CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -Clemson may be back in the national rankings. But back to the expected powerhouse picked to run off with the Atlantic Coast Conference? Not even close, says Tigers coach Tommy Bowden.
Bowden wants to see his 23rd-ranked Tigers’ toughen up, and in a big hurry.
“It’s not that I’m not happy with what we’ve done, I’m looking at where we have to go,” Bowden said Tuesday.
Clemson (2-1, 1-0 ACC) steps out of conference play again this week, going against its second Championship Subdivision team this season in South Carolina State.
Although the Tigers have won two straight since it season-opening Alabama beatdown that knocked then-ninth-ranked Clemson out of the rankings, Bowden doesn’t want his players back-sliding in the face of lesser competition.
ina State last Saturday.
“If we want to remain in the hunt, there’s just a whole bunch of work we have to do,” he said. “I don’t want to sound doom and gloom, but this is the state of the union as it is.”
Clemson figured to be further along. The Alabama loss shook the team’s confidence, while injuries to the offensive and defensive lines have changed faces in those areas.
“There’s nobody playing as good as we expect them to,” defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said.
The Tigers started three freshmen on the offensive line last week for the first time since World War II, while dominant defensive end Ricky Sapp has missed all but a few plays against Alabama with an injury. Rashaad Jackson and Jamie Cumbee are also out on the defensive line.
Clemson again plans to start freshmen Mason Cloy, David Smith and Landon Walker on the offensive line as usual starter Chris Hairston continues recovering from a bruised knee.
Sapp seems further along this week than last, Koenning said, although his availability for Saturday hasn’t yet been determined.
“Gas costs $4 a gallon. What are you going to do, quit driving?” Koenning said. “You’ve just got to go pay for it. Right now, we’re paying for it with work on our fundamentals.”
e against the Wolfpack lasted more than 8 minutes and covered 96 yards.
“We definitely know they’ve been challenging us because practices have been intense,” Cloy said. “But I think we’ve done a good job responding to the challenge.”
Bowden was very pointed with his staff and players in correcting mistakes. Coaches usually wait until their teams come upon an off week to reintroduce big-time hitting to practices.
What Bowden watched on the screen against North Carolina State distressed him so, he saw no other choice but to toughen up workouts.
“We’re going out in full pads. There’s going to be a lot of contact today. If somebody gets hurt, they get hurt,” Bowden said. “But we got to get better.”
That includes the Tigers’ psyches, too.
The Alabama defeat punctured the aura that Clemson would cruise to an ACC title and beyond. It was a difficult pill for coaches and players to swallow, Koenning said.
“Any confidence we had got thrown out the door,” Koenning said.
As much as correcting game errors, Clemson coaches had to work on fixing the players’ mindset.
Koenning says they’ve got the words, “Chicken Little,” up on the board in a football meeting room.
“An acorn fell and hit us on the head. We’ve got to not run around yelling, ‘The sky is falling,”’ he said. “We got to do our job. We’ve got to work hard and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
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