Ellington climbing in ACC and national rankings

Ellington leads the ACC in scoring at 10.29 points per game, which is good for 10th nationally.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Oct 24 14:21:03 GMT-04:00 2010

CLEMSON – Don’t look now, but there is a new leader in all-purpose yardage in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and his name is Andre Ellington.

Ellington is averaging 134.71 yards per game – rushing, receiving and special teams returns – which puts him solidly ahead of Boston College running back Montel Harris, who is averaging 113.29 yards per game.

He leads the ACC in scoring at 10.29 points per game, which is good for 10th nationally, and also leads the conference in touchdowns with 12.

TigerNet asked Ellington questions following the win on Saturday, and the following is an edited transcript of his answers.

On the career-high in rushing yards: “It felt real good. We go the win. I want to give my team the credit. Without those guys blocking, I wouldn’t have been able to do the things I did out there today. I want to give them the credit too.”

On beating Georgia Tech: “It was kind of revenge for last year. We kind of fell short in a big game, so punishing those guys the way we did felt good. It was real special- just going out there and beating those guys for what they did last year. It’s real big. I want to congratulate everyone who assisted us in helping us win this game. That championship game, I had a sick feeling inside. I held my head down after the game and I didn’t like the feeling. That came into my mind and the end of this game and I knew it was a revenge game and I just wanted to play my best game.”

On his first touchdown, a 55-yarder: “If the secondary doesn’t wrap up, you know it’s going to be six points and they didn’t wrap up. I saw daylight and I just took it to the sideline.”

On his second touchdown, a 42-yarder: “It all started in the blitz. Those guys ran some kind of twist up front and if you get outside of that it’s just you and the safety. The safety was deep in coverage and we just made a play.”

Is it a shock how you’re playing: “I know how I worked in the off-season and I knew it was going to be my opportunity and I’m going to take advantage of it. That’s what I’m doing.”

On the play of the offense: “It started at practice. We had a lot of preparation. A lot guys came in and watched film in their off time. We knew them from previous games, but they did some different things. We knew what was coming when they came.”

On Clemson’s last drive, which lasted 15 plays: “We didn’t want to put the Georgia Tech offense back on the field. Our defense played a great game all game long- those guys were probably pretty tired, so we just wanted to keep them off the field and drive the field. We didn’t do anything differently. We just pounded the ball, what we do best. A couple of the offensive linemen said ‘its payback, let’s hit them in the mouth and do what we do best which is run the ball.’ ”

On his first receiving touchdown: “It was kind of set up to be the third option for us and he [Kyle Parker] just checked it down to me. I knew I had the momentum. He gave me a 2-way go and he didn’t know where I was going to go with it. I just made a play. A lot of passes are thrown to Jamie- just so happens it gets called up when he’s in. I didn’t get a chance before then. I’m excited.”

On his all-purpose capabilities: “I can be very versatile. There’s a lot more I can do out there. Some of the kicks I could’ve taken back- one or two blocks here and there. I just have to watch film and get better.”

On his third quarter fumble on a kickoff return that he recovered: “I don’t know how I got it back. Most guys in that situation would put their heads down and something told me not to put my head down. The ball just squirted out of the pile. I actually tried to pick it up and run it, but the ball was ruled down. It was my best play of the game.”