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.
