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Here’s Clemson football, Dabo Swinney’s depth chart for first-round CFP game vs Texas

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Here’s Clemson football, Dabo Swinney’s depth chart for first-round CFP game vs Texas


CLEMSON — Clemson football released its depth chart Monday ahead of its first-round CFP game vs. Texas.

The most notable changes involve the removal of key players who are injured or entered the transfer portal. Backup running back Jay Haynes was removed after suffering a leg injury in the ACC championship against SMU on Dec. 7. Running backs Keith Adams Jr., Jarvis Green and David Eziomume are listed as the No. 2 running back behind Phil Mafah.

Wide receiver Adam Randall also replaced Haynes as the starting kick returner. Clemson’s depth chart removed nickelback Sherrod Covil Jr. and wide receiver Noble Johnson too. Both were backups who entered the transfer portal.

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The No. 12 seed Tigers (10-3) will face the No. 5 seed Longhorns (11-2) on Dec. 21 (4 p.m. ET, TNT) in Austin, Texas, at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. The winner advances to play No. 4 seed Arizona State, the Big 12 champion, in the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 1 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Here’s Clemson’s full depth chart before it faces Texas on Saturday:

Clemson football’s offense

QB: Cade Klubnik | Christopher Vizzina

RB: Phil Mafah | Keith Adams Jr. or Jarvis Green or David Eziomume

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WR: Antonio Williams | Tyler Brown | Misun Kelley

WR: T.J. Moore | Cole Turner

WR: Bryant Wesco Jr. or Adam Randall | Cole Turner | Hampton Earle

TE: Jake Briningstool | Olsen Patt-Henry | Josh Sapp | Markus Dixon

LT: Tristan Leigh | Mason Wade

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LG: Marcus Tate | Harris Sewell

C: Ryan Linthicum | Harris Sewell

RG: Walker Parks | Harris Sewell

RT: Blake Miller | Mason Wade

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Clemson football’s defense

DE: Jahiem Lawson | A.J. Hoffler

DT: Payton Page | DeMonte Capehart | Vic Burley

DT: Peter Woods | Tré Williams | Stephiylan Green

DE: T.J. Parker | Cade Denhoff

SLB: Wade Woodaz | Jamal Anderson

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MLB: Wade Woodaz | Sammy Brown or Dee Crayton

WLB: Barrett Carter | Sammy Brown or Dee Crayton

CB: Avieon Terrell | Ashton Hampton | Corian Gipson

SS: Kylon Griffin or Tyler Venables | Ricardo Jones

FS: R.J. Mickens | Tyler Venables | Rob Billings

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NB: Khalil Barnes | Shelton Lewis

CB: Jeadyn Lukus or Ashton Hampton | Branden Strozier

Clemson football’s special teams

PK: Nolan Hauser | Robert Gunn III

P: Aidan Swanson | Jack Smith

KO: Robert Gunn III

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LS (PK): Holden Caspersen

LS (P): Philip Florenzo

H: Clay Swinney

KR: Adam Randall

PR: Antonio Williams

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Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00



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David Pollack gives score prediction, winner in Texas A&M-LSU game

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David Pollack gives score prediction, winner in Texas A&M-LSU game


The buildup to Saturday night in Baton Rouge carries all the tension of a late-season crossroads game. Texas A&M enters unbeaten at 7-0, while LSU finds itself searching for answers after a frustrating loss to Vanderbilt. For the Tigers, it’s a must-win moment to salvage momentum before facing Alabama. For the Aggies, it’s a chance to validate their rise and break a three-decade drought in Death Valley.

On the See Ball Get Ball podcast, college football analyst David Pollack laid out his view of how the matchup will unfold, citing the trenches and quarterback play as decisive factors. He pointed to A&M’s pass rush and LSU’s injuries up front, particularly at left tackle, as key reasons for his pick. “But I’m going A&M, and I do think this is a super close game… 27–23 is what I wrote down,” Pollack said.

Pollack emphasized that while LSU has talent, its protection issues have left quarterback Garrett Nussmeier exposed. He also highlighted the contrasting defensive strengths, noting A&M’s ability to pressure quarterbacks and LSU’s elite secondary depth.

Pollack detailed his reasoning by breaking down what he called one of the nation’s most exciting matchups between wide receivers and defensive backs. “This might be the best showcase you will see all year of receivers versus DBs,” he said. He praised Texas A&M’s Mario Craver and KC Concepcion for their explosiveness and LSU’s coverage unit led by Javien Toviano and Ashton Stamps for their discipline on the perimeter.

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Beyond the individual matchups, Pollack cited the Tigers’ mounting injuries and offensive inconsistency as major red flags. “Nussmeier’s dad-gum hobbling around. He needs pain medication every practice because you haven’t been able to protect him,” he said. “They’re so elite at pass rush. They’re so elite on third down.”

Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed

Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) has passed for 1,770 yards, 15 TDs and four INTs, with a 61.9 completion percentage. / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

He also noted Texas A&M’s balance behind quarterback Marcel Reed and running back Rueben Owens. The Aggies rank second nationally in third-down defense and bring one of the SEC’s most efficient passing attacks into Baton Rouge. Despite LSU’s strong defensive ranking, Pollack questioned whether its front seven can hold up.

Pollack’s cohost Brent Rollins reminded listeners that LSU has won every home meeting in this series since 2017, but Pollack said he couldn’t back the Tigers given their health and form. He predicted a narrow 27–23 Aggie win and added that a loss could intensify pressure on head coach Brian Kelly.

Texas A&M will play LSU at Tiger Stadium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.



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Texas housewife was showing off new $150K Porsche when she drunkenly smashed into man on date, passenger says

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Texas housewife was showing off new 0K Porsche when she drunkenly smashed into man on date, passenger says


A joy-riding Houston housewife was showing off her new $150,000 Porsche when she drunkenly mowed down a man on a date, one of her passengers revealed.

Arllette Reyes told jurors at the manslaughter trial against Kristina Chambers that she met up with Chambers at a bar before getting in the car with her for a terrifying ride that ended with the death of Joe McMullen on April 20, 2023.

Chambers blames her Christian Louboutin heels for the crash, claiming they slipped and caused her to accelerate into McMullen, who was leaving a donut shop on a first date.

Kristina Chambers, the wealthy Texas housewife on trial for manslaughter, bragged about her $150,000 Porsche before allegedly drunkenly getting behind the wheel, a witness testified. Houston Police

At Lola’s Depot, a dive bar, Chambers told Reyes about about how she was an influencer and that her hedge fund manager husband purchased a Porsche 911 Carrera for her for $149,000 just two months earlier, Reyes recounted.

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“I was hoping I could get a ride in it,” Reyes told jurors, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Chambers flaunted her wealth to her pals, living in a $1.6 million, modernist McMansion with husband Xuan Si. He filed for divorce after her arrest.

So Reyes, Chambers and a third friend got in the sports car and Chambers floored it for a short ride to her home.

But the alleged drunken driver — who had gone restaurant and bar hopping that night — was going so fast she missed a turn and careened into oncoming traffic, Reyes testified.

“I was praying or wondering why I was there,” the witness said.

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Chambers is accused of fatally crashing into Joe McMullin, who was standing on a sidewalk during her out-of-control cruise.

Reyes recalled seeing a man and a woman standing on the sidewalk as the car was headed toward them.

“It all happened so fast,” she said. “One second we were on the wrong side of the road and then we were going to the right and I saw them. I think I put my hands out. I think I closed my eyes. I felt like there was nothing I could do.”

Reyes said she now knows the man and woman they hit were McMullin, 33, and Briana Iturrino.

The pair had gone to karaoke for a first date, and Iturrino narrowly avoided injury in the crash.

Chambers allegedly told her pal at the bar that she had just been gifted the $150,000 Porsche 911 Carrera by her husband two-months prior, a witness said. KHOU 11

Reyes was the last witness called by prosecutors Tuesday. Chambers’ team began calling toxicology and intoxication experts, according to a report by Fox 26.

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Prosecutor Andrew Figliuzzi told jurors during opening statements Friday that Chambers was “itching to show off her sports car,” despite allegedly being blind drunk.

Her blood alcohol was allegedly .301% — or almost four times the legal limit — an hour after the wreck. She also had traces of cocaine in her system, prosecutors said.

But Chambers’ lawyer Mark Thiessen told jurors the heel of her pricey pumps got stuck on the gas pedal at the same moment she started driving down “one of Houston’s most dangerous curves.”

Chambers had allegedly been bar hopping in the hours before the crash.

An earlier witness, Officer Joseph Little, told jurors about how Chambers blew hundreds of dollars that night so her and her friend could feast on delicacies and drink cocktails and wine.

She spent $800, including $669 on a meal at high-end joint Bludom, where she splurged on caviar, oysters, martinis, wine, risotto and potato wedges, Little testified, citing bank records.

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She and her pal went to at least four bars where, prosecutors estimate Chambers consumed at least six alcoholic drinks.

Chambers and Reyes were hospitalized after the crash.

She faces between up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.



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Why Rueben Owens II and E.J. Smith are crucial to Texas A&M’s championship goals

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Why Rueben Owens II and E.J. Smith are crucial to Texas A&M’s championship goals


The double-edged sword of upper-crust contention includes a prohibition of regression or setbacks. The best teams — the ones that hope to play in college football’s most meaningful bowl games in December and January — must be equipped to quickly and seamlessly fill the holes that open along the path toward it.

Texas A&M, now down a workhorse weapon for the foreseeable future, is now among that group.

Running back Le’Veon Moss will miss a “significant amount of time,” head coach Mike Elko said after A&M’s win vs. Florida last week, but is expected to return this season. The Aggies — ranked third in the AP Top 25 poll and undefeated at 7-0 for the first time since the 1994 season — are in an enviable position as it pertains to the College Football Playoff and don’t have time to lag while Moss heals.

The Aggies’ rushing offense ranks within the middle of the pack nationwide and among the bottom third of all SEC teams, per Pro Football Focus, and sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed runs the ball fewer times per game on average this year compared to last year. The ground game could be an area that the Aggies could exploit this Saturday against LSU’s defense, which allowed 239 rushing yards in its loss to Vanderbilt last weekend.

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A duo of A&M backs with prodigious backgrounds will now try to recreate Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. — and potentially for the rest of the season.

Sophomore Rueben Owens II, a once-prized recruit, has rushed for three touchdowns in two starts since Moss was sidelined. Senior E.J. Smith — the son of Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith — has been elevated from a depth position to a backup role and carried the ball seven times in Texas A&M’s win vs. Arkansas Saturday night.

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Owens scored two second-half touchdowns vs. the Razorbacks to fortify a wild 45-42 win. Smith converted a critical 4th and 1 rush to sustain a fourth-quarter drive that ended in a 12-yard touchdown run from Owens.

“We answered the call every time we needed to, “Elko said. ”I thought it was really great the way we went out in the second half and just continued to make plays to find a way to win the game.”

Owens and Smith were among those to thank. Owens, a five-star recruit from El Campo, was the second-ranked running back nationally and the second-best signee in former head coach Jimbo Fisher’s last full recruiting class. He earned All-SEC honors as a freshman when he split time as a back and returner, but missed the entirety of last season with a lower-body injury.

The 5-11 back now leads the Aggies in yardage after just one-and-a-half games as the team’s de facto starter. He rushed for a career-high 142 yards vs. Mississippi State earlier this month, when Moss was still healthy, and totaled 120 yards and three scores against Florida and Arkansas in two games after that.

“I think he’s one of the kids who gets a lot better every week that he goes out there because those reps are so valuable for him,” Elko said. “He’s getting more and more comfortable with what we’re asking him to do in the run game with the run lines and the run angles … I just think he continues to develop every week and to be more of a complete back. Obviously we need him to continue to do that.”

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Smith, a four-star recruit at Jesuit, chose Stanford over offers from A&M, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State and others nearly six years ago. He, like Owens, saw what could’ve been a breakout campaign end prematurely. Smith rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns in the first two games of the 2022 season but missed the remainder of it with a knee injury.

He was a third-stringer one year later and transferred to A&M prior to the 2024 season. The first-year result mirrored his final season at Stanford when he was no higher than third on the running back depth chart. His sixth and final season of collegiate eligibility began the same this year, too, with both Moss and Owens ahead of him.

“When you think about it, E.J. Smith’s not having all of the limelight he dreamed of having going into his senior year, I’m sure,” Elko said. “I’m sure he wishes he was the feature back carrying the ball 20 times a game.”

But.

“But,” Elko continued, “here it is, fourth and one at Arkansas, in our own territory, and he’s got to convert, and that’s a championship play. That play and that player will have as much to do with our success as anyone, right?”

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The Aggies will hope so.

Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.



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