Clemson freshman running back Jay Haynes will be out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

The Clemson Tigers are getting set for a huge game against the Texas Longhornsin the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday afternoon.

It has been an interesting season to say the least for the Tigers, but they have been able to find a way into national championship contention nonetheless.

While it looked like they weren’t going to have a chance a couple of weeks ago to play in the ACC title game or in the CFP, Clemson has made the most of their opportunities this season.

The matchup against the Longhorns is going to be a challenging one, as they have one of the best defenses in the country. Scoring points against Texas is no easy task, and the Tigers are going to be coming into the matchup short-handed.

Head coach Dabo Swinney confirmed on Monday what many believed, that freshman running back Jay Haynes suffered a torn ACL in the win over the SMU Mustangs.

“He’s out,” the head coach said to The Clemson Insider. “He tore his ACL and had surgery (Monday) morning.”

This is really unfortunate news for the talented running back since he was having a solid season as the backup to Phil Mafah.

he freshman running back totaled 295 rushing yards and three rushing scores this year. His best game came against The Citadel when he ran for 118 yards and two scores.

With the ACL being a major injury, this could result in Haynes not being 100% by the start of next season too, which would be unfortunate since he’s expected to be the starting running back.

Now, with Mafah also still banged up heading into the CFP, it will put more on the shoulders of Cade Klubnik and the passing offense. With Haynes out and Mafah banged up, Clemson will be turning to David Eziomume, Keith Adams, and Jarvis Green for some help at the position.

Hopefully, their senior back is healthy enough to carry the workload, as there isn’t much experience behind him in the backfield.