Clemson Football Practice Brief

Aug. 19, 2002

Clemson, SC – Clemson was suppose to hold its next to the last day of two-a-day practices on Monday, but it turned out the Tigers had just a 1.2-a-day session. Clemson’s second practice was postponed after only 40 minutes of work due to lightning and extensive rain.

Still, Tommy Bowden’s Tigers had a worthwhile day of practice. “We went in full pads this morning for about three hours,” said Bowden, whose team is getting ready for its August 31 season opener at eighth ranked Georgia. “We had some situational scrimmaging and had some hitting, so we got something out of the day even though we were rained out in the afternoon.

“We did not have a very good practice in the morning. We would not have beaten Georgia had we played them this morning. We looked like a team that had not practiced in a day and a half. We challenged them prior to the afternoon practice and it looked like there was more enthusiasm, then the weather came.”

Bowden’s team will have its final day of two-a-day workouts on Tuesday. The team will work on special teams in the morning, then hold a scrimmage in Death Valley in the afternoon. The scrimmage will be closed to the public.

“We are doing more scrimmaging in the preseason than we have previously because of the youth we have in the lines. We do some scrimmaging everyday, but Tuesday will be the second scrimmage with ACC officials in the stadium.”

Bowden looks for the offense to show improvement Tuesday after a mediocre performance on Saturday. “We looked rugged on offense last Saturday. The offensive line needs to play better, they did not resemble a polished group.” Bowden was also disappointed in three lost fumbles by his offense on Saturday.

One bright spot Monday was the return of wide receiver Kevin Youngblood and defensive tackle Todd McClinton. Both went through the full practice, the first time they have gone through all phases of practice in a week.

Nick Eason, who is recovering from tests to determine if he had any cardiac problems, dressed out for practice, but did not go through any drills. He should be back by this weekend. Dustin Fry (dislocated kneecap) and David Dunham (concussion) continued to miss practice.