Bellamy a work in progress

Bellamy scores the first touchdown of his career on a 75-yard streak on his first collegiate carry.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Sep 06 20:12:35 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – Mike Bellamy said Tuesday evening that he learned a lot of valuable lessons last Saturday, but the most valuable may have come after he scored the first touchdown of his career on a 75-yard streak on his first collegiate carry.

Bellamy broke free down the left sideline, and appeared to drop the ball just at the split second he crossed the goal line, and he told reporters Tuesday night that Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has spoken to him about the theatrics.

"We had talked about it, and he is just doing his job,” Bellamy said after practice. “He knows what’s best for the team and he’s just teaching me that I shouldn’t do that. He is just teaching me responsibilities. I know that in a big game I could do that and they would call it back. They are training me now while I still have time to learn.”

He said that he understands everything he does right now is a learning process, and the more he learns the more he will play.

“I have to practice harder and learn the plays,” he said. “Once I start doing that then it shouldn’t be a problem getting on the field. We have so many signals for different plays and for the same plays. It's hard."

He said that on his first play –an obvious mix-up between he and quarterback Tajh Boyd – he was thinking too much for his own good.

"That first play, I was kind of anxious,” he said. “I was just excited to be in at the time and I really wasn’t focused on running the ball. I was just trying to figure out what to do. So I was thinking too much at the same time."

Bellamy carried the ball three times for 81 yards and saw time on special teams, and he said he thought he would get more touches, but understands the reasoning of why they were limited.

"I thought I was going to get a little bit more, but Coach Morris knows what he is doing,” he said. “There are guys who have been here longer and they have to get their reps. I am going to be here for three more years. It was tough. But it’s a team thing. I was still getting reps at kickoff return so I really wasn't taking it as bad. I really wasn't worried about it. I knew I was going to get in sometime or other."

He said his focus is learning the playbook and putting in the extra time, and he also wants to gain more weight so he can be more effective between the tackles.

“It’s always good to gain more weight. I am trying to eat six times a day,” he said. “I can still run between the tackles now, but if I can gain 10-to-16 more pounds I will be in good shape. I am the 12th man right now – that is what coach calls me – and wherever I am needed that is where I go.”

Bellamy said that he has been spending plenty of time with starter Andre Ellington – they even go to the mall in Atlanta together – and credited his “older brother” for springing him on the touchdown run.

“I knew I was going to score right after Andre made that block on the corner,” he said. “I didn’t see anything but green grass and I was like ‘there it is.’ But Andre had the key block. The line did their job, but without that block by Andre, I am sure the corner would have made the play.”