Dabo Swinney updates status of two starters for Florida State game

Clemson was without a pair of starters for last week’s game against Florida Atlantic as safety Andrew Mukuba and right guard Walker Parks were unable to suit up.

Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney provided an update on the two during his press conference on Tuesday.

Swinney was asked if he expects them to be available when No. 4 Florida State comes to town this weekend.

“We’re hopeful,” Swinney said. “They’re with us and working and still say day-to-day. But we’ll see.”

Mukuba has missed each of the past two games after playing well in the opener against Duke. The junior made 6 tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss against the Blue Devils. He also had a pass breakup and quarterback pressure against Duke, before being sidelined with an injury.

Parks started each of the first two games, before being unable to suit up this past weekend.

While Swinney is unsure if Parks and Mukuba will be able to play, receiver Cole Turner will for sure be out. The starting wideout suffered a season-ending injury this past weekend against FAU.

Turner missed the Charleston Southern game with an injury but started against Duke and FAU. He caught three passes for 28 yards over those two games. With Turner out, look for Clemson sophomore Adam Randall to get more opportunities moving forward, beginning this weekend when the Tigers host Florida State.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney explains surprise decision to bring back graduate kicker

While Clemson could get a couple of starters back against Florida State, the Tigers will definitely have a new starter on special teams.

Kicker Robert Gunn is being benched and will be replaced by graduate student Jonathan Weitz, who was living in Charleston and taking online classes. Weitz was on the Clemson roster the previous four years, before moving on to begin his professional career. However, that is now on hold.

“We went to the bullpen and called him off the beach,” Swinney said. “It’s either going to be a great story or it’s going to be terrible. It’s not going to be anything in between.”

Weitz had not kicked a football since April, before Swinney called him on Sunday. He told the Clemson head coach that he would go out and kick a few balls and call Swinney back with an answer. Later that day, Weitz relayed that he was in.

“He spent the whole spring in France studying abroad and hanging out at the Eiffel Tower. Had a great summer, had his life planned out,” Swinney said. “He just rented an apartment in New York. He starts his job in two weeks, and he’s graduating with his Masters in December. And he gets a call from coach Swinney on Sunday, ‘Hey, you wanna come kick against the ‘Noles this weekend?’ And he’s just crazy enough to want to do it.”