Short preparation time has Clemson out of whack

Sleep might be a luxury for Clemson coaches as they cram a week of preparation for Thursday night’s game at Louisville into about half the time.

If there was any solace, Louisville faced the same challenge.

“This is a crazy week,” coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday. “Everything is out of whack.

“Yeah, it feels really different.”

For example, after the win over Appalachian State the staff began the post mortem Saturday night and the team practiced Sunday evening.

They didn’t start from scratch. Time was stolen during preseason camp for a preview of several early opponents, including Louisville and Notre Dame.

“That’s all you can do,” said Swinney, whose teams played five previous Thursday games, only once with the quick turnaround. Three years ago Clemson beat Wake Forest, 42-13, in Winston-Salem five days after winning at home against Virginia Tech.

Swinney’s record in these ESPN showcases is 4-1. The only loss was at Georgia Tech in his first game as interim head coach, and he remembered the game in painful detail, referring to the “nightmare down there.”

Heightening the current anxiety was the mystery surrounding Louisville’s quarterbacks.

Sophomore Reggie Bonnafon, the starter last year in Death Valley, opened this season against Auburn but was replaced by freshman Lamar Jackson, a similarly mobile talent. Jackson started last week against Houston, but sophomore Kyle Bolin, a more conventional breed, came off the bench in the fourth quarter and engineered a pair of touchdown drives.

Then there’s junior Will Gardner, who came off the bench at Clemson last year and completed 10 of 16 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. He hasn’t played – yet.

Louisville coach Bobby Petrino wouldn’t reveal which quarterback would start after Monday’s practice, but Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables insisted it didn’t matter, saying he anticipated seeing at least two. “Just because they like what they both bring to the table,” he said.

Looking as if he hadn’t seen a bed since Friday night, Venables said he didn’t anticipate Louisville deviating from its scheme. “They’re not going to have three completely different game plans,” he said. “They’re going to have a philosophy for what they’re going to do.

As with most opponents, he said, the first order of business would be limiting the run. Louisville has averaged 4.2 yards in 74 attempts the first two games.

“If they’re not able to run the ball they’re going to have a hard time no matter who’s at quarterback,” Venables said. “If they’re able to average 5, 6, 7 yards a clip running the ball it’s not a matter of if we lose the game, it’s a matter of how bad we lose the game.”

Swinney’s message after beating App State was that the depth needed to grow quickly. Since spring Clemson has lost a backup defensive end, kicker, starting offensive left tackle, starting safety, starting wide receiver and – this week – senior starting center Ryan Norton.