Head coach David Cutcliffe held his weekly press conference today. Here are some highlights from his 30-minute Q&A.
"Good afternoon," Cutcliffe began his weekly presser. "We are going to be expanding this press conference by two chairs.... We're looking for a couple more."
Cutcliffe began his press conference with some light-hearted humor poking fun at all of the attention that has been paid to the realignment of the conferences. He would later go onto praise ACC commissioner John Swofford for his proactivity in adding Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the conference. Cutcliffe praised the institutions' academic reputations as well as their football and basketball programs. He believes that the ACC now represents the conference with the best balance between its football teams and basketball teams.
Brandon Connette did not practice today, but Cutcliffe did not rule him out for Saturday's Tulane contest.
After leaving the Stanford game with a shoulder injury, Connette was held out of this weekend's win over Boston College. In his place, Anthony Boone impressed completing both of his pass attempts. Connette, though he has rushed for nine touchdowns in his career, has completed below 50 percent of his pass attempts. Boone, a redshirt freshman, has provided a more-balanced change of pace, completing 9 of his 11 pass attempts and rushing for two scores in his first season of collegiate action.
Will Snyderwine’s status for Saturday again is not clear.
"If I didn't think we were going to get [Snyderwine] back at all, then I probably already would have made the move with Will Monday," Cutcliffe said. That being said, Snyderwine did not kick Tuesday morning and Cutcliffe said that the team is trying a "different path medically." Cutcliffe did not elaborate on the treatment Snyderwine is receiving, but said the team is preparing to go into Saturday's game with Paul Asack and Jeffrey Ijjas continuing to handle the kicking duties. Ijjas has been perfect on extra points this year but has failed to make either of his two field goal attempts. Cutcliffe acknowledged that he will have to consider going for it on fourth down in certain situations instead of attempting a field goal this weekend.
Desmond Scott and Josh Snead both were cleared to begin running.
Neither of the backs were cleared to resume contact drills, but Scott was able to take handoffs and run pass routes while Snead was cleared to run. It appears unlikely that Snead will suit up against the Green Wave, but Scott seems to have a chance to play. After catching 34 passes last season, it is possible that Scott will spell Juwan Thompson on third downs in passing situations if he is healthy enough to take some snaps. Scott and Thompson's skill sets complement each other well, as Thompson is a great runner between the tackles and Scott is more of a threat to catch passes out of the backfield.
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