Clemson Football practice report for Thursday

by TigerNet Staff - Thu Sep 08 19:43:58 GMT-04:00 2011

AUDIO: Dabo Swinney after practice audio

Dabo Swinney: “It’s been a good week. There is nothing like winning and what winning breeds. The biggest thing this week is trying to teach them what a normal week is all about. Last week wasn’t really a normal week because we had been preparing for a long time for one opponent and it was about getting their legs back. But this week is truly a normal week. Tuesday and Wednesday you got to bump and grind. It’s got to be physical. This week has been training them a lot toward that. You got really three days to get your plan in for the opponent. So it’s not like you have been seeing them for two weeks or something like that. That’s been different but the energy has been good. I have just challenged them to get better this week. Correct their mistakes from last week and don’t make the same ones and let’s see if we can go play more physical like I want us to be in all phases. We were not bad, but we got to be at another level and we got to continue to get better if we are going to obtain some of our other goals we have.”

• Safety Rashard HallRashard Hall
RS Jr. Safety
#31 6-2, 200
St. Augustine, FL
View Full Profile practiced on Thursday after being fitted for a brace on his injured knee. Swinney said he felt “really good” and was able to plant and cut on the knee. Swinney said Hall could play Saturday but would probably only play if they needed him to.

• Swinney said true freshman Robert SmithRobert Smith
Fr. Defensive Back
#27 5-11, 195
St. George, SC
View Full Profile will likely get the start due to Hall’s injury with Jonathan MeeksJonathan Meeks
Jr. Safety
#5 6-1, 205
Rock Hill, SC
View Full Profile starting at the other safety position.

• Running back Demont BuiceDemont Buice
RS Fr. Running Back
#24 6-0, 220
Gadsden, AL
View Full Profile has returned from a foot injury this week, and Swinney said they have him plugged in on some of the special team units, but he will also get an opportunity with the offense.

• Freshman offensive lineman Ryan NortonRyan Norton
Fr. Offensive Line
#58 6-4, 275
Mauldin, SC
View Full Profile is still on the bubble on whether he will be redshirted this year. Swinney said they are getting him ready to play, but they don’t want throw him out there just to play him. The decision will be made based on the health of the veteran offensive linemen. Swinney said they are treating him like Andre EllingtonAndre Ellington
RS Jr. Running Back
#23 5-10, 190
Moncks Corner, SC
View Full Profile a few years ago. He will travel with the team and play if he is needed.

Wofford vs. Clemson Game Day Notes

1. Clemson celebrates Military Appreciation Day Saturday

The Clemson University Athletic Department will recognize and honor fallen soldiers, veterans and current military personnel serving in the armed forces during Military Appreciation Day pregame and halftime ceremonies of the Clemson-Wofford football game, which begins at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10. Retired New York City firefighter Dennis Amodio will participate in a 9/11 remembrance.

Amodio and area first responders will be recognized during the first quarter of the football game. Amodio was assigned to Rescue Company 1, special operations, in New York City. He assisted with rescue operations at the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and on Sept. 11, 2001.

For 24 hours prior to kickoff, beginning at 3:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 9, the Clemson University Company C-4 Pershing Rifles national champion drill team will guard the Scroll of Honor Memorial across the street from Memorial Stadium. The changing of the guard will take place at the top of every hour and will be similar to the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. They will conduct a Retreat Ceremony at noon Saturday, Sept. 10, and then re-post the national colors.

Commemorative T-shirts are available at local stores. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to the Army and Air Force ROTC programs at Clemson.

Events on Military Appreciation Day include:

• Military displays will be set up on Bowman Field at 9 a.m.

• 2,977 American flags will be planted on Bowman Field on Saturday morning as a memorial to all those who died on 9/11. The flags will be set up through the afternoon of Sunday,Sept. 11.

• Pre-game events include a concert in the amphitheater in front of Cooper Library beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Upstate Pipe Band and the Clemson Tiger Band will perform.

• Veterans and current soldiers are invited to participate in a parade to the stadium at 2:15 p.m.Line up outside Holmes and McCabe dormitories on Fort Hill Street. Participants include the Pershing Rifles, a riderless horse, a World War II Jeep, Clemson Army, Air Force ROTC and Marine officer candidates, cadets from Wofford’s Army ROTC and The Summerall Guard from The Citadel. The Clemson Tiger mascot, cheerleaders and Tiger Band also will be in the parade.

• Pregame activities on the football field include the Clemson band military salute. Cadet commanders from the Army and Air Force ROTC and a student from the Marines Officers Training Program will dot the “i” when the band spells out Tigers on the field. Additional pregame activities include the presentation of colors by the United States Marine Corps Color Guard from Parris Island; the introduction of 20 families of fallen soldiers from South Carolina followed by a flyover of four F-16s from the 169th Fighter Wing of the South Carolina Air National Guard at the conclusion of the national anthem; the placement of a wreath, helmet and boots by the Clemson University Ranger Club; and a 21-gun salute by the Pershing Rifles from the Hill and the playing of Taps.

• Members of the South Carolina Army National Guard will conduct the coin toss ahead of the game. The South Carolina National Guard has designed the coin that will be used. It honors all the soldiers killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

• At the end of the first quarter of the football game, members of the Wounded Warriors Program will be introduced in the East End Zone.

• Halftime events willfeature a parade of veterans and current soldiers onto the field. Veterans and current soldiers from Clemson and Wofford are invited to participate and encouraged to gather at the West End Zone five minutes before halftime. TheCitadel’s Summerall Guard will perform a seven-minute silent drill march to honor the men of Clemson Agricultural College who performed in the Senior Platoon from 1930-1960. The Clemson Tiger Band then will play the military hymns of the five service branches.

2. Discounted tickets available for Saturday’s game

Clemson athletics ticket office is offering discounted tickets for the Tigers' season opening football game against Wofford on Saturday, Sept. 10. Tickets are available for $16 each for the 3:30 p.m.contest against the Terriers. Seating for the discounted tickets will be located in the upper deck on the North Side of Memorial Stadium.

The discounted tickets may be purchased online at http://www.ClemsonTigers.com , by phone by calling 1-800-CLEMSON or in person by visiting the ticket office at Memorial Stadium.

3. Tiger Band gets things started 90 Minutes Before Kick off

The Clemson University Tiger Band is doing its part again this season to take the already electricClemson spirit to the next level on game day.

“90-Minutes Before Kick-Off” is a mini-concert and pep rally that occurs 1 hour and 30 minutes before the start of each home football game at the Outdoor Theater (betweenSikes Hall and the R.M. Cooper Library). Fans can listen to halftime selections, enjoy university favorites such as “Tiger Rag” and the Alma Mater, and get ready to cheer the Tigers to victory with the help of Clemson’s cheerleaders, Rally Cats, and mascots. This Saturday’s show begins at 2 p.m.

Following “90-Minutes Before Kick-Off,” Tiger Band will take its traditional march through the heart of campus down Fort Hill Street from the Outdoor Theater to Memorial Stadium.

4. Young Tigers invited to Tiger Band Kids Klub

The Clemson University Tiger Band invites families to get in the Clemson Spirit early by attending the “Tiger Band Kids Klub.”

Children from the ages 1 to 13 and their parents are encouraged to visit the Tiger Band practice field (located on the corners of Perimeter and Cherry Roads) at 5 p.m. every Friday night before home football games to meet Tiger Band musicians, see instrument demonstrations, and participate in other band activities. Kids Klub membership is free and offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Tiger Band.

5. Tiger Walk welcomes players on game day

The run down the Hill into Clemson’s Death Valley may be “the most exciting 25 seconds in college football,” but a 200-yard walk through the stadium parking lot also stirs up tremendous noise and emotion.

Tiger Walk, initiated by head football coach Dabo Swinney, is a display of mutual admiration as loyal fans line up in the large parking lot west of Memorial Stadium to greet the Tigers, who are grateful for their support.

Saturday’s Tiger Walk typically begins two hours before kickoff in P-3 parking lot (aka IPTAY lot 5) when the Tigers depart their buses and walk to the team entrance in the WestZone of Memorial Stadium.

6. Clemson security plan includes policies for backpacks, chair backs

Clemson reminds all fans coming to the game that backpacks are not allowed inside Memorial Stadium on game days. Security measures adopted post-9/11 exclude backpacks and any large bags from the list of items allowed.

Fans attempting to enter the game with backpacks, tote bags, brown paper bags or other large carryalls will be told to return the item to their campus residence or vehicle. These items will not be claim-checked at the gates.

A new policy also restricts large chair backs. Chair backs with arms, large pockets or those that are larger than 17-inches wide will not be allowed into the stadium. These items will not be claim-checked at the gates; fans will be asked to return them to their vehicles.

Clemson continues to allow pass-outs this season, which means fans can leave and be readmitted to Memorial Stadium at designated entrances.

However, those fans will have to go through the same level of security screening as they did upon originally entering the stadium.

Items allowed into the stadium, but subject to search are purses, diaper bags, seat cushions, binoculars, cameras, video cameras, cell phones, radios, Walkman-type radio/recorders and hand-held TVs.

Event Staff can check umbrellas and strollers at the gates.

State and local bomb detection dogs and technicians will be on hand to check the stadium and cars parked near it, and only cars bearing IPTAY placards will be allowed access to roads in the vicinity of the stadium.

Adults attending the game should have an official form of photo identification with them, and children should remain with an adult at all times during the game.