Clemson Football: Tony Elliott ready to commit to Travis Etienne
The Clemson football offense has the potential to be historically great in 2020 and one of the greatest reasons is the return of a talented RB.
The Clemson football offense has the potential to be historically great during the 2020 season and there’s not much reason that the Tigers don’t develop into one of the top offensive attacks in the nation.
One of the greatest reasons for the sky-high expectations has to do with the return of RB Travis Etienne.
Throughout the 2019 season, Clemson football fans raised concerns about the Tigers getting away from Etienne on the ground. It just seemed at times that Clemson would get ‘pass happy’ and would abandon the run.
That was especially true in the National Championship loss to LSU.
It seems that Clemson football Offensive Coordinator Tony Elliott has learned and grown from those decisions heading into 2020.
Elliott told the media earlier this week that the Tigers struggled in third-and-short situations and offered a fairly simple explanation to fix the problem this year.
"“We were really good running the football, but we took some chances throwing the football,” Elliott said via The Clemson Insider. “So, we learned we probably need to hand the ball to Travis more in short yardage situations if you want to convert.”"
The key to success for the Clemson offense is to get the running game going with Travis Etienne. It’s not to say that Etienne should touch the ball 30 times a game- as the Tigers obviously will want to keep him fresh and rested- but it is to say that he all-too-often was abandoned far before it was necessary.
Looking back at the National Championship, if Clemson converts on some of those third-and-short situations early in the game, perhaps we see a different outcome. The Tigers certainly stay on the field longer and keep that explosive LSU offense off the field.
Next. How does each RB factor into the depth chart?. dark
The key to this season is allowing Travis Etienne- the best play-maker in the nation- to be an integral part of the offense and it seems that Tony Elliott is ready to commit to the RB moving forward.