CLEMSON, SC -- The offense and defense both had their moments Wednesday, as
Clemson had its second day of practice in full pads. Again, Coach Tommy
Bowden ran his troops through two practices, one in the morning in full
gear and one in the afternoon without pads.
Bowden had a modified situation scrimmage on the practice fields
behind the Jervey Athletic Center. He ran his team through various
situations, including plays on third-and-two, third-and-six and third-and
-12 from various positions on the field.
"The defense looked good when we were out in situations away from
the goal line, but the offense executed better in goal line situations,"
said Bowden, whose team is preparing for a September 2 season opener
against The Citadel.
Bowden expects to see the true character of his team the rest of
the week. "Now will be the battle against mental fatigue. Once you get
past the first six practices of two-a-days you you must deal with fatigue.
It will be a more difficult problem each day.
"We didn't have this many two-a-days in a row last year because of
the way our preseason schedule fell. Each school has 29 practices prior to
the first game, but the schedule of the practices is different based on the
academic schedule. Having this many two-a-days is good because we can
really challenge them. It is like the fourth quarter of a game, when you
battle fatigue."
Bowden called out a few names of players who had strong practices
on Wednesday. "Greg Walker continues to make progress in the offensive
line, as did Brady Washburn. Chad Jasmin made a nice run on the goal line
and William Henry made some nice plays in some one-on-one situations.
"As far as leaders are concerned, well Keith Adams shows us
leadership everyday. Robert Carswell is also a team leader and Bryant
McNeal has been showing us some leadership even though he is just a
sophomore. Terry Jolly likes to talk so he is a natural leader. Woodrow
Dantzler has been giving us leadership on offense. With so many offensive
linemen hurt it has been difficult to develop leaders at that position so
far, but overall we have good leadership in the line. We will have some
experience there when we get everyone back from injury."
Seven players missed the afternoon practice due to injury. Charles
Hafley, Neely Page and Chad Carson were all out with back injuries. Will
Merritt missed due to a virus, while Kyle Young continues to sit out with a
foot injury. Freshman Derrick Hamilton missed his third straight day with
a pulled hamstring. Red-shirt freshman defensive back Charles Harper is
also out with a hamstring injury. Theo Mougros was back at practice after
missing the last two days with a knee problem.
Bowden talks to media
after practice on Wed.
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