Blood in the Water: Tiger offense finds its killer instinct against FSU

Trevor Lawrence raises his arms in celebration after his touchdown run

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Sat Oct 12 21:17:20 GMT-04:00 2019

CLEMSON – Killer instinct.

Clemson’s offense was bottled up for much of the win over UNC, and co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said he wanted his group to have a killer instinct when it faced FSU. That gameplan worked to perfection.

Clemson’s offense attacked early and often, scoring 28 first-half points and racking up just under 400 yards of total offense. The Tigers wound up with 552 total yards, including a whopping 320 on the ground. Clemson also had 31 first downs and ran 91 plays.

It was an offense on the attack, and Elliott said offensive lineman Tremayne Anchrum spoke up at halftime and told his teammates that they needed to be sharks that smell blood in the water.

“We knew that we need to show maturity and have that killer instinct. I have to give credit to Tremayne Anchrum,” Elliott said. “We allow a lot of our seniors and leaders to speak and one time he addressed the team and he said it's like blood in the water and sharks attack. That's the mindset we want to have, come out in the second half and let's not be satisfied. Coach Swinney says it all the time, there's nothing less important than the score at halftime, so it's 0-0. We needed to come out and make sure we made a statement with how we played out of the half.”

Elliott said the Tigers made a statement, but it wasn’t a statement made for anyone in the media or the fans.

“I don't think to the outside. I think all of us, especially offensively thought we needed to prove to ourselves that it's not just knowing, we have to go be it,” Elliott said about being the best offense in the country. “We feel like we're the best offense in the country and it's one thing to know it but you have to go do it. That was really the challenge so not anything on the outside but really to prove to ourselves that we can be what we're capable of. That's really what this game was about and hopefully, every game going forward is that if we respect the process the right was from a preparation standpoint that we have a chance to do something.

“We all were challenged over the last two weeks to come out and to get back to being who we are. We wanted to have an aggressive game plan. That’s when we have been at our best. The guys put in the work. They had a really, really great week of preparation. [I’m] really excited to get in and watch the film because obviously there were a lot of good things.”

Elliott hopes the performance is just the beginning.

“I think it was a good starting point for us, and hopefully we can continue to play well and continue to stack good performances on top of this,” he said.