By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
CLEMSON — It was third down-and-goal from the Boston College six-yard line when Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney decided to call a timeout to talk things over with quarterback Tajh Boyd. With 3:08 remaining in the first quarter last Saturday, Swinney wanted to make sure they had the right play-call in and that Boyd knew it exactly what he had to do in order to execute it.
Offensive coordinator Chad Morris called an option to the short side of the field, which Boyd pulled inside and bullied his way into the end zone for his first rushing touchdown of the year. The score did more than just give the Tigers the lead that afternoon. It also proved how far Boyd has come in understanding his role in the running game and how it makes the Clemson offense click on all cylinders.
“That’s one of the biggest parts of our offense and one of the areas we have improved a lot this year,” Swinney said during his press conference Tuesday at the WestZone inside Memorial Stadium.
Boyd rushed for 42 yards against Boston College and has now netted 161 yards through five games, which ranks second on the team behind Andre Ellington’s 515 yards. Boyd has recorded six runs over 10 yards this season and has one that went for longer than 20.
“It’s not exactly Georgia Tech, but it’s a little wrinkle,” Boyd laughed.
It may not be Georgia Tech, but the Yellow Jackets are one of the reasons why the 15th-ranked Tigers needed more production in the running game from their starting quarterback. It was in this game last year that Georgia Tech started showing that dropping eight men back in coverage caused Boyd issues in his decision making.
“In their mind, they were thinking I probably was not going to throw the check-down (pass),” Boyd said. “The running game was not effective as we needed it to be so they were like, “he isn’t going to run the ball.’ After that, everybody started dropping.”
And Boyd started struggling. The redshirt junior threw two interceptions against Georgia Tech—who the Tigers play Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Death Valley—and followed that up by throwing seven more over the last five games.
Swinney and Morris made it a point in the off-season to get Boyd to understand why he has to be a better running threat.
“That was one of the worst things he did last year,” Swinney said. “It is not really visible to the naked eye, but it was very visible to us because we know what he is supposed to be doing.
“Last year, he was handing it when he was supposed to keep it and keeping it when he was supposed to hand it off. He was very inconsistent with his footwork and undisciplined with his eyes.
“He was not fully committed to that part of his game,” Swinney continued. “That’s where he was challenged big time in the off-season and he still has a lot of things he has to get better at. But he has greatly improved from where he was last year.”
Boyd’s improvement in the running game is a big reason why defensives are having such a hard time stopping the Clemson offense right now. The Tigers are averaging 510.8 yards and 40.2 points per game and thanks to runs like the 11-yard scramble he had in the third quarter against Boston College to keep a scoring drive alive, defenses have to respect his ability to run with the football.
“When the game changes, how do I control those situations,” Boyd said. “How do I keep helping this team convert on those third down situations? You just have to keep improving.
“It’s all about having the sense of when to run. You cannot run in every situation. Sometimes, you have to sit in there. There is a lot to do.”
But there is also a lot of fun it, too, especially when he gets to run the triple-option.
“It’s pretty cool to run. I ran a little bit of it in high school, and hopefully maybe something like that will help this offense evolve another phase,” Boyd said. “We have to keep being able to add things into this offense and keep incorporating it.
“A major part of it is how effective do I run the football. I think it keeps defenses honest.”