CLEMSON — Suddenly, expectations for Tristan Smith have been raised.

The transfer wideout was one of the stars of the annual Orange & White Spring Game on Saturday, reeling in five catches for 137 yards and one touchdown.

With Smith spending his first two seasons playing at the JUCO level and last season at FBS Southeast Missouri State, Saturday afforded the senior receiver an opportunity to play in front of the type of crowd not usually seen at the lower levels of college football.

While Smith understandably started the scrimmage with some butterflies, it didn’t take long for him to fully settle in.

“It was really awesome,” Smith said. “Coach Swinney said to treat every practice like the LSU game, treat every scrimmage like it’s the LSU game. We’ve had two scrimmages here and it just felt the same. You just add fans and that’s really the difference. When I get to tuning out the fans and focusing on just making that play, making that block, it really calms me.”

Smith hauled in his first catch less than halfway through the first quarter, a 30-yarder from Chris Vizzina, and any nerves he was still feeling at the time immediately dissipated in that moment.

“When I made that first catch,” Smith said. “Usually when you make that first catch, you get tackled and you get the butterflies out. I was really nervous. Running down the hill for the first time. But after that first catch, it was like ‘I got to go. Go make plays.'”

While Saturday’s scrimmage marked the end of spring practice, head coach Dabo Swinney believes playing in that kind of environment can only help prepare Smith for what lies ahead when LSU visits Death Valley in what will undoubtedly be a sold-out crowd to open the season on August 30. And that’s a big reason why Swinney was not one of the many head coaches that chose to cancel spring games.

“His confidence will grow,” Swinney said. “Again, if we don’t have the opportunity to create that, he’s going into that (LSU) game with nothing. He’s never played in front of probably a crowd like that. It’s a big deal.”

In fact, Swinney revealed after the game that the staff made it a point to get Smith involved early and it was a decision that paid off. While he didn’t notch his second reception until the third quarter, a 27-yarder from Trent Pearman, it was obvious that Smith was playing with a lot of confidence.

He displayed that on his final catch of the afternoon, a beautifully thrown ball by Pearman, that Smith took 72 yards to the house. It’s that big-play ability that Swinney was looking to add to the roster when he nabbed Smith out of the portal.

“We kind of forced some things that way because we need him,” Swinney added. “Tristan was the guy that we needed to kind of get him going. He is the new guy, and there’s been a lot of pressure on him. For him to go out and do what he did today, that will really boost his confidence.”