CLEMSON — After a slow start, Clemson backup quarterback Chris Vizzina got dialed in and had a pretty solid first career start against SMU.

However, it wasn’t enough, as the Tigers (3-4, 2-3 ACC) fell to SMU 35-24 on Saturday at Death Valley, marking the first time since 2001 that Clemson has lost three home games in a single season.

While the Tigers once again came up short, it wasn’t because of Vizzina, as the redshirt sophomore did everything in his power to give his team a shot to come back and win.

“We’re disappointed,” Vizzina said after the loss. “Because we know the talent that we have in the room. This is not how we expected this season to be going. All we can do is respond. We can’t control that now.”

After passing for just 24 yards in the first quarter, Vizzina started to find his groove, finishing the game 29-of-42 for 317 yards with three touchdown throws. His 23-yard touchdown strike on a 4th and 21 to Tristan Smith pulled the Tigers to within five points with just under seven minutes to play.

All Clemson needed was a stop from its defense to get the ball back in Vizzina’s hands to give them a shot, but it wasn’t meant to be. SMU responded with an eight-play, 49-yard touchdown drive to put the game away. The Mustangs converted a 4th and 3 on the drive due to a pass interference penalty and then easily converted a 3rd and 10 later in the possession before a six-yard touchdown run put the Tigers back down by two scores.

With the team back below the .500 mark and a bye week on deck, Vizzina and the rest of his teammates know the week off will once again have to be used as a reset, so to speak.

“This week, we got to dig deep,” Vizzina said. “We got such great people on our team and in that facility that I know we will respond the right way.”

It won’t be easy, though. With the latest loss, the remote chance Clemson had of getting back into the ACC Championship race has now been wiped out. Despite that, somehow, some way, this team will have to find a way to stay motivated in an effort to try and finish as strongly as possible.

“We’ve to be really real with ourselves about what we are doing,” Vizzina said.

Photo by Bart Boatwright