With the first game of the season quickly approaching, No. 12 Clemson is focusing all of its energy on preparing for its first opponent, the Wofford Terriers.  Although Wofford is an FCS school, starting linebacker Ben Boulware knows his team cannot afford to slip up at all on Sept. 5.

“If we play crappy and we don’t play Clemson football, Wofford could put up sixty (points) on us. They’re not losing really any starters at all.” Boulware said. “Wofford and App. State, and any of those teams have the chance to beat us, so we go into playing Wofford like we’re playing South Carolina.”

The junior has been one of the Tigers’ many vocal leaders throughout fall camp, and he has been stressing the importance of preparation to some of the younger members of the defense.

“During the game week there’s a lot of things you have to do to be prepared, mainly being mentally prepared. It takes a lot of mental preparation to be successful at this level,” Boulware said. “We’re not changing our game plan and how we prepare just because it’s Wofford.”

The linebacker position has taken a hit already as a result of some players getting injured, and Korie Rogers deciding to leave the team.

Leading the linebackers will be Boulware on the weak side, B.J. Goodson in the middle, and Travis Blanks, Dorian O’Daniel and T.J. Burrell on the strong side and nickel position.

Junior Martin Aiken will also play on the weak side, although he does do not have much experience at linebacker after coming over from the defensive end position. True freshman Jalen Williams will be used as a backup on the weak side as well. Redshirt freshman Kendall Joseph will contribute at middle linebacker when he recovers from some nagging injuries.

“I don’t worry a whole lot. I’m focused and trying to help them be successful. I’m just trying to find ways to help them transition,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “The way they get better is through experience.”

Although Clemson has bodies to fill the positions, some of them lack game experience. Boulware says that as a leader, he tries to help his less-experienced teammates prepare mentally for playing in front of 85,000 people.

“One of my roles during game week is just showing them what they have to do to prepare to be successful,” he said. “If you don’t prepare on game day and you’re not ready for that, you’re going to play crappy football.”

However, Boulware is not too concerned with the younger linebackers’ ability to adjust to a real game setting.

“That first snap, I’m nervous for them, but after the first time they hit somebody, they’ll be fine. Its just football. They’ve been playing it their whole life,” he said.

When it comes to the defense as a whole, Boulware is confident because of the amount of time the team has been putting into their game prep for Wofford this week. Since the Terriers run the triple option offense, Clemson’s defense will be facing something entirely different than what the Tiger defense normally sees. However, Boulware thinks the team will be ready for it.

“We’ve been preparing daily for Wofford. We’ve kind of got a lot of knowledge about their offense and know the ins and outs of it,” he said. “It’s definitely different from what we face in our offense everyday, but we worked our butts off to create the right scheme for them, so I think we’ll be successful.”