By William Qualkinbush.
By William Qualkinbush.
By William Qualkinbush
For more than a month, Clemson fans have been waiting on the Tigers to consistently run the football for four solid quarters in a game. Against North Carolina State on Saturday, they got their wish.
Clemson steamrolled the Wolfpack 41-0, and the ability to control the clock on the ground was one of the reasons why. The Tigers managed 226 rushing yards on 50 carries—far and away season bests against FBS competition—and dominated time of possession by almost ten minutes because of it.
Eight different players carried the football out of the backfield today, but a trio of freshmen stole the show. Quarterback Deshaun Watson led all Clemson ball-carriers with 15 carries for 62 yards. Redshirt freshman Wayne Gallman had 13 rushes for 58 yards, and true frosh Adam Choice ran the ball nine times for 56 yards in the game.
The three combined to rush the ball 37 times for 176 yards on Saturday. Heading into the game, they had combined for only 70 carries for 255 yards in four previous tilts.
“I’ve been waiting for it all this time,” Gallman said of his increased role. “The past four games, I’ve been getting those mental reps that I’ve needed. This week, I just really practiced hard on what I need to work on.”
Gallman and Choice are both talented backs, but coordinator Chad Morris has been adamant that his freshman phenoms still had work to do if they wanted to carry the load.
“I’ve been too fast to the ball at times,” Gallman said. “It’s really been kind of mushy these past couple of weeks. But I really got it today.”
Watson’s presence has boosted the running game, as well, and Morris liked what he saw from the quarterback—especially on one simple play when he used his legs.
“He picked up the first down and slid down,” Morris said. “I thought that was big time.”
Continued dominance of the state up north. Saturday marked the seventh straight victory for Clemson over a team from the state of North Carolina. The Tigers have now won 11 of their past 12 meetings against such opponents. That includes a 10-1 stretch against the Wolfpack, a stretch that includes three consecutive wins.
Opposites attract. Clemson’s offense took the ball and scored on Saturday, the fourth time in five games in which Morris’ unit found the end zone to start off the game. On the flip side, Clemson’s defense forced a three-and-out and has yet to allow an opponent to gain a single yard on an opening possession throughout the first five games of the season.
Extending streaks. Clemson is now 65-0-1 all-time when recording at least 200 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in the same game.
Super freshman. Watson had another banner day under center for the Tigers on Saturday. He had 329 yards of total offense and now has totaled 792 yards of offense over two games as a starter. He is just the second first-year freshman quarterback to win two games as a starter, joining Nealon Greene’s 2-3 mark in 1994.