Humble Etienne, best RB in Clemson history, is all-time great

Etienne looks for running room Saturday. (Photo courtesy of ACC)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Nov 01 08:01:03 GMT-04:00 2020

The greatest running back in Clemson history saved one of the best performances of his outstanding career in his penultimate appearance in Death Valley, ripping off 264 all-purpose yards and helping No. 1 Clemson defeat Boston College 34-28 Saturday.

The performance earned Etienne the O'Rourke McFadden Trophy, given each year to the most outstanding player in the game between Boston College and Clemson each season. The award, which features an old fashioned leather helmet, is presented by the Boston Touchdown Club.

In true Etienne fashion, he later dedicated the award to freshman quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who stepped in for starter Trevor Lawrence and helped guide the Tigers to the win. However, the day belonged to Etienne, who broke two records in the win, setting marks for career rushing yards and games with a touchdown.

With his receiving touchdown in the first quarter, Etienne scored a touchdown in a 42nd game, breaking a tie with SDSU’s Donnel Pumphrey (2013-16) for most in FBS history. Etienne then broke the ACC career rushing record when he went over 43 yards on the ground in the third quarter, passing NC State running back Ted Brown, who set the mark of 4,602 yards from 1975 to '78.

"When it happened, it was an amazing feeling, but we were still down at that point, so we were looking at each other like man now we've got to win this thing," Etienne said. "We can't have this great record with an L, so we were focused on scoring and changing the game. So now I have this record, and the W and great comeback, it defines who the team is. It's great how it ended."

Etienne finished the game with 20 carries for 84 yards with one rushing touchdown and seven receptions for a career-high and school-running-back-record 140 yards with a receiving touchdown. He also added 40 yards on a kickoff return to jumpstart the second half.

He joins C.J. Spiller (two in 2008) as the only running backs in Clemson history with multiple 100-yard receiving games in a single season. Etienne (1,001) also reached 1,000 career receiving yards during the contest. He becomes only the 12th player in FBS history to record at least 4,000 rushing yards and at least 1,000 receiving yards in a career.

With his 264 all-purpose yards, Etienne (6,246) joined C.J. Spiller as the only players in ACC history to record 6,000 career all-purpose yards.

"There's been some great, great running backs come through Clemson, and also through this league," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "That is an incredible record. I'm just proud of Travis and just his total development. He's such a complete player now and he was a one-dimensional player when he first got here, and now he's a Swiss army knife. He can do it all."

Etienne overcame a second-quarter fumble on the goal line – returned 97 yards for a touchdown by Boston College – to lead his team to the win.

“It was great just being there for my teammates and being someone they can rely on,” Etienne said. “After the fumble, I wanted to keep my head up and keep playing and lead my guys to the win. It was great to come down and get that field goal before the half, and we went into halftime with great energy. We kept fighting and remained true to who we are. We played complementary football and the scoreboard took care of itself. Everybody was worried about who wasn't here, but we were focused on who was here in the locker room, strapping on the pads."