Clemson's entire offensive line named semifinalist for National Award

by CU Athletic Communications - Tue Nov 17 10:34:29 GMT-04:00 2015

Clemson, S.C.—Clemson’s offensive line has been named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award. The honor is in its first year and is given to the top offensive line unit in college football.

The list of offensive lines named to the semifinal list are Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Iowa, LSU, Michigan State, Navy, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Toledo, Southern California, Utah and Virginia Tech.

“This season is truly shaping up to be the Year of the Lineman with an increased emphasis on tough, physical play at the line of scrimmage,” said Aaron Taylor, CBS CFB Analyst and Chairman of the Joe Moore Award Voting Committee. “It has been a pleasure to see these O-lines grow together into cohesive units and their play has translated into success for their teams. The cream has started rising to the top and we’re looking forward to watching the film in the coming weeks to see which units separate themselves even further down the stretch.”

The five Joe Moore Award finalists will be named on Monday, November 30th and the winner will be announced the week of December 7th.

Clemson’s offensive line has five new starters from last, yet has helped the Tigers to the No. 1 ranking in college football. Clemson is 10-0 entering Saturday’s final home game against Wake Forest.

Clemson’s starting offensive line of Joe Gore, Mitch Hyatt, Eric Mac Lain, Jay Guillermo and Tyrone Crowder has paced an offense that averages 38.5 points and 496 yards of total offense per game. Clemson has rushed for 217 yards per game, 22nd best in the nation and has had at least 200 yards on the ground in eight of the 10 games, including four games in a row.

Three different Clemson linemen have been honored with ACC Player of the Week awards. Jay Guillermo has been named for consecutive games (Georgia Tech and Boston College), the first time since 2007 that a Clemson offensive lineman has won the award in consecutive games. Mitch Hyatt won the honor for the Florida State game, the first true freshman in Clemson history to receive the honor. Joe Gore was also honored with ACC Lineman of the Week status for his performance against NC State.