Clemson WR Bryant Wesco details first career TD, historic night

Bryant Wesco shined in his Death Valley debut.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Sunday, September 08 2024

CLEMSON - The 80,000 fans in attendance anxiously awaited for results on Clemson’s first drive.

The crowd's roar echoed throughout the field, with many desperate for signs of life.

Bryant Wesco Jr. raced down the field and provided those in attendance with an emphatic answer. The freshman streaked past every defender in sight and didn’t look back for a score.

After his first appearance against Georgia was limited, the Tigers didn’t wait long to get him involved. Nobody had to be patient for a solution.

As Wesco glided down the field, he couldn’t hear a thing. All he was focused on was making a play.

“It was just a great atmosphere,” Wesco said. “We just called a play to take a shot downfield. Just ran a route, and Cade just made a great throw to me, so I just did my job and caught it and just kept running, and it was deafening whenever I caught that ball and ran. Couldn't hear anything. Not even my thoughts, really. The fans were crazy. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life since I came to college. Ever since I started playing football, that was probably the most memorable experience I've ever had.”

Wesco is only two games into his Clemson career, but he’s already making some plays that will be tough to forget.

The freshman finished with three catches for 130 yards and one touchdown. He joined Sammy Watkins and Justyn Ross as the only Clemson receivers to have their first receptions as touchdowns in home debuts.

It is safe to say Wesco is already in solid company.

The opening matchup against Georgia coincided with plenty of frustration due to the lack of plays, and the rotation that came with it.

Wesco said that this week was defined by washing away any disappointment from the result against the Bulldogs and moving past it quickly.

“We just had windshield mentality,” Wesco said. “We just looked forward to the next week. We know that last week was a bad, not necessarily a great game, but we knew that we should just take the lessons that we learned from that week and focus on for this week, and we know that if we played Clemson football, there could be the one that could stop us.”

Heading into the bye week, the Tigers will prepare for the start of conference play. Starting with rival North Carolina State, confidence needs to be high.

Wesco knows it and believes Saturday’s performance shows why Clemson needs to be considered one of the best in the country.

“I say it gives a big confidence boost knowing that we're good enough to be one of the best teams in the nation,” Wesco said. “Knowing if we focus on the details and focus on our task, make sure that we are no busted plays, none of that. We would be the best team in the league.”

Two weeks in and the Tigers now welcome the bye week.

After a performance such as that, Wesco will continue to ride that confidence.

Tonight showed him more of what he already knew. With ACC play on the horizon, the young wideout will have plenty more opportunities to create memorable moments.