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A few Wednesday links and nuggets
Posted October 8, 2008
All right, so it's Wednesday afternoon and I'm done with my pre-game work. That's a weird feeling, but such is life when your team plays on Thursday night, as Clemson travels to Wake Forest for a 7:45 p.m. ESPN game tomorrow night.
First off, as you've noticed, it's raining. It's much-needed, if you've seen Hartwell Lake recently. And it'll likely be raining in Winston-Salem tomorrow night, but don't expect that to affect conditions too much. BB&T Field has FieldTurf, which does a good job of soaking up moisture as opposed to regular turf.
Speaking of BB&T, those who make the trek north Thursday will notice a facelift. Deacon Tower, a $47 million addition, opened this season. It includes a new press box (much-needed, I might add), luxury suites and club boxes. And although this was on its way before the Deacs' recent turnaround, it serves as a symbol of their new prominence.
"It's been great because when I first came in, looking at the stadium was like, 'Aw, man,'" said cornerback Alphonso Smith at this summer's ACC Kickoff. "It's a representation of what has happened over the last couple of years. When we first came in, before I got there, I heard that the facilities weren’t anything to talk about. We have a great practice facility and great stadium now. Us as players appreciate it, we look up at the tower and are like, 'Wow, we were part of this change, we helped that tower get built.' We were glad to be a part of it."
A few nuggets from Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper I couldn't fit into stories this week but found interesting:
About the criticism of players and coaches:
"We block it out pretty well. I know I don't pay a lot of attention to what people are writing and saying. I don't think a lot of other guys do, either. I think as a team we're all sticking together."
About Thursday as a chance for national redemption following the ugly season-opening loss to Alabama:
"It will be a chance. It'll be the only game on that night, it'll be on ESPN, and we'll have a chance to show that we're a good team. Opening the season we got beat by a very good Alabama team. At the time a lot of people thought that Clemson is not very good and Alabama is just a mediocre SEC team, but now I think they're starting to realize that Alabama is one of the top teams in the country and maybe we're not so bad after all. It'll be a good chance for us to kind of redeem ourselves and put ourselves back on the map."
And finally, some interesting links. First, Wake Forest kicker Sam Swank is questionable for Thursday with a quad strain.
Also, the Deacons still remember the beating Clemson gave them last year.
In a stunning move, Auburn has fired offensive coordinator Tony Franklin after just six games.
And if you want to speak to Tennessee tailback Arian Foster, better learn Pterodactyl.
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