Dixon and reserve back Michel Dukes leaving the program during the first half of the season, true freshmen Will Shipley, fresh off his return from a lower leg injury, and Phil Mafah were two of Clemson’s three available scholarship backs against FSU. The other one, veteran Darien Rencher, has only played in one game this season.
There was more shuffling once the game started. Mason Trotter started his third straight game at center but got banged up, which brought Hunter Rayburn off the bench to finish the game. Guard Will Putnam rolled an ankle and briefly left the game. He returned, but Swinney said he and Trotter are day to day heading into Saturday’s game at Louisville.
Yet despite more moving pieces, offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said the line’s communication has improved over the course of the season, which has helped the group keep the missed assignments to a minimum of late.
“Credit to (offensive line coach) Robbie (Caldwell) and those guys up front, man,” Elliott said. “They’ve been under a lot of scrutiny here this season. Those guys come to work every single day.”
Shipley and Mafah handled the rest against the Seminoles.
Shipley got his most hefty workload of the season (25 carries) finished with a career-high 128 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Mafah ripped off Clemson’s longest play from scrimmage this season with a 63-yard scamper in the first half, though he came up limping after just nine carries and watched the fourth quarter from the sideline. He’s in the same boat as Putnam and Trotter in terms of his availability this weekend, Swinney said.
But Mafah helped Clemson average nearly 4.4 yards per carry against the ACC’s seventh-best rush defense. The Tigers have also faced Pitt and Syracuse — two of the league’s top 4 run defenses — over the last four games, so it’s not like Clemson is seeing a spike in its production because of little resistance.
Elliott also credited the development of the Tigers’ young backs for some of Clemson’s improvement on the ground.
“They’re becoming more comfortable,” Elliott said. “You’re playing two freshmen right now, and they’re starting to understand things. I thought Phil did a really good job in game making adjustments. There was one (run) that he missed, and then we came back to a similar play later in the game and he made the right cut. They’re just getting more comfortable with the scheme.”
Clemson will try to keep it trending in the right direction this weekend against a Louisville team that owns the ACC’s fifth-best run defense.
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