Will Shipley injury update: Clemson HC provides latest on star RB's availability for CFB Week 10

Clemson is not having a good season, and during Week 9 action, running back Will Shipley had a scary injury that had Tigers fans crossing their fingers for one of their most important players.

On Oct. 28, Will Shipley was knocked out in the second quarter of the disappointing 24-17 loss to NC State and lay stunned on the ground for a few moments.

Although he managed to leave the gridiron without assistance, he was ruled out of the rest of the game after being examined on the sidelines.

The Tigers are already 4-4 in a disappointing season, and losing one of their top performers will not be good news to struggling coach Dabo Swinney.

Swinney gave an update on his running back after the game.

“Yeah, I think they did some X-rays on his neck and stuff,” Swinney said. “But I haven’t gotten any results. I was just told he was definitely out of the game.

“They were worried about his neck scans, but all of that came back positive. We’ll just have to see where he is. ... We’re just happy that everything checked out with his neck.”

Ahead of Saturday's contest pitting the Clemson Tigers (4-4, 2-4 ACC) against the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2, No. 15 CFP), Shipley was placed in a concussion protocol while the team waits for more news.

So, will the running back be available for the crucial home game against Notre Dame?

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Will Shipley's injury update

During his weekly news conference, Dabo Swinney revealed Will Shipley's injury status for the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

“He has made some good progress…definitely still day-to-day,” Swinney said Wednesday night. “Medical people gotta say he’s good to go…they have protocols in place and metrics, and they’ve got all kinds of stuff that you have to go through to be cleared back to play, so that’s where he is.”

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Who will replace Will Shipley?

Before he left the game in the second quarter, Will Shipley had 21 yards on six carries. This season, on 112 carries, Shipley has 515 yards, resulting in three touchdowns, the most of any Clemson player.

Phil Mafah replaced Shipley and had a fantastic game with 84 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. He is just behind Shipley this season with 439 yards and six touchdowns.

The Clemson Tigers fans will hope to have Shipley available for the matchup against Notre Dame, but if not, Mafah has shown that he can step into the role and do a stellar job. The game starts at noon ET and will be shown live on ABC.