Though it was a small sample size, Clemson’s final touchdown drive in Saturday’s 28-14 win over Wake Forest gave Clemson fans a small glimpse into what the future might be like in the years to come.

With the ball resting at the Demon Deacons’ 37-yard line, freshman quarterback Hunter Johnson dropped back and threw a screen pass to freshman wide receiver Tee Higgins, who broke one tackle and turned it into a 9-yard gain.

On the very next play, this time from the 28, Johnson went right back to Higgins for a 10-yard pick up and a first down at the Wake 18. Johnson then found redshirt freshman T.J. Chase for a five-yard gain, and on the fourth play he hit a wide open Cannon Smith for a 13-yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead with 11:48 to play in the game.

Johnson, in his first real significant playing time of the season, finished the afternoon 5-for-5 for 42 yards.

“There you go! You can’t beat that … hundred percent and a touchdown,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I thought he did nice job and looked very poised out there. It is just good to see him go in and play.”

Johnson was just one of several young players who did the most with opportunities on Saturday. Fellow true freshman Travis Etienne led the Tigers on the ground, once again, rushing for 67 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.

Higgins, also a true freshman, caught three passes for 39 yards including a 20-yard strike from Kelly Bryant on a third down-and-nine play in the first quarter.

“It tells guys that we have depth,” Higgins said. “It is fun going out there in the third and fourth quarter doing what some of the older guys can do and learning from them.”

It also gives Higgins confidence, especially when he is called on so early in the game like he was on Saturday.

“The first couple of games I was nervous,” he said. “Every time I catch a ball, my confidence goes up. Coach (Jeff) Scott tells me to keep working hard in practice and one day it will pay off for us.”

Fellow freshman receiver Amari Rodgers had two catches for 11 yards. One of his passes came from Johnson for a five-yard gain.

Redshirt freshman Zerrick Cooper also played after Bryant went out with his ankle injury in the third quarter with the Tigers’ up 21-0. Cooper was not as sharp as Johnson, completing just 2-of-6 passes for 16 yards.

But statistics are not the only thing the coaches will look at when evaluating the two freshmen quarterbacks, though Cooper did underthrow a pass to Deon Cain that would have been a touchdown.

“Are their eyes on the right things? Are they making good decisions? Those are things that are important when you have a young guy that has not played a whole lot,” Swinney said. “That is where it starts. I thought Hunter came in and did a great job. The game was still kind of in the balance. We had a lot of ball left to play. It was great experience for both of those guys.

“I have full confidence in them for some reason if Kelly can’t play. We can go win with those guys.”