3 starters among inactive Clemson players for game Saturday night at Wake Forest
Clemson will be without three starters for Saturday night’s game at Wake Forest.
The Tigers announced Saturday evening that starting cornerbacks Derion Kendrick and Mario Goodrich will not play against the Demon Deacons. Starting defensive end Justin Foster is also out for the game.
Clemson did not reveal specifics on why each player is out, as the Tigers have changed the way they are doing injury reports in 2020 due to COVID-19. Clemson is only announcing players as “available” or “not available” this year.
Kendrick and Goodrich were listed as co-starters on the depth chart at the two corner spots entering the season. However, Kendrick is Clemson’s top cornerback and was a preseason All-ACC selection. Goodrich was battling with Andrew Booth for the starting job opposite Kendrick.
With Kendrick and Goodrich out, LeAnthony Williams and Booth will likely start at cornerback.
The Foster news means that Clemson will be without its top two defensive ends on Saturday. Clemson previously announced that Xavier Thomas will miss at least the fist half of the season after battling COVID-19 and strep throat this summer.
The only other player listed on Clemson’s depth chart who will miss Saturday’s game is backup center Hunter Rayburn. However, running backs Michel Dukes and Chez Mellusi both contributed last year and were expected to play.
Officially, Clemson announced 40 players from the team’s 120-man roster who did not travel and are unavailable, but many of those are walk-ons and players not listed on the team’s latest depth chart. ACC rules allow for 80 players to travel.
While Clemson did not clarify why each player is out, some are due to issues related to COVID-19 — either a positive test or a quarantine because of close contact with an affected player. Dabo Swinney said earlier this week that “a couple” of players tested positive for the coronavirus last week.
Clemson also revealed Friday that 19 student-athletes across nine sports tested positive for the coronavirus this week.
Clemson football players were tested on Friday before departing for Wake Forest. Those results were not available until Saturday, and any players that tested positive were isolated.
Full list of Clemson players who’ll miss Wake Forest game
DB Michael Becker
TE Will Blackston
OL Will Boggs
OL Kaleb Boateng
DL Jack Brissey
DL DeMonte Capehart
PK Quinn Castner
LB David Cote
S Peter Cote
OL Mac Cranford
RB Michel Dukes
WR Hampton Earle
DT Nick Eddis
OL Jacob Edwards
DT James Edwards
OL Will Edwards
DE Justin Foster
LS Maddie Golden
CB Mario Goodrich
WR Hamp Greene
QB Hunter Helms
S Jake Herbstreit
WR Tye Herbstreit
WR Josh Jackson
CB Derion Kendrick
RB Ty Lucas
LB Matthew Maloney
RB Sylvester Mayers
S Bubba McAtee
CB Jack McCall
LB Matt McMahan
RB Chez Mellusi
TE Luke Price
DE Klayton Randolph
OL Hunter Rayburn
DT Etinosa Reuben
WR Justyn Ross
QB James Talton
DE Xavier Thomas
OL Mason Trotter
This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 5:08 PM.
