How Christopher Vizzina, other QBs fared in Clemson football’s spring game
Clemson fans got a chance to see what life after Cade Klubnik was like on Saturday.
Klubnik, the Tigers’ three-year starter at quarterback, was in attendance at Memorial Stadium for the annual Orange vs. White spring game as he gets ready for next month’s NFL Draft.
But the battle to be Klubnik’s replacement was on display as the Tigers played five quarterbacks in the spring game, with most of the attention on redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina and true freshman Tait Reynolds.
The Orange team, which featured almost all of Clemson’s first-team offense and first-team defense, won the game 23-3 against the White team, which was primarily made up of backups.
Vizzina appears to be the heir apparent to Klubnik, and offensive coordinator Chad Morris said earlier this week the former top No. 78 overall recruit will be “our guy” coming out of spring practice and heading into fall camp.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has long described Vizzina as having “pole position” in the Tigers’ 2026 quarterback battle but hasn’t explicitly named him the starter. Swinney backed that up in his postgame comments Saturday, saying “CV (Vizzina) is No. 1 and Reynolds is No. 2, and it’s not close.”
“Those two guys have separated, and that is where we are,” Swinney said. “CV had a good day today, and he has had freshmen out there with him all spring. He still has a long way to go, and it is going to be a competitive summer and fall camp. He was the lead horse coming in, and he still got the pole position.”
Vizzina started the game for the Orange squad and played four drives, including a touchdown drive when he found freshman receiver Gordon Sellars III on a back-shoulder throw. The Alabama native missed on his first two pass attempts but ended up on 10 of 18 for 95 yards.
Reynolds is a mid-year enrollee and the first Clemson signee from Arizona since 1991. He gives the Tigers a dual threat at the position. The former two-sport standout — he also plays baseball — showed some good and bad, completing a nice out route to Juju Preston on his first throw. Some of the bad included a couple of sacks (although quarterbacks weren’t “live” and couldn’t be tackled).
Swinney, who provided in-game commentary on the field all game via microphone, voiced instruction to Reynolds on one of the sacks.
“That’s a mistake on first down,” Swinney said. “… We don’t send a motion, and it’s first and forever.”
Swinney pointed out another Reynolds miscue when the young quarterback decided to hand the ball off near the goal line instead of keeping it. Reynolds made up for it on the next play, taking it in for a touchdown.
Reynolds, who played for both teams in the game, finished 7 of 10 for 74 yards.
“Tait, we made that decision after spring break that he is clearly No. 2,” Swinney said of Reynolds. “I have been really proud of him. He has put in a lot of work. He has elite arm talent, is big and strong. ... There are some operational things that he has to work at, but he has gotten better and better.”
No Clemson quarterbacks were made available for interviews postgame.
Brock Bradley, also a mid-year enrollee, played on a couple of possessions. Redshirt freshman Chris Denson drew a big cheer when he came into the game in the second half. Trent Pearman, a former walk-on, also played and had a TD.
Swinney said Denson could be the odd man out on the Tigers’ QB depth chart and didn’t rule out a possible position switch for him after the game if he was willing to do it. Denson has a ways to go as a passer, Swinney said.
“I think he has a decision to make,” Swinney said of Denson. “If he stays at quarterback, he will play for us. He will have a role. He is too talented. He will help our football team no matter what.”
Saturday marked Clemson’s last public, on-field competition until the 2026 season. Although the Tigers will scrimmage during fall camp, they won’t play in front of a full crowd again until their Sept. 5 season opener at LSU in Baton Rouge.
Clemson estimated an attendance of 25,000 fans for its spring game, which was free to attend. That’s 10,000 fewer fans than last year’s spring game (35,000) and significantly less than attendance in 2024 (47,000) and 2023 (50,000).
Sellars shines
After hearing from Swinney early in the game for a mistake on a route, Sellars finished with three catches for 34 yards and a TD.
Morris praised Sellars earlier in the week for his recent performance. The freshman played at Providence Day in Charlotte and finished his high school career with 133 catches for 2,419 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Sellars and a lot of the younger receivers got more reps during the spring with four of Clemson’s top five receivers (Bryant Wesco Jr., T.J. Moore, Tristan Smith and Cole Turner) all limited in spring because of injuries.
Swinney used a car analogy to describe the development of Sellars and the team’s other young receivers (Naeem Burroughs, Connor Salmin).
“It has put a lot of pressure on these freshman,” Swinney said. “... But by the end of spring, we got better and better. Those guys got a ton of reps and wouldn’t have had as many if we had all of our Ferarris out there. They were like Pintos and Chevys to start spring but ended up like Malibus.”
Tyler Brown’s bigger role
Slot receiver Tyler Brown has been kind of the forgotten man in Clemson’s receiving group after a big freshman year in 2023.
But Brown showed Saturday that he is capable of being one of the Tigers’ top pass catchers in Morris’ offense. The former Greenville High standout had five catches for 47 yards and a TD on Saturday.
Brown has benefited with the other receivers not playing a lot this spring.
Jarvis Green returns
Running back Jarvis Green, a former SC Gatorade Player of the Year at Dutch Fork High School, saw action after missing the entire 2025 season while recovering from foot surgery.
Green played for the White team and finished with four carries for 11 yards.
“It was good to get Jarvis back,” Swinney said. “Jarvis hasn’t played a lot of football in quite a while. But by the time we get to the summer and fall camp, Jarvis can be one to help this football team.”
Gideon Davidson led the running backs with 80 yards; SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr. had eight carries for 16 yards. David Eziomume had 14 yards. Swinney said Saturday that Davidson is the clear No. 1 running back coming out of spring.
Orange defense shined
The Orange team defense recorded nine sacks, including 2.5 each from Colorado transfer defensive end London Merritt and veteran tackle Vic Burley.
This story was originally published March 28, 2026 at 3:06 PM with the headline "How Christopher Vizzina, other QBs fared in Clemson football’s spring game."
