CLEMSON — One of the biggest questions surrounding the Clemson football team throughout fall camp centered around how the competition at punter would play out.

During pregame warmups, it was redshirt junior Jack Smith who was announced as the starter.

Fellow redshirt juniors Will McCune and Robert Gunn III also battled for the job throughout camp, with head coach Dabo Swinney noting as recently as last Tuesday that the competition could stretch into the season.

“I think we’ve got the answers here, but we’re at a point where, sometimes you’ve just gotta go play,” the head coach said. “Somebody’s gotta run out there first, but then we’ve got to let them play, and then we’ll go from there. That’s what you want. You want competition, and we’ve got good competition, but we need it to turn into good production, and that’s the expectation.”

Smith only has five career punts with an average of 35.8 yards per attempt.

McCune, who began his career at Charleston Southern, worked on the scout team last season. He has yet to attempt a punt at Clemson.

Gunn serves as the Tigers’ kickoff specialist and began his career as a placekicker.

Photo by Bart Boatwright