Tony Elliott Pleased With Offensive Line's Performance Against Virginia

Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott says there are a lot of positives to take away from the teams 41-23 win over Virginia on Saturday night, particularly with how the offensive line played.

The Clemson offense may not have been quite as explosive against Virginia as it was in its first two games of the season, but it was still able to accumulate 466 yards of offense. 

With rushing yards a little hard to come by, some might assume that the offensive line didn't play well against the Cavaliers. However, after watching the film that isn't how offensive coordinator Tony Elliott would asses the groups overall performance.

"Just a lot of positives. Obviously, there were a couple of drives we weren't able to finish," Elliott said on Monday. "But when you pull it out and you really break it down, I think the offensive line continues to, you know, to lead the way. Those guys are communicating well."

Coming in Elliott knew the Virginia defense would provide a challenge for the Tigers offensive line. While the Cavaliers had some success early on in disguising some looks, the Tigers offensive coordinator thought they were good when it came to protecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence. 

"Biggest thing, you know that I noticed comparing this year's film to last years film versus Virginia, is I thought up front the communication, the targeting, was very, very good," Elliott said. "We knew that we would have a challenging test from a protection standpoint and I thought the protection was solid." 

Coming off an 18 point win against a very physical defensive front, Elliott is pleased with how the group responded to their biggest challenge of the young season.

"Definitely a lot of positives, the effort continues to be good," Elliott said. "These guys are playing hard, trying to be physical up front, owning the line of scrimmage. So I thought there's a lot of positives. A good opportunity to see how our guys were going to respond when an opponent punches you back, you get a little bit of blood in your mouth and see how they respond, and I thought they did a good job."

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