Forget about the tempo. Forget about the four- and five-wide receiver sets. Forget about the bombs down field. Yes, Clemson is a spread team, but it is not your typical spread team.
Clemson wants to run the football, and that’s what it’s doing. The Tigers rank 21st in the country and second in the ACC at running the football, averaging 217.8 yards a game.
The last time a Clemson team rushed for more than 200 yards in a season – James Davis and C.J. Spiller combined to average 217.8 yards a game in 2006.
“Our guys take pride in running the football, and when we are running the football we are in control of the game,” Clemson running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said on Monday.
The Tigers (9-0, 6-0 ACC) definitely took control in Saturday’s win over No. 16 Florida State. Behind the running of Wayne Gallman and an offensive line that is perhaps the most physical Clemson has had in a decade, the Tigers wore down the Seminoles’ front seven in the second half.
Clemson rushed for 129 yards when the game was on the line, and 71 of those came from Gallman.
“He had to work for it,” Elliott said.
And that is where Gallman has grown up, says Elliott. After rushing for than 100 yards in each of the Tigers’ wins over Louisville, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, Gallman was stoned against Boston College’s top-ranked run defense.
The Eagles limited the sophomore to a season-low 48 yards on 17 carries. Elliott said BC’s front seven frustrated him and got him away from what he likes to do.
“He got away from being who he is,” Elliott said. “I told him he has to be consistent … take the base hit, take the base hit and the home run will come. I think that is what he did.”
Like the Boston College game, Florida State limited Gallman to 32 yards on nine carries in the first half. He just wasn’t getting the runs he was getting when he rushed for 118 yards against Miami and 172 against NC State.
But this time he did not get frustrated. Gallman remembered the conversation he had with his position coach and stayed true to who he was.
“He trusted me and he took that approach and ultimately he had that touchdown at the end, he got the hundred yards, but I think he grew up in the understanding that you cannot force it, you just have to go play,” Elliott said.
Gallman says that’s exactly what he was doing when he broke through the line and rumbled 25 yards for the game-clinching touchdown against Florida State, which came with 2:34 to play.
“I knew I needed to make something happen, and I just hit (the hole) to tell you the truth,” he said. “I really wasn’t thinking, I just ran.”
And he ran through four would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone.
“The big run really helped him,” Elliott said.
Gallman finished the game with 103 yards on 22 carries. It marked the sixth-time in the last seven games he went over the century mark. He now has 977 yards on the year and is set to become just the 14th player in Clemson history to run for 1,000 yards in a season.
His 108.6 yards per game ranks second in the ACC, and is the best per game average by a Clemson running back since Raymond Priester averaged 112.1 yards in 1996. Gallman is on pace with at least five games to play to shatter Priester’s single season-record of 1,345 yards, which was set in 1996.
He potentially can set the record in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 3.
“Wayne had to run the ball, and I was happy he had that success. He kind of grew up a little bit,” Elliott said.