Clemson football: True freshmen have been key for Tigers’ continued push for College Football Playoff hopes

Many freshmen players have stepped up for an injury-plagued Clemson team that is still in the conversation for the ACC championship.

As the 2024 college football season winds down, the College Football Playoff race is as wide as ever in the inaugural season with the 12-team playoff format.

There isn’t a clear-cut champion in any of the Power 4 conferences, while multiple could have significant changes that could arise over the next few weeks, especially with conference championship games coming up.

One of the bigger races of the group comes in the ACC, where it’s turned into a three-team race between the Miami Hurricanes, SMU Mustangs and Clemson Tigers.

Miami, seen as the perceived favorite of the group, took a hit last weekend when they lost 28-23 to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, dropping to 9-1 and 5-1 in the conference.

SMU has been the biggest surprise in the conference, as they’ve gone undefeated in the ACC this year, while starting out 8-1, with Virginia, Boston College, and California on their schedule to round out the year.

Then, there’s Clemson, who stands at 7-2 with losses to the Georgia Bulldogs and Louisville Cardinals, while going 6-1 in conference play thus far.

The Tigers are seen as the underdogs to win the ACC, as they’ll need help to make the championship game, where it’ll be an uphill battle to actually win the contest and crack the College Football Playoffs this year.

However, as the season is winding down, they’ve started to get some major contributions from unexpected sources that could help them make that final push into the Top 12.

Three-star freshman Ashton Hampton was inserted into last weekend’s 24-14 win over Virginia Tech, filling in for injured starting cornerback Jeadyn Lukus and playing a season-high 41 defensive snaps.

At first, Hampton faced some adversity, giving up a major catch, but the true freshman rebounded with a crazy one-handed interception that ended up being a major turning point in the game, as Virginia Tech was driving with a chance to tie the game. From there on, the Tigers held a two-score lead, ultimately winning 24-14.

“When you play corner, you have to have some amnesia, man,” head coach Dabo Swinney said after the game about his young cornerback. “That’s a hard position to play. He had awesome coverage. You can’t cover it no better, that was just a great play. I said, ‘Hey man, that was great coverage, just go to the next play.’”

Hampton wasn’t the only true freshman who played a significant role, as five-star linebacker Sammy Brown was called upon to contribute, with Clemson using a trio of linebackers more on Saturday.

He played alongside starters Barrett Carter and Wade Woodaz, registering a team-high eight tackles in 31 snaps, while also getting five stops, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and two pressures in nine pass-rushing snaps.

His play was instrumental in holding Virginia Tech to just 40 rushing yards on 21 attempts, which was key in the victory as Clemson’s offense wasn’t operating at its usual level.

The true freshmen contributors didn’t end there, as four-star Elyjah Thurmon was thrust into the game due to an injury to starting left tackle Tristan Leigh, allowing just two pressures on 40 pass-rushing snaps against one of the toughest defensive fronts in the country, led by Antwuan Powell-Ryland.

Overall, there were much-needed performances by all three true freshmen, helping Clemson secure another victory and keeping them in the race for a College Football Playoff spot.

While the contributions came due to injury, all three players could end up being key pieces for the Tigers to end the season as they look to make a push, showing some of the success that Clemson has started to see with their freshman class already.

They’ll get their next chance to contribute this weekend when Clemson faces Pitt on the road on Saturday, with every game being a must-win at this point.