105 Tigers Open Practice with Two Workouts |
CLEMSON - In his classic baseball book, Jim Bouton told the story of a
youngster coming home with a forlorn look on his face, dragging a bat and glove behind. "How'd the game go?" his father asked. "Okay I guess," the son said. "I had a no-hitter until the big kids got out of school." Such was the scenario for Clemson's freshmen Friday. After two days of exclusive instruction by the coaching staff, the big kids - also known as the veterans - showed up for workouts at Jervey Meadows. Suddenly, some of the freshmen had that aforementioned forlorn look in their eyes. "That's one of the last things we talked about at the end of practice," head coach Tommy Bowden said after the morning session. "Some of them kind of had that look about them, and you could see them asking themselves 'What am I doing here?' "We talked about the upperclassmen having to help these guys along. I asked them to remember their first day at practice and try to help these guys through it." Not all the freshmen are intimidated, of course. Wide receivers Roscoe Crosby and Airese Currie already have jumped to No. 2 on the depth chart at their respective positions, and there is good reason to believe the same will hold true for some of the young defensive linemen in camp. After his first up-close view of Crosby and Currie, senior quarterback Woody Dantzler was impressed. "They looked good," he said. "They already fit in well here...I think they're going to help us." Young or old, everyone was forced to deal with the heat Friday, and six Clemson players had to take fluids via IV after the morning practice. The evening workout was much cooler after the first hour. Bowden said the Tigers got in six full hours on the practice field. "That's pretty good for this time of year, with the heat," he said. NOTES - Bowden said the kicking game was solid Friday, especially sophomore place kicker Aaron Hunt. "He hit every one of them, and all of them were right down the middle," Bowden said. - Dantzler, defensive tackle Nick Eason and cornerback Charles Hafley will miss today's morning practice in order to go through graduation exercises. The feat is especially remarkable for Eason, who is graduating after only three years in school. Counting this season, he still has two years of eligibility remaining. "That's really impressive," Bowden said. "You really have to load up in summer school to pull that off." - Left tackle Akil Smith, who missed last season with a blood clot in his lung, is working out at full speed this season. However, Bowden wants to see more. "Consistency has been his problem," he said. "You'd like for him to be a starter, since he (was) for two years. But he's not right now. That's up to him." Staff Report Clemson, SC-Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden worked his team through two practices on Friday. It was the first day of practice for the entire team. The Clemson freshmen had four practices as a unit, two each day on August 6 and 7. But, today was the first day the entire team went through a workout. The Tigers had 105 players present for the workout. Only one player was sidelined in a yellow jersey. That was offensive lineman Nick Black, who is nursing a sprained ankle and was on the sidelines for both practices. Despite the hot temperatures in the morning, as hot as 90 degrees, no injuries were reported. The team worked out for nearly three hours in the morning and for 2:45 in the afternoon. Overall, Bowden was pleased with the first day. "It was the best first day since I have been at Clemson," said Bowden. "I saw aggressive play out there, especially in the morning practice. We wore shoulder pads in the morning and there was good hitting pad to pad." Clemson players would engage, but not take the opposing player to the ground during the workout in the morning. The Tigers did not wear shoulder pads in the afternoon. Clemson will work twice on Saturday then take Sunday off for Fan Appreciation Day. Three players will miss the morning practice in order to go through commencement exercises. Bowden will excuse quarterback Woodrow Dantzler, defensive tackle Nick Eason and defensive back Charles Hafley. They will return for the afternoon practice. "We congratulate all three of these players," said Bowden. "It is impressive, especially for Nick Eason, who is doing it in three years and a couple of summers. Willie Simmons has a chance to do that to. It is quite an accomplishment for all three."
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