CLEMSON — After a year of redshirting, Clemson’s talented young tight end is off to a hot start.

Christian Bentancur had a career performance against North Carolina last week, scoring his first-ever touchdown and adding a second score to his season total with only two catches needed. On the season, he has made six catches for 91 yards and two TDs, with most of those stats coming from his explosive game in Chapel Hill, N.C.

“As a kid, you grow up and you’re watching all of these highlights, and I’m like, ‘that’s something I want to do one day,” Bentancur said. “It’s a dream, so to finally get in the end zone and do that little jump at the end was just my excitement coming out.”

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound tight end had one catch last season in his redshirt campaign, where he faced tighter competition with fellow tight end Jake Briningstool in the position room. With a wider range of usage for the tight ends in 2025, Bentacur has made the most of his growing opportunities.

“Any time I touch the ball, I’m hoping to score,” Bentancur said. “I think that’s the mindset I have going in. We had a couple of play designs that we practiced, and we had a good game plan.”

After a rough start to the season for the entire team, especially with the Tigers’ offense, the Tigers seem to be back on track to playing like they want to. Big gains through the air and attacking a struggling defense were targets for Clemson, and Bentacur helped make things happen in their first ACC victory of the season.

“It’s funny because, growing up, I obviously watched [Rob] Gronkowski a lot, and now I’m going up against Bill Belichick in North Carolina,” Bentancur said. “It was funny to see everyone saying that he has seen a lot of touchdowns from number 87, but this time, it was from the other side of the field.”

Bentacur and the Clemson offense will look to stay hot when they travel to face off against Boston College on Saturday (7:30 p.m./ACCN) at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.