Clemson’s quarterback picture is suddenly wide open after a brutal season-opening loss to LSU.
The Tigers were overwhelmed on Saturday night in a 51-10 defeat, and the offense never found its footing. Christopher Vizzina had a rough outing, finishing 10-of-?
No-10 completions for 83 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Tait Reynolds also saw action and completed four passes for 22 yards.
After the game, Dabo Swinney was asked whether Vizzina would keep the starting job for next Saturday’s matchup with Georgia Southern, and the Clemson coach made it clear that nothing has been decided yet.
“I don’t know,” Swinney said, via On3. “Again, we’ve got to watch the tape and evaluate, and we’ll go from there.”
Swinney repeated that same message when discussing the quarterback situation, saying he’ll need to "watch the tape and evaluate, and we’ll go from there" before making a call on who starts next week.
Vizzina entered Week 1 as the starter, but Swinney has not locked him in beyond that. Before Saturday, Vizzina had spent the previous two seasons as Clemson’s backup, throwing for 596 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.
Reynolds had been pushing him in fall camp, and that competition may now carry into the week as Swinney sorts through the tape and decides whether a change is coming.
Clemson will be back home next Saturday for its first chance to get into the win column in 2026. Georgia Southern visits Memorial Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ACC Network.
In Other News...
LSU Fans Had Plenty To Say About GameDay In Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge got the full College GameDay treatment to open the season, and Lainey Wilson was right in the middle of it. Ahead of her turn as the Week 1 celebrity guest picker, the Louisiana native performed the shows intro song and then rolled into her hit Cant Sit Still, giving LSU fans an early jolt before the real football talk took over.
The reaction online was quick and mixed, with plenty of viewers taking aim at both Wilsons performance and ESPNs decision to alter the familiar GameDay opening. Even so, not every fan was bothered by the change, and some seemed more welcoming of Wilsons presence than other parts of the broadcast. For a show built on tradition, it was a reminder that even a familiar Saturday ritual can still stir up a debate in Tiger country. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Drama Just Drew A Warning Tigers Fans Can't Ignore
The eligibility dispute around LSU and former NFL players has already escaped the usual offseason noise and turned into something much bigger, with Paul Finebaum weighing in sharply on the back-and-forth involving Lane Kiffin, the Tigers and the SEC. Finebaum praised commissioner Greg Sankey and the conference presidents for how they handled the matter, but his comments also underscored how quickly a rules question can become a referendum on the people running a program.
For LSU, the uncomfortable part is not just the original issue, but the way it has invited scrutiny about leadership and the possibility of larger fallout if the situation keeps escalating. Finebaum even floated the idea that SEC presidents could talk about removing LSU from the league, though he made clear that outcome is unlikely, which is a reminder of how much tension this episode has created around a program that would rather be talking about football. [Read more 🡒]
College GameDay Took A Strange Turn Before LSU Clemson Even Kicked Off
ESPNs College GameDay got the kind of Baton Rouge welcome nobody had on the script for LSU-Clemson, as lightning forced the network to hit pause during its 40th season kickoff show. What was supposed to be the usual charged, early-morning buildup around the Tigers instead turned into a weather delay that sent the crew scrambling and changed the feel of the entire broadcast before the game even started.
When the show came back, it did so from inside an empty theater, a sharp contrast to the packed scene fans expected from one of college footballs biggest opening weekends. The interruption and relocation quickly became part of the conversation around the day, a strange little pregame wrinkle that stood out almost as much as the matchup itself. [Read more 🡒]
