CLEMSON — In what has become a recurring theme, Clemson failed to get the running game going in its latest loss to SMU.
The Tigers rushed the ball 30 times for just 35 yards, and when teams have that little success on the ground, they aren’t likely to win.
During his weekly teleconference on Monday, it was pretty apparent Dabo Swinney was frustrated with his team’s lack of success on the ground.
“We don’t have to rush for 200 yards, but we need to be efficient in what we’re doing,” the head coach said.
Looking even deeper, backup quarterback Chris Vizzina, who was making his first career start in place of an injured Cade Klubnik, was responsible for half of those, carrying the ball 15 times, with most coming on designed QB runs. Starting running back Adam Randall had just 10 carries, while freshman Gideon Davidson had just one.
Offensive coordinator Garret Riley’s failure to get the running backs more involved appears to be a point of contention.
“I don’t think we did a good job of calling it,” Swinney said. “We just didn’t do a good enough job of packaging some things together for him. We didn’t execute some things well. The short yardage would have kept us going, and we didn’t execute it. Schematically, we had some things that we just never got to. Just a frustrating day from that standpoint.”
On paper, it’s certainly not all bad. The Tigers currently rank No. 20 nationally in passing yards, averaging 284.3 yards per game.
However, the rushing numbers tell a different story. One that shows the offense just isn’t very balanced.
Clemson is one of the worst rushing teams in the country, ranking No. 112, while averaging just 116.4 yards per contest on the ground.
Going into the SMU game, knowing Klubnik would be out, there was a package created for freshman quarterback Chris Denson, who is certainly dangerous with his legs. After using him just once, a play in which he was held to a two-yard gain, Denson was never used again, something else Swinney was critical of.
“We just had a little package for him. We thought he might play more plays, but Garrett just never got back to it.”
Photo by Bart Boatwright