In the opening game of the season, Clemson freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds was thrust into the game under center in one of the loudest environments in college football: Tiger Stadium at LSU. 

Now, the starting signal caller for the Tigers will be going to his next hostile away environment this weekend, facing the Florida State Seminoles on Halloween night this Saturday. Despite the noise that Doak Campbell Stadium likes to bring, Reynolds is embracing the challenge. 

It simply goes back to how he approaches his process. 

“I’m never going to back down from a challenge,” he said on Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be really cool and a unique opportunity, and just excited to play there. It’s a great blessing.”

Reynolds is looking for a bounce-back game after Clemson fell at home to Virginia Tech last Saturday night. He would only finish with 153 yards and a rushing touchdown, completing 20 of his 26 passes against the Hokies. However, the Tigers’ second-half performance was a lot better after the quarterback finished with only 27 passing yards in the first 30 minutes. 

With scoring on all three offensive drives in the third quarter, Reynolds says that the offense is capable of. 

“We kind of just look at the whole game, and we had a good third quarter, but it can always be better,” he said. “The good plays, the bad plays, there’s always something that we’re just missing a piece here and there every play. We’ll just keep working to put it together.”

He also adds that getting “off to a better start” must happen going forward. Clemson has scored 52 of its 81 points in the second half of these ACC contests, saying that number has to balance better to feel more comfortable going into halftime. 

According to head coach Dabo Swinney, it’s due to the shuffle of players who don’t do their job each play, and it’s happened to everyone on offense. 

“Coach Swinney says we kind of just take turns on everybody not doing their job,” he said. “I think if we put that together, it can be really good.”

However, growing pains have been the main headline of this Clemson offense, which has only thrown two passing touchdowns and recorded a majority of its end zone scores on the ground. Reynolds will be the focal point of changing that this weekend, facing a Florida State team that allows almost 27.9 points per game. 

Perhaps Clemson could take advantage of that on Halloween night. 

“I think there’s been a lot of good things we’ve done, and I think there’s been some things that we need to clean up and work on,” Reynolds said. “There’s always going to be growing pains every single season, every year and just continue to build on it and keep getting better.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.