Avoiding the injury bug
posted by LW, Wednesday, November 11, 2009
One of the more overshadowed developments this season has been Clemson's avoidance of a large number of injuries.
It's not as though the Tigers haven't been unaffected by injuries (see: C.J. Spiller, Da'Quan Bowers and Chris Hairston). They're also pretty banged up after last week's win over Florida State.
But overall, Clemson has been fortunate not only to not be bitten hard by the injury bug, but to face a couple of teams who have.
At the time the Tigers played Miami (and won 40-37 in overtime), the Hurricanes had lost something like 12 guys to season-ending injury. It was a factor, no doubt.
And now Clemson faces N.C. State, a program that seems perennially afflicted with some sort of injury curse. Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien entered this year shaking his head at the number of injuries his past two teams had to overcome, only to experience more of the same this year.
Starting with the loss of star linebacker Nate Irving, who was done after suffering a leg injury in a summer car accident, N.C. State has lost a dozen players to season-ending injury.
Last weekend was a sight for O'Briens sore eyes -- and not just because the Wolfies snapped a four-game losing streak in a win over Maryland.
"The trainer walked in Sunday and said, ‘For the first time I don't have a season-ending injury to report,'" O'Brien said, breaking into a smile. "Maybe we're breaking the streak here."
N.C. State will start yet another secondary combination Saturday against Clemson.
Andy Staples of SI.com says Andre Branch should be disciplined for Saturday's eye-gouge.
I can't disagree. That was not pretty.
Now we see why Jim Grobe has stuck around at Wake Forest. He sure as heck ain't slumming it in Winston-Salem.
You know football is a bigger deal at Duke when the Blue Devils' coach brings up the Great Depression after a loss.
"The Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building were both built during the Great Depression, which I think is a good example of what I'm talking about," Cutcliffe said. "Difficult times make you better, and that's the challenge we face this week."
Good story in the P&C on Clemson's not-so-low-profile scout team quarterback.
"How many defensive staffs are running back the film on a scout team quarterback?" said Steele, Clemson's defensive coordinator. "Running back video to see how quickly the ball comes out of his hand? Very rarely does a scout team quarterback have an effect on the defense.
"The guy is amazing."
In The State, Paul Strelow writes about what was, in my mind, yesterday's most compelling subplot: Billy Napier's candid reflections.
In the Greenville News, the Tigers insist they are focused on Raleigh and not Tampa.
In the Independent-Mail, C.J. Spiller plays through the pain.
And finally, Shane Battier -- er, Milton Jennings -- tries to help usher in the golden era of Clemson basketball.
I like this quote:
"When I start playing defense like Shane Battier," Jennings said. "I'll start taking comparisons a little more."
LW
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One of the more overshadowed developments this season has been Clemson's avoidance of a large number of injuries.
It's not as though the Tigers haven't been unaffected by injuries (see: C.J. Spiller, Da'Quan Bowers and Chris Hairston). They're also pretty banged up after last week's win over Florida State.
But overall, Clemson has been fortunate not only to not be bitten hard by the injury bug, but to face a couple of teams who have.
At the time the Tigers played Miami (and won 40-37 in overtime), the Hurricanes had lost something like 12 guys to season-ending injury. It was a factor, no doubt.
And now Clemson faces N.C. State, a program that seems perennially afflicted with some sort of injury curse. Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien entered this year shaking his head at the number of injuries his past two teams had to overcome, only to experience more of the same this year.
Starting with the loss of star linebacker Nate Irving, who was done after suffering a leg injury in a summer car accident, N.C. State has lost a dozen players to season-ending injury.
Last weekend was a sight for O'Briens sore eyes -- and not just because the Wolfies snapped a four-game losing streak in a win over Maryland.
"The trainer walked in Sunday and said, ‘For the first time I don't have a season-ending injury to report,'" O'Brien said, breaking into a smile. "Maybe we're breaking the streak here."
N.C. State will start yet another secondary combination Saturday against Clemson.
Andy Staples of SI.com says Andre Branch should be disciplined for Saturday's eye-gouge.
I can't disagree. That was not pretty.
Now we see why Jim Grobe has stuck around at Wake Forest. He sure as heck ain't slumming it in Winston-Salem.
You know football is a bigger deal at Duke when the Blue Devils' coach brings up the Great Depression after a loss.
"The Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building were both built during the Great Depression, which I think is a good example of what I'm talking about," Cutcliffe said. "Difficult times make you better, and that's the challenge we face this week."
Good story in the P&C on Clemson's not-so-low-profile scout team quarterback.
"How many defensive staffs are running back the film on a scout team quarterback?" said Steele, Clemson's defensive coordinator. "Running back video to see how quickly the ball comes out of his hand? Very rarely does a scout team quarterback have an effect on the defense.
"The guy is amazing."
In The State, Paul Strelow writes about what was, in my mind, yesterday's most compelling subplot: Billy Napier's candid reflections.
In the Greenville News, the Tigers insist they are focused on Raleigh and not Tampa.
In the Independent-Mail, C.J. Spiller plays through the pain.
And finally, Shane Battier -- er, Milton Jennings -- tries to help usher in the golden era of Clemson basketball.
I like this quote:
"When I start playing defense like Shane Battier," Jennings said. "I'll start taking comparisons a little more."
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.