Dabo updates injuries on two Clemson offensive linemen, key defensive contributor

Clemson dismantled Louisville 77-16 Saturday afternoon at Death Valley, and the Tigers did so without a couple of key contributors.

Senior cornerback Mark Fields, who is Clemson’s No. 3 corner, missed the game with an injury. Starting right guard Sean Pollard also did not play.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney provided an update on both players during his teleconference Sunday night. The Tigers will play at Boston College Saturday night and can clinch the ACC Atlantic with a victory.

“We’ll have to see on Mark. He pulled his groin,” Swinney said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get him back. We’ll have to see how he practices this week.”

Pollard had been battling a hand injury but was cleared to play through it. However, another injury led to him not starting and ultimately missing the game.

Backup center Gage Cervenka started in Pollard’s place.

“His hand was fine. He was good to go. He had a back spasm on Wednesday in practice and was really sore Thursday, really wasn’t able to do much on Thursday. But he was good to go, ready to go,” Swinney said. “We went ahead and started Gage and got off to such a quick start, I think we had two touchdowns in five plays, it was 14-0… But he would’ve been ready to play. But the bigger issue with him was the back spasm. His hand, he’s going to have a little brace on it, but he practiced Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday had the spasm.”

Swinney also provided an injury update on fellow offensive lineman Noah DeHond. Swinney announced in September that DeHond had a nerve issue in his shoulder and would probably miss rest of the season.

DeHond, a redshirt freshman, was a three-star prospect in the class of 2017.

“He actually had some surgery on Wednesday. He’s obviously been out all year and been dealing with some neck issues, kind of the shoulder, neck area,” Swinney said. “He had his surgery on Halloween. He’s recovering. It’s going to be probably about a two to three months process just to get him back where he needs to be. So hopefully all of that will go well.”

TARGETING TALK

Tigers cornerback A.J. Terrell was ejected in the second quarter Saturday against Louisville for targeting. Swinney said Sunday night that he did not feel like Terrell should have been ejected.

“I didn’t agree with that call, but you’ve gotta live with it. I thought he tried to turn away and kind of the height of the runner, he went lower and so forth and it was kind of a bang-bang play, but you’ve gotta live with the call. That’s just the way it is,” Swinney said. “But it’s tough for sure for those defensive guys. Hopefully it’s something that we can continue to improve on. But sometimes you’re just going to have some of those plays. You do the best you can to make sure you teach them to not lead with the crown of their helmet.”

RUNNING FOR RECORDS

Swinney said it was a lot of fun to watch the tape of Clemson’s dominant win against Louisville as the Tigers set several records in the game, including yards per play at 11.6 and yards per run at 13.3.

“We set the record for yards per play. It’s been in the book since 1903. We set the record for yards per carry. And the biggest thing, too, offensive line wise is really a huge shout out to those guys,” Swinney said. “Really proud of our OL. We gave up no sacks back-to-back games… Really those guys just did a great job at the point of attack.”