Clemson’s loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday saw plenty of bad at Memorial Stadium. However, there was a powerful effort by a player that hasn’t gotten opportunity due to injury. 

When freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds went down with a knee injury, Clemson’s offense couldn’t get going under senior Trent Pearman. So, it left head coach Dabo Swinney with only one more option in the game. 

Despite being very limited in practice for the last two weeks with an ankle sprain, the Tigers’ preseason starter, Christopher Vizzina took the reins behind center for the final three quarters of the game. He took a difficult hit at the end of the game, with Swinney saying he went out of the locker room in a stretcher and sent to the hospital. 

“Prayers with him, unbelievable will to win,” he said after the game.  “An unbelievable fight from that kid. He came in and gave us a little bit of a spark.”

Vizzina finished with 133 passing yards and an interception, rushing six times on his hurt ankle for 18 yards to try to extend plays. However, Clemson couldn’t score any touchdowns in the loss, its second straight game without scoring one on the offensive side of the ball.

However, there was life with the senior signal caller under center, and his team wanted to rally around Vizzina because of his fight. One of those who stepped up was sophomore receiver Juju Preston, who hd the most receptions on the team in the loss. 

“We just went out there, tried to help him,” he said after the game. “We just went out there and gave it his all.”

The bigger issue following the game, however, is Vizzina’s health as a whole. He scrambled on a six-yard rush before being popped by Yellow Jacket linebacker Cayman Spaulding. From there, he remained on the ground while Pearman played the final offensive play of the game. 

Swinney said after the game that the issue wasn’t his ankle, it was something bigger. 

 “It was more head and neck and body and all that stuff,” he said.

For a player who has been going through multiple lingering injuries, beginning with the fractured elbow suffered against Georgia Southern, Vizzina’s chances to be Clemson’s starting quarterback have been halted by those and the performances from Reynolds over the course of this season. Now, the Tigers will wait for hopeful news as they head to Durham this Friday to play the Duke Blue Devils.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.