While the relative improvement from D.J. Uiagalelei and his receivers in the passing game has helped spur Clemson’s offensive turnaround this season, the running game is still trying to find consistency in taking advantage of what the Tigers are doing through the air.
Clemson has produced the third-most plays in the ACC of at least 20 yards this season (34) with all but eight of them coming through the air. The Tigers added to that total against Boston College with explosives such as D.J. Uiagalelei’s 38-yard touchdown strike to Joseph Ngata early in the second half of the Tigers’ 31-3 win.
With those kinds of big gainers helping Clemson throw for nearly 255 yards a game, one would assume it can only help the running game since teams have to drop more defenders out of the box to give themselves a better chance to prevent those in coverage. But it’s been a mixed bag in that department for the Tigers’ running game.
After Clemson mustered just 119 rushing yards to start the season against Georgia Tech, things looked more promising on the ground two weeks later when the Tigers ran for a season-high 280 yards in a victory over Louisiana Tech. They kept that momentum going against a Power Five defense the following week with 188 rushing yards in their double-overtime win over Wake Forest, but Clemson hasn’t gotten above the 145-yard mark on the ground since.
Clemson got just 144 yards from its running game against Boston College, and 40 of those came on one play. The Tigers have now been held to 147 rushing yards or less in four of their first six games.
Offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter acknowledged things could be better but added he feels like the running game is in a “pretty good spot” halfway through the regular season. He also praised the efforts of all parties involved.
“There’s obviously corrections and things to improve on in both the running and passing game, and I feel like our offensive line is really getting better in a lot of areas in the run game,” Streeter said. “We missed a few things on Saturday that kind of slowed us down in the run game up front, but I’m very, very pleased with the toughness and the grit those guys have up front. And our running backs run the heck out of the ball.
“I feel like there’s always (room for) improvement. No doubt. But I do feel like we’re blessed in the way that we can do it in different ways.”
One of those avenues has been utilizing the legs of D.J. Uiagalelei.
Despite starting the same five offensive linemen in every game to this point – consistency up front that Clemson didn’t have last season when it started eight different combinations – the Tigers’ 170 rushing yards per game and 4.6 yards per carry rank in the middle of the pack in the ACC. They’re slightly ahead of the Tigers’ pace last season (167.9 yards per game, 4.4 yards per rush).
If not for the viable threat that a healthy Uiagalelei has become on the ground, those numbers might be behind. Will Shipley, Clemson’s leading rusher, went for a season-low 33 yards on 10 carries against Boston College as the Tigers’ running backs averaged 4 yards per tote, a number helped by Phil Mafah’s 5.1 per-carry average.
Clemson’s quarterback ended the night as Clemson’s leading rusher, something he’s done in back-to-back games now. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound signal caller ended up with 69 yards on 12 carries and ripped off that 40-yarder midway through the fourth quarter that set up Clemson’s final touchdown.
It came on a draw play, one of several designed runs that Streeter said he continues to feel comfortable calling for Uiagalelei now that he’s 30 pounds lighter and no longer dealing with the sprained knee that hampered his mobility late last season. Meanwhile, Clemson averaged just 3.3 yards on its other 31 rush attempts against the Eagles.
Uiagalelei’s 4.6 yards per carry trails only Shipley (5.9) as the highest on the team. He’s averaging 11.1 carries, also second-most on the team, and could get have his number called even more in the absence of Kobe Pace, who will miss at least a few weeks with a high ankle sprain he suffered against Wake Forest.
“We continue to find ways to be productive in different ways,” Streeter said. “I think that just makes us even harder to defend when you have multiple ways of attacking somebody.”
It’s been a boosting component to a running game that’s still trying to find more consistent footing. Streeter said he feels like the Tigers are close, but crisper execution is going to be needed to get there.
“Whether it be one or two guys maybe not doing their job or whether it be an offensive lineman not using proper technique,” Streeter said. “Or maybe it was a read once or twice on the quarterback’s part that maybe we could’ve pulled it one or two times. It’s just kind of one of those things where we were that close. We were really, really close on a couple of plays (against Boston College) that could’ve been maybe explosive plays, and we just didn’t get it quite done. It caused us to stumble a little bit and have a couple of too many three and outs that we’re not used to having.”