Clemson Practice Brief

Aug. 19, 2005

Clemson, SC – Clemson had another weather delayed practice on Friday afternoon, but Tommy Bowden still put his team through a two-hour practice on the fields behind the Jervey Athletic Center.

The original schedule called for two practices on Friday, as the weather problems earlier in the week forced a change to the schedule. Then lightning and rain in the Clemson area at 3:30 PM delayed the start of practice. But, the day’s activity finally got underway at 4:30 PM. The two-hour workout ended when Bowden cancelled the conditioning run, much to the celebration of the players, who rushed Bowden and put the Tiger coach on their shoulders.

The Tigers will hold their second major stadium scrimmage on Saturday morning at Death Valley. The scrimmage is closed to the public. “I will be looking at a lot of areas on Saturday,” said Bowden, who is in his seventh preseason as Clemson head coach. “First, we will look at turnovers. We didn’t have any lost turnovers in the first scrimmage, but we did put the ball on the ground a couple of times.

“We will evaluate the number of missed assignments on offense and defense. We will look at the number of dropped balls, and look for improved tackling from the first scrimmage. Overall, we want to see execution on offense and defense.”

Bowden announced on Friday that he had put three walk-ons on scholarship this year this week. Tight end Thomas Hunter, tight end Cole Downer, and linebacker Lionel Richardson, all will be on scholarship, giving Clemson the maximum 85 scholarship student-athletes this year. “All three are good students, have worked hard and deserve to be on scholarship. They represent the program well. And, they all could be starters depending on our alignment.” All three lettered last year.

Downer was one of the injured players on Friday as he missed the practice with a pulled hamstring, a common problem for the Tigers this preseason. Christian Capote (knee) and Kelvin Grant (separated shoulder) continued to be sidelined.

Running back James Davis and defensive tackle Dorell Scott continued to miss practice for personal reasons, but both are expected to return by Saturday. Bowden expects Davis to play in the scrimmage. Defensive end Charles Bennett was back at practice after missing both practices on Thursday due to a death in his family.