CLEMSON — Another week, another struggle for the Clemson offense.

The Tigers were absolutely ineffective when it came to passing the ball for the entire first half, as Virginia Tech came into Death Valley and stole one from Clemson. The Hokies got a late touchdown pass to knock off Clemson 20-16.

Tait Reynolds was 7-of-10 over the first two quarters, but those seven completions mustered a measly 27 yards, as the Tigers went into the break trailing 10-3.

During his halftime interview, head coach Dabo Swinney insisted that was something that was going to get fixed.

“That’s 100% coaching. Pitiful. Pitiful. 100% coaching. That ain’t the players. That’s us. We’re fixing to fix it,” Swinney said as he walked off.

With the offense just not able to get anything going with the passing game, some might have wondered if Christopher Vizzina was going to get another shot. The senior quarterback came into the season as the starter, but was sharing game reps with Reynolds. However, Swinney named the freshman the starter moving forward following the Week 2 win over Georgia Southern. Vizzina was also injured in that same game and, due to that injury, had not fully practiced until this week.

“He was good to go,” Swinney said of his backup signal caller.

However, despite the struggles, Swinney had a very clear response when asked if the staff ever considered turning to Vizzina against Virginia Tech.

“No… no,” he said.

Reynolds came out of the half and looked much sharper. The rookie was a perfect 7-for-7 for 83 yards in the third quarter, leading the offense on three scoring drives, resulting in 13 points and giving Clemson a 16-10 lead.

However, the first two possessions of the final quarter resembled more of what was seen in the first half. The Tigers’ first fourth-quarter series netted just 15 yards in five plays, while the offense went three-and-out on the second one. Reynolds did make a couple of really nice throws on the final drive as Clemson was trying to win it in the final minute, but a dropped pass from Bryant Wesco as he was going out of bounds on a third-down play led to the drive stalling out.

While Reynolds did net the first rushing touchdown of his career, he once again failed to pass for a touchdown. The freshman still has just one scoring strike all season.

“I think it is pretty easy to see 2 is going to be a good player. I mean, he is going to be a really good player,” Swinney said. “That was a good experience for him at the end. It was a rope he threw to Wesco. Wish we would have held on to the ball right there. Would have liked to have seen us have a chance to finish that.”