Lack of usage vs. USC a ‘tough situation,’ Clemson’s Will Shipley says. Dabo weighs in

Hindsight is 20/20.

That was Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney’s overarching message Sunday in explaining why star running back Will Shipley got so few touches in the second half of Saturday’s 31-30 home loss to rival South Carolina.

Shipley was Clemson’s most productive offensive player by a mile against the Gamecocks, rushing 15 times for 132 yards and a touchdown and averaging 8.8 yards per carry.

But the Tigers only gave Shipley six carries in the second half — two in the fourth quarter — a puzzling lack of usage that even Shipley, while emphasizing he had “full confidence” in all of his coaches, described a “tough situation.”

Swinney said postgame that he “definitely” wished Clemson (10-2, 8-0 ACC) gave Shipley more touches Saturday and expanded on that in a Sunday Zoom video call previewing next weekend’s ACC title game against North Carolina in Charlotte.

“There were some read things where it didn’t happen,” Swinney said. “And just, you know, (other times) the play call didn’t go to him. Again, we had a missed possession there at the end that hurt us. Some missed plays that killed more sequences of plays and opportunities there. ... Hindsight is 20/20 for sure. Wish we could’ve gone back and re-done a couple of those.”

Shipley was a big reason Clemson got out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and 23-14 halftime lead against South Carolina. He rushed 11 times for 99 yards and was the centerpiece of a Clemson rushing attack that totaled 25 carries for 164 yards (6.6 yards per carry) in the first half.

But that usage dropped in a second half that saw South Carolina outscore Clemson 17-7. The Tigers ran the ball effectively but far more infrequently across the third and fourth quarters, rushing 12 times for 73 yards in the second half at a 6.1 yards per carry clip.

After a productive 11-touch first half, Shipley had the ball eight times in the second half and three times in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard run, a three-yard catch and a two-yard run.

Shipley, a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award given annually to the most versatile player in college football, ended the game with his second best yards per carry average of the season but his fewest carries in a game (15) since Clemson’s Nov. 5 loss at Notre Dame (12).

In a wide-ranging 13-minute postgame interview session after the USC loss, Shipley said he had “full confidence” in Swinney, offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter and running backs coach C.J. Spiller to “get me the ball when I need it and when they feel like I need it.”

“I’m just out there running plays,” he said. “I get the signal and I line up and I go. I try to give input or give anything I can that I see on the field. If they take it, they take it. If they don’t, they don’t. I just do my job. There were definitely some things out there that we could’ve attacked, but they chose to attack some other things that were there as well.”

As a competitor, though?

“Hell yeah, I want the freakin’ rock with five minutes to go and the game on the line against our rival,” Shipley said. “That’s me as a competitor. But that’s not how it shakes out all the time … I’ve got full confidence in the coaching staff and what they’re calling. So just gotta roll with it.”

Clemson’s rushing dominance Saturday stood in sharp contrast to an inefficient passing game. The Tigers had 37 rushes for 237 yards (6.4 ypc) against South Carolina, but quarterback DJ Uiagalelei had a season-low 99 passing yards and 27.6% completion percentage and Clemson’s receiving corps had numerous drops.

Despite that, Clemson had 16 pass attempts against 12 rushes in the second half and three rushes against seven pass attempts in the fourth quarter — while, admittedly, often starting deep in their own territory thanks to the performance of USC punter Kai Kroeger.

The Tigers dropped to 76-2 when rushing for 200 yards under Swinney. The only other time they lost such a contest was in the 2009 ACC championship game against Georgia Tech.

Clemson has leaned on Shipley, a former five-star recruit from Charlotte, to great success this season. Through 12 games, he has 1,092 rushing yards (the 14th most in single-season Clemson history) and 14 rushing touchdowns (tied for the seventh most in team history).

Add in his chops as a receiver and a kick returner, and Shipley has been a do-it-all dynamo. He’s averaging 127.5 all-purpose yards per game — the second-best mark in the ACC — and had 238 against Florida State and 242 against Syracuse in back-to-back games earlier this year.

But in a shocking loss that all but eliminated Clemson from College Football Playoff contention, the Tigers’ offensive weapon had very few opportunities to make a difference. It was a parallel that had Swinney wishing for a redo button and Shipley, when told by a reporter that he’d averaged nearly nine yards per carry, speaking from the heart.

“I didn’t know that,” he said. “That’s the first time I’ve heard it but … I think it makes it frustrating for me, just because I know it was successful and it was working. And that’s how I felt all night, you know?”

He continued: “I don’t believe they stopped me running the ball all night. The O-line did such a great job hatting it up and giving me holes, allowing me to take my vision and make the most out of plays. ... It’s just a tough situation.”

Quarterback update

Swinney also said Sunday that Uiagalelei is “definitely” Clemson’s starting quarterback for the ACC championship game against Clemson despite his aforementioned struggles Saturday.

Clemson had turned to backup quarterback Cade Klubnik, a true freshman and former five-star recruit from Texas, in the second half of a win against Syracuse and a loss at Notre Dame. But Streeter said Clemson didn’t consider a QB change Saturday.

After declining to fully commit to Uiagalelei as his starter directly after the loss to South Carolina, Swinney was far more definitive Sunday and defended Uiagalelei.

“He’s not the reason we lost the game,” Swinney said. “He can’t catch it. He doesn’t play safety. He doesn’t return kicks. So he’s got his share of things that he can do better. But you know, he will definitely start the game.”