Friday Clemson Practice Brief |
Clemson, SC-Clemson practiced twice on Friday on the practice fields behind the Jervey Athletic Center. Tommy Bowden's Tigers worked for
22 periods in the morning in full pads and for 18 periods in the late afternoon in shells. "It was a good day of practice," said Bowden. "We didn't condition after the second practice (run sprints) because we want to save their legs for Saturday's scrimmage. Clemson will work in Death Valley in the morning. The scrimmage is closed to the public and the media. "It will be an important scrimmage. We want to see how the freshmen have progressed. We are getting close to the time where we will try to predict who will help us by the fourth of fifth games of the year. That will be the determining factor in deciding whom we red-shirt." Bowden said starting linebacker Tramaine Billie had surgery on Friday for a broken ankle suffered at the end of practice on Wednesday. He said Billie would be out a minimum of 6-8 weeks. He planned to meet with Billie and his family over the weekend to determine his status with the team this year. Billie is eligible for a red-shirt season and could return for 2007 if he sits out this year. "Tramaine was having a tremendous camp. I told the team we had some time to see who would step up in his place, but one thing we won't replace is his speed. " Billie was Clemson's third leading tackler last year with 93 tackles. He has started each of the last 18 Clemson games and the Tigers are 13-5 in those games. Bowden also announced that snapper Colin Leonard and reserve running back Paul Macko would be on scholarship for this year. Leonard is a junior from Lafayette, IN and is in his fourth year in the program. He lettered in 2005. Macko is a junior from Wadsworth, OH who played in one game last year. Clemson Ranked 18th in Preseason Associated Press Poll First AP top 25 Preseason Ranking since 2001 Clemson, SC-Clemson is ranked 18th in the nation in the preseason Associated Press top 25 poll. It is the first time Clemson has been ranked in the AP preseason poll since the 2001 season when Clemson was 19th. This year's #18 ranking is the highest preseason ranking for the Clemson program since the preseason of the 2000 season when Clemson was 17th. The Tigers went on to finish 16th in the final AP poll that year after a 9-3 season. Earlier this month Clemson was also ranked 18th in the USA Today Coaches poll. The #18 ranking by AP is the highest for the Clemson program in any AP poll since the October 14, 2001 poll when Clemson was 13th after a 4-1 start. Clemson ranked 21st in the final AP poll last year. Ohio State is first in the preseason AP poll, followed by Notre Dame. Clemson is fourth among ACC teams in the Associated Press Poll. Florida State is ranked 11th, Miami (FL) is 12th and Virginia Tech is 17th. The Tigers must face Florida State on the road on September 16 and will play at Virginia Tech on October 26. Clemson will not face Miami (FL) in the regular season this year. "I would rather be ranked in the preseason than not be ranked, but our goal is to be ranked at the end of the season," said Bowden. "That would give us consecutive top 25 seasons and that is something we haven't done yet. It is one of our goals for 2006."
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