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The bye week arrived at the right time for Clemson. After a stunning 1–3 start to the season, the Tigers, once ranked in the top 10 with national title hopes, needed a break to regroup, reset, and reestablish who they are.
“We’re [in] a no wins, no losses type of season now," said sophomore wide receiver Bryant Wesco on Wednesday. "We’re just starting completely over, completely fresh.”
Wesco has been one of the bright spots in Clemson’s rocky start. With senior Antonio Williams missing significant time and only recently returning in the loss to Syracuse, Wesco leads the Tigers in receiving with 24 catches, 389 yards, and five touchdowns.
“Obviously, some frustration in that,” Wesco said of Clemson’s slow start. “But I think we’re in a good spot. We’ve got a lot of good players, and so just going out there and needing to execute. That’s really where I feel, like these past four games we haven’t been doing. We’ve got the players. So, I feel confident in us.”
The Tigers’ slow start has naturally stirred criticism from outside the program.
“You always have people talking in your ear, whether if y’all doing good or doing bad,” he said. “So for me, it’s just been staying off social media. You go on social media probably, [for] one second, you see all this bad stuff about drop balls, Clemson 1-3. My main focus is just on the season now. [I’m] not really worried about what people say about us, good or bad.”
If there’s one person Wesco points to as a model for handling adversity, it’s head coach Dabo Swinney.
“He’s a tough person. That’s all I gotta say. He’s one of the toughest people I know,” Wesco said. “He comes into work every day like we’re undefeated, and it doesn’t matter what we have as a record. He’s just the same person every day. So that’s what I really like about him, and that’s what I’ve been able to see through him.”
Swinney has pointed to missed opportunities as the difference between Clemson’s record and its potential. Wesco has been part of that equation, with a pair of drops in key moments.
One of those came late in the third quarter against Georgia Tech with Clemson clinging to a 14–13 lead. On third-and-4, Cade Klubnik hit Wesco in the hands, but the pass slipped away. Clemson’s offense would get just one more possession the rest of the game, a touchdown drive sandwiched between a Yellow Jackets touchdown and game-winning 55-yard field goal.
“I always get extra work on the jugs,” Wesco said. “It’s just sometimes you get in the game, no matter how much work you do — you’re always trying to do what you think you have to do. Turn up too quick. So, I just got to revert back to what I always do in practice — just looking with my eyes.”
A week later against Syracuse, Wesco dropped another pass late in the first half that might have set up a long field goal attempt for kicker Nolan Hauser.
Again, Wesco said it was about being too eager.
“You know, looking too far ahead,” Wesco said. “As a receiver, you have a presence around you, who’s around you. This guy’s on my outside. As soon as I catch this I’m going to get up [the field]. You’re thinking about as soon as I catch this, not let me catch this. So that’s really what I gotta focus on.”
The bye week gave Clemson and Wesco a chance to reset mentally and physically. Now comes another test: a trip to Chapel Hill to face a 2-2 North Carolina team led by first-year and six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick.
