No fans, no problem. There will still be crowd noise for Clemson-Wake Forest game
There won’t be fans at Truist Field for Saturday’s football opener between Wake Forest and Clemson, but there will be crowd noise.
What that will sound like has yet to be determined, according to Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson.
“We are still working that out. The ACC is going to have policies. We will have some ambient crowd noise. The source of it, the volume level will have to be worked out,” Clawson said Tuesday at his weekly new conference. “Before the game, me and (Clemson coach) Dabo Swinney will work through the levels and make sure that we are good and agree on it.”
Clawson said he and Swinney spoke on the issue a few days ago, and the Clemson coach had “full list” of what he wanted to played. Clawson joked he would unlikely accommodate all of those requests.
Swinney brought up the issue Tuesday at his own news conference.
“They can pipe in Marvin Gaye or whatever they want. Crank it up,” Swinney said. “I’m just excited that we get the opportunity to play. Fans, no fans, we’re just trying to win the opener.”
Last week, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported that the Atlantic Coast Conference said teams will be permitted to use artificial crowd noise but not if it “prohibits a team from hearing its signals once the offensive team breaks its huddle or, if no huddle, when the center addresses the ball.”
Excessive noise could result in a delay of game or unsportsmanlike penalty, according to the report.
There will be no fans allowed at the game because of coronavirus crowd guidelines still in effect from N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper.
ESPN will broadcast its College GameDay Show from Truist Field in Winston-Salem on Saturday morning with no fans. It’s the first time the show has aired from a Wake Forest home game.
“We are in a pandemic but we are going to celebrate the fact that they are coming,” Clawson said. “We are excited and are going to embrace every aspect of it.”
Demon Deacons missing players because of COVID-19
Wake Forest will be missing some players because of COVID-19 but, like many schools, Clawson won’t release who they are before the game.
Clawson said the positive case number is very small, but the rules around contact tracing might be a factor on who won’t be able to suit up for Saturday’s game. Wake Forest still has testing days Wednesday and Friday, so it might be up until game time that they won’t know who can suit up.
“Right now we are in relatively good shape,” Clawson said. “Our guys live on campus and in suites, so if one guy gets it, it can knock six or seven guys out, so that will be a challenge.”
Social injustice statements
Clawson said Wake Forest players will be wearing decals on their helmets representing social issues, including Black Lives Matter.
“We are going to have a big audience,” Clawson said. “... And they felt they will have an opportunity and a platform to make some statements that we are unified as a program and football team. I am really proud of the things they came up with. There is complete support by the program and no division on our team.”
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has been one of the most outspoken players in the country about social issues in the last few months. On Sunday, Lawrence and several players from around the country posted a statement on Twitter on behalf of all college football players that included a “five-point plan of actionable steps to create real change.”
One of the five points was to “use our platforms to raise awareness via wearing shirts, utilizing statements on our helmets and jerseys, and playing tribute videos to recognize victims of racial injustice and share our own stories.”
