What Clemson players said about not practicing on Election Day of Notre Dame week
Dabo Swinney declares that “every week is the biggest game of the year” for his Clemson football team. This week, it really is.
The No. 1 Tigers travel to face No. 4 Notre Dame this weekend, looking for their first road win over an AP Top 5 team in school history.
However, Clemson won’t be holding its typical “TANOGA Tuesday” practice on Tuesday, or any practice at all. The NCAA announced in September that all Division I athletes will be off for Election Day this year and every year moving forward.
Because of that, Clemson held its typical Monday practice on Sunday this week and held its “TANOGA Tuesday” practice on Monday. TANOGA stands for “Take Away No Give Away” and puts en emphasis on turnovers.
“We fought for getting this day off as a team and as a conference. It’s a big day,” Clemson receiver Cornell Powell said. “It’s important that everybody goes out there and votes.”
Clemson will resume its regular schedule on Wednesday and players don’t expect the change to affect the Tigers’ play on Saturday.
If Clemson loses, it won’t be because they had Election Day off, players said. Notre Dame had to alter its schedule this week as well and also held a practice Sunday.
“It’s just one of those things where you can’t really think of it that much and let it affect you. You’ve just gotta go with the flow, go with the schedule that’s presented,” Tigers receiver Amari Rodgers said. “Put that work in whenever we have to. (Tuesday is) going to be a good day to bounce back and recover a little bit, because we had two days right after playing a game.”
Swinney said last month that most of his team was voting early, and starting safety Nolan Turner revealed Monday that he had already submitted his absentee ballot as an out-of-state guy. Some local, in-state players were planning to vote on Election Day, according to Swinney.
“I’m just happy that they’re allowing us to go out there and use our platform, use our voice to vote,” Powell said. “It’s a big day, and I feel like everyone should be able to have the right to go out there and vote, regardless of what your occupation is.”
While Clemson is not holding a practice on Tuesday, players will still be preparing for Notre Dame, whether it be watching film or getting their bodies ready for Saturday.
“Tuesday will be a great day to get in a bunch of recovery, watch a bunch of tape, just have an extra day up here (at the facility),” Turner said. “It’s kinda nice getting the practice in (Sunday), having our typical Tuesday practice (Monday). ... Get refreshed, get the body feeling good and really get dialed in on our game plan and what we’ve gotta do against Notre Dame this weekend.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 10:35 AM.
