Trent Howard injury update: Dabo Swinney gives 'heartbreaking' news on veteran starter

Clemson offensive lineman Trent Howard has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the team’s season finale against South Carolina, coach Dabo Swinney revealed Wednesday.

Howard suffered the injury in practice on Tuesday evening. The fifth-year senior started the past two weeks and had appeared in nine games this season.

“It’s unfortunate,” Swinney said. “My heart breaks for Trent. He’s just one of the best kids that we’ve got on this team. So committed. He’s a great teammate and obviously he’s a senior. He’s saved us two years in a row. That kid has really been there when we needed him. It breaks my heart for him, but he’s a young man with a strong faith and a great family.”

Thankfully, the Tigers had their Senior Day this past week in a win against The Citadel, so Howard still got his chance to play and be honored. However, his injury will put Clemson in a tough spot heading into the season finale with a trip to the ACC Championship still up for grabs.

Howard has appeared in 31 games for the Tigers across the past five seasons with five starts in that span. He entered this season having played 382 career snaps, 257 of which came during the 2023 season.

Trent Howard signed with Clemson in 2020 as a three-star recruit out of Briarwood Christian High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He ranked as the No. 1,041 overall player and No. 69 inside offensive lineman in the cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Kickoff between Clemson and South Carolina is set for noon ET on Saturday and the game will be televised on ESPN.

Clemson injury updates: Dabo Swinney reveals status of offensive linemen

Trent Howard isn’t the only injury on the offensive line for Clemson heading into the game against South Carolina. Swinney also shared what he’s seen from Tristan Leigh and Marcus Tate as they try to get back on the field.

“Tristan and Marcus are trending in a good spot,” Dabo Swinney said. “As we sit right here today, I feel pretty good about them, but Tuesdays, Wednesday practices, I mean, you got to go practice. Especially those guys because they’ve been out a couple games. So, we’ve got to really go compete today, and so hopefully we can get through these next couple practices and be ready to go, but they’ve got to go do it these next couple days, but trending in a good spot.”

Injuries along the offensive line have been a problem for Clemson. Just ahead of last week’s game against The Citadel, Swinney even implied it was difficult to practice because they had so few players available.

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.