Clemson will be shorthanded vs. No. 23 Pittsburgh

The Clemson Tigers will go into the critical ACC matchup vs. No. 23 Pittsburgh on Saturday without several key players.

According to Jon Blau who covers Clemson for the Post and Courier, RB Michel Dukes (transfer portal), WR Frank Ladson Jr., WR Joseph Ngata, LB Jake Venables, WR E.J. Williams are all listed as out vs. Pitt on Saturday afternoon.

Blau added that Clemson notified media that defensive tackle Tyler Davis and running back Will Shipley made the trip to Pitt, but their official status remains uncertain.

Clemson would love to have true freshman phenom running back Will Shipley available vs Pittsburgh, but the Tigers have been unclear throughout the week if he will play.

When asked about Shipley’s status for Saturday’s game, head coach Dabo Swinney kept it short and sweet. 

“He’ll be a game time decision,” Swinney said. “He looks good. He looks better than I anticipated at this point.”

The 5-foot-11, 205-pound freshman has not played since Sept. 25 against NC State when he suffered a knee injury. In his first four games he notched five touchdowns, and he joined former running back Travis Etinne and former quarterback Deshaun Watson as the only players in the Dabo Swinney tenure at Clemson to record two or more rushing touchdowns in multiple games as a freshman.

He remains the team’s second-leading rusher despite missing one-third of Clemson’s games this year.

In Shipley’s absence, sophomore Kobe Pace has taken over the role of RB1. Of a similar stature as Shipley at 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, Pace has 32 carries for 201 yards and two touchdowns in the last two weeks.