Sunday Notebook: Clemson Starting to Get Healthy at Right Time

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney updates the health of his team, reevaluates the punt return situation and gives an early preview on FSU.

Kevin Vandervort / Vandervort Photography

CLEMSON, S.C.— Dabo Swinney says his Clemson team is in perhaps its best shape from a health standpoint this year.

Besides the typical bumps and bruises that come with playing a 60-minute football game, Swinney reported Sunday the fourth-ranked Tigers are pretty healthy as they turn their attention to Florida State.

“I think we are in pretty good shape,” he said during his weekly Sunday teleconference with the media. “It was another physical game, but you always have some guys that got some general stuff, but I think we are in a pretty good spot and should hopefully be, unless something crazy happens in practice, as close to full strength as we have been probably all year.

“So, we will wait and see in the morning once we get the updated injury report, but we are excited about getting some guys back and kind of getting our depth back where it needs to be.”

Clemson (6-0, 4-0 ACC) is expected to get Bryan Bresee back after he missed the last two games due to complications from a kidney infection. Cornerback Sheridan Jones has missed the last three games with what has been described as a stinger that will not heal. The Tigers were also without safeties R.J. Mickens and Tyler Venables in Saturday’s win at Boston College.

Running back Kobe Pace is expected to miss the next four weeks thanks to a high ankle sprain that forced him to have a procedure done last week.

Speaking of a specific injury, Swinney said safety Andrew Mukuba will have to wear a brace on his right elbow for the rest of the year. Mukuba dislocated his elbow in practice a few weeks back and missed a couple of games.

“It is kind of set at a certain angle where he can bend his arm, but he can’t go all the way straight,” Swinney said. “As they go through the season, they will let it out more and more. It does not really affect him as far as playing. The only real thing is if has to use the arm to get high to bat a ball, that’s it. But he is a great athlete and athletes adjust to that type of stuff and he is doing great.”

Sunday Notes:

— Clemson had two muff punts in the game, one which was Will Taylor’s fault and another where one of his own teammates ran into him. In both cases, Taylor was able to recover the muffs. However, Swinney says he will reevaluate the punt return competition between Taylor and freshman Antonio Williams, who had a 20-yard return to set the Tigers up in good field position late in the second quarter, which led to the game’s first touchdown.

— Clemson blocked its fourth kick on Saturday. The Tigers now rank second in the country in blocked kicks. They have blocked two punts and two field goals thus far.

“That effort that you are seeing on that defensive side of field goal block, that is all Coach (Nick) Eason,” Swinney said. “He has taken that on and has done an awesome job with our field goal block team. Those guys respond to him, and it has been a while since we had that type of consistency with our push and just our will and effort to go and get it. Those guys have taken a lot of pride in that and definitely Nick is a reason for that.”

— Swinney says Mike Norvell has done a great job at Florida State and he knows the Seminoles will have Doak Campbell Stadium rocking when the Tigers travel to Tallahassee, Fla., next Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. primetime kick on ABC.

This will be Clemson’s first trip to FSU since 2018, when the Tigers beat them 59-10 and handed them their worst home loss in history.

The Seminoles (4-2, 2-2 ACC) are coming off back-to-back tough losses to No. 14 Wake Forest and No. 15 NC State. On Saturday, quarterback Jordan Travis was picked off in the end zone in the final minute of the game when they could have won the game with a field goal.

“It will be a great environment. It will be rocking,” Swinney said. “It has always been, especially when it is Clemson and Florida State, a great crowd and spirited crowd and a tough, tough matchup. It is a tough place to play for sure. We definitely do not expect anything less.”

Swinney has had the opportunity to already watch the Seminoles a few times this year considering they have played common opponents already.

“Mike has done a great job. They have recruited and they have some guys in there that have given them some immediate help when they needed it. Their quarterback is a special player. He is dynamic. We saw that last year. He is a very confident thrower. They have some excellent receivers, great backs and three transfers on the offensive line that have (fixed) that and the same thing on the defensive side.

“It is a very, very good football team.”

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