At times during his tenure at Clemson, offensive coordinator Garrett Riley has taken some heat for not making the running game more of a point of emphasis.
While meeting with the media on Wednesday, Riley was asked how pleased he’s been with run-pass balance on the offensive side of the ball this season.
“We are a pretty balanced attack in terms of run-pass,” Riley said on Wednesday. “Been that way really my whole time here.”
To this point in the season, the Tigers have passed it 360 times, while running the ball 314 times, suggesting the offense has been fairly balanced. However, there have also been examples of the offense getting away from the run.
Look no further than the season-opening loss to LSU, when Clemson ran the ball just four times in the second half of a one-score game. The following week against Troy, the Tigers ran it just 11 times over the first two quarters as the Trojans built a 16-3 halftime lead.
While the numbers have been more balanced in recent weeks, Clemson is still averaging just 120.9 rushing yards per game, which ranks only 109th in the nation. The passing game has been much more effective, averaging 278.3 yards per contest, which ranks 20th nationally.
“The more effective that is, it is going to make everything better,” Riley added of the running game. “It is going to make the quarterback’s life easier. It is always going to help improve your passing game, I feel like, too. We just got to keep finding ways to make that effective for us.”
In last Friday’s 20-19 win over Louisville, the Tigers did lean on the running game in the second half and running back Adam Randall delivered. The converted wideout had a big 46-yard run in the third quarter that set up his short touchdown run that ultimately proved to be the game-winner.
“I was proud of us after a kind of slow start in the run game part of it a week ago,” Riley said. “Was able to stay with it and grind away, and it ended up with Adam making the difference for us offensively in that game. Was great to see us kind of go through that in a four-quarter situation.”
Photo by Bart Boatwright