If coach Tom O’Brien wears black Saturday, as he did at his Monday press conference to represent his injured players, Clemson coach Tommy Bowden should be wearing a similarly dark color.
While N.C. State is suffering from its own offensive injury woes, Clemson’s health will likely force the Tigers to start three freshmen on the offensive line. Starting left tackle Chris Hairston is listed as doubtful after a motor scooter accident last Saturday.
“It’s not very often that you start three freshmen on your line, especially early in the year,” Bowden said. “Going into our third game and starting three freshmen is obviously a concern because it’s a conference game.”
And though Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper is nursing a “fatigued shoulder,” he will play and Bowden is confident Harper is healthy enough to be effective.
Redshirt freshman Russell Wilson, who started the Wolfpack’s opening game against South Carolina, returns Saturday after being cleared to play last week. Because Wilson played just over one quarter in his first start, O’Brien said Saturday’s game will be like another season opener for his quarterback.
“In the opening game, once we took him out he got back in there, looked very relaxed, started moving the football, changing field position and it looked like we’d get ourselves in a situation to score,” O’Brien said of Wilson’s performance at South Carolina.
But State’s offense is still suffering its share of injuries. Running back Jamelle Eugene will miss his third straight game and tight end Anthony Hill will miss his second. O’Brien announced Thursday that Hill’s backup, Matt Kushner, will be out for the season with a knee injury.
Clemson is coming off a 45-17 win off the Citadel after being crushed 34-10 the week before against Alabama. The disappointing loss came after a preseason filled with hype for the ACC favorites, and O’Brien said he is excited about the test at the Tigers’ Death Valley.
“We go down there with great anticipation to see how we’re going to match up with the preseason favorites,” O’Brien said.
State’s defensive alignment of four defensive linemen and three linebackers will be the first such setup Clemson will see this season. While Clemson runs that alignment itself, the two teams the Tigers have played use a three-four lineup.
“I guess they’re going to have to change their schemes up,” O’Brien said. “So hopefully we can take advantage of that. But it’s key to stop the run. Last year’s [game against Clemson] was probably the worst game we played stopping the rush.”
The Tigers bulldozed for 340 rushing yards last year against State and 608 total yards. With each of Clemson’s skill players back this year, State’s defense will be tested again.
“We struggled and they kind of had their way with us [last year],” senior linebacker Robbie Leonard said. “We’ll do a lot of studying from film last year, and we’ll do our best to shut them down.”
