Clemson Football Week 3 Overreaction: Phil Mafah should start over Will Shipley

Clemson Football had an efficient performance against Florida Atlantic this past weekend when they defeated the Owls 48-14.

I don’t think many people thought the Owls had a great chance to beat the Tigers, but there were certainly concerns that if Clemson continued to make mistakes, the game could be close. An inefficient performance would make fans very nervous as the Tigers approach their big matchup with the Florida State Seminoles next weekend.

The running backs have been good so far in 2023. Clemson had over 200 yards rushing against both Duke and Charleston Southern and had 163 against FAU.

While most of the mistakes have been on Cade Klubnik’s shoulders, one big one came from Phil Mafah against the Blue Devils. Mafah collided hard with a defender and it popped the ball up into the air. Duke recovered his fumble and returned it deep into Clemson territory.

The memory of Mafah’s catastrophic fumble against South Carolina at the end of the 2022 season hadn’t faded for many, and it seemed like he was starting 2023 off the same way.

Many people have been stumping for Mafah for a while. Some think he should be starting over Will Shipley. I am not one of those people, but I do think Mafah improved considerably in 2022 over his performance in 2021.

This past Saturday, Mafah had the best day among the running backs. He had five rushes for 42 yards, an average of 8.4 yards per rush. He also had a touchdown. Shipley had twice as many rushes for 38 yards, an average of 3.8 yards per rush.

While Mafah’s fumble in the Duke game had people asking if we could put the debate between Shipley and Mafah to bed, the performance against Florida Atlantic has Mafah supporters saying he should be starting now over Shipley.

Hit the breaks people.

This is only the third time since the beginning of the 2022 season that Mafah has outrushed Shipley. Shipley almost always gets more carries than Mafah, so maybe average yards per rush is a better way to gauge each back.

In fifteen games since the beginning of the 2022 season, Mafah has averaged more yards per rush in six of those games, so still not a majority of the games. What we saw Saturday isn’t new by any stretch. It happens about once out of every three times the Tigers take the field. That’s why the Tigers valued Mafah enough to find ways to keep him this past offseason.

Phil Mafah averaging more yards per rush for Clemson Football than Will Shipley isn’t new, but it’s not the norm

Overall since the beginning of 2022, Shipley has averaged 5.72 yards per rush. Mafah has averaged 5.54 yards per rush. The one place Mafah holds the advantage is this season alone. Through three games in 2023, Mafah has 6.6 yards per rush and Shipley has 6.3 yards per rush.

That last point shouldn’t be ignored, but the proliferation of the evidence doesn’t justify a change quite yet.

I love that Clemson has one of the best one-two punches at running back in college football. As usual, things are fluid. If Mafah starts outperforming Shipley regularly, then the staff should consider a change, but the statistics don’t support that right now.

Additionally, Shipley is much more productive in the passing game and still a better blocking option in the passing game (in my opinion).

Mafah had a great game Saturday, but it is an overreaction to say he should be starting over Shipley. We’re not there yet.