Efficient Clemson run game paves way for run to playoff

Last December, Clemson was on its way to finishing 2014 as one of the worst run-efficiency teams in the nation. A year later, the No. 1 Tigers have turned a weakness into a strength that's helped spearhead a 13-0 run in 2015.

Last year, three of the four inaugural College Football Playoff teams averaged well above the national average of 4.5 yards per carry. Clemson posted just 3.5 yards on the four-most carries in the league in 2014. In 2015, the Tigers are averaging 5.0 yards per run.

And that's a huge reason why they're in the Dec. 31 CFP's Orange Bowl semifinal against No. 4 Oklahoma at 4 p.m. on ESPN.

"I don't know if statistically you have to hit this number to be a playoff-caliber team, but I do think you have to be committed to running the football and keep defenses honest," Clemson co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Tony Elliott said back in July. "I just know we're going to try to be balanced. We're going to push to be efficient as we can in the run game."

The Tigers have done that — and more. Elliott's goal was to average 200 rushing yards per game, and Clemson's gone well above that. The offense is putting up 222.5 yards per contest, which ranks 22nd nationally. Only Georgia Tech, a triple-option offense, has more rushing yards in the ACC.

Of the four playoff teams, Clemson is second behind the Sooners in yards per carry and game. Elliott's squad has been better than Alabama, which averages 4.8 yards per run and 208.2 per contest.

"We always talked about averaging 200 yards rushing, but when they started to do it, it was an expectation," Elliott said. "From there it was we wanted to go from 200 to 215 to 225, and we wanted to be one of the top rushing teams in the league, and ultimately the next step is to try to be one of the top rushing offenses in the country."

Paving the way

For the Tigers to commit to the run and become more efficient, the coaching staff knew where it had to begin. And Clemson coach Dabo Swinney called it.

He reminded reporters last week that he claimed before the season started that the offensive line would be the most improved unit on the team and the biggest difference maker by December — even though they were replacing four starters and putting true freshman Mitch Hyatt at left tackle.

"The reason I can tell you that is because I see them every day," Swinney said. "This is a group of guys that care. They love to play. What I saw this summer and the leadership of (Eric) Mac (Lain), (Joe) Gore, (Ryan) Norton, the way (Jay) Guillermo came back and plugged in with those guys, young guys blending in, it was the hunger that I saw."

With more depth for 2015, the once unassuming O-line responded when challenged by taking over the line of scrimmage in several games this season.

"It makes it so much sweeter because we've said it so much in the past: 'We want to get 200 yards,'" said Guillermo, who took over the starting center duties in Week 3. "We know we have to keep working, but it's a goal that we're finally at, so maybe we can raise the bar a little bit."

Two-headed monster

Wayne Gallman didn't even get out of spring practice before he locked down the No. 1 running back role, but there were questions about him handling a heavy load in his first year as a starter. Quarterback Deshaun Watson had knee surgery last December, and nobody knew for sure if he'd have the same burst and running ability this season.

This two-headed monster, however, has combined for 2,219 rushing yards to break the school's duo rushing record set by James Davis and C.J. Spiller in 2006.

Gallman averages 111 yards per game and is 14 yards away from setting the program's single-season record for rushing yards. He's already set another school mark with eight games of 100 yards or more.

Watson, meanwhile, slowly earned the coaching staff's trust to call more designed runs, and he's responded with four 100-yard games in his last five contests. Those rushing efforts not only helped make him a Heisman Trophy finalist, they turned Clemson's offense into a high-powered machine that's totaled 500 or more yards in nine consecutive games — another school record.

"Just being able to run and pass, it's dangerous for any team," Gallman said." I think with the job the offensive line has done, and how great they've been, it's allowed me and Deshaun to really do our thing."

Proving it

Before the season, an improved running game was all talk. And even after rushing for 362 yards combined against Wofford and App State in the first two weeks, the Tigers had to back it up on the road at Louisville. In a tight, contested game that went down to the wire, the running game took over, behind 139 yards from Gallman and 54 from Watson, to rack up 202 yards in a 20-17 victory in a tough environment.

"I think maybe because that was our first really big game and it was on ESPN, big TV time and all that, I think it was really big to take that step through the door and really do what we needed to do to win," Gallman said.

The following game at home against Notre Dame in a driving rainstorm, the Tigers got out to a quick 14-3 lead in a top-10 showdown, and the coaches turned the game over to the O-line. Clemson held on for a 24-22 victory that set the stage for their undefeated run.

"I think that's where our team really grew the most. Just the confidence that, hey, we can run the ball," Swinney said. "And then those times where we ran it when everybody knew we were running it and we were still able to be successful like against Notre Dame, that's really paid big dividends for us as we've gone through the year and created balance for us.

"We were running the ball so well those first four or five games, y'all were wondering what was wrong with the passing game."

Clemson didn't stop there. The offense put up 201 rushing yards on Georgia Tech before crushing Miami with 416 more, the most rushing yards for Clemson since 2000.

The Tigers continued to go over 200 yards in four of the last five games, including recording 319 in the ACC Championship Game victory over North Carolina.

"When we can run it and control the clock and also set up the play-action and throw it and we're balanced throughout the game, (defenses) have to figure out what they want to stop," Elliott said. "And running the ball, they've got to commit to stopping the run or we're going to stay on the field and eat up the clock."