Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott met with the media via Zoom on Monday ahead of the Tigers’ season opener at Wake Forest on Saturday and updated the competitions at backup quarterback and running back behind Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, respectively.
Starting with the running backs, Elliott says junior Lyn-J Dixon would be the second-string back behind Etienne, though Elliott noted that Dixon banged up his knee a couple of weeks ago and how he responds on it in practice this week will determine whether or not he is able to play Saturday in Winston-Salem.
Because of injuries like that, and situations that may arise with COVID-19, Elliott knows he must make sure all of his other backup running backs are prepared to play — including senior Darien Rencher, sophomores Michel Dukes and Chez Mellusi, and freshmen Demarkcus Bowman and Kobe Pace.