Clemson freshman tight end making most of new chance

By Paul Strelow - The (Columbia) State

CLEMSON -- The moment, by redshirt freshman tight end Dwayne Allen's admission, was cinematically corny.

Starting senior Michael Palmer had just suffered his game-ending concussion early in the fourth quarter at Miami, and position coach Danny Pearman turned intently on the sideline and pointed at Allen, saying, “Dwayne, it's you.”

Allen pounded his chest and replied, “Coach, I've got you.”

A month earlier, Allen had taken a brief sojourn through the coaches' doghouse for the manner in which he publicly expressed hope the Tigers would include their tight ends in the passing game more.

“I'm just glad my words didn't go in vain,” Allen joked this week.

Lip service has been paid to increasing the tight ends' involvement at Clemson for most of the past decade. But Allen has gotten his wish lately, and it has helped breathe life into Clemson's suddenly prodigious offense.

The tight end tandem accounted for nine catches at Miami, the most accrued at that position in a single game since John McMakin had nine against Florida State in 1970.

That performance came on the heels of consecutive games in which Palmer led the Tigers in receptions to already notch the most catches in a season by a Clemson tight end in 25 years.

Palmer finished with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown against the Hurricanes, followed by Allen's season-high four catches for 36 yards.

“Once you start showing you can do things over a period of time, you get more comfort,” Pearman said. “Last couple of weeks, they have answered the bell for us.”

Allen's comments figure to have far less to do with the spike than a handful of other factors, the least of which being Clemson's ineffective receiver roulette.

The presumption has been that the Tigers have veered to more two-tight end sets as a result, but offensive coordinator Billy Napier and the involved parties insist that hasn't been the case, and it appears to be supported by the number of snaps the tight ends have tallied per contest.

“It's pretty much been the same plays we've been running all year,” Palmer said. “We've just gotten more looks, and I think Kyle (Parker) has developed more trust in us as the year has gone along.”

When the Tigers trudged into their open date after the Maryland debacle three weeks ago, the offensive staff reassessed how it was distributing snaps and opportunities for their inefficient passing game.

With the youngsters dropping passes at every turn, Clemson appears to have shelved the failed plan of developing the inexperienced receivers through on-the-job training. Having given five different receivers a crack at emerging as a dependable pass-catcher, the Tigers have come full circle, paring the rotation alongside Jacoby Ford to junior preseason starters Xavier Dye and Terrance Ashe for the Miami game.

In conjunction, the 6-foot Parker — in his first season as more than a scout-team quarterback — has shown progress the last two weeks on several related fronts, from spotting open targets in the middle of the field (where tight ends are generally most productive) to advancing through a read and locating the second intended target on a pass play.

All of which have made it easier on Napier to shift more of the load to Palmer and Allen.

Coach Dabo Swinney compared Palmer (6-5, 260) to former Clemson receiver Tyler Grisham in terms of his grit, route-running and dual-threat catching-and-blocking capabilities, although Palmer has been superiorly sure-handed.

While Palmer was a known dependable commodity, Allen has been slow to gain coaches' trust while learning the value of precise route-running.

His athletic range was evidenced by Clemson's targeting of Allen (6-4, 255) in the compacted space near the goal line. But he flashed his every-down potential in relief of Palmer last week and was the intended receiver on four passes the final three regulation drives.

“When you're sitting here trying to put together a plan, you're looking at who you really feel like can be productive for you,” Napier said.

“We kind of narrowed down our focus in terms of who was playing and who we felt could be those guys, and structured the plan around those guys.”

Gametime

Coastal Carolina (3-4) at Clemson (4-3)

When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Memorial Stadium

Internet: ESPN360.com

Radio: 94.3 FM, 1340 AM