Dabo Swinney isn’t backing off his praise for Tait Reynolds, and on Tuesday he finally laid out why he believes the Clemson quarterback’s best outing came against Charleston Southern.
Swinney said the game is beginning to slow down for Reynolds, pointing to cleaner protection calls, fewer unnecessary sacks and a stronger impact as a runner. Those were the details he leaned on after spending the weekend insisting Reynolds had turned in his best game of the season.
Against Charleston Southern, Reynolds completed 17 of 26 passes for 127 yards. He also added seven carries for 40 yards. The legs showed up more than they had in some other starts, but the passing production still left plenty to be desired, especially when measured against the other performances Swinney has had to weigh.
Reynolds has had other games that made a stronger case on paper and on film. He looked more heroic against UNC, more confident at Cal and posted better numbers against Miami. Even with that, Swinney keeps circling back to the Charleston Southern performance as the one that mattered most in his eyes.
The debate gets sharper because Clemson has not exactly been easing him into the rest of the schedule. The Tigers are into the second half of the season now, and Virginia Tech comes to town Saturday night before Clemson plays Power Four teams the rest of the way. That should tell everyone plenty about whether the Charleston Southern game was a real sign of growth or just what happens when an FCS defense is on the other sideline.
Over the last four weeks, Reynolds has flashed the upside that makes Clemson believe in him, but he has also looked like a true freshman in every game. At his best, he uses his legs to extend plays and get himself enough time to deliver throws down the field. That part of his game did not really show up against Charleston Southern, when he averaged just 4.9 yards per attempt.
So was it his best game? That’s a tough sell.
It was not his worst as a starter, but there still isn’t enough there to make a definitive case that it was his top performance. The road win at Miami probably stands as his best statistically.
The comeback over North Carolina still carries the most weight from a narrative standpoint. Cal may have been his roughest outing, though winning on the road can be hard enough on its own.
Swinney clearly sees progress, even if plenty of people watching are still waiting for it to show up consistently. The coach has also been quick to put some of the blame on receivers for not finishing contested catches. But if the game is really slowing down for Reynolds, that growth still has to show up when the field tightens, especially in the red zone.
Swinney may be seeing something the rest of us can’t. Or he may simply be seeing what he wants to see.
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Virginia Tech is next, and the challenge only grows from there. For Clemson to stay on track in the league, it needs more dependable quarterback play and better work up front from the offensive line, because the margin for error will shrink fast once the opponents get stronger and the games become less forgiving. [Read more 🡒]