CLEMSON – After Clemson’s season-opening loss to Georgia in 2024, Tiger fans were desperate for a win.
One week after the 34-3 rout by the Bulldogs, a dutiful sea of orange and purple-clad fans packed into Memorial Stadium to watch the Tigers take on Appalachian State in their home opener.
After a rocky 2023 season and a crushing loss to start the year, Clemson fans needed a sign, a spark– something to cheer for.
It did not start well.
The Tigers lost the opening coin toss to App State. After the opening kickoff, Clemson’s first play was a completed pass to wide receiver Tyler Brown that resulted in a loss of two yards. Running back Phil Mafah then rushed for one yard to put the Tigers in a third-and-11 situation.
As Clemson fans accepted another empty possession, punter Aidan Swanson warmed up for what would have been his eighth punt in less than two games. The drive looked like it would, again, go nowhere.
Until quarterback Cade Klubnik saw a young wide receiver sprinting down the field. The then junior quarterback hoisted up a long pass to freshman Bryant Wesco Jr., who hauled in second collegiate catch for a 76-yard touchdown.
With competing bursts of relief and ecstasy, Clemson fans erupted as the Tigers turned a meaningless possession into a 7-0 lead, scoring their first touchdown of the season.
“The fans got so loud, it was so loud in that stadium on that play,” Wesco said nearly two years later on Clemson Athletics’ 2 Right Turns Podcast.
“During that play, it kind of scared me, as soon as I caught the ball, the crowd’s roar,” he added.
As Wesco raced into the end zone for the first time in a Clemson jersey, the former five-star recruit embraced the crowd’s pop, extending his arms into a wide arc as he traded fear for acceptance of the moment.
“My arms extended was kind of like telling the fans and everybody that we’re here that we’re rolling and we’re not gonna stop now,” he said.
In the process of the score, tight end Olsen Patt-Henry, who was blocking for the rookie, almost ran him over in a fit of excitement.
“And so if you peep I almost knocked him down from the back,” Patt-Henry said with a laugh.
“It was so crazy though because that play worked out perfectly too,” the rising senior added. “It was exactly how we drew it up.”
After the “perfect play,” Wesco went on to catch two more passes in the 66-20 victory, finishing with a team-high 130 receiving yards in his first start for the Tigers. The Midlothian, Texas, native started in 10 more games, finishing second on the team with 708 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
In a way, his first touchdown did usher in a clean slate for the Tigers, as they finished second in the ACC in total offense and won a conference championship three months after the catch.
As a sophomore, Wesco was on pace to smash his freshman statistics, finishing with 537 receiving yards before suffering a neck injury in a loss to SMU in October that cut his season short.
Now, after a bill of confidence from head coach Dabo Swinney in March saying that Wesco, now a rising junior, looked “amazing,” and an official clearing from his surgeon, Wesco is ready to step back into the spotlight for Clemson’s offense.
“I’m just so happy to be back with the team, you know, going up against the defense,” Wesco said. “It’s just a different level.”
After a 7-6 season in 2025, Tiger fans are in a similar place to where they stood after the first game of the 2024 year– hopeful, cautious, and desperate to roar after a touchdown.
With a new offensive coordinator in Chad Morris and a healthy Wesco back to rejoin the fold of wide receivers, an early touchdown from the veteran might bring an even louder cheer than the 76-yard burst two years ago.
Wesco and the Tigers will get their first chance to make Clemson fans cheer on Sept. 5, when they open their season against LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
This time, however, Wesco will not be scared of the cheers.