Freshman Tait Reynolds rallied the offense after a shaky start, securing a gutsy victory that validates his potential as the Clemson Tigers weigh their permanent future at quarterback.
With Christopher Vizzina sidelined due to an elbow injury, the Clemson Tigers turned to Tait Reynolds to make his first start at quarterback.
The offensive performance was ugly early in the contest. Clemson scored just six points in the first half. But Reynolds and the offense made strides in the second half, scoring 22 points as the Tigers knocked off North Carolina 28-20 in front of 78,332 fans at Memorial Stadium.
Reynolds went 20 of 29 passing for 215 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He added 26 yards on the ground.
When speaking to reporters after the game, Reynolds said Clemson proved they could make it happen when they needed to by coming back to beat the Tar Heels.
“I think we proved that it can happen," Reynolds said, via video posted to X by Chapel Fowler of The State Newspaper. "There’s still a lot of mistakes. … But it’s exciting, because we get to learn from it and think about how much better we can be.”
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was giddy about his freshman quarterback after the win, believing Reynolds turned a corner during the game.
“How about this quarterback?” Swinney said, via On3. “He was pretty bad in the first half and with a couple of things in the second. I mean, what a competitor.
"You saw a kid grow up tonight. He’s going to be a problem for a long time. And he ain’t going to do nothing but get better.”
The Tigers did enough to improve to 2-1 before they travel to play an improved California team on Friday night. Still, Clemson has much to improve upon on offense if it hopes to contend for the ACC.
It'll be interesting to see if Swinney makes Reynolds the permanent starter after Saturday's game. Reynolds has thrown for 415 yards, one touchdown, and one interception through the first three games of the season for the Tigers.
Reynolds certainly has a lot of upside for Clemson, but he made some mistakes early in the game. The Tigers struggled to operate smoothly before halftime and burned timeouts that forced Swinney to settle for a field goal at the end of the half.
