Big plays ‘come back’ to Clemson’s offense as Tigers escape at Texas A&M
Clemson’s coaching staff made it no secret leading up to the 2018 season that it wanted to see the Tigers record more explosive plays this year.
Head coach Dabo Swinney, co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and the rest of the Tigers’ staff got their wish Saturday night at Texas A&M.
No. 2 Clemson had seven plays of 15 or more yards in its 28-26 win against Texas A&M. Senior quarterback Kelly Bryant, freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence and sophomore wide receivers Tee Higgins and Amari Rodgers all came up big for the Tigers.
“Excited to see the explosive plays come back. I think that’s what put us in position to win the game,” Elliott said. “It’s good to see that some things we focused on in the offseason are coming into fruition and we’ve just got to learn from this game and grow and put it all together.”
Bryant had a 64-yard pass to Rodgers, a 50-yard strike to Higgins, a 40-yard completion to Hunter Renfrow, an 18-yard pass to sophomore running back Travis Etienne and a 27-yard run.
Lawrence linked up with Higgins for a 64-yard touchdown, while Etienne broke free for a 28-yard run.
“I think the explosive plays is really what I take away from this,” co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said. “Kelly had some nice throws. I thought Trevor made some nice throws whenever we had to have it and Kelly helped us with his feet, which was important and something that is obviously a part of our offense.”
HANDLING THE NOISE
Bryant called Saturday’s game the loudest road game he has ever played in as more than 104,000 fans were in attendance, marking the largest crowd Clemson has played in front of in school history. But the Tigers handled the noise well overall, committing only four penalties for 49 yards.
Clemson had only one penalty on offense, which was a delay of game. The Tigers did not jump offsides and also did not commit a turnover.
“Offensively this is two games in a row we’ve had no turnovers. And I don’t think we had any procedure (penalties), which is amazing,” Swinney said. “It’s the first time in 13 years our first two games we’ve not had a turnover, the 10th game in a row that we’ve created a turnover.”
NEW STARTER
Cade Stewart was a surprise starter at right guard in place of Sean Pollard, although Pollard also played in the game.
Elliott said Stewart earned the start with his play in the days leading up to Saturday’s game. Offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell made the final decision.
“That was just a situation of practice matters. He had a great week of practice and obviously coach Caldwell felt like he deserved the opportunity to run out there first,” Elliott said. “Then you saw in the game you’ve still got to perform well. Just because you run out there first doesn’t mean that you’re going to be out there all the time... We mixed it up a little bit and Sean Pollard got in there and there were some conversations saying that he played well when he got in there. That competition will continue to go and it just illustrates that practice does matter.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2018 at 7:32 AM.