Clemson Tigers Boss Reveals Why Star Freshman Missed Wake Forest Game

The Clemson Tigers didn’t have much issue without him in their 35-point win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Oct 5, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Clemson Tigers wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. (12) runs the ball against the Florida State Seminoles during the second half at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers pounded away at Wake Forest on Saturday without one of their top weapons on offense.

In fact, no one knew that star freshman wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. wouldn’t play in the 49-14 win until he didn’t show up for pre-game warmups about an hour before the contest.

As media that covers Clemson doesn’t get to watch practice during the week, the fact that Wesco didn’t play — or even make the trip to Winston-Salem, N.C. for the game — was surprising.

After the game, coach Dabo Swinney revealed why.

Wesco, in Swinney’s words “rolled” his ankle during the Florida State victory and was “pretty sore” afterward in post-game comments gathered by local media.

“Hopefully we get him back next week,” Swinney said, while indicating that Wesco will be day-to-day. Clemson returns home to face Virginia in a Saturday afternoon game at Memorial Stadium which will be on the ACC Network.

Without him, the Clemson passing game had little problem once it got going after a sluggish first quarter. Quarterback Cade Klubnic threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns and wide receiver Antonio Williams also threw a touchdown pass on a trick play.

Tight end Jake Briningstool led with seven receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown. Troy Stellato and Williams had six receptions each.

Ten different Tigers caught at least one pass on Saturday and the offense racked up 566 total yards. It was the second straight game the Tigers had more than 500 total yards of offense.

Clemson (5-1, 4-0 in ACC) pushed its win streak to five games and ensured that Swinney still hasn’t lost a game to the Demon Deacons (2-4, 1-3) since he took over the program.

Wesco, out of Midlothian, Texas, has caught 11 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Wesco joined the Tigers after he was considered a consensus Top 35 player by all major recruiting services. The five-star player was ranked as high as No. 15 by PrepStar. He played in both the Under Armour All-America Game and the Polynesian Bowl before arriving at Clemson for fall workouts.

With Midlothian, he had 109 career receptions for 1,903 yards, a 17.5-yard average per catch, and 29 touchdowns. In just seven games as a senior, he had 36 catches for 619 yards and 13 touchdowns. That was after a junior season in which he had 56 catches for 1,072 yards and 12 touchdowns.

He also competed in track, finishing fifth in the triple jump at the Texas 5A state meet in spring of 2023.