Camp's Out, Class is Back in Session

Again, there is nothing earth-shattering coming out of Clemson.  The staff will work to get the players legs back under them after an action filled two camp weeks.  Clemson's immediate schedule looks like this:  the Tigers are off today, practice Thursday, Friday is a walk through, then regular game preparation begins on Saturday.  I'll attempt not to repeat too much as we're hitting the wall with camp excitement.

As always, there are new rules for attending a football game at Memorial Stadium...Long and short, don't bring in a backpack, keep the golf carts on the golf course, keep the lounge chairs at your tailgate, and don't scalp tickets.  Here is the official university link where you'll also find a parking map, if you need it.  None of these seems unreasonable and none affect me anyway, so I really don't care.  I will, however, point out that parking keeps on getting tighter and tighter in Tigertown.  Clemson has gone overboard with "beautification projects" and IPTAY has been gradually annexing general areas for its parking purposes so be sure to have a decent plan if you don't have a reserved spot...else you'll be walking from Pendleton to the football game.

Also from the CUAD website, the Sweatshirt is going to allow the students to attend Friday's "Beanie Bowl" walk through practice.  Hopefully our coaches can avoid cussing each other out and nearly throwing down in front of the student body this time.  I guess it's cool that the students are there but will go ahead and say that this won't be characteristic of regular practices and will be a once over non-contact session to prepare for pregame and unique game situations.

Dawson Zimmerman is a candidate for the Senior Class Award.  I will be honest, I have heard folks on TV talk about this every Saturday but don't know what it really is.  Lowes hands it out and it goes to a senior.  Below is how it's described by the CUAD.  If you want more info follow the link.

"The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. The award is sponsored by Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, and is managed by Premier Sports Management."

On to important things that might actually determine a game's outcome...Clemson officially finished Fall Camp on Tuesday.  The team is off Wednesday for the first day of class, as usual.  When they return, RS FR Joe Craig will join the team. Craig, you may remember, was in some sort of morbid Gillette commercial meets American Gladiators combination early in the summer and was suspended from the football team henceforth. 

Dabo echoed all of our thoughts, telling the media Craig will not be in gameday shape when he practices Thursday.  Swinney also said that there would be a multiple game suspension for Joe, likely 3 games.  We expected big things from this young man this fall but we understand that there must be consequences for ridiculous behavior as reported inside of C-House. We have heard the truth behind the matter and that his Fatal Attraction girl has left the school, by choice or expulsion we do not know. We merely heard that something similar caused her to leave Oklahoma State before coming to CU. Apparently none of our beat writers have bothered to check on her status, and yes we have asked.

Kevin Steele revealed today that he is really, really concerned about our defensive line depth.  We weren't lying about the issues there and the issues on the offensive side, as confirmed by Swinney and Morris previously.  Any injuries up front would be highly detrimental to this football team.  Steele's concerns are so high that he will not rule out much of anything at this point to build defensive line depth.  Here is what he said Tuesday:

"We don't have as much experience. I am very concerned and more than concerned- about our depth up front. You line that first group up and you have a lot of playing time- Rennie [Moore], [Andre] Branch, Malliciah [Goodman], Brandon [Thompson, but past that [Tyler] Shatley is really the only one that has bit the bullet any except for Kourtnei Brown, who really moves positions."

Thanks T-net.

Dabo on Kourtnei Brown, then freshmen DeShawn Williams and Grady Jarrett (who we told you was far underrated by the services)

Brown - "He's been solid. He's a guy that's really critical to us having a good season. I really believe that. He's going to have to have his best year. Hopefully this is the year he puts it all together. He's had his moments. He's been injured and he's just never put it all together. And I'm really hopeful that this is the year. ... He's a critical guy, in my opinion. We're going to need a role out of him, and he can certainly do it."

Williams/Jarrett: "Oh yeah. I think they'll help us. They'll have a chance to help us. We just need some depth in there. You just don't have a lot of bodies. None of those guys are ready to play..Tavaris, DeShawn, Grady. But they're progressing. And we've got to get them ready.

"Our front group can play with anybody anytime. If we can catch a break and keep those guys healthy where we can grow some of that depth up, they're going to be good players. We've got to get Grady and DeShawn and Tavaris. Shatley is a guy that I would throw in the category with Rennie and Brandon. He's really played himself into a guy that we think we can count on. He's going to do it right. So we've got three guys right now we think we can count on at D-tackle."

Thompson has missed time with a sprained MCL of late.

Steele seems up-beat about starters at linebacker and secondary positions and is confident about the two-deep talent.  Sounds reasonable and about what I expected.  It will definitely be interesting to watch the linebacker rotations.  Here is how things look coming out of camp, with only the starting roles assured.  I starred players who I'd suspect are susceptible to redshirting. Walls will not play a down at LB in our opinion, and Shuey is everywhere.  I'll note that things shake up a little in Nickel, with Justin Parker sliding over to the Mike (Mac) LB role.

We'd still be surprised if Townsend stuck at SAM long-term. JACK would be Branch, with Vic Beasley and Corey Crawford both getting snaps too. All else was more of the same, which I'm sure we'll update and review as regular practice commences.

Embedded below is the university's 8/23/2011 practice overview.