Swinney pleased with Shipley and Mafah’s snap counts

Through three games, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has been pleased with the Tigers’ usage of Will Shipley and Phil Mafah.

Through three weeks, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has been pleased with how his team has utilized its top two tailbacks.

Considered to be one of the best running back duos in the country, Will Shipley and Phil Mafah have both had significant playing time this season. While fans may want to see one player receive the bulk of the carries, Swinney wants to make sure they both get their touches.

“It’s been good. You know, we obviously have had two games in a row where we rested those guys. I mean, you know, less plays, but yeah, we just play them,” Swinney said. “C.J. (Spiller) has got a good feel for it, and somebody gets high, you feed them. But yeah, we’re gonna make sure that we get both of those guys opportunities throughout the game. They’re both outstanding players, and it certainly helps as we go through the course of the game to be able to roll them in and out and keep them fresh.”

Last week against Florida Atlantic, Mafah had five carries compared to Shipley’s 10. As for the season, Shipley leads the team in rushing with 225 yards on 36 carries. Meanwhile, Mafah is right behind him with 25 carries for 166 yards.

Last year, Shipley had more than double the carries Mafah had, with 210 compared to Mafah’s 98. And while Shipley still has more carries and yards this season, he has yet to reach the end zone on the ground. Mafah, on the other hand, has scored three rushing touchdowns.

While the specific reason is unknown, Shipley visibly showed frustration on the sideline last week when he and Spiller had an intense conversation after Shipley got stuffed on the goal line in the second quarter. However, Swinney said on Sunday that Shipley and Spiller “resolved that pretty quickly.”

One thing Swinney added is that the two rushers can both play at the same time.

“A lot of times, they’re on the field together with some of our personnel packages that we have. But again, I think it’s been good. We just got to keep working and keep getting better.”

As Swinney mentioned, Clemson has had Shipley and Mafah on the field together in two-back sets at times this season. The Tigers used this personnel against FAU last week when both were in the backfield before Cade Klubnik threw a seven-yard touchdown to Jake Briningstool.

Nevertheless, Swinney, Shipley and Mafah will all look to upset No. 4 Florida State on Saturday when the Tigers host the Seminoles at noon.

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