Clemson’s Spring Game will be Big Opportunity for Many Tigers
CLEMSON, S.C. — There will be 20 scholarship players not involved in Saturday’s Orange and White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said the Tigers are going to be thin, but they still divided the players into two teams and will play a competitive game for the fans who make the trip to Clemson or watch it on the ACC Network.
“We have had some guys that have had some really good springs and I would like to see them carry that over into that environment,” Swinney said. “We have a lot of guys that have really had to play much bigger roles this spring than maybe they have in the past.
“Then you split the team, and with twenty scholarship guys unavailable, it gets thin quick. So, it is going to be fun. I just want to see them compete. I want to see some of these guys that maybe have not played as many reps and maybe are not going to play as many reps in the season, I want to see how they respond. I want to see how they handle it.”
Swinney also wants to see how the players take what the coaches give them and go execute what they taught them this spring.
“Let’s not have a bunch of missed assignments. Guys that have not had much opportunity, that are going to get some opportunity, show that they know what to do,” he said. “Let’s go have some fun and put on a good show for the crowd.”
Clemson is expecting to have a lot of recruits, so Swinney is hopeful to see a huge crowd at Death Valley.
“We are going to have a ton of recruits there,” he said. “We have a lot of former players coming back. We have a lot of families that are going to be here. This is a huge deal for these players. That is one of the reasons why we went ahead and split the team, even though we are thin in some areas because this is the only way you can create.
“It is just such a rare opportunity that you get to create a game environment in practice. So, this is a great opportunity for our quarterbacks. This is a great opportunity for some of them D-Linemen, especially these offensive linemen. Every position.”
Kickoff for the Orange and White Game is set for 1 p.m.
