With fall camp about to get underway for college football programs around the country, USA Today took a look at the eight “most intriguing” quarterback battles entering camp and the 2026 season.
Clemson’s QB battle is listed among them.
“Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has a decision to make after a disappointing 7-6 finish last season and departure of three-year starter Cade Klubnik,” USA Today’s Austin Curtright wrote.
As you know, Clemson’s quarterback battle is a two-man race between fourth-year veteran Christopher Vizzina and first-year talent Tait Reynolds.
Vizzina remains in what Swinney calls the pole position, and he will still be at the top of the quarterback depth chart when fall camp gets underway. However, Reynolds really pushed Vizzina in the spring and has continued to do so through summer workouts, and Reynolds will get his shot during fall camp to push for the starting job.
Heading into 2026 after his first three years at Clemson, Vizzina has completed 61 percent of his passes for 596 yards and four touchdowns with one interception in 238 career offensive snaps across 14 games, while also rushing for 109 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries.
Last season, Vizzina appeared in five games, completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 406 yards and four touchdowns with one interception, while also rushing for 41 yards on 25 carries. He made his first career start (and only start thus far) vs. SMU at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 18, as Klubnik missed the contest after suffering a sprained ankle in the Tigers’ game at Boston College one week earlier. In the 35-24 loss to SMU, Vizzina completed 29-of-42 passes for 317 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a pass efficiency rating of 156.0.
As for Reynolds, the former multi-sport star has injected some intrigue into the competition by clearly separating himself from other backups and pushing Vizzina during the spring.
A hamstring injury basically robbed Reynolds of his entire senior season at Queen Creek (Ariz.) High School, but before that, he completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 2,238 yards with 22 touchdowns and only five interceptions as a junior in 2024. He also rushed 137 times for 1,426 yards and 19 touchdowns that year en route to being named by the Arizona Cardinals as the state’s player of the year.
Here’s what Curtright wrote about the competition between Vizzina and Reynolds:
“There didn’t seem to be much quarterback controversy in Clemson heading into the season until — Dabo Swinney revealed true freshman Tait Reynolds is pushing returning QB Christopher Vizzina for the starting gig. “We all know the magnitude of these decisions. We’re not stupid,” Swinney said at ACC Football Kickoff. “But that’s why we didn’t go get the big shiny object out of the portal. We believe in (Vizzina). But we also believe in Tait. He’s a high-level dude, now. He’s special.”
“Reynolds, wasn’t a blue-chip recruit (was rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports’ Composite), but the Queen Creek, Arizona native held offers from a slew of top-tier programs, including Oregon, Oklahoma, Miami and Texas A&M, among others.
“Vizzina, a former top-100 ranked recruit, has waited his turn at Clemson, redshirting in 2023 before serving as Cade Klubnik’s backup in 2024 and 2025. He started the Tigers’ midseason game against SMU and impressed, passing for 317 yards with three touchdowns, albeit in a 35-24 loss.
“Vizzina is more experienced and has the trust of the coaching staff, but Reynolds clearly has the talent to make the push.”
North Carolina’s QB competition between Billy Edwards, Miles O’Neill, Travis Burgess and Au’Tori Newkirk also made USA Today’s list, as did the battles at Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Iowa.