Spiller's rotation still a work in progress

Despite his career day, there's a feeling star could have been on the field more

CLEMSON - There might be a saddle on star running back C.J. Spiller, as Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has suggested.

But the Tigers also appear to have been keeping their prized racehorse in the stable more than expected.

Spiller was consistently absent for stretches of play in Saturday's 40-37 triumph at No. 8 Miami, which became noteworthy when backup Jamie Harper was used in passing situations in the team's final two regulation drives.

Part of it might have had to do with the fact Spiller went long distances when he was in there, accruing a program-record 310 all-purpose yards on 23 touches.

But coach Dabo Swinney said Sunday that Spiller's usage had nothing to do with his lingering turf toe or a lack of conditioning because of it.

Harper and fellow backup Andre Ellington combined for 31 yards on 12 carries and 34 yards on five receptions, with Harper converting a pair of short-yardage situations into pivotal first downs late.

"We go into the game with a rotation," Swinney said. "After we get going, it's by feel and instinct and where they are.

"We're trying to keep those guys as fresh as we possibly can."

Clemson had 71 offensive plays, and Swinney said Spiller participated in 35 snaps.

Spiller wore a protective walking boot on his injured foot afterward, which he has done following several contests this season.

Injury update. Senior tight end Michael Palmer will be held out for a few days with a "slight" concussion, Swinney said, and re-evaluated thereafter. Several other players have nicks and bruises, but Swinney did not expect anyone else to be listed as questionable for Saturday's 1:30 p.m. game against Coastal Carolina.

Junior linebacker Scotty Cooper (concussion) is expected to resume practicing today after sitting out the last two games.

After further review. Apparently Miami coach Randy Shannon was just as perplexed as everyone else that the Hurricanes kicked off to Spiller with a minute left in the first half - which Spiller returned for a 90-yard touchdown.

Kickoff specialist Alex Uribe was then benched for the second half, and Shannon said afterward that Uribe was not supposed to send the ball in Spiller's direction. On Sunday, Shannon told reporters Uribe "was in another world" at the time.

Quotable. "We're a work in progress. I've been saying that for a few weeks. Any time you start a redshirt freshman quarterback and a bunch of young guys at the skill positions, you're going to have problems. But we have been battle-tested against some good teams. The biggest thing is we've got to move on. We can't stay in the moment."

- Swinney

One more shot. Swinney said he was not playing for a field goal to tie at the end of regulation, but was forced to by a clock management miscue.

Clemson had one timeout left when Jamie Harper ran to the Miami 13 with 20 seconds left. Swinney wanted to preserve his timeout for if and when the Tigers had to send the field-goal unit on for a tying kick.

But with the clock running, quarterback Kyle Parker didn't promptly coax the team in position to spike the ball and stop the clock in order to safely leave Clemson with enough time for two sure plays. So Swinney called timeout with 0:09 left, and the Tigers settled for Richard Jackson's 30-yard field goal.

"We wanted to play to win," Swinney said.

Extra points. Spiller was named national offensive player of the week by the Walter Camp Foundation. ... Junior corner Marcus Gilchrist led the team with a career-high 11 tackles. ... Among all the candidates, the coaching staff awarded the offensive player of the game to junior left tackle Chris Hairston, who graded out at 85 percent.