Steele hopeful depth can fill void left by Bowers’ injury

CLEMSON — Star sophomore defensive end Da’Quan Bowers remains doubtful for Saturday’s 7:45 p.m. showdown with Florida State thanks to two sprained knee ligaments, but teammates and Clemson defensive coordinator Kevin Steele remain positive they can fill the void left by the Tigers’ second-leading sacker and tackler-for-loss.

Steele said Monday that a deep group of defensive ends — senior Ricky Sapp, senior hybrid end/linebacker Kevin Alexander, sophomore Andre Branch and freshman Malliciah Goodman — will help ease Bowers’ loss.

“We’re so diverse in there, if you watch any of the games,” he said. “Sometimes I don’t even know who’s out there. We roll those guys up front. We feel like we have a pretty good group of guys. With Kevin, with Malliciah, with Branch, Ricky, that’s a pretty good group.”

Goodman is the most likely candidate to start; he has 20 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks.

“I’m not trying to start,” he said. “If I start, I start. If I don’t, I don’t. Starting the first play is not that big. It’s being in there, helping the team out and getting a win.”

Goodman said he has worked hard on improving his overall technique after being “a little sloppy in the beginning.”

“With the abilities I’ve got,” he said, “I can pretty much be as good as I want to be, as long as I apply myself.”

No matter who starts, Steele said, no one person can replace Bowers.

“He’s a big body. And he’s obviously got a lot of talent,” Steele said. “He’s a very fast, hard-nosed guy that’s really gotten better each week. (But) if you watch the first quarter of every single game, those other guys were out there just as much. So it’s not like we’re putting a guy out there who hasn’t taken a snap, if we have to do that at all.”

PONDER WILL PLAY

Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder played much of the final three quarters of Saturday’s 45-42 shootout win over N.C. State with bruised ribs, leading to speculation over his status Saturday. Monday, the junior standout said he’ll play against Clemson.

“It’s something I can overcome,” Ponder told reporters in Tallahassee. “It’s football. It’s a contact sport. I’ll be all right.”

Ponder has thrown for 2,453 yards this season with 13 touchdowns against three interceptions.

He is also a running threat, although Clemson junior safety DeAndre McDaniel said Monday he thought the injury would hinder Ponder’s mobility.

TV NOT SET FOR N.C. STATE-CLEMSON

Monday, the ACC was expected to announce a game time for Clemson’s Nov. 14 visit to N.C. State. Instead, the league announced a “six day hold” on the game, meaning kickoff time will be set Sunday afternoon. Clemson-N.C. State is one of four games vying for slots on Raycom and ABC/ESPN; the others are Georgia Tech at Duke, Florida State at Wake Forest and Miami at North Carolina.