There have been moments in both stadium scrimmages thus far when freshmen wide receivers Frank Ladson and Joseph Ngata have been in awe of Death Valley.

Though the stadium was pretty much empty in both situations, just playing in one of college football’s more historical venues can be a little too much for a kid who four months ago was in high school.

So, imagine what Ladson and Ngata, and the other 15 early enrollees will feel like this coming Saturday when 50,000 plus fans attend Clemson’s Annual Orange & White Spring Game in Clemson next week.

“How are they going to respond in that environment,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney asked.

Though it is just an exhibition game, a glorified scrimmage, it’s the first time the true freshmen will get an opportunity to experience what it is like playing in front of a large crowd.

“It is a big deal for a lot of those guys, for them to go out there and breath a little bit,” Swinney said. “it just gives you a great chance to coach them and for them to grow from that experience and be more prepared for August when it gets here on that Thursday night because a lot of those guys are going to have to play, so I think it is a big thing.”

It’s also another opportunity for guys to compete one last time and to show off in front of the coaches before the team breaks for the summer.

“How are they are going to compete because now the team is different,” Swinney said. “It is a different deal. Some guys get more reps than maybe what they would get in a normal practice. So how are they going to take advantage of that?

“We just treat it as a game and see who can (do what) at that point and then we evaluate from there.”

Swinney says the coaching staff will evaluate the entire spring, the scrimmages and the spring game. They all go into their evaluation of each player.

“Put a good plan together and challenge each one of these guys to go and improve this summer,” he said.