CLEMSON — The Clemson Tigers may have a decision on their hands for their defensive line, and they could be forced into the decision. Coming into the season, Justin Mascoll earned the starting job at defensive end across from Xavier Thomas.

While there was a ton of positivity around his improvement, which he delivered on against Charleston Southern, freshman T.J. Parker is moving the needle for the Tigers. Against the Buccaneers, he was a key part of a defense that allowed just 0.4 yards per carry and terrorized the backfield throughout. This was a statement week after the loss at Duke, and Parker made that very clear postgame.

“Today, it was just letting people know that we’re not going nowhere,” Parker said. “This defense is going to be one of the best in the country and just let everybody know. Put it on notice.”

The statement was obvious, albeit against an FCS opponent, but numbers are numbers. On top of the team’s dominance, Parker was the leading tackler with four and made three stops for a loss in Death Valley.

This was Parker’s first experience in front of the Clemson faithful, and he delivered a performance worthy of an encore Saturday. Coming off the dejection in Durham, he wasn’t fazed and enjoyed every second with the home crowd.

“It exceeded my expectations,” Parker said. “I knew that the crowd would be amazing, it was going to be good, our energy would be great. We came out and did what we had to do. Our first quarter, it started kind of rough, but it’s okay. We came up, we picked up our energy and just kept playing and we dominated and executed towards the end.”

Regardless of the question, Parker was all about the team, and it mirrors what he said during the week. That said, he’s earned that right to be considered as a starting defensive end for Wes Goodwin, and it would be shocking to not see him take more snaps moving forward.