CLEMSON, S.C. -- Dabo Swinney has heard too often how the Clemson offense this season can't possibly be as good without tailback C.J. Spiller and several other standouts.
Now, Swinney is ready to see his new guys prove everybody wrong.
``College football, to me, that's what's awesome about it. Every four years, somebody's leaving,'' Swinney said Tuesday. ``You got to take what you've got and play with them. All I can tell you is, I like our players.''
The Tigers get to show off several new potential playmakers when they open the season against North Texas at Death Valley on Saturday. Few are expecting the production that made Spiller one of Clemson's all-time greats.
Spiller accounted for 21 touchdowns he was the only Division I player to score in every game last year and 2,680 yards on the way to Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.
``C.J. is going to be in the Ring of Honor'' at Clemson's Memorial Stadium, left tackle Chris Hairston said. ``A guy like that leaves your team, it's an event, something that you worry about and lose a little sleep over.''
Clemson's attack in 2009 also featured wide received Jacoby Ford and tight end Michael Palmer.
Ford was considered the fasted player in college football he had a 4.28-second 40-yard dash at last February's NFL combine and backed that up with a team high 55 catches last fall.
Palmer was next with 43 catches, a record for Clemson tight ends.
Spiller, Ford and Palmer put up more than two-thirds of the Tigers' nearly 6,900 yards last fall and more than 63 percent of their 54 touchdowns.
But don't sell the replacements short.
Andre Ellington led the Tigers with more than seven yards a carry last season and fellow reserve runner Jamie Harper had the longest run from scrimmage.
Swinney has said that sophomore tight end Dwayne Allen has the ability to surpass Palmer's record season and Clemson's young receivers have shown promise this summer.
``There's a lot of people out there not expecting us to do anything this year,'' Ellington said. ``The first game is a chance to show them.''
Swinney said he's got a host of receivers vying for playing time. Four days before the opener, only junior Marquan Jones has locked down one of the three starting spots.
Spiller and Ford were also factors on special teams, combining for six touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns. Swinney says starting cornerback Marcus Gilchrist will take on the bulk of Clemson's returns.
Gilchrist is ``awfully excited that C.J. and Jacoby are gone,'' Swinney said.
The Mean Green, playing Clemson for the first time, don't figure to stress last year's ACC's Atlantic Division champs. North Texas went 2-10 last season and allowed more than 35 points a game.
Mean Green tight end Draylan Ross thinks his team has brought an improved attitude to preseason workouts. ``We're all taking care of our own jobs and you feel comfortable about the next man executing what he has to do,'' said Ross, a senior.
It may not matter if Clemson's reserves from last year come close to the 2009 offensive production.
Hairston, the offensive lineman who takes over the group's leadership mantle from departed senior Thomas Austin, says the line gained comfort with the hard work put in by runners Ellington and Harper.
``It gave us a sense easiness knowing that we can go in and rush the ball like we did last year,'' Hairston said. ``C.J., the plays he made, nobody else can. But collectively, we can pick up that slack.''
Thursday
October 31st, 2024
11:20AM
