Todays player spotlight is #82 Sam Earle. He is a redshirt freshman WR for the Clemson Tigers in 2025.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find much info on him. (Though I did find out that he had a brother that played at Clemson from 2019-24, Hampton Earle.) Even his Clemson bio is almost bare. Not really any new pictures of him either. So I had to dig into his high school years to get some info on him…
World War 2 continues to take a heavy toll on the country. Clemson football is no exception. As the war rages, Clemson’s football team of predominantly underclassmen even played a “wartime team” (see citation below).
And Clemson Head Football Coach Frank Howard takes over as Head Coach of the Clemson baseball team as well.
Overview:
According to Wikipedia:
“The 1943 Clemson Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Clemson College as a member of the Southern Conference during the 1943 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach Frank Howard, the Tigers compiled a 2–6 record (2–3 against conference opponents), finished seventh in the conference, and were outscored by a total of 185 to 94. The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.”
“Sept. 25, 1943 – World War II took virtually all of Clemson’s veteran players and the Tigers started nine first-year freshmen at the 11 positions in a 13-12 loss to Presbyterian. Clemson had just a 2-6 record this season with no one older than a sophomore playing in a game as the armed services took Clemson’s entire junior and senior classes.”
“Ralph Jenkins was the team captain. The team's statistical leaders included tailback Marion "Butch" Butler with 166 passing yards and wingback James Whitmire with 376 rushing yards and 24 points scored (4 touchdowns). Butler was selected as a first-team player on the 1943 All-South Carolina football team.
In the final Litkenhous Ratings, Case ranked 141st among the nation's college and service teams with a rating of 54.2.”
September 25: Presbyterian* L 12–13 October 2: vs. NC State (Charlotte) W 19–7 October 9: vs. VMI (Roanoke) L 7–12 October 21: at South Carolina L 6–33 October 30: Wake Forest L 12–41 November 6: at Davidson (Charlotte) W 26–6 November 13: vs. Georgia Pre-Flight* (Greenville) L 6–32 November 20: at No. 15 Georgia Tech* L 6–41
With the loss to the Gamechicken, Clemson’s record vs the Chickens falls to 27-13-1.
Also in 1943:
According to ClemsonWiki:
February 7: Due to war time priorities, shoe rationing goes into effect on this date, limiting civilians to three pairs of leather shoes per year. The restriction will be lifted on October 30, 1945.
…
Spring: With the distribution of the 1943 edition of TAPS, the yearbook will go moribund for three years due to wartime conditions affecting the college. It will resume with the 1946-1947 school year.
Fall semester - The enrollment at Clemson drops to only 700, most being 17 years old or younger, or have been classified 4-F by the draft boards, or have already been discharged from military service.
…
December 16: "A fire which started in the early morning hours of Dec. 16 threatened Clemson's entire downtown business district and did an estimated damage of $10,000. The Clemson Cadet Corps Fire Company was called out at 2:00 a.m. and exhibited their ability to handle an emergency. The fire, which raged for over an hour in icy weather, started in the Cash Grocery Store, operated by Mr. Edwards, and quickly spread to the kitchen of the Clemson Grill. Clinkscale's barn, housing two cars and two trucks, was next to catch. It burned to the ground. The fire then spread to Bob Smith's filling station where it was extinguished after destroying his garage and wrecker. Fire fighting equipment from Seneca and Anderson was on hand to stop the fire before it could spread to Hoke Sloan's store on one side or Anderson's filling station on the other. The main telephone and power cables were temporarily isolated during one of Clemson's first cold spells. Repair and construction began the following morning and all will soon be in good condition."
1943 – Frank Howard, the Tigers’ career leader in football victories (165), coached the baseball squad for one season, compiling a 12-3 overall record. His career record is still the second-best of any coach in school history.
Got to pick up all the debris from Saturday's storm. Moved most of a 25 foot long sweet gum limb yesterday. Can't even figure out which tree it came from since the closest gum tree was about 30 yards away and had several oaks blocking the path it had to take to get where it landed.
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov
Panta Rhei Heraclitus
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