In 2018, Travis Etienne had the kind of season most running backs just dream about.
The Clemson running back set the Atlantic Coast Conference on fire thanks to his league-leading 1,658 yards. He tied an ACC record with 26 touchdowns, including 24 on the ground.
At the end of the regular season Etienne was voted as the ACC Player of the Year and he backed it up by rushing for 156 yards and scoring two touchdowns in the ACC Championship Game, including a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. Afterward, he was voted as the game’s Most Valuable Player.
A month later, Etienne helped lead the Tigers to their second national championship in three seasons by rushing for 86 yards and scoring three touchdowns in Clemson’s 44-16 victory over Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
After all of that success, it would be easy for the rising junior to be complacent in 2019 and feel as if he has nothing else to prove. However, that’s not the case.
“It motivates me to better my game and better myself as a player and as a person,” the All-American said. “Just keep doing the little things to get better and just try and, like, be better. Just try to be the best human I can be.”
As the Tigers get ready to start spring practice next Wednesday, Etienne acknowledges he is a different player than he was this time last year. He spent all of last season getting his body bigger and stronger so he could withstand the rigors of a long season.
“I’m very different, my IQ of the game, the way I prepare for the game, just knowing things now that I didn’t know last year and being able to have the mental capacity to take in all the little things,” he said.
Those little things allowed the 5-foot-10 running back from Jennings, La., to set the Tigers’ single-season rushing record by 131 more yards. He did it by running by and through the defenders. Etienne led the nation in yards after contact, averaging another 4.3 yards after he was first touched.
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Just trying to get to the end zone the best way possible,” said Etienne, who also set Clemson’s single-season record for rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns. “But being a running back you can’t shy away from the contact. Blowing by guys is great, too, so it’s great to have both.
“I feel like I progressed throughout the season just knowing more and being able to pick up tips from just the players’ demeanor, the way they stand and things. Just being able to play the game within the game.”
Etienne became just the second player in Clemson history to average 110 rushing yards or more per game in a season. Former Tiger great Raymond Priester did it twice, averaging 112.1 yards per game in 1996 and 110.2 yards in 1995.
Etienne, who gives all the credit to his offensive line, averaged 110.5 yards per game last season.
“They know I wouldn’t be here without them,” he said. “I push them each and every day and for me to be up here is laughable because I know without the offensive line, I wouldn’t be sitting here at all. Their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed and I’m grateful for those guys.”
Move over Alabama, Clemson is the new King of College Football. In our new magazine “Little Ole Clemson”: The Best “Little” Dynasty Ever, we examine not just the 2018 team’s run to being “the best ever” but examine the last four seasons and how Dabo Swinney turned Clemson into the new dynasty of college football. We also take a look at the role former athletic director Terry Don Phillips played. We go behind the scenes at the Tigers’ run to a second national championship in three seasons and the previous three national championship runs. It also features stories on the Power Rangers, the 2018 senior class, high quality photos and much, much more.
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