I decided to have a little fun and came up with a handful of bold predictions for the Clemson Football Spring Game. My personal opinion is that you shouldn’t hit on too many of your bold predictions. Otherwise, they weren’t really that bold to begin with.
I was in decent form for these predictions. I missed completely on one, came close on a second but ultimately was incorrect, and then nailed the third.
If you want to read about what I got wrong, click here, but I’m going to focus on what I got right: I predicted Bryant Wesco and Sammy Brown would make us fall in love and they totally hooked us.
Tiger Nation is desperate for Clemson’s offense to return to the strength it was between 2015 and 2020. Part of that will be improvement from the quarterback position, but it takes two to tango. The Tigers will need players to step up at wide receiver as well.
Antonio Williams and Tyler Brown have a lot of potential, but there is also a lot of excitement about incoming freshmen Wesco and TJ Moore. Moore will not arrive until the summer, but Wesco enrolled early and showed his potential on Saturday.
Wesco made an awesome over-the-shoulder touchdown catch on a pass thrown by Trent Pearman. It was the only touchdown reception of the day from either squad. He finished with three receptions for 26 yards (15 of which were after the catch).
Brown didn’t wait to stun the crowd. On the Orange’s first offensive play from scrimmage, Brown managed to sack Cade Klubnik. Brown tallied 8 total tackles Saturday.
The question for Brown was whether he could acclimate to the college game quickly enough to contribute at linebacker, and the early answer was yes.
Wesco and Brown were fun to watch, but they weren’t the only early enrollees to show out on Saturday. Tavoy Feagin made an early case that he could provide functional depth for the cornerbacks this season. He had a big interception that he returned into Orange territory that ultimately put points on the board for the White team.
Nolan Hauser made a case to be the starting placekicker for the Tigers with two made field goals, including one from 48 yards. Noah Dixon has a pass break-up for the White team as well.
We have seen some early enrollees make a splash in the spring game before and then barely see the field the next fall. I don’t think that will be the case for Brown or Wesco, and there might be more contributors from this class in 2024.