Patiently waiting for his time to shine, Clemson’s Cornell Powell set career highs in catches and yards in each of the last two weeks.
The senior had a career-high 11 catches against Boston College on Oct. 31, and on Nov. 7 he caught six passes for a career-best 161 yards at Notre Dame.
Head coach Dabo Swinney praised Powell’s efforts in the preseason and Powell says it is now coming to light because of the work he has put in.
The wide receiver acknowledged the rest of his offense in his rise the past couple of weeks. Explaining his mindset is to be the best player on the field behind the strength of the offense, and how he gained his confidence.
Powell on the overall mood of the team after the loss
“Whenever you lose, they hurt the same. It is a loss, regardless if you lose by one or by ninety- nine points, not really a big difference. Clearly a lot of guys are disappointed in the loss. We are just ready to come back in here, get back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong, what we can do better and move on to the next week.”
Powell on stepping up the past couple of weeks
“I feel like preparation, consistency. It all starts in practice, practice habits, going out there and just trying to dominate every rep that I get, one play at a time. You succeed on Saturdays by your Monday through Friday. That is when the work is really put in and done so I have just had the mindset to come out and do whatever the team needs me to do on Saturday but it all starts Monday through Friday.”
Powell on being patient and seeing it come to fruition
“It shows you that it is all on God’s timing. He is in control of everything and I put my faith in him and he told me to stick with it, tough it out. Great players are made through adversity and sacrifice. The last four years I have been fighting and competing. It’s not like I haven’t been competing with NFL caliber guys. Those guys aren’t slouches. I knew when my time was called, my number was called, I was going to be ready.”
Powell on his mom being a big ‘why’ for him right now
“Absolutely, first of all I want to make her proud and if I can do that in any way, I want to do it. Having her there by my side, home or away, is just amazing. It shows you how great of a mother she is, willing to go out of her way to make sure I am happy, that I have everything I need. Going out there and making her proud. Trying to make sure I do everything I can to retire her one day is definitely on my mind when I go out there and play.”
Powell on if he’s surprised on how hard D.J. Uiagalelei throws the ball or if he is pretty used to it by now
“When he first got here, it was definitely a switch up. He’s been here since January, so you get used to it. When the ball is coming no matter, who is throwing it, you just have to lock in on it, pretend it is just you and the ball out there and just see it through.”