Tuesday practice tidbits

Posted 03:35 p.m., August 19, 2008

-- Clemson had its third stadium scrimmage of camp today, and the session represented a bit of a closing of the circle for the Tigers.

Class starts tomorrow, and the team will have the day off. Then it's back to the practice fields Thursday, when the game-planning for Alabama will commence in a big way.

So essentially, the drudgery is pretty much over and everyone is starting to really get excited about the opener against Alabama.

Tommy Bowden wasn't all that pleased with the way it ended, though. He thought things were really sloppy during the morning scrimmage, and he made that clear during a lengthy address to his players after it was over.

"The biggest thing is upperclassmen creating a sense of urgency to merit the preseason ranking," said Bowden, whose team is ranked No. 9. "And we didn’t show that today. That’s what we talked about out there on the field."

-- It was hard for Bowden to get a precise read on things today because so many guys played little, if at all. Headliners like James Davis, C.J. Spiller, Ricky Sapp, Michael Hamlin, Chris Clemons, Dorell Scott, Jacoby Ford, Tyler Grisham, Aaron Kelly, and maybe one or two others.

This was the second straight scrimmage in which Bowden and his staff took a long look at the second-team guys at safety, defensive line, running back and receiver.

The first-team line played quite a bit, and Bowden wasn't particularly pleased by what he saw. Someone jumped offside on the first play of the scrimmage, and there were several instances of poor center-quarterback exchanges and shotgun snaps.

"The mental state of the line was not very sharp today," Bowden said.

I don't get the sense that starting center Thomas Austin -- who had some issues last year with snaps, particularly against Boston College -- was the main culprit today. Bowden said the centers are rotating quite a bit as line coach Brad Scott looks for a solid backup to Austin.

Bowden said he's certainly taking into account the continuity that can be lost when key players are on the bench, but ...

"Just not a real sharp workout," he said. "You try to justify it in your mind by saying look who you held out. But there’s still some disappointment in some upperclassmen, guys we played that have got to perform better."

-- Bowden said there are still questions at safety behind Hamlin and Clemons, and I'd take that to mean there's a greater chance of Spencer Adams and Rashard Hall avoiding redshirts this season.

Veteran Sadat Chambers has supposedly been the third-best safety, but Bowden said today that his comfort zone is "not real good" with Chambers.

The staff is meeting tomorrow to discuss redshirts and make some decisions, but Bowden said the decision on Adams and Hall will probably have to wait.

In other words, the staff might not have any choice but to play one of the two, or perhaps both.

Hall, by the way, had a nice interception of Willy Korn today.

-- Freshman tailback Andre Ellington took advantage of the extra playing time afforded by the absence of Davis, Spiller and Jamie Harper (sprained ankle). Ellington took in a pass on a wheel route and juked a few defenders before reaching the end zone untouched on a 25-yard touchdown catch. Bowden was none too pleased that Ellington reached the end zone standing up.

-- Jamie Harper's ankle was heavily wrapped, and it looked like his limp was less pronounced than it was yesterday. Guard Mason Cloy suffered what he termed a sprained knee but said he should be OK. Backup defensive lineman Rennie Moore was carted off the field with a concussion. Cornerback Byron Maxwell tweaked his ankle on a blitz but said he should be OK. Maxwell was the top tackler in the scrimmage with five.

-- Cullen Harper was 12-of-14 for 116 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He completed his first 10 passes. Crezdon Butler came up with the interception.

-- Korn was 7-of-14 for 44 yards with a touchdown and a pick.

-- Marquan Jones had three catches for 41 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown strike from Harper.

-- Tight end Akeem Robinson caught a touchdown pass, and SID Tim Bourret said it's believed to be the first pass he's caught at Clemson in a scrimmage situation.

-- Rendrick Taylor had six runs for 16 yards; Davis had one for 11; and Spiller had two for 9 yards.

That's about it for now.

Take care,

LW