The Troy Trojans head to Death Valley to take on the second ranked Clemson Tigers on Saturday morning.

“They are a big step up in competition,” said Troy head coach Neal Brown. “Coach (Dabo) Swinney and his staff have done a great job recruiting. When you look at them across the board, their big, strong and fast. They are exactly what you would expect from the number two team in the country.”

The Trojan defense, which held Austin Peay to 17 points on 254 yards last week, will have its hands full with Heisman front runner Deshaun Watson. He threw for 248 yards last week against Auburn.

“I have been watching him play since he was in high school,” Brown said. “He is a run, pass threat, and he is probably as good of a kid as he is a player.”

The Trojans will have to contend with running back Wayne Gallman and All-ACC receiver Mike Williams who hauled in 174 yards against the Tigers.

Offensively, Troy is looking to capitalize on big plays. Last week the team garnered 706 yards total offense, the third most in program history, and scored four touchdowns on plays of 40 yards or more.

“It was really exciting,” said Troy offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield, adding that some of the players had shown glimpses of their big-play capabilities at previous practices. “If you were at practice, you have seen it,” he said.

Facing Clemson, Edenfield said the focus will remain on doing what Troy does best.

“You just try and do the things that you are good at,” Edenfield said. “You don’t try to change anything. If you do, it’s just going to make things worse … (We will) to minimize how much we put in and maybe disguise a little bit, but we’re trying to get the guys that are playmakers in space and hopefully they can make a play.”

One player they hope to get involved is quarterback Brandon Silvers. “This is a great opportunity,” Silvers said. “There aren’t many opportunities when you can play one of the best teams in the country. I am excited to see what our guys can do.”

Silvers threw for 229 and two touchdowns last week, but he knows that the Tigers offer a bigger challenge. “They are definitely going to be a lot bigger and a lot more athletic,” Silvers said. “They are the number two team for a reason. We have our work cut out for us this week.”

With two games remaining until the start of conference play the Trojans are still trying to figure out exactly what kind of team they have in 2016. Playing teams like Austin Peay and even Clemson gives them an opportunity to get guys in the game.

“We are going to play a lot of guys,” Brown said. “When you play a lot of people, especially young guys, you’re going to find out early what they are about. We had some guys that stepped up and performed under the lights and then we had some guys that didn’t show up. We still need to filter through some of those things going into week two.”

The Trojans kick things off with the Tigers at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.