Clemson Football: Assessing Travis Etienne’s midseason performance

Clemson football RB Travis Etienne had an explosive performance against Georgia Tech and has since cooled off. Here’s our midseason assessment.

We’re already at the mid-point of the 2019 Clemson football season.

Though the Tigers still technically have one more game to play before the halfway point of the regular season, the bye week essentially cuts the season in half. Through the first part of the season, Clemson football is 5-0 and still ranked inside the top-two in the nation by both major polls.

Many national analysts have dropped the Tigers in their rankings, but it’s clear that Clemson football is a definite playoff contender heading into the second half of the season.

After going back and watching film, here’s our assessment of Clemson RB Travis Etienne and the job he has done to this point.

Travis Etienne: Midseason 2019 Assessment

Through the first five games of the season, Etienne has 67 carries for 462 yards (6.9 YPC) and five touchdowns. He also has 10 catches for 90 yards in the passing game.

Etienne exploded onto the scene to begin the year, rushing for 205 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns against Georgia Tech. Since then, he hasn’t been near as effective on the ground.

Here’s a look at his rushing totals with his YPC numbers beside them: 53 (3.3) vs. TAMU; 76 (5.4) vs. Syracuse; 61 (5.5) vs. Charlotte; and 67 (4.8) vs. UNC.

The answer to why Etienne isn’t having the same success really can be learned in the film. For starters, opposing defenses are game-planning around his ability. Even though UNC was dropping back two safeties in coverage, the Tar Heels were presenting pressure and dialing up blitzes to deal with Clemson’s running game. They made it difficult for the Tiger runners to get anything going and, instead, kept everything in front of them. Because they were zeroing in on Travis Etienne, it opened up the running game for Trevor Lawrence in the run-pass-option arena.

In addition, Etienne has had a tough time getting anything going up the middle for the most part. The offensive line has gotten pushes at times, but not wide enough holes like they were opening up in the Georgia Tech game. Part of that has to do with teams sending extra men and attempting to stack the box.

Too many times, it seems that the Tigers are getting away from the run as well before it starts taking full effect. In short-yardage situations, they’ve elected to throw sideways passes and screens in RPO situations instead of just trusting the offensive line and Etienne to gain the needed yardage.

It’s also obvious that the coaches are trying to limit Etienne’s touches right now. He has carried the ball an average of 13.4 times a game and I think they want to keep him around that 12-16 number. Instead of wearing him down, they want to keep the running back fresh for later in the season.

Overall, Etienne’s numbers aren’t what most expected but that’s not due to anything he is doing wrong. He needs to work on holding onto the football- something he’s struggled with the past couple of games- but that has nothing to do with his running style.

Etienne needs to keep attacking defenses and the Tigers need to find ways to get him the ball. He can still be effective, but it may very well take Clemson opening up the play-book and gashing the defense through the air (with more than just screens and back-shoulder fades) to make them respect the pass and open up the running game.