Dabo Swinney Explains Why Clemson RB Chris Johnson Jr. Was Benched vs. North Carolina

Clemson’s running back room came alive in the Tigers’ win over North Carolina this past weekend, but there was a key omission from a snap standpoint that raised some eyebrows.

While sophomore Gideon Davidson had a career day inside Memorial Stadium that day, SMU transfer running back Chris Johnson Jr. only played two offensive snaps in the win. He finished with two carries for no yards, but head coach Dabo Swinney had an explanation for why Johnson wasn’t seen much this past weekend.

And he was critical of his performance.

“He went in, and he bounced it outside on a play that’s supposed to go inside, and so I just wasn’t going to watch it anymore,” he said. “I’m trying to win a game.”\

The urgency to get the run game going for the Tigers, especially with a true freshman making his first start against the Tar Heels, had Swinney go with the players that would read the correct gap instead of the speed on the edge. He hopes that Johnson understood the mistakes, using it to fuel the skillset he brings down the line of the season.

However, the transfer brought use in other ways for Swinney.

“If he wants to play, he’s got to do what he’s coached to do. I mean, it’s just really simple,” he said. “I mean, he was impactful in winning the game at kickoff return, but we know what he can do, but he’s got to play within the scheme, and we’ve got to do a good job too of creating some space for him and things like that.”

Clemson entered the contest averaging 2.9 yards per carry, which was outside the top 100 in the FBS in the first two games. Offensive coordinator Chad Morris has an offense that prides itself on running the football, because it opens up so many different facets of the Tigers’ scheme.

Swinney just didn’t see the urgency in Johnson’s two carries.

“It impacts everything. It impacts your third down. It impacts your play-action game,” he said. “It impacts your shots. It impacts the buy-in of, you know, everything.”

Instead of Johnson, it was Jarvis Green who got the backup snaps, finishing with five carries for 22 yards. While one of his carries was a fumble, Swinney saw the energy that the local product brought in in his limited snap count.

The Clemson head coach is high on Green, but he needs to see more availability throughout the season to carve out a true role.

“I love what I’ve seen out of Jarvis,” he said. “The problem with Jarvis is he’s rarely available, you know, he missed most of camp and he was late getting back, then he misses a lot of practice.”

Swinney also mentions David Eziomume, who “nobody talks about” despite having the only touchdown of the game against LSU to open the year. He hinted at giving him another chance as the Tigers continue to go into ACC play, and he will see if the junior answers the call once again at tailback.

All in all, Clemson’s running back room is going to need everybody, and even if Johnson was benched for the rest of the game, the Tigers will give him more opportunities as the season goes on.

After all, all it takes is one break for the former track athlete to change a game.

“There’ll be plenty of opportunity, but I’ve said it a hundred times: all them backs are going to help us at some point,” Swinney said.

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