Clemson’s Run Game is Too Good to Simply Take What’s Given

60 point wins on the road are few and far between to say the least, and I don’t care who they come against; domination doesn’t discriminate. I love when I get bored with a blowout and can’t wait for it to end in time to watch the night game lineup...until Hunter Renfrow comes in at quarterback and brings me back to the edge of my seat with maniacal and derisive pleasure. But this...this backfield is what I really want:

This is the most exciting Clemson run game since, what, 2006? We’re in the middle of what has suddenly become the most explosive and efficient Clemson offense ever, based on statistics, and the best part is most of the explosiveness is found on the ground.

Yet if there is a week to let Lawrence air it out early against an unreliable back 7, this is that week. Not to say I want Clemson to go pass-happy, but yards on the ground will come regardless given the strength of the Clemson running backs and offensive line in run blocking. I merely won’t be frustrated to see Tony Elliott open it up for Lawrence from the start and allow him to build a rhythm...unless Wake starts racking up the play count with their own offense.

Remember when I said this on Friday? Well, I was wrong. I was very frustrated in the first 3 series when Travis Etienne had only 1 carry and Clemson wasn’t moving the ball. It’s spurts like these which make it hard to believe the stats which tell us this is the best offense in Clemson history on a yards per play average. But upon review, Clemson and Elliott weren’t actually pass-happy or pig-headed. Called runs were checked to screens more than a handful of times (screens are built into Clemson’s inside zone runs) based on pre-snap alignments and soft coverage outside early in the game. Look no further than the game’s very first play:

This is a called inside zone handoff. Lawrence sees soft coverage from the corner and the strong safety too far inside to get outside. It’s easy to say it was the wrong read in hindsight, but with Wake running a Mike/SS overload blitz it’s actually correct to try and flip this outside. Given Wake’s issues in gap integrity though, this would’ve been a big gain for Etienne.

We know-it-alls and Twitter blowhards can harp on Elliott for not establishing the run early, it’s not like he wasn’t calling run plays. Simply put, Clemson is built to take what is given, and Wake was giving Clemson quick screens outside early. But moving forward I hope this is yet another lesson learned that Clemson can impose its run game from the start — not even needing to take what is given — with power and counter handoffs where Etienne is the most beautifully lethal. It’s no coincidence the first counter run was an easy touchdown and foretold what was to come throughout the entire game.

Impose your will and make the opponent bend to it. Give Etienne a heavy dose of power and counter handoffs in the opening script. Then sit back and listen to how ESPN will shut up about finesse.

Clemson goes 3 & out on the next series when Lawrence fumbles on his windup. Insult to injury, he tweaked his leg...

Wake provides another 3 & out; Xavier Thomas stuffed a run and Mark Fields dropped another interception. Clemson runs its first counter handoff of the day immediately following Wake’s punt and you’ll never guess what happens!

The rest of the quarter proceeds uneventfully, with Clemson and Wake each trading 3 & outs before Wake converts a 3rd & long with, for some reason Jalen Williams in man coverage against Greg Dortch. The drive lasts a few more plays before Tanner Muse picks off Hartman on an underthrown rollout scramble in cover 4:

From here the dam is set to burst in the 2nd quarter, where we’ll resume coverage later in the week.