The best way to learn sometimes, is to get burned. Both literally and figuratively. That was the case for Clemson running back Travis Etienne.

His moment came on Sept. 28 in Chapel Hill. That is the day when North Carolina linebacker Chazz Surratt exposed Etienne a little bit. Actually, he exposed him a lot.

“All of us have been in situations where sometimes we have to learn by touching the stove, and I think that is what happened to him at North Carolina,” co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Tony Elliott said. “He has had so much success, he thought he was going to be able to go out there and just kind of do what he needed to do to get the job done. But you have to have a certain intensity, a certain focus and certain mentality and he got exposed in pass protection.”

Surratt did more than expose Etienne, he blew him up a couple of times. It also affected the way Etienne ran the football, as he rushed for a pedestrian like 67 yards on 14 carries as the Tigers narrowly escaped Chapel Hill with a victory.

“I think he took that to heart,” Elliott said.

It made Etienne refocus.

Elliott said he did not really have to say too much to the junior because Etienne is a mature person that understood he was not as prepared and ready to play as he needed to be.

Since the UNC game, Etienne’s focus has been right where it needs to be. He has not only improved with his pass protection, but he has become a valuable weapon out of the backfield in the passing game and he has taken the running game to another level.

“Sometimes they have to experience it and I think he realized, if he does not have that eye of the Tiger or that mentality that he may not be able to accomplish the things he wants to accomplish,” Elliott said. “I think it is just a renewed sense of urgency with him.”

That renewed sense of urgency has allowed Etienne to run for 428 yards and 4 touchdowns combined in the last three games, while also catching 8 passes for 71 yards and one touchdown in the Tigers’ wins over Florida State, Louisville and Boston College.

Elliott told Etienne what makes him the best running back in the country is when he has that “Eye of Tiger” and focus.

“If you do not have that, then that makes you average like everybody else,” Elliott recalled from his conversation with Etienne.

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