Clemson freshmen answer the bell in a big way in win over Hokies

Sammy Brown was a big playmaker in his first start. (Photo: Brian Bishop / USATODAY)

David Hood - Senior Writer - Sunday, November 10 2024

BLACKSBURG, Virginia – Dabo Swinney had no idea how prophetic his words would be.

Clemson’s head coach stood on the field before the Tigers’ game at Virginia Tech Saturday talking to Athletic Director Graham Neff and pointed to freshman offensive lineman Elyjah Thurmon. Swinney told Neff that Thurmon was going to play a lot of football for the Tigers.

What none of them knew was that it was going to be that night.

Thurmon entered the game in the first quarter in relief of starting left tackle Tristan Leigh, who went out with an ankle injury, and acquitted himself well while earning his most significant playing time of the season. Thurmon was one of three true freshmen who entered the fray and played well – linebacker Sammy Brown started his first career game and led the Tigers in tackles with eight, including a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss, and cornerback Ashton Hampton relieved the injured Jeadyn Lukus and his interception stopped a Virginia Tech scoring drive.

“We had about seven starters out tonight. No, Peter Woods, no (DeMonte) Capehart. We lose Tristan Leigh right out of the gate,” Swinney said. “No Shelton Lewis. You have Harris Sewell starting. How about Elyjah Thurmon? He's starting on punt team. He steps up and starts on field goal and then he's got to go play about every play at left tackle against, oh, by the way, the second-best sack guy in the nation. And I can't say enough about Elyjah, Ashton Hampton with a huge play in the game with a big turnover.”

Swinney said he mentioned Thurmon during pregame warm-ups.

“He's one of the smartest kids. He's a five position player. He played some center in high school, too, but he's a kid that I really believe he'll play five positions for us in his career,” Swinney said. “Just a great athlete, and I'm happy for him. I really am. In fact, it is interesting, I was talking to my AD and one of the board members, we were out on the field and Elyjah was right by us warming up and I was talking to Bill Smith and I said, I was just standing there.

“I said, ‘Hey, you see this freshman right here? He's going to be some kind of great player. I didn't know it was going to be tonight, but just kind of foreshadowing of what was saw. So I'm really happy for Elyjah. He's worked really hard and that's a great example to other players. You never know when your time's coming. Can't overstate how hard that is for a true freshman to go out in that environment and perform the way he did.”