CLEMSON – Freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds came in for an injured Christopher Vizzina, while kicker Nolan Hauser tied a career-high with five field goals, as Clemson beat Georgia Southern 22-7 Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Clemson kicker Nolan Hauser made all five of his field goals for the Tigers. He connected from 20, 34, 38, 50 and 49 yards. Holder Clay Swinney did a good job grabbing a low snap on the 50-yard try and setting it up from Hauser, who is now 6-for-6 on the season. Hauser’s last field goal gave the Tigers a 22-7 lead with 3:10 left in the game. He made five field goals in the Tigers’ win at Florida State in 2024. He was 5-for-7 in that game.
• Tait Reynolds completed 16 of 27 passes for 178 yards. He also ran for 36 yards.
• For the second year in a row Clemson struggled against a team from the Sun Belt. Last year, Troy took a 16-0 lead before the Tigers rallied for a 27-16 victory in the second half.
• The Tigers were much better on defense than they were against LSU a week ago. Clemson held the Eagles to 22 rushing yards and 266 total yards.
• Clemson’s offensive line had another bad night. They gave up 11 tackles for loss (two sacks), were called for four holding penalties (one declined) and two false starts.
• The Tigers ran for just 150 yards on the ground. Clemson averaged just 3.8 yards per carry. Gideon Davidson led the Tigers with 62 yards on 14 carries.
• On the two-minute drive to end the half, Reynolds found Tyler Brown for a 20-yard gain on third down-and-20 from the Clemson 44-yard line to keep the drive alive. He then rumbled 16 yards to the Southern 20 to set up Heuser’s field goal attempt on the last play of the half. Clemson led 16-7 at the break.
• Reynolds completed 12 of 17 passes for 160 yards in the first half. He also ran 9 times for 32 yards.
• Starter Christopher Vizzina completed 4 of 7 passes for 19 yards, including a 10-yard TD pass to T.J. Moore that gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 11:01 to play in the first quarter. However, Vizzina’s next pass was a poorly thrown deep ball that was intercepted by Southern’s Jakyri Jones.
• Vizzina was injured on his last pass (left arm injury) and did not return. The Tigers had 31 yards on 11 plays with Vizzina at quarterback.
• Southern’s first half TD came with 3:03 left in the second quarter when Ashton Hollins hauled in a 42-yard pass from Max Johnson.
• There was a two-and-a-half-hour delay before the start of the game. The game did not start until 9:30 p.m.
• Clemson improves its record to 1-1 on the year, while Georgia Southern falls to 1-1.

UP NEXT

Clemson stays at home next week and will host North Carolina at Memorial Stadium. Kick off is set for noon.