o CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -One starting quarterback has a bone bruise in his throwing shoulder. The other starter just had surgery. Yet Clemson interim coach Dabo Swinney thinks both of his dinged up passers could play when the Tigers return to action at Boston College on Nov. 1.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see us play both,” senior Cullen Harper and freshman Willy Korn in the next game, Swinney said this week. “They both can do some good things.”
As long as they’re healthy, which is a key question.
Korn’s first start ended early last Saturday when he was hit on the arm as he threw by Georgia Tech defensive lineman Derrick Morgan, the ball popping up for an easy interception by cornerback Rashaad Reid. An MRI revealed the bone bruise and he’s not expected to practice until next week.
earned a start against the Eagles.
“I thought he had some fire to him, some zip on the ball,” Swinney said. “To me, he played with a sense of urgency and a lot of purpose.”
Less than 24 hours after falling to the Yellow Jackets’ 21-17, Harper underwent surgery to fix the break. Surgeons found Harper’s problems less severe than they thought and Harper was back at practice Tuesday.
Swinney joked that Clemson team surgeon, Dr. Larry Bowman, was a miracle worker.
“I can’t imagine getting cut on, and two days later (Harper) is actually out here doing up-downs,” Swinney said Tuesday.
Harper is looking forward to facing Boston College, and the rest of Clemson’s remaining opponents.
“It’s all I’ve got here, and I want to make the most of it,” he said.
That’s what Swinney, named to head the program after coach Tommy Bowden stepped down earlier this month, wants to hear. He says he’ll count on Harper’s experience and talent and Korn’s mobility down the stretch.
“We have to win now, without question,” Swinney said. “And we also have to prepare for the future. They both bring something for the table.”
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UH, CHRIS?: Clint Sintim and Chris Long were great friends at Virginia, and while Long graduated after last season and was the No. 2 pick overall in the NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams, he’s still managed to return to campus for a few games this season.
im, a four-year starter at outside linebacker, is showing that Long’s presence on the defensive line was hardly responsible for Sintim’s tendency to sack the quarterback.
In Virginia’s 16-13 overtime victory against North Carolina on Saturday, Sintim sacked Tar Heels quarterback Cameron Sexton, his fourth consecutive game with at least one sack. It moved Sintim to fourth on Virginia’s career list with 25.
“I’m just playing football and just trying to do whatever to help this team out,” he said.
Long had 22 sacks. Reporters asked Sintim if Long knew he’d been passed by his buddy.
“Yeah, he knows,” Sintim said in a most definitive voice. “He knows.”
Asked if he’d delivered the news himself, Sintim paused.
“Uh, yeah,” he said.
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THE BELL TOALS: Boston College linebacker Brian Toal, who sat out the 2007 season after having shoulder surgery, didn’t have much luck in ’08, either.
Toal broke his right leg in Saturday night’s 28-23 victory over Virginia Tech and his collegiate career is over. He will be replaced at linebacker by Robert Francois.
The Big East rookie of the year in 2004, Toal supplemented his defensive duties by playing fullback on short-yardage situations. Before breaking loose for a 39-yard run on his only carry against North Carolina State on Oct. 4, he had rushed for a total of 110 yards on 49 carries and 12 touchdowns in his career.
is strength was on defense, where he was among the team’s leading tacklers. And that’s how he got hurt, too, colliding with another BC defender in the first quarter against the Hokies.
“It’s a part of the game, but it’s unfortunate because he’s been playing really good football for us,” BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski said this week.
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WHERE THERE’S A WILLIS …: The player perhaps most familiar with Tom O’Brien’s defense at North Carolina State didn’t even play for the Wolfpack last season.
Defensive lineman Keith Willis Jr. spent his first three seasons at Boston College when O’Brien was in charge there and his father was his position coach in Chestnut Hill. He followed both O’Brien and his dad to N.C. State after the 2006 season, redshirted last year and has moved into the starting lineup at defensive tackle.
“He has more of an understanding of this defense than anybody,” O’Brien said, “because he’s been in it.”
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NINE LIVES?: North Carolina defensive end E.J. Wilson has no problems playing hurt. After all, he’s had so many freak injuries and accidents.
ght between the road and the go-kart.
“I had more lives than a cat,” he said with a laugh.
His mother, Helen, is a nurse, though he said she never shied away from letting him play – even though he seemed to be a magnet for accidents. Of course, that makes football seem easy by comparison.
“I played quarterback in high school. We weren’t very good so I got sacked a lot,” Wilson said. “Contact’s never been a problem for me.”
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AP Sports Writers Hank Kurz Jr. in Richmond, Va.; Jimmy Golen in Boston; and Aaron Beard and Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, N.C.; contributed to this report.
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