At the end of any college football season, injuries are unavoidable. That was certainly the case for the Clemson football team in 2024.
The Tigers’ injury list is considerable as they prepare for this weekend’s game against South Carolina. On Wednesday, head coach Dabo Swinney went into detail and shared both good and terrible news.
First, some awful news. Swinney revealed that offensive lineman Trent Howard tore his ACL during practice this week, effectively ending his season.
“I do have some unfortunate news to report, though,” he replied. “We lost Trent Howard yesterday.” He tore his ACL, so, as I already stated, Tuesday and Wednesday practices are; we felt good where we were on Monday, which is disappointing. Man, my
Trent has broken my heart. He is one of the best kids we have on this team. So committed. He’s a fantastic teammate, clearly a senior, and he’s saved us two years in a row. “That kid has really come through for us. And my heart simply hurts for him. But he’s a young man with a strong religion and a wonderful family, and he just received confirmation of that this morning, so he’s clearly out.”
Howard has spent the majority of this season as a reserve offensive tackle. However, the fifth-year senior has been called into action in recent weeks because to Clemson’s significant offensive injury problems.
On the second snap of Clemson’s 24-20 victory at
Pitt Howard was brought into the game after lineman Elyjah Thurmon got injured on the first play. Thurmon had an ankle injury that necessitated surgery, terminating his season. Howard subsequently made his fourth career start this past Saturday, a 51-14 victory over The Citadel. Furthermore, he could have been called on to start against South Carolina this week if injured starter Marcus Tate is unable to play after missing the previous three games. With Howard out of the picture, Clemson’s already poor offensive line is much more vulnerable.
Now for some good news. Swinney stated that linebacker and leading tackler Wade Woodaz is improving and “getting better”.
“…Woodaz has gotten better each day,” he told me. “You see, he was still
He was pretty sore on Monday, but given the type of injury he’s had, he’s gotten a little better each day, so I’d say the same thing: minute by minute, hour by hour, he’s getting a little better. But, ideally, he’ll be ready to go. “We need him.” The sophomore linebacker from Tampa, Florida, has missed the past two games due to a significant contusion in his leg. Nonetheless, he leads Clemson with 65 tackles and is fourth on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss. Naturally, his presence on the field would provide a significant advantage versus South Carolina.
It appears that Woodaz will make a game-time decision, and Clemson fans will keep a careful eye on the matter throughout the week. That’s because the Tigers will need all hands on deck this week to not only win their annual rivalry game, but also qualify for the College Football Playoffs.
Leave a Reply