Going into the playoff game last season against Texas, former Clemson running back Phil Mafah was badly banged up and back up Jay Haynes suffered a torn ACL in the ACC Championship Game. So, a decision had to be made for the position. Head Coach Dabo Swinney decided to make a bold move and move wide receiver Adam Randall to running back.
Randall had just five carries in the road playoff game, but showed enough that it sparked something in Swinney. He offered Randall to stay at running back going into the 2025 season in order to keep him out of the transfer portal. Randall accepted, and the transition looks to be seamless.
Randall’s start to 2025
After getting just five carries against LSU, his workload increased a bit over the last two weeks. In the past two games, Randall ran the ball 26 times for 192 yards and two touchdowns. It’s still not enough though.
Randall has proven he is the right man to take over the primary back responsibilities. His vision is improving week by week, he is not afraid to run his 235 pound frame through contact for extra yards, and he’s got the speed to break for 20+ when the lane is there.
So that brings the question to mind, why does his offensive play caller not seem to trust him more?
Why Randall and the run game is important
Garrett Riley is not patient enough with the run game overall. Randall carrying the ball just 15 times against Georgia Tech does not make much sense though. Especially when he was averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
There were stretches in the game where Cade Klubnik struggled. Handing the ball to Randall a couple more times on early downs could’ve kept the ball moving. Instead Riley has Klubnik come out and start drives throwing quick passes and screens instead of just handing the ball off. The passes that fall incomplete though put the Tigers behind script and they have to make those yards up on second and third down.
This is why the offense ends up in too many third and long situations.
Riley needs to trust in the run game on early downs, especially to start games, to get easy yards. Being in second and seven is much better than being in second and ten. Randall has shown the ability to get those easy yards, plus more at times.
Establish trust in the run against Syracuse
This week is a great opportunity to establish trust in the run game with Randall. Let him carry the ball at least 25-30 times against the Syracuse defense this week. The Orange’s defensive front can be pushed around a bit. Tennessee had 246 rushing yards against them in week one. There is no reason the Clemson offense can’t do something similar.
Allow Randall to be the one to get the offense in a rhythm. Take some pressure off Klubnik, who looks to have to do everything for the offense. It will help him settle into the game more. Just like any quarterback at any level, having a reliable run game makes his job much easier.
Randall has shown he is ready to take on a bigger role in his new position. Trusting him to do it is all he needs at this point to help take this offense to the next level.