After rushing for a career-high 94 yards vs. then-No. 14 Syracuse on Saturday, Clemson’s Phil Mafah spoke to the media on Monday about how the relationship between him and fellow running back Will Shipley has allowed him to grow and become a better version of himself.
“My relationship with Will, honestly he’s like a brother to me,” he said. “We push each other all the time on and off the field to do better, get better, and that’s what I love about our relationship, it’s constructive. I really feel like I have definitely gotten better because of him and vice versa. Our relationship is going to last forever.”
It’s the camaraderie, the friendship and the respect they have for one another that has contributed to the success of Clemson’s run game this season. This was more evident than ever in the 27-21 win over Syracuse, where for a period in the third quarter, Clemson relied heavily on the running backs to move the ball downfield. Mafah described how him and Shipley remind each other of that Clemson “running back standard.”
“If one of us is having an off day, we’ll remind one another of the standard, of the running back standard,” he said. “We will remind each other what our goals are, what our aspirations are and keep each other accountable in that way.”
With 283 rushing yards this season so far, Mafah discussed momentum and how getting into a groove during the game is key for him to play at his best.
“I feel like for running backs, especially, once you get into the swings of things in game, you start to see things differently, you start to see things faster,” he said. “I have had this conversation with Will a lot. When you’ve been through it already, you can just tell, it’s just a feeling you get after all that repetition in game.”
Even with a career-best rushing day for Mafah, much of the attention and accolades following the game went to Shipley, who repeated as ACC Running Back of the Week after also having a career-best day with 172 rushing yards and 242 all-purpose yards.
This is not something Mafah thinks twice about. The running back believes that their relationship is built on respect and the desire for each other to grow, so he encourages all praise that comes Shipley’s way.
“That’s not frustrating to me,” he said. “I just feel like that’s God blessing him and I feel like God’s blessing me too also from him doing good. I believe that he deserves whatever comes to him, whatever people want to say to him, he deserves all the praise he gets. I never wish people would show him less and more of it to me, more attention to me. He deserves all of it.”
The close relationship between these two running backs exemplifies the culture of this Clemson team, which is all about effort and playing as a team. Mafah takes Shipley’s success in stride, knowing he is finding his form and becoming the best Phil Mafah he can be out there on the field.
