Scrimmage Updates: Tigers do situational work in Death Valley to start week

Clemson held a situational scrimmage in Death Valley to start the week.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Aug 14 13:41:00 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – The Clemson football team was back in the heat Monday morning with a situational scrimmage in Death Valley.

The Tigers practiced for two hours in sweltering conditions – which makes head coach Dabo Swinney happy – and didn’t do a lot of live work. Instead, it was goal line, third-and-long, two-minute, etc. We spoke with running back Phil Mafah, cornerback Sheridan Jones, and safety Andrew Mukuba in the new photo work room underneath the stadium following the scrimmage and have a few notes to report.

*Both Jones and Mukuba are complimentary of freshman cornerback Avieon Terrell. We will have more on this later, but Jones says Terrell is a carbon copy of his older brother, current Atlanta Falcon AJ Terrell. Jones thinks Terrell has a chance to play early, and Mukuba said Terrell slid into the nickel spot without being asked and has worked there. He said Terrell is also full of questions and isn’t afraid to admit what he doesn’t know.

*I asked Mukuba about the receivers, and he said the one that really stands out to him (because they’ve gone against each other so much), is Antonio Williams. He said Williams is one of the best wide receivers in the country. He also said that Adam Randall is “coming on” and Beaux Collins and Cole Turner are making plays. He said what we’ve been hearing – freshman Tyler Brown is doing something every practice that gets him noticed, in a good way.

*Mafah said the offensive line is improved over last season, and with the tempo, scheme, and improved line play, there are more holes to run through.

“They are doing great. They are giving it their all,” Mafah told me. “They’ve definitely taken a step up from last year, and it’s just getting better and better every year. They guys are ready to work harder and play harder, and I’ve seen that every single day. That just opens up opportunities for us to have great runs and for the QB to get the ball out, and we’ve been seeing that all camp.

“I love the offense, and what helps us get the running game going is the passing game. The receivers being a threat on all quadrants of the field opens up the running game and it flows. Having the air raid means we can run the ball, too.”

Interestingly, Mukuba said that offense always shows the defense something “we haven’t seen before and that can only help us.” Mafah smiled when he was asked if the offense has a swagger to it.

“It just feels like we have more confidence, trusting in the system,” he said. "We are buying in to every single day and following the lead of Coach (Garrett Riley) and Coach Swinney. We are following Cade (Klubnik) and it’s been great, and we have confidence in each other.”

*I will have a story on this later, but Jones is the fourth older player who said the goal this season is to win a National Championship. He said his 2019 class hasn’t won a National Championship, and they had a taste of it his first year but haven’t been back.

Mukuba said yes, that is the goal, but if they take it one day at a time and put in the work necessary, this team is good enough to make it.