Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Updates Injury to QB Christopher Vizzina

The redshirt junior injured his arm and did not return to the game after the first quarter.

Clemson Tigers quarterback Christopher Vizzina (17) throws a pass against the Georgia Southern Eagles during the first half at Memorial Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Clemson’s win over Georgia Southern on Saturday night came with a strange situation in the first quarter at Memorial Stadium.

Starting quarterback Christopher Vizzina was sidelined after only three drives for the Tigers in Week 2, but at halftime, head coach Dabo Swinney revealed that he had injured his non-throwing arm. He would not play the rest of the game. 

After the game on Saturday, Swinney said that Vizzina wanted to go back in and play. However, the Clemson head coach stuck with true freshman Tait Reynolds for the rest of the way. 

“We wanted to get him back in there, but his left arm was basically numb,” he said on Saturday night. 

Reynolds finished the game completing 16-of-27 passes for 178 yards while adding another 38 yards on the ground. However, it was Vizzina who was apart of the touchdown drive, hitting junior T.J. Moore with a 10-yard reception after Clemson recovered a muffed punt by the Eagles in the first quarter. 

While Swinney said that Reynolds bumped up in his rankings, he needs his senior quarterback back to help the offense in 2026. For now, he doesn’t know when he will be back.

“We’ll see. Hopefully it’s nothing bad,” he said. “We will need both of those guys, but Tait showed some promise. I wish he didn’t make some of the mistakes he did, but he’ll learn.”

Vizzina came off in the first quarter after throwing an interception that went deep for Bryant Wesco Jr. Swinney said that he didn’t make the right read and didn’t see the field for the rest of the game. 

But it wasn’t because of the turnover, rather the injury that he suffered in the game. 

“The ball should’ve been outside,” Swinney said. “We threw it to the middle safety… .those are routine things, so there are things that he can clean up.”

As for who starts against the North Carolina Tar Heels next weekend, it will depend on if Vizzina is ready to go for the contest. Swinney says that he doesn’t know just yet, but if he will be back, it still remains a toss up of who will start to begin conference the schedule.

“We’ll see. We’ll watch the tape,” he said. 

Clemson will be back in action next Saturday afternoon against North Carolina to open up ACC play inside Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon and will be broadcasted on ESPN.

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