Clemson Football: This should be the easiest decision the staff has had all season

Clemson Football won big against Georgia Tech on Saturday following a slow start. After yielding the opening touchdown, the Tigers scored 42 unanswered points before allowing a couple of garbage-time touchdowns that made the 42-21 score seem closer than it was.

One of the things we were all watching in this game was how the running back carries would be distributed between the returning Will Shipley and the hot-hand, Phil Mafah.

Mafah had a career day against Notre Dame while Shipley was in concussion protocol. This led to many fans expecting that Mafah would be the starter and get the most carries against Georgia Tech.

That expectation became reality. Mafah got 17 carries compared to Shipley’s 11. Keith Adams and Domonique Thomas each received 4 carries. Shipley also had three receptions and Mafah pulled in one.

As far as production, Mafah led with 96 yards, just shy of hitting the 100-yard mark for a second straight game. Shipley had 77 yards and a touchdown.

Shipley led in yards per rush with 7.0. Mafah had 5.6 yards per rush.

Mafah played well. So did Shipley. I think this brings us back to something discussed last week: the offensive line.

For the record, the Tiger offensive line hasn’t suddenly become a beast. That would be a stretch. They are still struggling at times during the game, as you might expect from a unit ravaged by injuries.

There has been an improvement, however, particularly in the run game. Against Notre Dame, the staff decided to move away from the counter running game installed by Garrett Riley this offseason and focus on more traditional north-south blocking that the Tigers have employed the last few seasons.

The real key to the improvement in the Clemson Football run game has been the success up front on the line of scrimmage

While this hasn’t been completely transformative, it has resulted in more holes being opened in the running game. Clemson’s line never adapted to the counter-run game and the blocking schemes, which involved pulling. It just cluttered up the running lanes.

Fans were becoming frustrated by Shipley dancing behind the line trying to find a hole, only to become swallowed up for a loss of yards.

We only have a two-game sample size, but the early results appear to confirm what many people believed: both running backs are very good players and will perform well when they are getting the assists from their blockers.

Where should the Tigers go from here? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Keep the simplified blocking scheme. Give Mafah those carries. Give Shipley his share. Find Ship in the passing game.

This should be the easiest decision the staff has had all season.

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