Dixon is getting back to old form

Last season was not an easy one for Lyn-J Dixon.

Though he had a very good spring in 2020 before the pandemic hit and opened up fall camp as one of the more consistent players, the Clemson running back hit a snag about midway through camp that hampered him for much of the 2020 season.

Though he eventually returned from a preseason knee injury suffered in a scrimmage last August, Dixon still did not trust it when he came back. In return, offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, then the running backs coach, did not trust Dixon. Eventually, because the junior was not always doing what the play called for him do, Elliott had to sit him down for a little bit, to let him see things from the sideline.

Ultimately, it all worked out. After not getting a carry against Notre Dame in the regular season meeting, Dixon bounced back and carried the ball nine times for 46 yards and touchdown against Pittsburgh. The following week, he had three carries for 37 yards and a score at Virginia Tech.

In the Sugar Bowl, he had the longest run of the game for the Tigers, a 15-yard run, which set up a touchdown. He finished with two carries for 20 yards.

In the last three games Dixon played in, he rushed for 103 of his 190 yards, while averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

Elliott is hopeful, the confidence Dixon was able to build at the end of the year will transfer to 2021. So far, the coaching staff likes what they are seeing from the 5-foot-10, 195-pound running back.

“I am just seeing more decisiveness in his cuts and trusting the system,” Elliott said. “C.J. [Spiller] is doing a good job of helping him transition. We know he is a perimeter runner, but what I have seen is a little bit more of a sense of urgency, squaring up his pads and trying to do the dirty things, so he can get the opportunities to get out and hit the home runs which we know he is capable of.”

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