'Buzz is Buzz'

Saturday night after the game, coach Jeff Scott got home and immediately started grading film from Clemson’s victory over Boston College.

His daughter Savannah was turning two on Sunday so he had to get his work done early the night before.

Scott was greeted by his wife when he got home. She asked him the same question that the rest of the Clemson world has been wondering: has Travis Etienne earned more opportunities?

“I think I got the same question from my wife when I got home Saturday night… I think Travis has definitely earned his stripes,” Scott said to the media Monday morning. “I feel like we’ve got a really good situation at running back. I feel like we’ve got four guys that have the knowledge and ability to be a starter.”

Scott continued to explain what CJ Fuller and Adam Choice had done for him lately.

Choice had a nice touchdown run in the fourth quarter against Boston College, but has been coming back from injury. Fuller has done a good job in the past helping the Tigers win games, but he put the ball on the ground and will have to work on that.

Meanwhile, the stock is rising for Tavien Feaster, who got the start on Saturday, and Etienne, the freshman from Louisiana.

“I think Tavien Feaster and Travis have both kind of elevated themselves a little bit above the rest,” Scott said. “I think as we go forward those guys will get more opportunities and it will be fun to watch… We’re going to need all four of those guys as the season goes.

“There’s no doubt Travis and Tavien have taken that next step and will get more opportunities.”

With the buzz around the Clemson beehive on Monday being that Feaster and Etienne have elevated their games, you’d think that Fuller and Choice might feel like they’ve been lost in the shuffle a little bit.

“I wouldn’t say it bothers me. But at the end of the day, we all want to play so we’ve just got to go out and compete.” Choice said Monday. “Buzz is buzz. It doesn’t have anything to do with production. And coach (Dabo) Swinney and coach (Tony) Elliott, they’re going to put the player on the field who does the best in practice, who proves himself in practice and in games.”

The running back situation isn’t the only area that is generating some buzz around Clemson’s program.

Clemson’s 2017 offense, led by Kelly Bryant, had looked the part of the same offense that took the field in 2016 through its first three games.

After the No. 2 Tigers put up 47 points on the road against Louisville, the entire country allowed themselves to believe that Clemson’s offense is as dominant as ever. Some fans had said that Clemson-Alabama III is a done deal while others in the Tiger-hive even tried to throw Bryant’s name into the Heisman Trophy discussion.

Against Boston College, however, the honey wasn’t as sweet.

Clemson struggled to get into a rhythm offensively and had to make a number of adjustments to an Eagles defense that drew up many different schemes that coach Scott hadn't see on tape. Turnovers were forced and Boston College brought a lot of pressure throughout the entire game to keep the offense on its heels.

The Tigers’ offense found themselves in a dogfight after only scoring seven points in three quarters on Saturday.

“Our message even after the win at Louisville is, ‘Hey, we haven’t arrived. We still have a lot of work to do. A lot of improving to do,’” Scott said. “Definitely after the game Saturday, that will be our focus as we come back today and watch some video and get some things corrected.”

Clemson is still plenty young and inexperienced on the offensive side of the ball. Coach Swinney even had to remind the media that Bryant has only started four games in his career and he, like the offense, has a lot to improve on.

Bryant’s fourth start was just another learning experience for him and his offense.

“It just says that we need to keep learning. Always try to be better,” Bryant said. “We don’t want to get complacent. We’ve seen over the last few games that we need to still continue to work and come ready to play each and every week.”

With another top-15 matchup, ESPN’s College GameDay in town again, another hostile environment in Lane Stadium and a ton of hype surrounding the game, Clemson feels like these types of games are the new normal.

“I think it’s kind of become the norm,” Scott said. “Talking to our guys the other day like, ‘Ok, we’ve got another primetime, GameDay, blackout, maroon out, two weeks later we’re going to go do it again.’ I remember in the past that used to be a really big deal. It might’ve been a once a season or once every two years type of thing. Now it’s kind of becoming the expectation.”

After all, buzz is buzz.