Morris takes responsibility for play of offense |
RALEIGH, N.C. – The numbers weren’t pretty.
A Clemson offense that went into Saturday’s ACC regular season finale against North Carolina St. as the nation’s 14th-best squad didn’t score a touchdown until the game was decided and the reserves were in, managed just 337 total yards against a Wolfpack defense that entered the contest ranked 39th in total defense. Included in that total was a paltry 34 yards on 28 rushing attempts. "Our inability to convert short yardage is getting us,” Morris said. “We had that several times tonight. We've got to try to figure out how we can pick up those short yardage plays in order to keep the chains moving." Morris took responsibility for the ugly play and said turnovers have been the main cause of concern. "It starts and ends with me as the offensive coordinator,” Morris said. “Right now, we're not playing with the confidence level we had earlier in the year. The last three weeks, the inability to protect the football has been a glaring concern. It's totally unacceptable. Whether it's a lack of focus, I know it's continued to be harped on in practice over and over, I promise. We're not doing anything different in terms of how we're teaching ball security. But right now it's not working. You can't win any football games like this. You will struggle to win ballgames turning the ball over." Freshman receiver
Sammy WatkinsSammy Watkins Fr. Wide Receiver #2 6-1, 200 Fort Myers, FL View Full Profile
didn’t play, but Morris declined to use that as an excuse. "I think everybody missed Sammy tonight, but we're more than a one-man team,” he said. “He gives us explosion, no question about that. But we have guys busting their tails out there. You have to give credit to N.C. State. They outplayed us and outcoached us. There's nothing I can say to change that.” The Tigers have committed 11 turnovers over the last three weeks, a staggering statistic considering they only turned it over seven times in their 8-0 start. "We're not executing at the level we were three or four weeks ago, period. We're not,” Morris said. “We have to get back to that mental focus, that hunger that we had back four or five weeks ago. We're not playing with that hunger. They're trying. It's not them. Our players are trying. Our coaches are coaching. We have to coach harder. We have to get it turned around. And that's my job as a coordinator. I thought we had one of our better weeks of practice. It's just that we have to get back that hunger. Right now we don't have it. It's not the fact that they're not trying, because they are trying." Morris was asked if he had the confidence they can turn it around, especially considering the South Carolina Gamecocks await the Tigers next week and the ACC Championship is a week after that. "Well I'm real confident. We have to get back that confidence level, that swagger we played with for eight, nine games,” he said. “We have to be able to make plays and hang on to the football. Turnovers - that is a critical part of this thing right now. If we protect the ball, we don't put our defense in such a tough situation. When you give a defense 20 yards, that's tough. I hate that we put our defense in that situation. It's totally unacceptable."
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