Running-game low for Johnson

When a Paul Johnson-coached team passes for more than twice as many yards as it runs, something is way off. That was Saturday in Clemson for you.

The Yellow Jackets finished with 71 yards rushing, an alltime low under Johnson. His previous low came when Tech rushed for 79 yards against Gardner-Webb, his sixth game at the helm at Tech in 2008.

Quarterback Justin Thomas passed for 159 yards, by the way, going 6 for 14, but he had two busted coverages by Clemson to thank for a pair of long touchdowns (50 and 49 yards).

The Jackets’ best running play was the B-back dive. That actually gained positive yardage. And that was a rarity.

Clemson had 11 tackles for loss in the game, and only two of those were sacks. The rest came when the Tigers had defenders coming in from the edge to invade Tech’s backfield — linebacker Dorian O’Daniel and safety Jayron Kearse each had three tackles for loss.

“We had so many negative yardage plays,” Johnson said. “For us, we need to get something established running the football and we couldn’t do it. They were kicking our tail inside. And that’s older guys. And some of that is not just the offensive line. Some of it is the B-backs not cutting back inside when the 2 (technique defensive tackle) goes to the 3. I got tired of watching that.”

B-back Marcus Marshall alluded to much of the problem being self-inflicted.

“Everybody needs to be on the same page blocking-wise and knowing their assignments,” he said.