Clemson starting offensive lineman out for the season

Clemson will be without starting offensive lineman Marcus Tate for the rest of the season, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney announced Sunday night.

Tate suffered a knee injury in the first half of Saturday’s win over Miami.

The sophomore will have knee surgery and will miss the rest of the year.

“We got good news and bad news. The good news is his ACL and all that stuff is good,” Swinney said. “The bad news is there’s like a little ligament or tendon that holds your knee cap. That’s where he got hurt. He’s going to have to have surgery on that to get it fixed. It’s not like an ACL surgery, so he’ll be fine.”

Tate should be back for Clemson spring practices, but Swinney expects him to mostly get work in individual drills during the spring. He is not expected to be a full participant in practices for the Tigers.

The left guard has had a strong year for Clemson, starting all 11 games so far in 2022.

“He’s very confident in his ability. He just played so much faster and stronger than he did last year as a freshman. And that’s a result of his experience and the work that he put in,” Swinney said. “He’s a guy that can play tackle for us as well. It’s unfortunate that his season’s going to be cut short but a blessing that he was able to have the type of year that he had.”

With Tate out, Mitchell Mayes is expected to take over as left guard for Clemson.

The Raleigh native is a versatile offensive lineman who filled in at right guard last week with Tigers starter Walker Parks out.

“Mitchell’s done well. I’m proud of him. He’s basically started two games in a row now and we’ve had back-to-back 400-plus yard games,” Swinney said. “He really has done a nice job. I’m really glad that he’s had that type of experience. Because he had to go in there early and played a ton of snaps. Then he obviously started in place of [Walker] Parker. So very good for him.”