Tremayne Anchrum is glad Clemson had the struggles it had when it nearly lost to North Carolina on Sept. 28 in Chapel Hill.
As a team, it was without a doubt their worst performance of the year. The offense hiccuped all afternoon, as it produced a season-low 331 yards in the 21-20 victory.
However, the Tigers used that performance as the driving force to make sure they bring their A-game to the football field every week. Since that North Carolina game, Clemson has averaged 49.7 points and 592.3 yards per game. It outscored Florida State, Louisville and Boston College by a combined score of 149-31.
[North Carolina] let us understand that no matter how much talent or potential that we have, it is all about the basics. It is all about the work,” Anchrum said. “It does not matter how many skill players and things you have we have to make it work as a team. That was important for us to realize midway through the season and I am glad it happened.”
The Tigers (8-0, 6-0 ACC) come into Saturday’s game against Wofford clicking on all cylinders. They are coming off their best game of the season in last week’s 59-7 win over Boston College.
For the first time since 2012, Clemson scored at least 45 points for a third straight game, while their 674 total yards was a season high.
“As the season goes, you get more comfortable. You kind of get into a rhythm,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “I feel like we are figuring out exactly who we are, and we are just getting better every week and all of that is part of it.”
The Tigers outgained Boston College, 674-177. The 497-yard differential was Clemson’s largest yardage differential against an ACC opponent since the conference’s founding in 1953, surpassing a 464-yard advantage against Wake Forest in 2000.
“I think, not that it has been really bad this year, but I think our focus has been really good in practice and really intentional in every part of practice the past three weeks, especially,” Lawrence said.
Anchrum says the last three weeks are just the result of trusting what the coaches are telling them and focusing each week on getting better.
“That is just a part of the process. You want to be your best at this point in the year,” the right tackle said. “When you hit October, through the meat of the season to November, they remember November. So, really hitting our stride right now is part of our plan. It’s part of our goals, really hitting that division goal.
“Right now we are in the thick of division play and really hitting that stride right now is important.”
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