Tag: Will Putnam

CLEMSON, S.C. — Center Will Putnam has been named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his performance in Clemson’s 40-10 win against Miami (Fla.) on Saturday. Clemson has earned 11 weekly accolades this season and a total of 564 ACC weekly honors since 1968.

The ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week honor is Putnam’s second of the season, joining his selection for his performance against Louisiana Tech in mid-September. Clemson has collected four ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors this year, including two by Putnam and two by All-America candidate Jordan McFadden. Putnam and McFadden are the first Clemson offensive line duo to each collect multiple ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors in a single season since their position coach, Thomas Austin, accomplished the feat with Barry Richardson in 2007.

Against Miami on Saturday, Putnam recorded five knockdowns and allowed no pressures or sacks according to Clemson’s coaching staff. He centered an offensive line that helped Clemson to 447 total yards, including 240 passing yards and 207 rushing yards, Clemson’s 58th game under Dabo Swinney in which it has reached 200 yards in both categories. Putnam and his offensive line cohorts helped control the line of scrimmage for a Clemson squad that posted its largest time of possession (38:15) since 2020 and its best third-down percentage (73.7 percent) since 2018.

On Saturday, the Clemson Tigers hosted their annual Military Appreciation Day game when senior offensive lineman Will Putnam carried the American flag down the hill prior to the Tigers’ 31-16 win over Louisville.

“It meant a lot to me because even though I was carrying down the flag, it wasn’t necessarily about me and spotlight on me, but more so for my dad,” he said.

Putnam’s father, Col. Neil Putnam, served 30 years in the United States Army, including 24 years as a member of the Special Forces regiment known commonly as Green Berets.

“It was just a really special moment for my family,” Putnam reflected.

With a military background in his family, Putnam often moved around. Originally, Putnam was born in Michigan and continued on to move to Northern Virginia, Oahu and Illinois, finally finishing in Tampa.

When asked about his time in Hawaii, Putnam reminisced, “Great time, great people and football was great too. It’s pretty serious over there as well.”

Putnam continued on to say, “It was always good for me. A lot of places have weight limits for football and Hawaii has no weight limits. They actually have two seasons for football.”

To recap the Tigers’ win over Louisville, Putnam shared, “I think we did pretty well. We were efficient in the run game.”

Coming into the game, the Tigers knew that running the ball was the best option against a good defense, similar to Syracuse, that moved around a lot.

“When the coaches needed us to run the ball, we ran the ball and it was
great,” he said.

Overall, the Tigers had 439 yards of offense, which was a key factor in the victory.

Coming off a loss in Week 10 against Notre Dame, preparation was no different than any other week.

“Win or lose, that has never really changed my preparation, and I can speak for the offensive line, our preparation,” Putnam said. “We prepare just the same for anybody.”

With the win over Louisville, the Tigers clinched the ACC Atlantic Division outright.

“It means a lot,” Putnam said. “Our goals are win the home opener, win the division, win the state and win the closer.”

Previewing the upcoming matchup with Miami, Putnam said, “They play physical football. It’ll be a good matchup for us up front, especially getting that run game going.”

Despite being a senior, Putnam’s time as a Tiger is not over.

“Coming back into the season I was leaning towards that, and yeah, I want to come back,” he said. “I look forward to it.”

The Tigers look to secure their 10th win to finish out a regular season of perfect ACC play when they take on Miami at 3:30 p.m. at Death Valley on Saturday.

One of Clemson’s seniors has made a decision regarding his future. During his press conference on Tuesday he talked about his decision to return.

After spending four years in the Tigers’ program, senior center Will Putnam said he’s not yet done. Putnam revealed he plans to return to the team next season while working toward his MBA (master of business administration).

“I will probably be back,” Putnam said. “Coming into the season, I was kind of leaning toward that. I was pretty much going to come back and yeah I want to come back. I look forward to it.”

Why did Clemson’s center feel like the best decision was to return?

“I always felt like I wanted to come back,” he said. “Coming into this season knowing I was going to play center, I knew it was something I wanted to do.  I think it would be good for me to get another year of playing center in. I feel like, as the season goes on, I am feeling more and more comfortable at it, and I feel like having another season that it would be great as well. I am also looking forward to getting my MBA while I can while I am still in college.

A third-year starter for the Tigers, Putnam, who has a COVID year he can use to return next season, started the previous two years at guard before making the move to center before this season. The Tampa, Florida native has played in 43 career games with 32 starts since joining the program before the 2019 season.

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

Clemson traveled up north this past weekend to take on the Boston College Eagles and came out with a 31-3 win. After a slow first half, Clemson came out of the locker room at halftime ready to get the ball moving in its favor, and the Eagles just couldn’t keep up.

After playing three years at guard, there’s a new face this season at center, Will Putnam.

After starting his first game against Georgia Tech, to the most recent performance this past weekend at Boston College, Putnam sees his offensive line taking strides towards progress. He says, “We definitely feel more comfortable as a unit. I think some of that is to where we have consistent starters, it’s the same starting five from week one. I think we’ve definitely improved in our pass protection for sure, picking up stunts and twists.”

Contrary to last season, something we’ve seen done a lot more this season is quarterback DJ Uiagalelei’s running game. As an offensive lineman, Putnam “loves seeing his quarterback 20 yards ahead of himself,” and he credits DJ for all of his hard work and “getting his body right.”

Heading down to Florida State this coming weekend for the Tigers’ last conference road game, Putnam says it makes it feel as though they’re “heading into the third quarter of their season,” as head coach Dabo Swinney likes to put it. Putnam is “excited” as the “goals he and his team are trying to accomplish are becoming closer and closer.”

The environment at Florida State is always something that analysts take into consideration whenever Florida State is a topic of conversation. Anticipating a loud crowd with loyal fans, Putnam and the guys are looking forward to the gameday atmosphere coming at them this weekend saying, “Environment-wise for road games you might be kinda hesitant in hostile environments, but for me, and I think I can speak for a lot of my teammates, it’s true it makes the game fun.”

As the Tigers look to tune out the extra noise and put another game in the win column, you can catch the game kickoff on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!