Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is sure he has ever been so eager to start a season for the top-ranked Tigers after months of uncertainty due to the global pandemic.
“I’ve noticed that our culture wins the day since March,” Swinney said Tuesday. “It’s a very close-knit football team, it’s a well-run team, a very wise team and it’s an exciting team. I can’t wait to watch them play and do what they love to do».
The Tigers open the changed COVID-19 season at Wake Forest on Saturday night. suspension of spring education in March and a worrying series of coronavirus cases between mid-to-late June.
“There’s no one who has to be here, ” said Swinney, “but he’s here. “
That quarterback Trevor Lawrence, a Heisman Trophy favorite and two-time ACC player of the year in runner Travis Etienne.
“It’s game time, ” Lawrence.
But the quarterback also found time for a team leader off the field, protecting social justice and player rights.
Lawrence posted on social media the goals accumulated through several college players across the country calling for change, adding that they should ensure that teammates are registered to vote and have “free sports obligations” to vote on Election Day (November 3), and messages and statements. in uniforms and helmets to raise awareness of social injustice.
Lawrence and Clemson, Darien Rencher’s offensive party, led a march last June to protest George Floyd’s death while in custody in Minneapolis.
“I know there are a lot of eyes on me. The critics, but also the younger generations and other people who look at me,” Lawrence said. “I need to use my platform in the right way. “
QB stated that none of his out-of-the-box moves prevented him from playing: running with his feet, reading defenses and throwing precision before his third year.
“I think we are in a very smart position,” Lawrence said. “A lot is happening and now I think we are in a position where we can do a little more in football. “
Lawrence has a 25-1 starting record, his loss in perhaps his worst functionality at school when he was only 18 out of 37 without a landing in a 42-25 loss to LSU in the national name game last January.
Lawrence probably wouldn’t have some of the goals that helped him spend 36 touchdowns last season. Catcher Tee Higgins went to the NFL, while Justyn Ross, who would have been a junior this season, is away a year after spinal fusion surgery.
Higgins and Ross combined for 21 landing catches and more than 50% of Lawrence’s 3,665 yards a year ago.
Expect Etienne, who returned for his senior season rather than becoming a professional, to pick up some of that burden. Clemson’s offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, who also coaches the midfielders, said Etienne had taken a step forward in his pass reception and could play a greater outdoor role in the backfield.
Sophomore Joseph Ngata, a beginner catcher, said the long, low season gave him and his teammates more time to paint on themselves.
“I think it’s a blessing disguised in some way, ” he said. “Let’s see it. “
The Tigers’ middle, Cade Stewart, one of four new starters along the offensive line, worried about fall camp more than usual. Clemson intended to open his season last Thursday night at Georgia Tech.
Stewart welcomes the regime of the week in shape, as it nevertheless leads to returning to the countryside.
“Everyone is super excited about this sense of regime and normalcy,” he said. “That’s why we come here for the structure. “
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