Bowden calls to rival colleagues hot topic

CLEMSON — Tommy Bowden has endured criticism before for making the wrong play calls.

But this is probably the first time he's whipped fans into a froth for making the wrong phone calls.

Message boards and talk-radio airwaves have been abuzz since Bowden's Tuesday revelation that he sought advice from Alabama coach Nick Saban, Georgia's Mark Richt and Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer.

Bowden said he called the latter two to ask how they've helped their teams recover from devastating losses. He called Saban to inquire about any tendencies Clemson's coaches might have overlooked during their self-scouting regimen.

This came after the Tigers' 34-10 shellacking at the hands of the Crimson Tide.

Bowden said consulting other coaches isn't out of the ordinary.

"Some guys might be a little embarrassed to say they do," he said. "I always have done it — even when I first became a head coach at Tulane, even when I was a coordinator for about 11 years. ... As an offensive guy, I want to know if I have any down-and-distance tendencies, hash-mark tendencies, field-position tendencies, formation tendencies."

Bowden said he called former Clemson coach Danny Ford last week to ask him for advice on giving his players a sense of the history between Clemson and Alabama. Ford, who guided the Tigers to the national title in 1981, is an Alabama native who played and coached for the Crimson Tide.

"I've never professed to have all the answers, and that's a confirmation," Bowden said. "I'm not going to make adjustments based on public reaction. I've never done that. When I do that, I'll probably be removed from this profession."

Not so fast

Tigers assistant Billy Napier said freshman Dawson Zimmerman hasn't come close to wrapping up the starting punter's job.

In fact, Napier said, senior Jimmy Maners has done better this week and is considered the likely starter for Saturday's game against The Citadel.

Zimmerman punted against Alabama and started with a bang, ripping his first attempt 51 yards. His next three punts went 25, 37 and 47 yards.

"Zimmerman was average," Napier said. "Two good punts, two bad punts. ... I was proud of the way he went out there and played as a freshman. But we're looking for consistency. It's going to be a competition until one of them just flat-out proves himself to be better than the other."

Sapp gets good news

Ricky Sapp's knee injury doesn't appear serious, though the junior "bandit" end is not expected to play Saturday.

Sapp suffered a ruptured bursa sac in his right knee on the third play against the Crimson Tide. He said it's essentially a deep bruise that's causing considerable swelling.

Smith likely to start

Redshirt freshman David Smith has been running with the first team at left guard and has a good chance at starting Saturday. Fourth-year junior Jamarcus Grant struggled against the Crimson Tide in his first career start.

Another redshirt freshman, Mason Cloy, is slated as the starter at right guard.

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