Mayes looking for consistency after being thrust into starting role

Mitchell Mayes is looking for consistency this season.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Thu Sep 28 17:30:13 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - An injury to Walker Parks has thrust senior offensive lineman Mitchell Mayes into a starting role, and he's looking for the consistency that will allow him to keep his spot.

The offensive line was a bit of a weakness for the Tigers last season. This season looks like it may be better, but there is still some work to be done. Part of it is consistency in one position, and Mayes has practiced and played in almost all of the positions on the offensive line.

“Starting from last year is when I really started rotating,” Mayes said. “I started rotating between mostly right tackle and left guard last year, and that ended up working out well because once Marcus (Tate) got injured, I had some playing experience at left guard. But this year, I’ve been pretty much cross-training at all four positions. I’ve been playing left tackle, left guard, right guard and right tackle since fall camp.”

Particularly with fellow senior offensive lineman Walker Parks suffering an ankle injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season, Clemson needs to have players like Mayes step up. He played a career-high 405 snaps last season and started four games. He has already started two games for the Tigers this season, including against Florida State.

Mayes says that overall he can be better in pass protection moving forward.

“I believe I could have played a much better game and just really focusing on finishing the game better,” Mayes said. “Pass protection was a big point of focus for myself. I could have done a lot better.”

Mayes believes that second-year quarterback Cade Klubnk is a vocal leader who works incredibly hard.

“I think he’s a great leader. He’s very local on the sideline and in the huddle. He’s supportive of everyone,” Mayes said. “He wants the best, he works really hard. I don’t think anyone can question his work ethic or his want to to win. He wants it bad, and I think he’s a great quarterback, great leader.”

Perhaps the biggest game of Klubnik’s career was last season against Syracuse when he led a fourth-quarter comeback to keep the Tigers undefeated and keep a home winning streak alive. The Orange are always a tough opponent for Clemson and this Saturday should be the same (Noon / ABC).

First, preventing sacks promises to be extremely important. So far, the Tigers have given up six sacks for the first four games of the season, which ranks No. 43 in the FBS. Defensively, the Orange have sacked opponents 13 times in their four games this season.

“We’ll have to really focus on their scheme. They do a lot up front. They do a lot of twists and blitzes,” Mayes said. “They present a lot of different things at you and we’ll just have to really work on it within the film study and practice.”

Their defense also has 28 tackles for loss this season. This does not bode well for Clemson as they are giving up an average of 4.5 tackles for loss per game. Syracuse also ranks the highest in tackles for loss out of any defense that the Tigers have faced so far this season.

One thing that could play in favor of the Tigers is that Syracuse is a rather undisciplined team as they have committed 31 penalties this season, which is tied for No. 110 in the FBS. Conversely, Clemson has committed only 16 penalties this season which is tied for No. 16 in the FBS.