It did not take Mitch Hyatt long to gain the respect of his Clemson teammates. On the second day of fall camp, the true freshman got into a scuffle with the biggest and the best defensive end on the team.

“I try to push him and get in his head a little bit,” Shaq Lawson said. “I like to see how he is going to react.”

For the most part, Lawson describes Hyatt has a calm person, but there comes a time when he also has to stand up for himself and prove that he isn’t going to be pushed around, even by a guy who is projected to be a First-Team All-ACC defensive end.

Lawson and Hyatt have gotten into it a couple of times while he has also gotten in a fight or two with Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell.

“I like to see that. He has some toughness for a young buck,” Lawson said. “He has to be ready at any time. You have to be a dog to be in the trenches with us. I like that.”

But being tough isn’t the only thing Lawson like’s about Hyatt. He also likes the way the young offensive tackle challenges him and makes him better each day.

“I talk a lot and he responds to it well. Sometimes he beats me and I beat him. We go back and forth with it,” Lawson said. “We are just making each other better every day.”

Senior left guard Eric Mac Lain is amazed with how well schooled Hyatt is. Rated as the No. 2 best tackle in the country coming out of high school, Hyatt picks up everything with ease and is able to adjust quickly to what Lawson or anyone else is trying to throw at him.

“The kid is just so smart, and everyday he gets just a little bit smarter,” Mac Lain said. “That is all we ask of him, a little one percent each day. This kid is going to break all kinds of records, I bet. He is a great player to be beside.”

Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott likes the way his 6-foot-6, 285-pound freshman carries himself, and how he is never satisfied.

“The big thing with Mitch is confidence. He is a very conscientious young man. He wants to do everything right. He is probably his biggest critic. He is very hard on himself,” Elliott said. “He is just working on his punch, his speed off the line.”

And he is also working with Lawson.

“Let me tell you something, he is not going to face a better (defensive end) than Shaq Lawson in any game that we play,” Elliott said. “He is getting sharpened every day on that practice field and that is good for him.”

It’s also good for Lawson.

“He doesn’t look like a freshman. He is a grown man. He has mature man,” the junior said. “He has grown a lot since the spring and has gotten a lot stronger. He is fast, too.

“He is a great pass protector. He does well run blocking. He just has to get better every day. He is going to be a great player at Clemson.”