CLEMSON, SC - As expected, Dabo announced that veteran incumbent Christopher Vizzina will be the Tigers' staring quarterback in Baton Rouge on Saturday night. True freshman Tait Reynolds really pushed him in the spring and in August camp, making it a tight race, but in the end, Vizzina's experience and consistency won out. For some reason, the majority of Clemson fans aren't super excited about CV taking over for three-year starter Cade Klubnik, who is now in the NFL with the Jets. In fact, many wanted the dynamic athlete Chris Denson to overtake CV for the job in the spring, but Denson was passed by the true freshman, Reynolds, and is now going to be playing another position, most likely receiver. When that happened, it seems like most Clemson fans were rooting for the exciting newcomer rather than CV. I guess being the backup to Cade over the last three years has attached a stigma to him, and many fans just think of him as a backup. They forget that he was one of the most prized quarterbacks coming out of high school, and if he had followed the trend and transferred somewhere else to be a starter, he would have been one of the most coveted prospects in the portal. Personally, I am rooting for CV to make the most of this opportunity that he has so patiently and loyally waited for. He is a Clemson man, through and through, which is why he committed to being a backup until it was his time, and that time has finally come. However, he knows how much pressure he is under and that he has to produce when it counts and win games. He also knows that Tait is nipping at his heels, so he's got to earn the starting spot each and every week.
Dabo did say that there was a point in camp when Tait almost caught CV, and he fully expects Tait to play at some point this season. Perhaps it will even be in the opener at some point. We'll just have to wait and see, but we are going to find out what CV is made of right out of the gate, that's for sure. He played great in his lone career start last season, passing for over 300 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions against SMU, but that was in Death Valley. He gets to make his first career road start in Baton Rouge, one of the toughest places to play, at night on national television. CV is, by all accounts, a consummate competitor, so we'll see how that manifests on Saturday night.
The Tigers are in good shape from a health standpoint. The only major injury from camp was uber-talented freshman safety Polo Anderson, who tore his ACL. That's extremely disappointing because he would have definitely helped the secondary this season, but let's be thankful there weren't more significant injuries. Of course, would-be starting DT Vic Burley is currently suspended indefinitely for his disorderly conduct arrest from a little over a week ago. While his loss hurts, Dabo and Tom Allen think that defensive tackle is probably their deepest position, albeit without a lot of star power.
I'll have my game preview and prediction posted later this week. In the meantime, our press conference with Dabo is below, along with coach and player interviews!
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