Clemson had to dip deeper into its quarterback room than planned against Georgia Tech, and the move came after freshman starter Tait Reynolds left with an injury on the opening drive Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Reynolds appeared to hurt his left knee after a seven-yard run up the middle. He slid at the end of the play to avoid contact, then looked uncomfortable as he got up. He stood, sat back down on the field, and was tended to by trainers before being helped off.
He headed to the locker room shortly after, jogging slowly with a noticeable limp. Reynolds later returned before the first quarter ended, wearing a brace around his left leg and knee area on the home sideline. He stayed in uniform, but he was not wearing his helmet or taking warmup reps.
The game pushed Clemson to third-string quarterback Trent Pearman, since the Tigers’ usual backup, Christopher Vizzina, is still dealing with his own injury situation. According to The CW broadcast, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is expected to address Reynolds’ status during his halftime TV interview.
Pearman has been the next man up behind Reynolds for the past two weeks, taking most of the backup reps while Vizzina remained limited. His first snaps Saturday were rocky: he fumbled the exchange on his first play but recovered it, then had another fumble on a failed fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak in Clemson territory and recovered that one too. Clemson had not scored with him at quarterback at that point.
The Tigers also tried a different wrinkle, bringing in former quarterback Chris Denson, now a wide receiver, for a wildcat snap with Pearman split out wide.
Pearman’s path to this moment is a familiar Clemson story. He’s a fifth-year player from nearby Daniel High School who walked on in 2022.
Entering this season, he had 10 career passing attempts, five rushing attempts and no touchdowns across six games. He also saw extended action in Clemson’s 37-0 win over Charleston Southern on Oct. 17, when he completed eight of 13 passes and threw two interceptions.
He is also the son of longtime Clemson staffer Danny Pearman.
Vizzina’s situation explains why Clemson had to go this far down the depth chart. He won the starting job out of fall camp and started the Tigers’ first two games, at LSU and against Georgia Southern, before fracturing his left elbow in Game 2. He has not played since.
Even after that, he remained available in recent weeks, but he sprained his ankle in practice last Monday before the Syracuse game. He was listed as “available” for that game, though he needed a pain shot in his ankle to serve as an emergency option. He was not listed on Clemson’s ACC availability report before the Georgia Tech game for the same reason: available, but only as an emergency option.
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