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Kenny Fey

Clemson’s Malliciah Goodman (97) and DeAndre McDaniel combine for a tackle during the Tigers’ win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

CLEMSON — With the rare exception, the injury bug has largely spared the Clemson football team this season.

But when it finally decided to bite the Tigers on Saturday, as defensive end Da’Quan Bowers fell to the turf with a sprained MCL and PCL against Coastal Carolina, it couldn’t have come at a better position.

That’s not to say there’s ever a good position to endure an injury, but the Tigers (5-3, 3-2 ACC) claim a particularly talent-rich stable of defensive ends, as they have allowed several players to log significant snaps this season, and not just in mop-up duty.

In place of the injured Bowers, true freshman Malliciah Goodman is slated to make his first career start, thus becoming the first member of the Tigers’ 2009 recruiting class to earn that honor, when Florida State (4-4, 2-3 ACC) comes calling to Memorial Stadium in a primetime game that is set to kick off at 7:45 p.m. and be televised by ESPN.

And with the snaps he has logged this season, his first with the Tigers after enrolling in the spring following a senior season at West Florence High School that saw him named the No. 1 player in the state by Rivals.com, Goodman feels comfortable heading into Saturday night.

“Coach (Swinney) always says prepare yourself as a starter because you never know when something might happen, so they’ve done a pretty good job preparing me,” Goodman said. “We’re just keeping fresh guys in there all the time so everybody’s pretty much prepared.”

Playing 175 snaps this season, with 20 tackles, five tackles for loss and a pair of sacks, Goodman is no stranger to the field. Comparatively, Bowers has logged 307 snaps during the course of the season while starting every game.

And with his experience this season, Goodman said earning the start against the Seminoles actually isn’t important to him.

“If I start, I start. If I don’t, I don’t,” Goodman said. “I know I’ll play, but starting the first play really isn’t that big. It’s just (about) being in and helping the team out and getting a win.”

Andre Branch, who has six tackles for loss in 171 snaps, will also factor in heavily against the Seminoles, as he’ll see the field plenty backing up Goodman and bandit end Ricky Sapp.

Kevin Alexander, who has four starts at strongside linebacker this season, will also line up at end when the Tigers show their nickel package, giving Clemson defensive coordinator Kevin Steele a wealth of experienced options against Florida State.

“We’re so diverse in there if you watch any of the games, sometimes I don’t even know who’s out there,” Steele said. “We roll those guys up front and we feel we’ve got a pretty good group of guys.”

As far as the outlook for Bowers, Swinney said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday that the sophomore standout is in good spirits and is progressing well with his injury.

But until he returns, Swinney echoed Steele’s sentiments, saying the Tigers are good to go up front.

“I think we’ll be fine there. It’s the next man up, do your job, let’s get in there and get it done,” Swinney said. “We’ve got good players there, and I hate Da’Quan can’t play because you want all the good players you can have at your disposal, but I’ve very confident in those guys getting their job done.”