On Monday night, the Tigers saw their wide receivers in live game action for the first time this season. 

The three receivers that saw the field early were sophomore Beaux Collins, senior Joseph Ngata, and junior E.J. Williams.

Collins left his mark on the game early after reeling in a 22-yard pass on Clemson’s second drive of the game. Later in the first half, Collins caught another pass for 26 yards and capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown catch. 

Collins finished the game with three receptions and led the team in receiving yards with 54. 

He did drop one deep pass from DJ Uiagalelei down the left sideline, but Collins’ week one performance impressed head coach Dabo Swinney. 

“He’s one of the most relentless preparers we have,” Swinney said on Wednesday. “He’s incredibly consciouensess. I mean, he’s a guy that wants to be a pro and he acts like one every day — he trains like one, he thinks like one, he works like one. If he continues to improve, eventually he’ll have the opportunity to be one.”

Another wide receiver that stepped up was true freshman Antonio Williams. 

Lining up in the slot, Williams saw the field on several occasions on Monday and ended up leading the Tigers in receptions with four for 37 yards.

“He’s a great player,” Swinney said of Williams. “He can play the slot. He can play the outside spot too. He can play a couple of spots for us as we go through the year. He’s a really good player. We’ve seen that all of camp.” 

Ngata and E.J. Williams were considered the veterans by their class after they both missed significant time last season.

Although E.J. Williams and Ngata were listed as co-starters on the Tigers’ depth chart, they combined for two catches and 15 yards. 

Overall, the ball was evenly distributed to Clemson’s wide receivers, with seven different receivers having a reception.