Clemson explains how random Tigers fan appeared on Louisville bench
Lost in the shuffle of another wild weekend on the field was a strange incident at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium when the Tigers were hosting Louisville.
At some point during the third quarter, a random man in a Clemson t-shirt with a sideline credential was sitting on Louisville’s bench in the middle of Cardinals’ defensive huddle. The man was quickly removed after being discovered by Louisville staff members. Monday, the Clemson athletic department had offered an explanation for the incident.
The statement, issued to the Courier-Journal, said the man, a Clemson fan, somehow acquired a credential meant for a group that was allowed to be on the field at halftime.
"The individual had an authorized credential issued for a group allowed on the field for halftime," the statement said. "He is not a member of that group, and action will be taken against those individuals who were authorized to distribute the credentials. As an athletic department, the security of our fans and visitors are of the utmost importance, and we will continue to evaluate and reinforce visiting team bench security in future games."
If you missed it, here’s the video of the incident via The Crunch Zone, a Louisville fan site.
Louisville safety James Sample was in the defensive huddle when a teammate noticed the man, who didn’t really seem to cause anything other than a bit of confusion for the Cardinals sideline.
“I didn’t notice him until one of our linebackers said something,” Sample said. “I was like, ‘Dang.’ I didn’t know what he was doing.”
As far as the game goes, Clemson won 23-17.
For more Louisville news, visit CardinalSports.com. For more Clemson news, visit TigerIllustrated.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
