Players of the Game: SC State at Clemson

Offense: Deshaun Watson, #4, QB, JR: Despite only playing in the first half, DW4 looked like the DW4 that we expected. Granted, it was against a bad SC State team, but still, it was nice to see him and the offense open up and have fun. Watson tossed 3 touchdowns on 152 yards, allowing Clemson to jump out to an early lead. Nick Shuessler and Kelly Bryant were able to come in early and get some much-needed reps. Hopefully, we’ll see more of this from Watson on Thursday night as the Tigers take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

Defense: Albert Huggins, #67, DT, SO: I’ve been excited about Huggins potential since last year, and he definitely stepped things up this weekend. He posted 4 tackles (2 solo) and had a nice 3 yard sack. As young as our defense is at certain positions, it’s nice to see that we have depth, and in general this Saturday showed that in a lot of positions. Our defense has been the strong point this year, and Saturday a lot of young players that haven’t been making headlines got to step in and show off. Besides Huggins, Trayvon Mullin, Sterling Johnson, and Tanner Muse were some guys that really stepped in and looked good.

Special Teams: Denzel Johnson, #14, S,RFr: Denzel doesn’t really pop out on the stat sheet this week, but he probably had the heads-up play of the game. After Bulldog receiver Ahmaad Harris carelessly tossed the ball to the official on a kickoff (in the endzone, without kneeling or signaling fair catch), Johnson flew down to the ball and was able to get it before Harris could recover. Nice to see our kickoff team exposing someone’s mistake and not the other way around.

Moment of the Game: I’ll have to go with the previously mentioned fumble recovery because it was so bizarre. I have to feel for Ahmaad Harris because he probably wouldn’t be getting quite as much attention this week if it weren’t for this boneheaded mistake. Ray-Ray McCloud needs to send this guy a gift basket to thank him for taking everyone’s mind of his fumbled punt return last week. As I said before, good job on our kickoff team for recognizing that and jumping on it before Harris could get the ball back. Another great moment of the game came during the 4th quarter when Athletic Director Dan Radakovich’s son Grant Radakovich had a nice 8 yard reception and made an impressive hurdle over the SC State defender. Very cool moment to see.