Every season, injuries take a toll on every college football program, especially by the time mid-November rolls around. This year, though, Clemson is dealing with an unusually high number of losses at one of the most critical spots on the roster, the offensive line.
In Saturday's 24-20 win over Pitt, the Tigers were without starting left tackle Tristan Leigh and starting left guard Marcus Tate. Then, on the game's first offensive play, Elyjah Thurmon (who was making his first career start) was lost with what would eventually be diagnosed as a season-ending ankle injury that will require surgery.
Tuesday, head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about the M.A.S.H. unit that is his offensive line and how the team plans to proceed against The Citadel this weekend.
"We've got nine guys out for practice today," Swinney said Tuesday. "So we're just trying to figure out how to practice today, so it's going to be interesting."
That's less than ideal news considering that the Tigers have a game to play on Saturday. The good news is that the opponent this week is an FCS opponent. Still, it sounds like Clemson will have to shuffle the deck quite a bit upfront to get through this game. It is even possible that true freshmen Ronan O'Connell and Mason Wade could play this week despite each having only one game left to play before being unable to use this year as a redshirt season.
"We'd consider everything," Swinney said. "Absolutely. We've definitely considered that. Ronan's been starting for us on field goal and so he's a guy that we may have to use and then figure it out next week. And Mason is a guy that we'd like to hold if we can. You know, with our situation, because he could help us win the game next week and you don't want to waste a year. But you've got to do what you've got to do to win the game you're playing."
Swinney then went on to say that some names that are unfamiliar to most Clemson fans might be in the mix to play. He even hinted that some walk-ons might be considered.
"We got guys like Will Boggs, you're going to be looking up in your media guide," he said. "You're going to see some guys maybe playing out of position but we got to find a way. We've got to do what we've got to do to get it done."
The good news is that Swinney did suggest that some of the injured players are moving toward being able to play.
"We've got some guys trending in a good direction," he said. "But as we sit right now, on Tuesday, we're trying to figure out how we're going to practice today."
Certainly, the offensive line situation for the Tigers is dire right now. However, getting to play an FCS opponent this week is certainly going to give the roster time to heal and could give the coaching staff an opportunity to be creative with how it approaches filling the holes up front.
However, with the South Carolina game quickly approaching, Clemson fans are justified to be nervous about the state of their offensive line. That's one of the most important position groups in football and, unfortunately, it is Clemson's greatest area of concern at the moment.