The 12th-ranked Clemson Tigers will take on its first opponent of the season this Saturday when the Wofford Terriers travel to Death Valley for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff. In Monday’s interview session, 10 players came in to discuss their game prep along with co-offensive coordinators Jeff Scott and Tony Elliot.
Here is what we heard:
Quarterback Deshaun Watson feels great and is really excited to lead the team come Saturday.
“I feel really good. I’m excited about Saturday and I just can’t wait until that moment and that time comes,” Watson said. “I put in so much work and time just to go out there for twelve Saturdays. I am just going to go out there, have some fun and leave no doubt.”
Jay Guillermo is back and feels better than ever. He has lost a significant amount of weight, has a great mindset, and is very happy with his decision to come back to the team.
“I just kept looking at videos of the guys here in spring, and I really found out that I was going to miss it, and I did miss it,” Guillermo said. “It’s awesome. Everyone’s been accepting from day one, since I got back, just working hard. It’s awesome.”
Offensive lineman Joe Gore had nothing but good things to say about Jake Fruhmorgen and Mitch Hyatt’s ability to step up when they were called on.
“I feel like he has come on a lot, him (Fruhmorgen) and Mitch both. Mitch stepped up big time whenever Isaiah (Battle) left. Me and Eric Mac Lain walked to him and told him ‘we’re going to need you to step up for us this year, we’re going to need you to step up big,’ and he took it to heart.”
Gore knows that they will need to be stable on the line to have a successful season, but he believes that they will be okay because the freshmen are at a better place now than when Gore first made his transition to the offensive line.
“I feel like they’re a lot better off than where I was when I first came over,” Gore said.
Gore also had high praise for defensive end Kevin Dodd, and mentioned this is the season where Dodd will make a name for himself. Going off of that, Dodd believes that to be true because he has finally started to take practice seriously.
“I want to get it every play, every practice, just be more serious about practice. In the past, I just didn’t know how to practice. I wasn’t a practice type of guy. I wanted to play the game, which would never happen if you just don’t prove to the coaches that you could do it in practice. I just come hard everyday and try to prepare hard to the best of my ability,” Dodd said.
Defensive tackle Roderick Byers has moved back to playing defense for his final season at Clemson after spending some time on the offensive side of the ball. Byers believes he has grown from that experience, but feels that he is back in his natural position.
“I just learned that probably my most uncomfortable situations have produced the most growth for me,” Byers said. “Now on defense, I appreciate this opportunity because I get to do what I love to do.”
Linebacker Dorian O’Daniel said playing Wofford’s triple option offense gives Clemson’s defense great experience for when Georgia Tech comes to Death Valley later in the season. However, he said the main thing the defense needs to keep in mind when playing the triple option is discipline.
“Definitely just being disciplined. A lot of times players will try to make plays that aren’t theirs to make, and they just have to trust their key and do their job and trust that the guy next to you is going to do his,” O’Daniel said.