Clemson assistant Garrett Riley has a problem that most offensive coordinators around the country would love to have. He’s got almost too much talent in the running backs room. During Saturday’s win over Notre Dame, Phil Mafah carried the ball 36 times for 186 yards and two touchdowns as Clemson’s other bell cow, Will Shipley, was out with an injury.
On Monday, Riley met with the media to discuss his unique situation and how he will have to monitor things when Shipley returns to the lineup. Especially in light of Mafah’s breakout performance on Saturday.
“You got to do a good job of kind of charting the touches and the amount of plays that they have,” Riley said. “As coaches, you try and package things throughout the week where you kinda know and have an idea of, Hey, this guy is probably going to get this amount of snaps, this guy is going to get this, based on your game plan. That will be the fun part for us moving forward, like it always is.”
Heading into this weekend’s matchup with Georgia Tech, Mafah has moved into the leading rusher role for the Tigers, with 625 yards on the ground and 8 touchdowns. Shipley is second with 515 yards rushing and 3 TDs. Whoever gets the call on Saturday, Clemson should have a field day running the football, as Georgia Tech ranks 129th of 130 FBS teams in rushing defense, allowing 220 yards per game.
