The Clemson football coaching staff has maintained over the years this idea that ‘the offense is the offense’ no matter what personnel you might have on the field or who is in at quarterback.
However, there’s a sentiment among Clemson football fans heading into the 2021 season that we might see a slight change in how the offense is run with D.J. Uiagalelei at quarterback versus what we’ve seen in the past with Trevor Lawrence, Kelly Bryant and Deshaun Watson.
It’s not just that Uiagalelei’s skill set is a bit in contrast with the previous quarterbacks, but it’s also the fact that the Tigers have little-to-no depth at the position and they could be potentially relying on a walk-on to fill their second-string position depending on what happens with the two freshmen they’ve brought in who might take the professional baseball route.
How many times will D.J. Uiagalelei rush the ball during the 2021 Clemson football season?
There’s no doubt in my mind that the Tigers are still going to run their offense, even knowing that Uiagalelei doesn’t have any proven backup, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see a tweak in styles and how things operate.
The Tigers are still going to rely on that RPO-style that we’ve seen in the past, but that doesn’t mean that Uiagalelei will be rushing the ball on designed run calls as many times throughout the season.
Dabo Swinney had an interesting quote when he made an appearance on 105.5 The Roar with host Walt Deptula this past spring and he said this when asked about the offensive scheme for this 2021 Clemson team.
"“We’re going to do everything we need to win every game.”"
While that can be left open to interpretation, doing ‘everything to win every game’ doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to rush Uiagalelei often. I take that quote to mean that the Tigers are going to rush him when they have to, but when they don’t, they’re not going to.
They’re going to keep the defense honest, but they’re also going to protect their quarterback. They’re not going to go conservative for the sake of it, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t hold back- we’ve seen them do it in the past- when they feel like the game is in control.
So, what might Uiagalelei’s rushing total look like for each game?
- Georgia: 8-12 rushes
- SC State: less than 5 rushes
- Georgia Tech: around 5 rushes
- NC State: 5-9 rushes
- Boston College: 6-10 rushes
- Syracuse: around 5 rushes
- Pittsburgh: 5-8 rushes
- Florida State: 5-8 rushes
- Louisville: 6-9 rushes
- UConn: less than 5 rushes
- Wake Forest: less than 5 rushes
- South Carolina: 5-8 rushes
In total, you’re looking at somewhere between 60-90 rushes total for the season, which averages out to 75 rushes for the season.
That 75 carry mark would be an average of 6.3 rushes per game, which seems about right. When you’re running the RPO game, especially when you’re a prolific passer like Uiagalelei, there is going to be a hole opened up for him to run at least a couple of times each game. When you add in a few designed runs to keep the defense honest, you could easily see Uiagalelei get to that mark and potentially go a little higher near that 90 mark.
Keep in mind that Trevor Lawrence rushed an average of 6.8 times during the 2020 season and 6.9 times during the 2019 season. For those wondering, Deshaun Watson rushed 11 times per game during his final season.
The Tigers are going to do everything in their power to win every game on their schedule, but we don’t see Uiagalelei eclipsing that double-digit carry mark in more than maybe two games this season.
The key to this 2021 Clemson football season is activating the passing game and that all begins with keeping D.J. Uiagalelei healthy.