Dabo Swinney gives update on Will Shipley injury

Clemson‘s running back room can not catch a break. Just days after senior tailback Lyn-J Dixon entered the transfer portal, Will Shipley exited Saturday afternoon’s game at NC State in the first overtime.

A true freshman, Shipley has been the Tigers go-to back through the first four games of the season. When a Wolfpack defender rolled on his leg, Shipley could not get off the field and needed assistance from the training staff.

While Clemson’s offense has struggled to put points on the board at a constant rate, Shipley has been relied on heavily to move the ball. Now there is no timetable or updates on his return except that it is a knee injury.

“It was his knee, but I don’t know the diagnosis right now,” Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said following their upset loss at NC State. “We got what we got. We can’t go sign free agents right now, it’s what we got. Hopefully it’s not something going to have him out for any amount of time.

“If it is, there’s nothing we can do about it other than go back to work with the guys that we have. Kobe [Pace] and [Darien] Rench[er] and [Michel] Dukes and [Phil] Mafah.”

What the loss could mean for Clemson

Swinney did not want to admit it, but there is a drop off in talent after Shipley and Kobe Pace. A former five-star prospect, he enrolled this winter at Clemson and immediately impressed the coaching staff.

With Travis Etienne off to the NFL, the Tigers were left to find his successor. While Dixon was thought to be the no-brainer, Shipley turned it into a competition and eventually carved a role for himself.

Working with first-year running backs coach C.J. Spiller, Shipley took the brunt of the snaps in the showdown against Georgia in Charlotte. Through four games, the tailback has 44 carries for 211 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.

Trying to find that production without Dixon and Shipley just adds to the problems facing the Clemson offense.