How an 11-man run game and a 5-star QB make Clemson as scary as ever

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The biggest reason Clemson is in the College Football Playoff for the fourth year in a row is its defense. The Tigers have had one of the best in the land for years now, and when they brought back all four members of a Voltron defensive line, it was a lock they’d be great on that side again. It’s no surprise they are No. 1 in Defensive S&P+.

What we didn’t know: how the offense would bounce back after ranking 45th in S&P+ in 2017 and struggling in the passing game.

Clemson fixed those problems in 2018 and is up to No. 7 in Offensive S&P+ (despite spending the first month of the season in a quarterback battle, which is still dragging down the numbers a little), making the Tigers as threatening as they’ve ever been.

The Tigers built their offense around the ground game. That’s worked well with Travis Etienne, arguably the best back Dabo Swinney’s ever had.

For years, Clemson’s been a spread-to-run team. Its goal has been to stretch the field horizontally with athletic receivers and then mash ahead. The Tigers have been in that mold since even before Swinney got there, like when zone-read architect Rich Rodriguez was the coordinator. Swinney ramped it up with OC Chad Morris in the 2010s, before Morris took the smashmouth spread to SMU and Arkansas.

The Tigers have become way more comfortable chucking the ball around as they’ve recruited elite passing QBs in Deshaun Watson and now Trevor Lawrence. They were one of the most pass-happy teams in Watson’s 2016 and are on that end of the spectrum with the five-star freshman this year.

Their identity hasn’t totally changed, though. Clemson’s foundation is still a good line punching open running holes, as they did for C.J. Spiller, Andre Ellington, Tajh Boyd, and Wayne Gallman.

Etienne is arguably the most effective back in the country. He’s 10th nationally in yards per game, but he’s 74th in attempts per game. He’s only carried more than 16 times in two games. He’s had gaudy games like the one against Wake Forest, when he had 167 yards on 10 carries, with three TDs ...

... and when he had eight carries for 153 yards against Louisville:

Clemson’s line is spectacular, but having receivers who like to block takes a running game to the next level.

That’s especially true for a team that runs effectively on the perimeter. The O-line can get things started, but Clemson’s wideouts finish the drill. They are the opposite of afraid of contact.

6’4 sophomore Tee Higgins is one of the most willing and effective blocking receivers you’ll find. Watch him size up a corner and block even though the play wasn’t aimed his way:

Some more eager blocking here (though Etienne’s path carries him into the middle of it) ...

... and here, five yards in the damn end zone:

Elsewhere, smaller receivers Amari Rodgers and Hunter Renfrow are a formidable perimeter blocking force. They help this run get past the sticks:

And they help spring this one for a TD on the first play of the ACC Championship. They’re second and third from the top of the screen:

Diondre Overton (No. 14) gets in on the fun, and he doesn’t even play that much. It speaks to an ethos permeating that receivers room.

Given how good the defense and running game are, Clemson would be fine with a QB who just ran efficiently and avoided mistakes.

That’s what it had last year in Kelly Bryant’s ball security and running ability. Bryant threw an interception once every 50 passes in 2017, much better than the national average of one every 36.

That was enough to make the Playoff, but not enough to challenge Alabama. Clemson attempted to level up by replacing Bryant with Lawrence.

Even though Lawrence was the highest-rated QB recruit since Matt Barkley in 2009, it was fair to expect him to make some big mistakes as a true freshman.

Yet Lawrence has thrown just four picks, one every 81.5 passes. Only five QBs have thrown as many passes and been picked less frequently. All are juniors or seniors, and all but one (LSU’s Joe Burrow) plays outside the Power 5.

But Lawrence is also already good at downfield strikes and distributing the ball all around the field, making Clemson absurd.

You see the things that made Lawrence such a highly sought prospect in the little stuff. His brilliance is consistently putting the ball where it needs to be. He throws this ball where only Higgins can get it on the goal line:

Here’s a long throw that jumps out of his hand and gets down with good finish. It takes sound mechanics to avoid a sail:

And here’s some touch:

Here’s a back-shoulder:

And in case anyone thought Lawrence was just a pocket passer, here is a strike on the run, across his body:

This throw might be a beat late, but it’s intentionally behind Renfrow. If it’s out in front of him, Georgia Tech has 6 points the other way. Instead, it’s a first down for Clemson:

Of course, here’s the deep ball, with brownie points for doing it on the run across the body:

If you need Lawrence to make a throw, he can.

As a bonus, he’s a willing runner and can get a first down with his legs. He doesn’t fear getting hit. Sometimes that’s to his detriment, like when he got knocked out of the Syracuse game or when he took a hard shot against Florida State. But Clemson’s pretty smart about running him, and Lawrence gives this offense the aerial dimension it had with Watson in 2016.

As great as Clemson’s offense is, Notre Dame’s defense will test it.

The Irish, No. 4 in Defensive S&P+, don’t mind bending. They don’t get many turnovers and are fine giving up plenty of short runs and completions.

They’re tremendous at preventing big plays, though, and will demand more patience than the Tigers have had to show against the mediocre ACC teams that littered their schedule.

There’s a good chance the Cotton Bowl will come down to who finishes long drives better. Notre Dame’s defense stiffens up near the goal line.

The appealing thing for Clemson is that the Tigers can combat that either by plunging ahead with Etienne or having Lawrence throw up a fade to Higgins. It’s good to have options.