Skip to main content

Inside the Numbers: What Does More Tempo Mean for Clemson's Offense?

Clemson's pace was a key to beating Wake Forest soundly in the opener, but a commitment to more pace and plays with the Tigers' efficiency could be a potent combination.

Back in the spring, Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott highlighted three areas the Tigers needed to improve on from 2019 in 2020: third-down efficiency, touchdowns in the red zone and tempo. 

That last point of emphasis is one of the essential building blocks of an offensive philosophy that was installed by former OC Chad Morris back in 2011 and is still revered today.

“The DNA and origin of this offense is tempo related,” Elliott said. “In the offseason, our focus, even starting in the spring, was to get back to playing fast.”

It was one of the keys to helping the Tigers rack up 561 yards and score four touchdowns in the first 40 minutes of a game they played 78 of the 80 players who traveled to Winston-Salem. It was clearly a major part of the game plan as they kept the pressure on Wake Forest's defense with speed. 

The thing is, Clemson really hasn't been doing that during the Trevor Lawrence era. Saturday, the Tigers ran 82 plays, the most since running 83 against South Carolina last Thanksgiving Weekend. 

However, that was just the second time all of 2019 that Clemson ran more than 82 plays. In three postseason games (ACC, Fiesta Bowl and national title game), the offense never got to 70 plays in any of those contests. 

In fact, since Lawrence took over the starting quarterback job five games into the 2018 campaign, Clemson's had run more than 82 plays just three times total before Saturday. In the last four seasons, it had only gone over that mark five times combined. 

Clemson head coach Swinney said the Tigers saw that they needed "ownership" last season and a "type of urgency consistently" when it came to tempo this year. 

"At times our tempo was really good, but there are times that we want to slow it down," Swinney said. "We're not a one-tempo offense. We've got multiple tempos, but we really wanted to push the tempo (at Wake Forest.) We felt like it was going to be hard for them to sub, hard for them to match our depth. We felt playing fast we were going to create some mismatch opportunities, especially in the run game. It was good."

It's important to note that tempo doesn't always mean a team is going to run a ton of plays. Sometimes, having poor defensive efficiency or having a really strong defense that gets offenses off the field creates more plays. 

Clemson has had the latter under defensive coordinator Brent Venables, but it's evident the offense has been playing at a slower pace over the last few years. 

During the Morris era (2011-14), when it was all about getting up to the line of scrimmage and getting the snap off as quickly as possible to run up that play count, Clemson averaged 78.2 plays per game. After Elliott and former co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott took over, the Tigers averaged 76 plays per game (2015-19). 

Here's a breakdown of plays per game each season since Morris came to Clemson:

  • 2011: 75.3
  • 2012: 81.7 (school record)
  • 2013: 79.7
  • 2014: 76.1
  • 2015: 80.4
  • 2016: 81.3
  • 2017: 74.8
  • 2018: 71.7
  • 2019: 71.6

The offense played at its most efficient and quickest combined pace during the last two seasons of the Tajh Boyd era (2012-13) and the Deshaun Watson era (2015-16). 

Lawrence, however, appeared more suited to a slower pace the last two seasons, but Clemson still averaged nearly 527.2 and 528.7 yards per year, the two highest totals in school history. It goes to show pace and production aren't always married to each other as big, explosive plays certainly play a major role. 

"We want to try to find that happy medium to where we can get that snap count up without jeopardizing our efficiency and our explosiveness,” Elliott said in the spring. 

The mantra at Clemson, though, is to want to play fast. If you're good at it, it's a great way to dictate the game, keep the other team from substituting and wear down the opponent. 

"We are just trying to get these guys to play fast,” Elliott said. “It really stresses defenses and I think we were really able to see that in the (Wake Forest) game. When you play fast, especially when a team has a challenge from a depth standpoint, you can really put pressure on them. It forces the defense to play on its heels.”

It actually makes a lot of sense for Clemson to play faster this season. The Tigers, while still talented, don't have as many proven playmakers at receiver as a year ago. Saturday night, star running back Travis Etienne, one of the most explosive players in the country, didn't have a long run over 29 yards, but Clemson made up the yards he gets off of his 40-plus yard runs by pushing the pace. 

It helps that Lawrence was nearly flawless Saturday and looked comfortable with his presnap reads. When Clemson picked up the pace, Wake Forest struggled to get set, and the Tigers took advantage, especially in the red zone. 

"We want to play fast, but at the same time we want to give the quarterback the ability to get us in a good situation,” Elliott said. “We always try to give them answers build into the concepts that we call and also giving him the ability, if he needs to take an extra look at it, he can take an extra look at it while trying to get into the right call.”

If Saturday was a sign of things to come, Clemson's efficiency behind Lawrence and Etienne mixed with tempo could be a match made in heaven and the key to keeping the Tigers among the best offenses in the country while also pleasing a fan base used to seeing a more rapid pace. 

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top right-hand corner of the page.

Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter