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Associated Press

Clemson running backs James Davis (1) and C.J. Spiller are hoping to have a much bigger game today against The Citadel than they did last Saturday, when they carried the ball just eight times as a a tandem and the Tigers were held to zero net rushing yards by Alabama.

CLEMSON — There is little doubt what the Clemson Tigers will try to do offensively today when they host The Citadel in their home opener.

“It will be important to establish a running game because that’s what opens up the pass,” said Clemson running back James Davis.

After touching the ball a combined eight times in last week’s 34-10 loss to Alabama, Davis says Clemson fans who journey to Death Valley for the 3:30 p.m. kickoff will see a lot more of him and C.J. Spiller today.

“Coach (Rob Spence) has it in the game plan for us to run the ball, but they have to pass the ball too,” the senior tailback said. “To me, you never know what to expect until the game gets here. We don’t know what’s going to happen.

“If we are hot in the running game, hopefully we will keep running the ball, but if not, Coach will call the plays.”

Davis is right; no one knows what truly is going to happen. Any success Clemson has running the football will come from its offensive line. And that could be troublesome.

The Tigers (0-1) struggled mightily to run the football against Alabama last week. The Crimson Tide, thanks to 6-foot-5, 362-pound nose guard Terrence Cody, held Clemson to its worst rushing total – zero yards in 14 attempts – since 1947, when the Tigers had minus-1 yards rushing in a loss to Boston College. The only other negative rushing game was a 1942 loss to Boston College.

“It really seemed like after certain things happened, and we really got behind the eight ball, it was almost like we were playing careful, like not to make mistakes and not really coming off the ball like we needed to,” left tackle Chris Hairston said. “We really needed to get the running game going and get out of that mode to where we are behind and we have to pass, pass and pass.

“We weren’t able to be intense.”

The Tigers will try to step up their intensity early today, especially up front where Clemson hopes to come off the ball with more severity than it did against Alabama. To do that, offensive line coach Brad Scott has moved red-shirt freshman David Smith up from second-string left guard to starting against The Citadel. He replaces junior Jamarcus Grant in the starting lineup after Grant struggled against Alabama.

In fact, Clemson will have two new starters up front after fellow red-shirt freshman Mason Cloy was announced to be the starter at right guard earlier in the week. That news came after the team discovered junior Barry Humphries could miss the next six weeks after suffering a knee injury in the second quarter against Alabama.

“We are going to throw them in the mix and see how things unfold,” offensive line coach Brad Scott said. “Obviously, Jamarcus is still very much a part of the mix and he will be playing about as much in the game. We will see how it unfolds.”

Scott’s concern with playing two freshmen along the front, besides their inexperience, is a Citadel defensive front he doesn’t know much about. The Bulldogs have a new defensive scheme this year and thanks to a blowout win against Webber International last week, the staff wasn’t able to get a real good look at what The Citadel will do out of its odd front.

“There are still a lot of unknowns,” he said. “But that’s part of the risk of playing young freshmen that have not seen a lot of different things.”

Scott has tested his young offensive line a lot this week in practice and has challenged their pride. He, like much of the 80,000 expected to be on hand in Death Valley this afternoon, is anxious to see how they respond.

“We are appealing to their pride,” he said. “We want to see if they are going to get out there and compete and fight and try to improve our game a little bit. I think it’s important for our guys to put in extremely hard practices, and then get out there and perform well on Saturday.”