Tag: Tre Williams

What new defensive end Landon Jackson could bring to table

Arkansas’ newest defensive end, a transfer from LSU, could bring much-needed pass-rushing ability.

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Arkansas is losing only a maximum of three players from its defensive line – potential transfers notwithstanding – in 2022. But given the two guaranteed losses and the third potential loss, re-making the front of the Razorbacks defense is going to be a priority for coach Sam Pittman and defensive coordinator Barry Odom.

That’s part of why the newest Razorbacks player, former LSU defensive end Landon Jackson, could be such a boon.

Jackson, who is from Texarkana, was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2021. An edge rusher with size, he has the build of Markell Utsey, one of the players the Hogs will lose next season.

Utsey and end Tre Williams will both be gone from the roster in 2022. Defensive tackle John Ridgeway could leave for the NFL, too. That would mean all three primary starters on the Hogs front would be out.

Even if Jackson doesn’t step into a starting role, his potential and youth – he will have three years of eligibility remaining – could pay dividends down the road. The Razorbacks do return ends Zach Williams and Jashaud Stewart, tackles Taurean Carter and Isaiah Nichols and hybrid end/tackle Eric Gregory, among others.

Jackson played in five games with LSU, exclusively on special teams. He was rehabbing a knee injury he suffered in high school for a good chunk of the season.

Clemson player has message for Tigers commit in wake of Venables’ departure

Current and future Clemson players took to social media Sunday night, expressing their reaction(s) to Brent Venables departing for Oklahoma. While most of Clemson’s class of 2022 defensive commits have a decision to make, a couple of them tweeted …

Current and future Clemson players took to social media Sunday night, expressing their reaction(s) to Brent Venables departing for Oklahoma.

While most of Clemson’s class of 2022 defensive commits have a decision to make, a couple of them tweeted out emojis in response to finding out that the defensive coordinator that recruited them will be elsewhere next season and beyond.

Clemson four-star defensive end commit Jihaad Campbell took to Twitter just after 9 p.m. on Sunday night. His response signified that of someone who was surprised by Venables’s decision. Of course, Venables did just visit Campbell and his IMG Academy teammates — Daylen Everette and Keon Sabb — just a couple of days prior.

While the news may have taken Campbell by surprise, it was one of his future teammates who provided some comfort, not wanting him to fret about his time ahead.

It sure seems like Tigers’ redshirt defensive tackle Tré Williams doesn’t plan on going anywhere. Even without Venables, Clemson seemingly has confidence in its defensive personnel “runnin it up” next season.

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Predicting Arkansas’ All-SEC players: Nine Hogs should make cut

Arkansas should land nine players on the All-SEC teams this year. And KJ Jefferson better be one of them.

Arkansas’ best regular season in a decade has come to a close. And while the rest of the SEC finishes Saturday and then Alabama and Georgia conclude the fall in the SEC Championship, we figured it was time to start preparing to fill our All-SEC lists.

The Razorbacks should have no shortage of players represented on the all-conference teams. A couple of guys are locks. Another would be – Jalen Catalon – if not for a season-ending injury.

But we know, too, that the big dogs of the league tend to land a majority of the players. Alabama alone had eight first-team selections by the league’s media during SEC Media Days. Arkansas had a total of five players across the four teams voted on during that week.

Both things should change after the season. Here are our projections of Arkansas’ All-SEC players this year.

Missouri offense is team strength – here’s how Hogs counter

If Arkansas can funnel Badie to the inside and lets its linebackers go to work, it will bode well against Missouri.

Missouri isn’t the most dynamic team in the SEC. In fact, among all the teams Arkansas has played in-conference this year, the Tigers are more like Texas A&M and LSU than Ole Miss or Mississippi State.

That doesn’t mean Mizzou is some guppy, though. Running back Tyler Badie is the SEC’s leading rusher. Eight different Missouri receivers have double-digit catches. Their offensive line doesn’t give up a ton of sacks.

The Tigers are sound and fundamental. Arkansas, on a good day, shouldn’t have massive issues. But if the Hogs want to come as close as they can to guaranteeing a snapping of their five-game losing streak to Missouri, the defense has to keep its head.

No reason why defensive coordinator Barry Odom, the former head man in Columbia, Missouri, won’t be ready.

Here are his side’s keys to the game.

Clemson defender gives post-surgery update

A Clemson defender took to social media Tuesday night with a positive update after undergoing his first scheduled surgery. Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Tre Williams posted on Twitter that “Surgery #1 went well!” Swinney told the media during …

A Clemson defender took to social media Tuesday night with a positive update after undergoing his first scheduled surgery.

Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Tre Williams posted on Twitter that “Surgery #1 went well!”

Swinney told the media during his Zoom conference call Sunday evening that Williams would require surgery on both his shoulder and foot and will miss the remainder of the season.

“He’ll be done now for the season,” Swinney said. “It’s been a miracle that he’s been able to play all year. He’s got to have shoulder surgery, he’s got to have foot surgery. He’s had a couple surgeries scheduled, but he really wanted to try to play as long as he could. But he’s definitely done now with his foot.

“So, really proud of him and literally how he played — both shoulders strapped in all year long and also with his foot. So, we’ll have to finish out without him. We’ll get him well, and what a great player he’s going to be. And thankful he was able to get 11 games of experience in this year because he didn’t get any hardly last year.”

Williams entered 2021 with four tackles (one for loss) in two career games. The Windsor, Conn., native had 10 tackles and a sack this season.

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Davis ‘grateful’ for quick return from his latest injury

It wasn’t pain that let Tyler Davis know something was wrong. It was his range of motion. Or lack thereof. “I just couldn’t move my arm all the way down,” Davis said. “Couldn’t extend it.” Clemson’s defensive tackle was less than three games into …

It wasn’t pain that let Tyler Davis know something was wrong. It was his range of motion. Or lack thereof.

“I just couldn’t move my arm all the way down,” Davis said. “Couldn’t extend it.”

Clemson’s defensive tackle was less than three games into his junior season when the injury happened during the second quarter of the Tigers’ 14-8 win over Georgia Tech back on Sept. 18. Turns out one of Davis’ bicep tendons had detached from the bone, but it didn’t keep him from finishing the game.

“When it first happened, I was like, ‘Yeah, I can still play,” he said. “I was playing on it, but I ain’t know it was going to be a torn bicep tendon.”

Davis underwent surgery the following week, and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney initially said his recovery would likely keep Davis out of action anywhere from seven to eight weeks. The most difficult part, Davis said, was sleeping in a sling for a couple of weeks after the operation.

But Davis was determined to make it back sooner than that. He was “sailing through” his rehab, he said, which first gave Davis an inkling that he’d be able to do just that.

“I guess it’s just the nature of who I am,” Davis said. “I feel like I always try to help my team the best way I can. So if I can play, I can play.”

After just four weeks, Davis made his return in Clemson’s loss at Pittsburgh, giving a defensive line that had already lost its other starting defensive tackle, Bryan Bresee (torn ACL), for the season a sooner-than-expected boost. He was on what Swinney called a pitch count against the Panthers but hasn’t had his snaps limited since. Davis has 19 tackles and 1.5 sacks in seven games this season.

The only lingering sign of Davis’ injury to the naked eye is a bulky brace he’s been wearing on right arm each week. He said the extra support doesn’t hinder his ability to strike offensive linemen or get off blocks, though he’s not always a fan of it.

“We’ve got kind of like a love-hate relationship with the brace,” Davis said. “It helps me out a lot, but I don’t like wearing it sometimes.”

But Davis is just glad to be back on the field after his latest injury. Davis was a second-team all-ACC selection as a freshman in 2019 when he had 51 tackles, nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, but a knee injury forced him to miss five games as a sophomore. In the seven games he played last season, he had 17 tackles and five tackles for loss.

“You never know when it’s your last play,” Davis said. “Just always stay grateful for every opportunity you get on the field.” 

Clemson’s defense is happy to have him back, too, particularly with its depth on the interior of the defensive line starting to thin out more. Tre Williams, who’s dealt with various injuries throughout the season, is set to undergo season-ending surgery, leaving Davis, Ruke Orhorhoro and Etinosa Reuben as the Tigers’ primary rotation on the inside heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale at South Carolina.

Once the season is over, Davis, who’s draft-eligible, may have a decision to make regarding his future, though he said he’s likely to return to Clemson for another season.

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The good, the bad and the ugly from Clemson’s win over Wake Forest

Clemson closed out a fifth straight unblemished home slate Saturday with a dominant performance against No. 10 Wake Forest at Memorial Stadium. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Tigers’ 48-29 win: The good Where has that offense been …

Clemson closed out a fifth straight unblemished home slate Saturday with a dominant performance against No. 10 Wake Forest at Memorial Stadium. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Tigers’ 48-29 win:

The good

Where has that offense been all season?

Whether it was driving the length of the field or turnovers that set them up with shorter ones, the Tigers took advantage of their opportunities in their best all-around performance of the season. Thanks in large part to the kind of red-zone execution Clemson coach Dabo Swinney called “incredible” afterward, Clemson started with a field goal and a touchdown on its first two possessions and got points on each of its final five, four of those being touchdowns. Will Spiers only punted once on a day in which the Tigers found the end zone six times en route to season-highs in points and yards (543).

Of course, the catalyst was a running game that also had its best performance of the season. With the Tigers back at full strength in the backfield, they racked up a whopping 333 yards on the ground and ripped off 6.2 yards per carry, doubling their average from an uninspiring showing against Connecticut the previous week. Kobe Pace, who had missed the previous six quarters, spearheaded it all with a career-high 191 yards and two scores on just 24 carries in his return. Will Shipley added 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 19 carries, giving Clemson multiple 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time since Travis Etienne, Lyn-J Dixon and Tavien Feaster all got there against Louisville in 2018.

And while the passing game didn’t have to do much with the way the Tigers ran the ball, Clemson produced some explosive plays through the air as D.J. Uiagelelei eventually settled in on a day in which the Tigers ran out a skeleton crew at receiver. Uiagalelei only attempted 19 passes but completed 11 of them, including five of his last six (his only miss during that stretch was an interception that bounced off the helmet of receiver Dacari Collins).

His final throw was a beauty of a deep ball to Beaux Collins, who made a one-handed grab before finishing off a 58-yard touchdown in the third quarter as part of a 137-yard day, a season-high for the freshman. Uiagalelei also turned in arguably his best play of the season when, despite still being braced up with that sprained right knee, he shed two would-be sacks before rolling out and eventually heaving a 52-yard bomb to Collins to set up Clemson’s first touchdown in the opening quarter.

Meanwhile, the defense did its thing against another potent offense that looked average at times against Clemson. Wake Forest, with its slow mesh point, came in as the second-highest scoring team in the FBS, but the Tigers attacked from the start and rarely relented their pressure. Clemson set the tone with four sacks of Sam Hartman in the first quarter and finished with seven, a season-high. Those contributed to holding the Demon Deacons to just 36 net rushing yards. Add that to the minus-21 UConn had, and those 15 net rushing yards are the fewest allowed by the Tigers in back-to-back games going back to 1954, according to the school.

Clemson also forced three turnovers, two of them deep in Wake Forest territory. And senior kicker B.T. Potter connected on both of his field-goal attempts, making him 8 for 8 since those three misses he had against Florida State late last month.

It all helped Clemson easily extend the nation’s longest active home winning streak to 34 games heading into next season.

The bad

Clemson could’ve hung half a hundred on the Demon Deacons if not for some of its own turnovers.

In addition to Uiagalalei’s lone interception, Pace fumbled in the first half while the Tigers were driving in Wake Forest territory. Clemson put it on the ground again inside the Demon Deacons’ 10 early in the third quarter when Wake defensive end Rondell Bothroyd got in the way of Uiagalelei’s pitch on an option play. The three turnovers tied a season-high for the Tigers, who’ve committed as many turnovers as they’ve forced this season (17).

The Tigers also allowed a season-high in passing yards (370). While some of that came with Clemson up big late in garbage time, Wake threw for 168 yards alone in the second quarter when the Tigers had a hard time getting off the field. The Demon Deacons converted five of its seven third downs in the quarter and reached the end zone on its next to last possession of the first half to trim Clemson’s lead to 17-10. Andrew Booth’s interception on Wake’s last possession kept that halftime lead intact before the Tigers began to take control.

The ugly

It’s hard to put anything about Clemson’s performance Saturday into this category, but fans might be at the point where they just want to look away from the Tigers’ injury situation.

The constant attrition is becoming comical in that department, particularly at receiver. Clemson already knew it would be without Frank Ladson Jr. (groin), Joseph Ngata (foot) and Justyn Ross (foot) at the beginning of the week. Then E.J. Williams, who’s already dealt with knee and thumb injuries, went down with an unrelated leg injury during practice Wednesday that Swinney had a hard time explaining afterward.

Swinney said he’s “got nothing” when asked how long Williams might be out, but that wasn’t the end of it. Swinney revealed freshman receiver Troy Stellato injured his heel during pregame warmups, leaving Beaux and Dacari Collins, walk-on Will Brown and Swinney’s sons, Will and Drew, as the primary group of receivers Saturday.

Defensive tackle Tre Williams went down at one point, though he’s been dealing with numerous injuries throughout the season and will need surgery once it’s over. Shipley and offensive lineman Walker Parks briefly left Saturday’s game but returned and finished.

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Clemson defensive player to miss remainder of season

During his Zoom conference call with reporters Sunday evening, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced that a defensive player will be out for the remainder of this season. Swinney said redshirt freshman defensive tackle Tre Williams will have to …

During his Zoom conference call with reporters Sunday evening, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced that a defensive player will be out for the remainder of this season.

Swinney said redshirt freshman defensive tackle Tre Williams will have to have surgery on both his shoulder and foot and is out for the rest of the year.

“He’ll be done now for the season,” Swinney said. “It’s been a miracle that he’s been able to play all year. He’s got to have shoulder surgery, he’s got to have foot surgery. He’s had a couple surgeries scheduled, but he really wanted to try to play as long as he could. But he’s definitely done now with his foot.

“So, really proud of him. … So, we’ll get him well, and what a great player he’s going to be. And thankful he was able to get 11 games of experience in this year because he didn’t get any hardly last year.”

Williams entered 2021 with four tackles (one for loss) in two career games. The Windsor, Conn., native had 10 tackles and a sack this season.

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Surgery awaits Clemson defensive player

During his Zoom conference call Sunday evening, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney told reporters that a defensive player will need to undergo surgery once the season is over. Swinney was asked for an update on redshirt freshman defensive tackle Tre …

During his Zoom conference call Sunday evening, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney told reporters that a defensive player will need to undergo surgery once the season is over.

Swinney was asked for an update on redshirt freshman defensive tackle Tre Williams, who has been playing hurt all year.

“He’s just banged up,” Swinney said. “He’s something, man. That kid is amazing. There’s not many people that would have been able to do what he’s done this year because he’s been hurt. Outside of the first two games, he’s been hurt all year. He just kind of keeps showing back up every week. So he’s, again, one of those guys that we’ll see where he is tomorrow.”

“Definitely will have some postseason surgery waiting on him, no doubt about that,” Swinney added.

Williams was credited with a half sack in Saturday’s win over UConn and entered the game with 12 total tackles, including 2.5 for loss and a half sack, and seven quarterback pressures over the previous nine games.

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TCI can confirm this defensive player out vs. Pitt

PITTSBURGH – The Clemson Insider can confirm that this defensive player will be out for today’s 3:30 p.m. game against Pittsburgh at Heinz Field. We spotted defensive tackle Tre Williams coming off the team bus, and the redshirt freshman has a boot …

PITTSBURGH — The Clemson Insider can confirm that this defensive player will be out for today’s 3:30 p.m. game against Pittsburgh at Heinz Field.

We spotted defensive tackle Tre Williams coming off the team bus, and the redshirt freshman has a boot on, so we don’t expect him to play.

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