Eric Mac Lain almost got arrested the last time he was in Bank of America Stadium for a Clemson game.

In 2011, he drove to Charlotte with Ryan Norton, Spencer Region and their roommate, Conner Moon, to watch Clemson beat Virginia Tech 38-10 in the ACC Championship.

They were counting down their final days as redshirts, so the group didn’t travel with the team. Each player was allotted a pair of end zone tickets, which were about five rows back from the field.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, they wanted to join their teammates who were already celebrating a trip to the Orange Bowl.

“We actually jumped out of the stadium onto the field and almost got arrested. Thank goodness the coaches were like, they’re players, they’re players, so we got to go up with the team,” Mac Lain said.

He managed to get his hands on a hat and an orange while seniors like Andre Branch and Coty Sensabaugh were on stage with Dabo Swinney receiving the league trophy.

To the folks Mac Lain and his teammates were sitting beside in the stands, they were just regular dudes watching the game.

“It was cold, I remember that, so we were in big jackets,” Mac Lain said. “Nobody knew that we were players. I remember we were right in the end zone, maybe five rows up, so it was pretty good seats. Nobody knew that we were players. We were redshirts, so no one cared.”

Mac Lain didn’t care about going unnoticed. He was more concerned with what was playing out on the field.

“I remember Dwayne Allen walking in the end zone, we had that big wheel-route,” he said. “It was just electric. Clemson really came, traveled well.

“That’s what we fully expect this week. We’re expecting it to be a sea of orange out there.”

Mac Lain added, “Shout-out to (Moon). Conner Moon has been there with us, through it all. He’ll be there again Saturday, so we’re pretty excited.”