As has often happened this season, Davis Allen got involved early.
The senior tight end caught his first pass – a 5-yarder – on Clemson’s second offensive snap Saturday. With the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Allen split out wide against Miami’s 6-1 cornerback, DJ Ivey, near the goal line, D.J. Uiagalelei went back to Allen at the end of the 12-play, 75-yard opening possession.
Uiagalelei faked a handoff to Will Shipley to help better clear a throwing lane to Allen, who worked his way inside Ivey on a slant toward the middle of the end zone. Ivey tracked closely behind, but Allen reached up to snag Uiagalelei’s fastball for a 7-yard touchdown.
And with that, Clemson’s tight ends were off in what turned out to be a historic day for the position.
Allen’s scoring catch was his fourth of the season. Fellow tight end Jake Briningstool had four coming into the game, making for the first time ever that Clemson has had two tight ends catch at least four touchdown passes in the same season.
Allen came into the game as Clemson’s second-leading receiver and added two other catches in the Tigers’ win Saturday, finishing the day with a team-high four receptions for 35 yards. His touchdown catch was the 11th of his career, moving him past former Clemson great Bennie Cunningham for the fifth-most scoring receptions by a tight end in program history.
Briningstool caught three balls for 57 yards, 49 of those coming on a catch and run late in the fourth quarter to set up another touchdown that put what was just a two-touchdown game at the time out of reach.
“It was a mixture of some matchups and just getting them involved,” offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said. “We’re very talented in the tight end room, and they made plays for us.”
Even reserve tight end Luke Price got in on the receiving action. A sixth-year senior, Price had not caught a pass all season. That changed early in the second quarter when Streeter went deeper into the playbook to add to Clemson’s 14-0 lead at the time.
With the Tigers set up with first-and-goal at Miami’s 3-yard line, the Tigers dialed up a throwback to Price, who, with all of the action going to the right on a play-action pass, sifted his way through the defense to the left. Miami left him all alone, making for an easy first touchdown catch of his career.
“We’d seen on film that they’re susceptible to some stuff,” Price said. “We took a little bit from that, from some other teams that they’ve played. We had our own little wrinkle for it, and it worked.”
Clemson’s tight ends finished with eight catches on the day, a continuation of the group’s heavy involvement in the passing game. Allen is up to 32 receptions on the season while Briningstool has 20. As a whole, Clemson’s tight ends have 55 catches – 18 more than all of last season.
About the only negative for the position was a lack of ball security at times that’s permeated an offense that’s committed 12 turnovers in the last four games. Allen lost a fumble with Clemson going in for another potential score in the second half while Briningstool also put the ball on the ground once, though Clemson got a fortunate bounce when it popped directly into the hands of Antonio Williams, who was close by.
But Saturday was largely a memorable one for a position that’s been productive all season.
“They continue to make plays,” Streeter said. “That’s just going to continue to happen, giving them opportunities to make plays.”
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.
Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!
