Clemson football: Plenty of reasons to be excited about Citadel

Clemson football will take on in-state FCS Citadel Saturday afternoon in Death Valley.

Yes, by all accounts this should be a cakewalk for Clemson football. Ideally, starters will be done at halftime or maybe after a third-quarter drive. This should be one of those games when everyone who dresses should get an opportunity to play at least a snap.

However, this is still a game that Clemson has to show up for. Citadel has a history of not running from FBS opponents and has pulled several upsets over the years, including one last year over Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

The Bulldogs are led by graduate quarterback Brandon Rainey. While he isn’t going to throw the ball all over the field, he runs the triple option about as well as any quarterback in that offense can. He is an FCS All-American and champion. Matter of fact, he helped lead his high school to an undefeated season and a state title in Georgia several years ago.

If all goes well, we should get a heavy dose of the 2020 Clemson football freshman class on Saturday.

Clemson football fans across the country got a little taste of freshman QB DJ Uiagalelei against Wake Forest. He only attempted three passes during on Saturday night, so Tiger fans are hoping to see him attempt a few more when he takes the field this weekend.

With no expectations of starting games in 2020, Uiagalelei has a great opportunity in front of him. He can learn what it takes to lead the premier college football program in the country from the nation’s best player while using his abilities to prepare the defense for players they will see coming up over the next 12 weeks.

We have talked a lot about freshman defensive linemen Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy but haven’t said anything about redshirt freshman linebacker LaVonta Bentley.

While Bentley is listed as the third-string weak side linebacker, he played very well last weekend against Wake Forest and at no point looked like the moment was too big for him, which we have seen from defenders in Brent Venables defense over the last seven seasons.

In 2019 as a redshirt freshman, Bentley appeared in four games – Georgia Tech, Wofford, Wake Forest, and Charlotte and registered 10 total tackles. Against Wake Forest, on Saturday he logged four tackles and his first sack – which helped knock Demon Deacons QB Sam Hartman out of the game.

While the matchup against Citadel isn’t one that most people get excited over, they should. It will be another chance to watch Clemson football take the field during the season that a game next week or next month isn’t guaranteed.