One mistake Clemson football offense doesn't want to repeat vs UNC in ACC Championship Game
CLEMSON – Clemson football offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter admitted he didn’t use future NFL talent enough.
It wasn’t just first-team All-ACC running back Will Shipley, who had two carries in the fourth quarter of Clemson’s 31-30 defeat last week to South Carolina. The tight ends disappeared, too.
“We didn’t get them enough opportunity,” Streeter said. “That’s where I could do a better job.”
Streeter said he wants to get Davis Allen and Jake Briningstool more involved in the ACC championship game Saturday (8 p.m., ABC) as Clemson (10-2, 8-0) plays North Carolina (9-4, 6-2) at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Allen is Clemson’s second-leading pass-catcher with 32 receptions for 374 yards and four touchdowns. Briningstool also has four TDs on 21 catches for 255 yards. In the Tigers’ previous game against Miami, they were targeted a combined 10 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. Third tight end Luke Price even had TD.
But against South Carolina, Allen was targeted once for an incomplete. Briningstool was targeted twice and caught one for 3 yards.
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The Gamecocks focused on taking shorter passes and safer outlets to the tight ends to make quarterback DJ Uiagalelei try to throw more downfield. The result was one of Uiagalelei’s worst games. He was just 8-of-29 for 99 yards.
“They did a good job on defense for sure,” Streeter said. “They did a good job of covering guys. We didn’t do as good of a job in getting open. There were some opportunities, some play calls that were directed to the tight ends, that didn’t get to them, whether it was a sack or a tipped ball a couple times. … The game plan and the scheme were to get the ball to them. It just didn’t work out on some of those plays.”
Allen had seven catches (nine targets) for 60 yards at Notre Dame. He and Briningstool both had touchdowns in the win against Florida State.
“They’ve done a good job of being versatile,” Streeter said, “not just being guys in the box but guys who can play out of the box. They’ve been a very valuable piece in distributing the ball in a lot of different ways.”
Briningstool (6-foot-6, 230 pounds) is a sophomore. Allen (6-6, 250) is a senior who is being projected as a fifth-round pick in the NFL draft.
“Davis Allen is a guy that has proven (professional talent) for whoever gets him, whatever round it is,” Streeter said. "He’s going to be a guy that is going to play for a long time.”
Todd Shanesy covers Clemson athletics for the USA TODAY Network.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football wants to use tight ends more in ACC championship game
