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Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa says he is entering 2020 NFL draft

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Next up for Tom Brady after early playoff exit? Who knows?

<p>CLEMSON, S.C. &#8212; LSU&#8217;s Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Clemson&#8217;s Travis Etienne have much more in common than their Louisiana backgrounds heading into the national title game.</p><p>Both are smallish running backs who were overlooked at times in high school but have emerged as critical factors for next week&#8217;s College Football Playoff championship game.</p><p>&#8220;Definitely a great opportunity to go out there and finish it off with a W,&#8221; said Etienne, a junior considering a jump to the NFL after playing for a second straight national crown.</p><p>Etienne has proven he can get it done on the biggest stage. But his path from Jennings, Louisiana to Clemson was far from direct.</p><p>The Tigers were locked into another promising tailback commit from Tennessee before Cordarrian Richardson had a change of heart and caused Clemson offensive coordinator and running backs coach Tony Elliott to scramble to fill the roster spot. Etienne emerged as a possibility and Elliott went to meet him in mid-January 2017 &#8212; soon after Clemson won the 2016 national championship over Alabama.</p><p>&#8220;When we saw him, we just hit it off,&#8221; said Elliott, who remembered waiting through visits from LSU and Tennessee before meeting the 5-foot-11 Etienne.</p><p>Etienne grew up a fan of the Southeastern Conference, first of Alabama and then LSU, from attending so many games as a teenager.</p><p>But after meeting Elliott and talking with coach Dabo Swinney, Etienne became hooked on Clemson.</p><p>He still can&#8217;t fully believe that Clemson reached out to &#8220;a small kid from Jennings, Louisiana.&#8221;</p><p>He can thank Richardson for that, who played at UCF as freshman before transferring to Texas A&amp;M.</p><p>But when Clemson did make the call was when Etienne decided where he wanted to play college football, &#8220;like this is meant to be, me going there.&#8221;</p><p>The coupling has been fruitful ever since.</p><p>Etienne was the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year the past two seasons, setting league marks for most rushing touchdowns (55) and total TDs (60).</p><p>He&#8217;s run for 1,536 yards so far this season and is seven yards away, at 3,990 fin three seasons, at breaking Clemson&#8217;s career rushing mark.</p><p>LSU coach Ed Orgeron, the interim coach in 2016, said whenever he sees Clemson play &#8220;or every time I&#8217;ve seen (Etienne) having success, I&#8217;m sick to my stomach.&#8221;</p><p>&#214;rgeron said he loves his running backs, just wished that Etienne was part of LSU&#8217;s rotation.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted Travis Etienne, but it was too little, too late,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Not that Orgeron completely lost out.</p><p>While Etienne was leaving his home state, Edwards-Helaire was excelling close to his future campus as a stellar prep tailback in Baton Rouge.</p><p>Edwards-Helaire was a one-time high school teammate of former LSU star tailback Derrius Guice. There was one distinction that stood out about Edwards-Helaire. The Tigers&#8217; recent starting running backs like the 6-foot Leonard Fournette and 5-11 Guice were taller; Edwards-Helaire is just 5-7.</p><p>Edwards-Helaire has embraced the challenge, more than living up to that LSU running back pedigree. He has rushed for 1,305 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.</p><p>He was crucial in ending LSU&#8217;s eight-year run of futility against Alabama in a 46-41 victory this season with 103 yards and three touchdowns rushing with nine catches for 77 yards and another score.</p><p>Edwards-Helaire, whose mother once thought he was too small to play football, has dealt with having to prove himself on the field.</p><p>&#8220;&#205;t&#8217;s, &#8216;Lets see what this small guy can do as far as football,&#8217; and then it&#8217;s, &#8216;Oh my gosh, he&#8217;s actually good,&#8217;&#8221; Edwards-Helaire said.</p><p>Edwards-Helaire had a hamstring injury leading up to LSU&#8217;s 63-28 win over Oklahoma at the Peach Bowl and was pretty much just a decoy in the semifinal win. He had just two rushes for 14 yards and sat once the game turned into a blowout.</p><p>Orgeron has said Edwards-Helaire should ready to play against Clemson.</p><p>Edwards-Helaire has plenty of highlight reels making defenders miss, spinning free for long gains.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s something I&#8217;ve been doing, but it&#8217;s being displayed on a bigger screen right now,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Edwards-Helaire is confident in his abilities and is ready to prove doubters wrong once again.</p><p>&#8220;I knew what I could do,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The people in my corner knew what I could do.&#8221;</p><p>And Clemson knows what he can do.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124278863-f2663ebbca9a4924b5f57efe7a911aa1.jpg</photo0><caption0>LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire </caption0><photoCredit0>AP photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124278863-99a3e26bae414d9e94d1f1faa5fc56fa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Oklahoma safety Pat Fields (10) hits LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (22) during the first half of the Peach Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal in Atlanta on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. (Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124278863-99a3e26bae414d9e94d1f1faa5fc56fa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Oklahoma safety Pat Fields (10) hits LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (22) during the first half of the Peach Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal in Atlanta on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. (Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP)</caption1><photoCredit1>AP photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124278863-e3b914640ae847c7b3ea707a1d66be72.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Clemson running back Travis Etienne </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124278863-e3b914640ae847c7b3ea707a1d66be72.jpg</photo2><caption2>Clemson running back Travis Etienne </caption2><photoCredit2>AP photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Pete Iacobelli</p><p>AP Sports Writer</p></bylineMeta></div>

Clemson, LSU backs proving they belong