By Kaila Burns-Heffner.

The South Carolina State blowout gave many opportunities to Clemson’s backup players to record some playing time, but for sophomore center Jay Guillermo, the opportunity was far greater than that.

On Saturday, Guillermo got to run down the Hill in Death Valley as a starter for the first time in his career at Clemson. Ryan Norton had gotten sick in the week leading up to the game, allowing Guillermo to take more reps with the first and second team. Coach Caldwell then told him that he would get the start at center.

“Ryan, he had gotten a little bit sick so I was taking the first and second team reps,” Guillermo said. “In the middle of practice it started getting pretty tough, and Coach (Dabo) Swinney kind of pulled me to the side and was like don’t worry, just keep grinding, it’s going to pay off, and I got the start.”

Getting to start in Death Valley was a great experience for Guillermo, as he got to enter the stadium of 85,000 people, knowing that he would be the main man at center.

“Yeah, definitely a little bit of a different feeling, especially being in Death Valley for my first start, it was amazing,” He said. “I’m always focused, ready go in, but whenever you know I’m the man, I’m about to step in, it’s a little bit different feeling.”

Guillermo not only started at center, but also got reps playing at right guard as well. He mentioned that the coaches were pleased with his performance and that he graded out well in both positions.

“I played well. I graded out pretty well, very high actually, and I was very happy with that with it being my first start,“ Guillermo said.

Going into the Florida State game on Sept. 20, Guillermo aims to stay focused and work on the little things, in order to have a chance against the number one team in the nation on its home field.

“I think we might want to focus a little bit on getting our technique back,” he said. “You get so into the hype of, you know, going out and playing that sometimes you may forget to focus on the small things. I know at least for me personally, that’s one thing that I really want to go for the next couple of days.”

Clemson knows it has a tough game coming up on the road, and the team’s ability to focus on executing and finishing plays will play a major role in the outcome of the Florida State game, as well as the remainder of the season.

“We just really have got to focus. We’ve got to focus on finishing. We’ve just got to focus on having better technique, we’ve got to focus on everything,” he said. “That’s an everyday thing no matter who we play.”