Powell confident that young backs can fill Spiller’s shoes capably

CLEMSON — Andre Powell seemed to anticipate the question, a natural first volley as he sat down with a table full of reporters inside Clemson’s WestZone.

What’s life going to be like without C.J. Spiller?

“I hope it’s a lot like it was when I had him,” Powell, Clemson’s running backs coach, said. “It won’t be exactly like it. It’ll be similar to life without James Davis, a lot like life without Tiki Barber (two NFL tailbacks Powell has coached. Hopefully you’ve got good, quality players in your program that will step in and I think we’ve got good, quality players.”

Duplicating Spiller — a unanimous All-America, likely NFL first-round draft pick and one of Clemson’s best players of the modern era — is impossible, of course.

But Powell thinks that his dynamic duo of Jamie Harper and Andre Ellington can provide a reasonable approximation.

“Hopefully you’ve got good, quality players in your program that will step in,” he said, “and I think we’ve got good, quality players. I’ll go on record that we probably won’t catch as many wheel routes for touchdowns. But I think we’ll run the ball and I think the guys we’ve got can perform.”

Behind Spiller, both players showed flashes of greatness last fall. Ellington had 491 rushing yards on 68 carries with four rushing touchdowns, adding 11 receptions for 55 yards. Harper had 418 yards and four touchdowns on 80 carries, and 11 catches for 49 yards.

They’ll likely begin spring together atop the depth chart; Powell said that when Spiller was tired last fall, “I never looked back to see who was going in; it didn’t matter.”

“They can both perform anything in the offense,” he said. “There’ll be things Andre does better than Jamie, and vice versa. And in certain situations we’ll ask Andre to do these things. But the same things that Andre may be a little better at, Jamie can do also. And vice versa.”

Listed at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, Ellington is the smaller of the two, but he has excellent body control and burst, Powell said.

“He can accelerate. And he has the ability to get in some of the smallest holes. He has a real good understanding of, when he gets to the smaller holes, how to turn your shoulder, turn your body, make yourself smaller. And Andre is probably the most disciplined runner I’ve been around. If his reads tell him to go to the inside lane of the tackle, he’s going to go to the inside lane of the tackle. If they tell him to watch the 3-technique, he’s going to watch the 3-technique.

“That’s why he has such big runs, because we spend a lot of time how to teach those backs, your job when you run the football is to take the defense to the blocks. Those big linemen, they can’t adjust and change direction, so it’s your job to run in a pattern that takes the defense to the blockers. Once you bring them to the blockers, do what you get paid to do.”

Harper, listed at six-foot, 230 pounds, is bigger than Ellington, and, if you believe Powell, faster, too.

“Jamie Harper may be the smartest football player I’ve been around,” he said. “They don’t come any smarter. Jamie Harper is a tough dude. And he’s surprisingly fast. Probably faster than Andre, though not nearly as quick.”

Spiller scored 21 touchdowns last fall, and was a threat to reach the end zone every time he touched the ball. Clemson’s big-play capability dips without him, but not as much as one might think, Powell said.

“We’ll make big chunks of plays, but we won’t have as many,” he said. “C.J. got in the open and he might score. I don’t foresee us doing that as often. What I do see is having, if we’d have one play for 50 yards, maybe this year having four plays for 30 yards. If I do my ciphering right that’s about the same. I think we’ll be pretty good.”

The No. 3 back will be redshirt freshman Roderick McDowell, a slightly smaller version of Ellington who coaches raved about during Music City Bowl practice.

Together, they have a tough job, but one they’re ready for.

“Those guys are eager to prove themselves,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of pride and they want to go out and prove it.”

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