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Rex Brown

Clemson's Chris Clemons works to bring down North Carolina State's Russell Wilson (16) last Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.

CLEMSON — David Dunham laid it all out there. He saw his opportunity and he took it.

Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, on the other hand, nearly lost his head. All he saw was an orange blur come out of nowhere, plowing him over, while his helmet went flying off in front of him.

Dunham’s bone-jarring hit on the former BC quarterback was repeated over and over again on SportsCenter and just about every other highlight reel throughout the country the next day, and it is still considered one of the hardest hits in college football over the last 10 years and is still one of the more popular views for Clemson football fans on YouTube.

The only problem with that highlight is it happened three years ago, and there aren’t any more like it, especially through the first three games of this season.

“We play a lot of zone, and Coach (Tommy) Bowden wants to see a lot of big hits,” Clemson safety Michael Hamlin said. “Right now we are not getting big hits. When you watch film you can see a lot of people not bringing in their feet when they tackle and stuff like that. They are doing a lot of arm tackling.”

It appears the Tigers defense will get a boost in their tackling and hitting with the return of defensive end Ricky Sapp to the lineup on a more fulltime basis. The Bamberg native, who missed all of the Citadel game and played sparingly against N.C. State last week after suffering a bruised knee in the Alabama game on Aug. 30, said after Wednesday’s practice that he will indeed start Saturday’s 1 p.m. home game against S.C. State.

“I think I can bring back the big plays we need,” Sapp said. “I think I can make plays with my pass push and it should help the defense.”

Making plays has been few and far between for a defense that is yielding 380 yards a game through the first three weeks of the season.

“We just have to make plays,” Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said. “There is stuff we have to do better and there are no excuses. We just have to find a way to get more three-and-outs so the offense can get the ball back with better field position.”

With Sapp possibly back in the lineup in a more continuous role, it will more than likely take off some of the pressure that has been placed on defensive tackle Dorell Scott and strongside end Da’Quan Bowers. The two have consistently been drawing double teams, a luxury offenses have been able to use considering defensive tackle Rashaad Jackson is still out with an injured knee and his backup, Jamie Cumbie, is out for the year with a broken wrist.

That’s left Scott manning the defensive front with a sophomore in Jarvis Jenkins and a freshman in Brandon Thompson, while trying to protect a linebacking corps that is young and very inexperienced.

“Everyone has to hold their own,” Scott said. “Obviously, our job is to protect them and make sure the guards can’t get to them before we can go make a play, so we have to take care of our responsibilities before we can go make a play, and that’s something you have to sacrifice for the team.”

Scott is starting to see some of that sacrifice out of guys like Jenkins, Thompson and Miguel Chavis, which he feels led to some improvement against N.C. State.

“We have more of a chemistry together now than we did going into that Alabama game,” he said. “I feel like we are only going to get stronger and better from here.

“We are growing together. We are doing things a little bit better. We all know our mistakes and what we need to do to correct them. We are coaching each other up, and that’s going to help us out a little more along the way.”

And maybe it will free up the linebackers a little more to possibly lay a hit or two like Dunham delivered three years ago on Ryan.