Clemson Enters Second Off Week Hobbled

The injury bug struck Clemson especially hard during their loss at Notre Dame on Saturday, and the Tigers will get some time to heal.

Clemson's first ACC and regular-season loss since 2017 happened for several reasons.

One big one, though, was health, or lack thereof. The Tigers, who will drop from the top spot in the polls Sunday, entered the 47-40 loss in double overtime without quarterback Trevor Lawrence and three defensive starters (Tyler Davis, James Skalski and Mike Jones Jr.). 

The injury bug, which has become a huge storyline in recent weeks, struck especially hard during the game. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said after the game Saturday night that the Tigers also lost defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, safety Nolan Turner, safety Lannden Zanders, cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. and defensive end Justin Mascoll.

"We lost Booth, we lost Nolan, we lost Zanders, so we were pretty thin," Swinney said about his secondary that gave up a 53-yard bomb late in regulation to set up the game-tying touchdown for the Irish. "They made a nice play. Give them credit. No excuses. We had every opportunity to win the game. Next guy has got to be ready." 

Every one of those players was listed as starters or at least an "or" on the depth chart heading into the ND game. Late in the game, Clemson was down to essentially three starters.

They weren't. That pass from Ian Book to Avery Davis is something the Clemson defense has been prone to this season, and in the biggest game on the biggest stage, redshirt freshman Ray Thornton and sophomore Joseph Charleston were unable to stop that big play. 

The offense wasn't immune. Starting left guard Matt Bockhorst went out with an injury, leaving redshirt freshman Mason Trotter and true freshman Walker Parks to fill in. Notre Dame had two sacks on Clemson's second overtime possession, leaving the Tigers too many yards to make up. 

"We are a banged-up football team," Swinney said. "We have a lot of guys out. Hopefully, we'll get some guys back and healthy." 

At quarterback, D.J. Uiagalelei threw for 439 yards and scored three touchdowns, but couldn't throw the ball away in time on those overtime sacks. Swinney said Lawrence, who missed two games with COVID-19, will be back at practice Monday and ready to go when the Tigers take on Florida State on Nov. 21. 

Swinney didn't update the severity or timeframe for any of the new injures, and he'll meet with the media again Tuesday afternoon. 

Entering the second off week of the season, this gives Clemson a chance to get healthy before making a late push at a sixth consecutive ACC title. The Tigers still have a chance to do that even with the loss. If they win out, they'll likely meet Notre Dame again in the conference championship game on Dec. 19. 

"We'll go back to work, see who we get back and see if we can get as many of these guys healthy," Swinney said. "Open date is at a great time, try to find a way to win (No.) 8 down in Tallahassee. That's the only thing we're going to be focused on."