Clemson’s offensive line had a rough go of it in the Tigers’ season-opening loss to Georgia, but Clemson coach Dabo Swinney praised the performance of one of his veterans up front.
After plenty of speculation during the preseason, Matt Bockhorst’s move to center became official Saturday. It was the first career start at the position for the fifth-year senior, who started every game at left guard last season.
“He actually did a pretty good job,” Swinney said. “I was fairly pleased with him, his effort and his knowledge. First time really playing that many snaps at center and live reps there. In an incredibly difficult matchup, I thought he did a solid job.”
Bockhorst, who played all 60 of Clemson’s snaps, began repping at center in the spring along with Mason Trotter, Hunter Rayburn and Trent Howard following the departure of Cade Stewart, the starter there last season. Bockhorst nor coaches never said during fall camp whether he’d be starting at center for the first game, but with Bockhorst getting more and more reps there with the first-team offense as the preseason went on, the writing was seemingly on the wall.
Bockhorst and the rest of the line had few answers for Georgia’s prolific defensive front seven. Clemson only netted 2 rushing yards, and quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was sacked seven times, tied for the most allowed by Clemson since the program began officially keeping the stat in 1981.
Swinney said Bockhorst had one bad snap. But all things considered, Swinney liked what he saw from Bockhorst in handling all facets that come with playing his new position.
The coaching staff’s plan, Swinney said, is to keep Bockhorst at center for now. Trotter wasn’t available to play Saturday for undisclosed reasons, and his status going forward is unclear.
“He was not bad,” Swinney said. “Definitely got to get better, but I thought he did a nice job.”
Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!
