By Ed McGranahan.
By Ed McGranahan
Dabo Swinney quit playing high-stakes poker when he hired Chad Morris, and six games into the second season the Clemson offense is betting with house money.
Last season Clemson established school standards for total points and yards per game. Both are again in jeopardy along with covey of other marks because of the talent, experience and clarity.
Offensive numbers in college football have tracked higher for decades with few severe swings. In 1993, offenses established records averaging 371.3 yards and 3.09 touchdowns, and 10 years later it was 382.6 and 3.40.
The record for per-game total offense (392.8 yards) was set in 2007 and narrowly missed last season (392.4) when the record for touchdowns per game (3.59) broke the record (3.55) set four years earlier.
Clemson has averaged 525 yards which is 13th nationally in a season that’s seen an offensive orgy. Based on NCAA archives, Clemson’s production this fall would rank top two or three each season, but one since 2000. That year Florida State with Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke at quarterback led the nation averaging 549 yards per game. Boise State was second at 494.
The next year BYU, Florida and Marshall were the only teams averaging 500 yards a game. In fact, during the decade only once did more than three teams average 500, and that was a record-setting 2007, topped by Tulsa, Texas Tech, Hawaii and Houston.
In 2010, five teams went over 500, topped by Oregon (530) and Boise State (521). Last year there were six, led by Houston, Oklahoma State and Oregon. At Clemson’s current pace it would fit between the Cowboys and Ducks, but that was then.
Baylor totaled 700 yards in a loss this season to West Virginia, which had 807 of its own.
After popping Georgia Tech for 601 and the 576-yard performance at Boston College, 700 seems like a realistic number to Clemson players, who frequently talk about “leaving” points and yards on the field, and have not been playing their best game offensively. The school record for offense is 756 yards in that win over Wake Forest in 1981. It was the only time a Clemson team topped 700.
“We’re playing well, but I still don’t think we’ve played to our potential,” said center Dalton Freeman, who first mentioned the number. “There’s still a lot left on the table, and I know that’s hard for outsiders to hear or understand.
“We’re still waiting to put that complete game together,” he said. “We’re perfectionists. Until we’re talking about 700 yards of offense and we’re actually going out there and getting 700 yards of offense, I don’t think we’ll ever be satisfied.”
It’s hard to argue with them considering Sammy Watkins’ absence more than half the season. If Watson has found his groove, imagine Bud Foster’s headache this week as he schemes for an offense that burned him for 457 yards in the ACC Championship game 10 months ago.
Tajh Boyd watched West Virginia score 10 touchdowns against his team in January, and he sees what’s happening nationally.
“Those numbers are so good, but there’s so much more room,” Boyd said of Clemson’s production the first half. “As players we talk. We’re like, ‘If we can get that game where we just go off.’”
Boyd said he’s tired of moving the ball inside the 10-yard line and settling for field goals. He’d rather go all in.
“I want us to go a game where we don’t have to kick field goals,” he said. “I like field goals, but I don’t love field goals. I love touchdowns.”
That’s the kind of confidence that comes from playing with house money.