Whitehurst leads offense over defense in scrimmage

Clemson's quarterback threw for three touchdowns and the defense struggled in the final scrimmage of fall practice. Running back Kyle Browning might have worked himself into a starting job.

NEW LEADERS: Players like Mo Fountain are emerging as important team leaders.

PASS BLOCKING WORK: Clemson is trying to shore up its protection of quarterback Charlie Whitehurst. (Here's the depth chart for the offensive line.)

FIGHTING IN THE STREETS: Linebacker Leroy Hill is the talk of his hometown of Haddock, Ga., the front lines in the battle between fans of the ACC and the SEC.

MORE RECEIVERS NEEDED: Clemson is hoping to develop more depth at wide receiver.

Final preseason scrimmage is today

The Tigers will hold their final scrimmage of the preseason today in Death Valley.

MYRICK MOVES UP: Injured offensive lineman Chip Myrick is working out more now, and that's always good news.

PADS GET LIGHTER: A few Clemson players are trying out lighter football pads that aren't as hot and allow for greater movement.

CONDOLENCES: Clemson coach Tommy Bowden consoled South Carolina assistant coach Skip Holtz after dad Lou demoted his son.

Augusta readers get a Clemson package today

The Augusta Chronicle has five, count 'em, five stories today about Clemson's upcoming football season.

First is an overview of the season. Then, there's a look at Clemson's drive to improve its facilities that includes this story about what's there now and what's coming.

Next is a story that has five questions for Clemson this year. And finally, there's a piece on running back Reggie Merriweather.

JACKSONVILLE GETS TITLE GAME: The city in Florida will host the ACC football championship game in 2005 and 2006, and possibly in 2007 and 2008. (More here.)

WALK-ONS GET SCHOLARSHIPS: And other items of note here.

THEY'RE WATCHING YOU: Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst is on the preseason watch list for the Walter Camp Award, and linebacker Leroy Hill is on the watch list for the Butkus Award.

IF IT'S AUGUST IN CLEMSON...: It must be time for the Spitoono festival.

Williamson moves from tight end to defensive end

Bobby Williamson, a redshirt junior, has changed positions. (More here and here.)

Defense still rules in scrimmage

The offense is catching up, but the Tigers' defensive squad continues to dominate in preseason practices. And remember, our defense is supposed to be our weak spot this year.

RECEIVER WISDOM: The Greenville News examines Clemson's young group of receivers, who will be shouldering a lot of the burden following graduations and the early departure of Derrick Hamilton.

NOODLE'S SOUR GRAPES: Speaking of Hamilton, The State has an interesting story about his decision to jump to the NFL a year early. The receiver, who was a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers, claims he got little or no support from Clemson coach Tommy Bowden. (Defensive lineman Donnell Washington, who also left early, apparently feels the same way.)

Bowden disputes those claims. He says he only had good things to tell the NFL scouts about Hamilton and points out that his public criticism of Hamilton's decision to leave early was based on the fact that the young man was making a mistake that was going to cost him millions of dollars.

I agree with the coach on this one. Hamilton screwed up, perhaps realizes that now, and he's bitching about it to the media from the safety of the West Coast -- including childish sniping about who won which awards at the post-season football banquet in January.

Derrick, you were one of the all-time great Tigers, and I wish you well in your pro career. But this whining is not your finest hour.

SEASON PREVIEW: Something called the Sports Network has a season preview for Clemson.

NEW VIDEOS POSTED: The Tiger Rag has put up video highlights from the 1997-99 era at Clemson. Check it out.

Another story about Charlie Whitehurst

As if we weren't aware already of the importance of our junior quarterback, here's another story to remind us.

LINE SHIFT: Left tackle Roman Fry could be switched to other positions on the offensive line.

COULD THE TIGERS WIN THE ACC? ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit seems to think we could.

Charlie Whitehurst: He's our man ...

The Greenville News' Bart Wright has a column about the importance of quarterback Charlie Whitehurst to Clemson's success this season.

Tigers ranked 15th in AP poll

Clemson will open the 2004 college football season ranked No. 15 in the nation according to the Associated Press. (More here.) That goes along with the No. 16 ranking we pulled in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. But columnist Ron Morris of The State says pay no attention to the hype.

SPY GAME II: Clemson coach Tommy Bowden has issued a denial to charges from some inside the University of Tennessee football program that Clemson spied on the Vols' practice session prior to the Tigers' 27-14 victory in the Peach Bowl.

According to the Tigernet message board, I'm not the only person who finds this charge to be pathetic.

DOMINATING DEFENSE: Clemson's defensive unit stood out the most in Saturday's scrimmage in Death Valley. (More here and here.)

If Whitehurst gets hurt, who takes his place?

That's the disturbing question asked by The Greenville News in this article.

BENNETT STEPS UP: Offensive lineman Nathan Bennett has been getting a lot of practice so far, and it's paid off.

SPY GAME: Here's an interesting article from the Knoxville News (username: bee@cee.com; password: aabbcc) in which Tennessee accuses Clemson of spying on the Vols' practice sessions in Atlanta prior to the 27-14 smackdown the Tigers applied to them in the Peach Bowl.

I love this comment from a Knoxville reader named "smitty":

I was there and watched UT walking about and playing without emotion. Chavis is right! It seems its taken poor Phil 8 mos. to come up with this lame excuse. Was Phil outsmarted again and does Hamilton have a clue?

TURF TALK: Clemson's new artificial-turf practice field is already paying for itself.

NOTEBOOK TIME: Here and here.