Tigers may be without 4 starters in Atlanta

CLEMSON — Clemson could be missing four starters — including all three first-string linebackers — in the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Auburn.

Coach Tommy Bowden is leaving open the possibility that middle linebacker Cortney Vincent, arrested for DUI last week, could sit out the Dec. 31 game. Also, starting offensive tackle Christian Capote is in danger of being ruled academically ineligible.

Add in senior linebackers Nick Watkins and Tramaine Billie — both considered extreme long shots to make the grade — and No. 15 Clemson (9-3) could be confronted with some gaping holes when it plays No. 22 Auburn (8-4) at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

After nasty weather forced his team to practice indoors Saturday evening, Bowden said news outlets misinterpreted statements he made two days earlier regarding Vincent's status. Vincent, a redshirt junior who was charged with DUI early on the morning of Dec. 9, has continued to practice with the team.

On Thursday, Bowden released a statement that said he "will evaluate (Vincent's) status with the team and determine any appropriate disciplinary action after the legal process runs its course."

Given that Vincent's court date is Jan. 10, Bowden's statement was construed to mean Vincent would not be suspended for the bowl game. Not necessarily, Bowden said Saturday.

"Once the legal procedure is done, I might dismiss him," he said. "But nobody asked me about playing."

Capote, a senior who has started every game this season at right tackle, is in significant academic peril. He must make up a substantial amount of work by Monday to have hope of passing an internship he took during the fall semester.

If Capote cannot play, redshirt freshman Chris Hairston would be the likely fill-in. Hairston has played in nine games this season, totaling 173 snaps.

Capote did not practice Saturday. Watkins and Billie have missed all four of the team's bowl practices, and coaches are not expecting them to be academically eligible.

Watkins, who has started 36 career games at weak-side linebacker, is the team's leading tackler. Billie, who has 29 career starts, is third in tackles.

On top of all that, Clemson could be down a fourth linebacker in the bowl game. Bowden informed his team after Saturday's practice that another linebacker — whom he declined to name — also is on the academic bubble.

Clemson's second-string linebackers are junior Antonio Clay, redshirt sophomore Kavell Conner and freshman Scotty Cooper.

The 22-year-old Vincent, who has told his coaches he passed field-sobriety tests but refused a Breathalyzer test before his arrest, is expected to fight the DUI charge. Bowden said Vincent, who has started all 12 games this season, has demonstrated "pretty good" conduct over his career.

This is not Vincent's first brush with the law, however. On Nov. 10, 2005, he was arrested for simple assault after a fight with his girlfriend on campus. Bowden said Saturday that those charges were dropped. Vincent was not suspended after that arrest.

Bowden said he has discussed Vincent's case with the school's administration, which has recently been rocked by alcohol-related deaths in its student body.

On the morning of Vincent's arrest, a freshman student died of alcohol poisoning at a fraternity house. The school has announced a new alcohol safety media campaign for the spring semester.

Bowden declined to say whether his superiors are pressuring him to bar Vincent from the bowl game.

"If they did, I wouldn't tell you," he said.

Last year, starting cornerback Duane Coleman was suspended for the Music City Bowl after an arrest for marijuana possession. Bowden, in his ninth year at Clemson, said he metes out discipline on a case-by-case basis.

"A guy that has been pretty solid for four or five years and has zero infractions, first-time offense, I treat different than a guy that's had several, an accumulation of infractions," he said. "That's probably the way most head coaches do business."