It started in the Tigers' opening game loss to the Georgia Bulldogs when Clemson running back Lyn-J Dixon did not appear until the fourth quarter of the 10-3 loss, when head coach Dabo Swinney announced that he did not play in the first three quarters due to "team discipline."
Then in Saturday's 49-3 win over S.C. State, Dixon started the game but only garnered four carries for 27 yards before giving way to true freshman Will Shipley, who finished with a team-high 80 yards rushing.
The reason for Dixon's disappearance: he was again in the doghouse.
"He just needs to grow up," Swinney said after the game. "Needs to grow up. It's just that simple. He needs to be a team player. And just grow up. He’s a very good player, obviously. Need him to stay out of Spiller's doghouse. That’s really it."
Dixon apparently heard Swinney's remarks and took to Twitter to state his case, saying:
"Im [sic] a great team player I love to see all my brothers eat on the field."
Where Dixon stands heading into the Tigers' next game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets remains to be seen, but one thing is clear—the Tigers will be OK when it comes to the running back position.
“We stunk last week and didn’t do a good job of hanging in with (the running game),” Swinney said. “Again, when you’re behind in field position and behind the chains, it was weird kind of day. But we did a poor job of at least working a little harder to be effective there. And so definitely we needed to get those (running backs) going because it was really to evaluate them with what happened last week.”
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