After being named the Most Valuable Player as a sophomore and Offensive Player of the Year as a junior at Chattahoochee High School in Alpharetta, Georgia, Nelson Faerber enrolled in South Carolina’s Clemson University in 2004. Redshirted as a freshman, Faerber began playing as a wide receiver in 2005, participating in 4 games and 14 snaps that year. In 2006, he played 11 games and 67 snaps, missing only the games against Florida State University and Virginia Tech. That year, in Clemson’s game against Philadelphia’s Temple University, Nelson Faerber recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, a play no other Clemson player had made since 1998. In 2007, he again missed only two games, due to illness; in games he played, Clemson was 9-2. Faerber played 43 snaps during the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks, Clemson’s oldest rival, when an injury sidelined a teammate. Against the Gamecocks, Nelson Faerber made 4 receptions for 20 yards and a 4-yard touchdown catch; he also blocked a punt from the University of South Carolina that was returned for a Clemson touchdown, enabling a 23-21 Clemson victory.

Though recruited by several Division I schools, including the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy, Nelson Faerber elected to enroll in Clemson University after meeting with Dabo Swinney, who was receivers coach at the time and currently acts as head coach. During his first two seasons, he paid the tuition at Clemson and worked hard to make a name for himself as a walk-on player. As a result, former head coach Tommy Bowden announced at a team meeting in 2007 that Faerber would receive a full scholarship to continue playing football for the Tigers. Named by Swinney as “one of the best, if not the best, special teams players” at Clemson during his time there, Nelson Faerber played his last game as a Tiger in 2009.