Watson’s running adds another dimension to Clemson offense

The 2012 Clemson offense was pretty good.

There was Sammy Watkins, Martavis Bryant, DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Ellington — all highly productive NFL players. And then there was Tajh Boyd, a quarterback who owns a slew of school and ACC records.

But even that offense never had six consecutive games of 500-plus yards, a mark set by this year's Tigers. Statistically, though, the 2015 unit is on pace to rank behind that 2012 offense and the 2013 version in several key categories, but co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott says this squad hasn't peaked, either.

Part of this year's success on a 10-0, top-ranked team is the running of sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson.

"There's no doubt about it, his ability to run has been a difference maker to our offense this year," Scott said.

Watson has thrown for 2,593 yards and 23 touchdowns, and he posted 400 yards of total offense against both Florida State and Syracuse the last two weeks. He had over 100 rushing yards in each contest and has had 14 or more carries in each of the last three games. Watson has eclipsed 50 or more rushing yards in half of Clemson's 10 wins, including 93 against Notre Dame and 98 at Miami, to give him 598 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 108 carries, an average of 5.5 yards per tote.

Having that kind of rushing production from a guy who's also completing 70 percent of his passes has turned this from a dangerous offense into one that's been nearly impossible to stop since Watson began running on more designed calls.

"He wants to throw the ball, but he also understands the value of his legs and how difficult it is for a defense to cover the field, cover the skill guys and the quarterback," Scott said.

That wasn't necessarily the case early in the season. Understandably, Scott said the coaches were cautious with calling designed runs the first few weeks. Watson was coming off major knee surgery, and while he recovered quickly and never missed a snap, there were questions about how much that knee and brace would slow him down physically and psychologically. Scott said after that Notre Dame game on Oct. 3, when Watson reeled off a 33-yard run, they realized he was ready to take this offense to the next level.

"I think the one thing that we're very pleased with is the durability that he's shown," Scott said. "It wasn't a major question with him coming out of high school because he didn't really get hurt in high school, and then obviously last year he had a few of those injuries that popped up."

It's not like Boyd didn't or couldn't; he just had a different style and wasn't as athletic and dynamic as Watson, who's had long runs of 63, 25, 25 and 39 the last four games.