Tiger linemen were prepared well to be the next man up

Trent Howard played all but one snap for the Clemson O-line in coming off the bench at Pitt.

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Thursday, November 21 2024

CLEMSON - With all the injuries on the offensive line, it is hard to keep track of who is playing for the Clemson Tigers this season.

Graduate offensive lineman Trent Howard played 73 snaps for the Tigers in their win over Pittsburgh after true freshman Elyjah Thurmon went down with an injury. Despite not knowing if he was going to play, Howard was ready when his time came.

“We had some situations come up Saturday where my number was called, and I was just glad I was able to go in there and get it done for us for the most part,” Howard said. “It’s the next man up mentality, and that’s the way it’s always been around here, and everybody’s got to be ready and anything can happen in the game as we’ve experienced here before. But, (offensive line coach) Coach (Matt) Luke was ready. We were all ready, and we’re just glad we could get it done.”

Putting Howard in was just one of numerous changes along the offensive line with graduate Walker Parks, junior Blake Miller, redshirt junior Ryan Linthicum and sophomore Harris Sewell all having to change positions on the line throughout the game against the Panthers. Howard was proud of how the unit responded to all of the shuffling at the line.

“Walker Parks having to slide out to tackle, Blake Miller having to flip, Ryan having to communicate to different people, Harris having to flip. Mentally, it’s kind of challenging because (everything on) offense is kind of flipped when you flip sides, especially going from guard to tackle,” Howard said. “Really proud of Walker. Really proud of Blake. Really proud of Harris, Ryan. It’s not easy, especially on the first play. But, people don’t understand how challenging that can be because everything just flips. Your technique is all flipped, especially going left to right and then guard to tackle. You’re out there (in) a lot more space to tackle, especially in pass protection and just really proud of the guys. Really proud of Coach Luke, (offensive coordinator) Coach (Garrett) Riley for having us ready for that.”

With all of the changes at offensive line, it is no surprise that the Tigers surrendered five sacks; they only allowed 12 sacks in the nine games before that. However, Clemson was able to overcome the injuries and the sacks thanks to a 50-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Cade Klubnik to put the Tigers in front and ultimately give them the victory. On that play, Linthicum was also an unsung hero for changing the (protection) right before the snap, allowing that touchdown to occur.

“What a play by Cade. Shout out to Ryan Linthicum on that. He changed the call at the very last minute, got us in a better protection, and we slid it right to where they twisted, and it was perfect,” Howard said. “But, shout out to Cade on that play. That was a play. Thrilled, excited, every range of emotion you can probably feel that we probably all were feeling when that happened.”

With their win against Pittsburgh, No. 17 Clemson has finished their ACC schedule. Their game this Saturday against The Citadel (3:30 p.m. / The CW) will be their Senior Day before taking on No. 18 South Carolina on Sat. Nov. 30 (Noon / ESPN) to finish off the regular season.