By Will Vandervort

CLEMSON — When No. 13 Clemson battles seventh-ranked LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year’s Eve, defensive back Travis Blanks will fall back into the position he says he is the most comfortable in – playing safety.

Because the Southeastern Conference’s Tigers like to play a lot of “21 personnel,” which means they run a grouping of two running backs and one tight end, Blanks will play the safety position when he is on the field. This should help give Clemson an extra tackler against an LSU rushing attack that is averaging 180 yards a game.

“They like to pound the football,” Blanks said following practice Saturday, the Tigers first of 10 bowl practices in Clemson. “I will probably be playing a lot of safety while working with Rashard Hall so who knows. I may get a lot of playing time, I might not. I will be practicing a lot this week at safety.”

According to head coach Dabo Swinney, Blanks will be practicing at safety for the rest of his career at Clemson.

“I’m excited about his future, but we will bump him back to safety,” Swinney said. “We have managed him well this year, I think. We tried to develop him into a certain role. Safety is a position that has some complication to it, but he is going to be a great fit for that. He has great range and great ball skills. He is a hitter and is a highly competitive football player.

“I think his future is very bright. This is a good start for him.”

That start includes playing in 12 games and starting eight of them. The true freshman totaled 51 tackles, had two tackles for loss and broke up six passes while mostly playing the nickel back position. Those numbers were good enough to earn him Second-Team Freshman All-American honors on Saturday.

“Travis has had a great year,” Swinney said. “Sometimes you forget that he is just a true freshman. He is just like a sponge. The biggest thing is, he has been there and done that. The experience factor and the knowledge he has, has grown immensely since he got here. He was trying to figure it out last spring.

“He is almost like having a guy going into his junior year. That’s generally how I would perceive him now going into spring ball.”

Knowing he is going to be playing safety heading into the spring, Blanks says it will almost like being home.

“I’m real comfortable at safety. I think that is my natural position as do the coaches,” he said. “It will feel good to have a home. This year, I was all over the place just helping out the team and filling in where I could.

“Going into next season, it will feel good being able to dial in and focus on that one spot.”

As he continues to develop his body in the strength and conditioning program at Clemson, Blanks feels he will become the kind of safety that will be able to deliver the hits needed to separate the football from the receivers as well as improve on his overall coverage skills.

“The most important thing is your eyes. You have to know where to look,” he said. “I think playing backup safety in practice this year was the most important thing that could have happened. I realized how to play at the college level and how important the eyes are.

“You have to read your keys. It’s about alignment assignment and technique. That’s the biggest thing about safety. It’s a crucial position. If we make a mistake there is no defense after that. We are the last line of defense so it is very crucial that you have your eyes right, you read your keys, you get the right alignment and you finish your assignment.”