Clemson's Stars Find a Way to Win
The road to New Orleans took an unexpected turn Saturday night. Any fan can take a look at the box score to see that the Clemson Tigers had to find unconventional ways to outlast one of the best teams in college football, the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Trevor Lawrence was named the Fiesta Bowl’s Most Valuable Player. It wasn’t passing yards alone that helped him lead Clemson to a victory, it was also his rushing yards. Lawrence finished the game as the Tiger's leading rusher with 107 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 16 carries. One of the best defenses in the country allowed over 6 rushing yards per carry from one of the nation’s best passers.
Clemson’s offensive Coordinator, Tony Elliot and the rest of the Clemson coaching staff hadn’t focused on using Trevor in the running game as much during the season, however, once the post-season arrived, the Tigers look to exploit matchups anyway they can, even the unconventional ones.
“There’s always going to be a situation where you have to run your quarterback because they don’t have matchup confidence,” said Coach Elliot. “It was huge in the beginning and gave us a big spark there with the long run for a touchdown. It gave us an element that not a lot of people see until we get to this part of the season.”
Clemson’s go-to wide receiver, Tee Higgins, was sidelined early in the game and that forced the Tigers to adjust their approach in the passing game as well. Similar to Trevor Lawrence, Clemson’s highlight reel running back, Travis Etienne, had to find ways to advance the ball by way of yards after the catch, instead of his typical yards after the carry that fans are used to.
For a Tiger team that has been to the national championship game four out of the last five years, it’s all about the “we” instead of “me.”
“We tell these guys all the time to take the ego out of it and to do whatever to win the game and at the end of the day, to win the football game we needed Trevor's legs to be able to do it and Travis in the passing game to help us out,” said Coach Elliot.
Ohio State took an early 16-0 lead with 7:20 left in the first half. However, Tony Elliot spoke to his team before the game about being prepared to do whatever it takes to make a difference and win the game.
“I told Travis before the game, that at the end of the day, he's going to be a difference maker and I said “I don’t know how it's going to be, you may have to run us to New Orleans or you may have to catch the ball,” said Coach Elliot.
“That’s something he took pride in. They weren’t going to be denied.”
