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Clemson Ready for First 'Full-Speed, Live' Scrimmage

Clemson football will hold its first fall camp scrimmage of 2020 on Saturday, and there are a lot of areas to highlight as the Tigers prepare for the Sept. 12 opener.

One of the rights of fall camp is making it to the first scrimmage of August. 

No, 1 Clemson has reached that point, and coaches will get their initial look at how the 2020 team stacks up. 

"I think the scrimmage is very big," Clemson right tackle Jordan McFadden. "At practice, the coaches are right behind you so they can kind of guide you through things in that play. In the scrimmage (Saturday), they're going to be out the way. Everything is going to be full speed, live. We'll be playing full speed."

It's the perfect time for evaluation. The Tigers have gone through their acclimation, some installation and a few physical practices to be ready to see what it looks like when they put it all together. 

It'll also be a chance for the coaches to see how much the freshmen have absorbed over the last week or so, and it gives the team areas it'll need to work on to be ready for the Sept. 12 opener at Wake Forest. 

"It's a matter of showing what you can do, what each player can do, especially those freshmen offensive linemen showing the coaches they can be trusted," McFadden said. "They know exactly what to do. They know how to do it and physically they can do it. I think that's going to be very important." 

Getting the second-string offensive line up to par is one of the focuses of fall camp. The Tigers will also get their first look in a live scrimmage at playmakers running back Demarkcus Bowman and receiver Ajou Ajou.

D.J. Uiagalelei and Taisun Phommachanh are looking to get a leg up on each other in the quarterback race to backup Trevor Lawrence. 

Freshmen defensive linemen Myles Murphy and Bryan Bresee get a chance to try a move up the depth chart and impress defensive coordinator Brent Venables with their knowledge, not just their athletic ability. 

There will be high-stress situations all over the field from head coach Dabo Swinney and his staff in what will be an important gauge of where Clemson is with fall camp ending next week. 

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