Clemson football: Can Travis Etienne eclipse 2,000 yards rushing in 2020?

Clemson football got quite the surprise when ACC Player of The Year Travis Etienne announced that he was indeed returning for his senior campaign with the Tigers.

As we know, very few elite college football players stay and play all four years. Many answer the door when the NFL comes knocking. However, Clemson football senior running back decided that he wants to achieve a few more things before heading off for his professional career.

There is not much more than Etienne can achieve on the football field.

He is already the all-time Clemson rushing leader in yards, yards per career, and touchdowns. He has won a national title and has been the back to back conference player of the year and offensive player of the year.

However, there are a few more conference records that he will break in 2020.

With 600 yards in 2020, Travis Etienne will leave Clemson as the all-time ACC rushing leader. He is currently the all-time ACC rushing touchdowns leader.

However, can he join the 2000 yards rushing club? Currently in ACC football history, only one player has ever rushed for 2,000 or more yards and that was back in 2013 when Andre Williams accomplished that feat at Boston College.

Travis Etienne’s best season as a Tiger is 1,658 yards, he did so back in 2018. Given that Clemson loves to rotate and sub players at every position in order to keep guys healthy, Travis has been held to just over 200 carries each of the last two seasons despite playing in a combined 30 games.

Over/Under 2,000 yards in 2020: Over

I am going to go out on a limb and say that offensive coordinator Tony Elliott really did learn from his mistakes in the national title game against LSU where he completely went away from Travis Etienne. He even stated that he has to feature Travis more in the future.

Getting to 2,000 yards is not as impossible as fans may think either.

Given his yards per rush average over his first three years, Travis would have to average 16 carries a game over a 15 game season in order to break the 2,000-yard mark. Sure, given the offensive line is going to be the big question, nothing gives offensive linemen more confidence than establishing the run game.

While the Clemson backfield will be loaded with talent in 2020, Travis Etienne will lead the way and will have the first-ever 2,000 yard rushing season in Clemson football history.