Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced after practice on Wednesday that senior Ammon Lakip will handle the kickoff duties for the 11th-ranked Tigers when they host No. 6 Notre Dame on Saturday in Death Valley.
Lakip was reinstated on the team on Aug. 19 after his off-season arrest back in June. He also served a three-game suspension for the altercation. Swinney announced last week that Greg Huegel would remain Clemson’s placekicker on field goals and extra points, but Lakip was going to compete for the job as the team’s kickoff specialist.
Swinney said he has been proud of the way Lakip has responded since coming back to the team.
“He has done a really nice job,” Swinney said. “He has been dialed in and it has been really good. Greg has earned the trust and has been very consistent, and now you have another guy in there that has kind of been there, done that.
“I’m glad he is going to do the kickoffs because I think that takes a little bit of pressure off Greg.”
Lakip scored 106 points last season to lead the Tigers and was 21 of 28 on field goals. Before his arrest, he was expected to be the starting kicker, again.
Huegel, a redshirt freshman, is off to a good start. He has made 4 of 5 kicks so far and is 13 of 13 on extra points. He leads the Tigers with 25 points.
“Hopefully, it will be the Wally Pipp story, alright, but who knows,” Swinney said. “Hopefully, he will keep performing, but if not, we feel good about Ammon and what he has done in practice.”
Injury updates. Swinney was asked if there was an update on wide receiver Mike Williams’ neck injury. The Clemson coach said there is really nothing new to report. He said Mike is doing great, but there are no expectations on the timing of his return.
Swinney said if he comes back great, but right now there are no expectations.
Center Ryan Norton (knee) more than likely will not play against Georgia Tech on Oct. 10. Swinney already reported Norton is out for this week’s game against Notre Dame. He said the senior will start participating in some drills on Monday and will be in a yellow jersey (no contact). They are hopeful he will be back for the Boston College game on Oct. 17.
Reserved defensive tackle Dane Rogers will not play against Notre Dame but Swinney says they will cut him loose in practice on Monday. Rogers, a redshirt freshman, will miss his second straight game.
Blame it on the rain. Currently, the weather for Saturday’s game is expected to be around 64 degrees with a 100-percent chance of rain throughout the day. The forecast calls for cloudy conditions and periods of rain. The high will be in the mid-60s with a low in the upper 50s.
However, the forecast could get worse with Hurricane Joaquin approaching the Atlantic Coast this weekend. As she moves closer to the Carolinas, some are projecting she could dump anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of rain in the Clemson area this weekend.
If that’s the case, that could make conditions tough for the Tigers and Notre Dame.
“We have played in a couple of monsoons, but it is the same for them,” Swinney said in reference to maybe having to adjust the game plan due to the weather. “It is no different so I don’t worry about that at all. We have no control over that. I don’t worry about that.
“I really never ask about the weather, I really don’t, because it doesn’t matter. We are going to play the game and they will too. They have the same weather we have so I can’t worry about that.”
Clemson played TCU and Boston College in downpours in 2009. The Tigers split those two games, losing to TCU, 14-10, while beating Boston College, 25-7.
“Just because it is raining that doesn’t mean you can’t block people,” Swinney said. “You can still throw and catch and do that type of stuff. If there is an impact or whatever, it is the same for both teams so it does not matter.”