CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney said Saturday’s scrimmage, the Tigers’ first of fall camp, was perhaps one of the best first scrimmages he has been around.

“There was a lot of good stuff on both sides,” he said.

Here are some news and notes from Saturday’s scrimmage. Some of the notes are from Swinney’s post scrimmage, report while some are from what The Clemson Insider was able to round up afterwards.

–The offense opened the scrimmage well, as it marched right down the field. TCI learned both quarterbacks—Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds—played really well in the two-hour scrimmage. We were told both quarterbacks made some big throws and, as Swinney alluded to in his post-scrimmage report, both ran the football well too.

–Swinney said both quarterbacks are big and both run the football physically. He said they are similar in a lot of ways, though Reynolds is a little bit faster than Vizzina.

“They are both very capable,” Swinney said. “Tait can run, run, run. He can go score. CV can go get you a big chain mover.”

–Swinney reported that the quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends were the bright spots in the scrimmage. The Clemson coach also said, as a result, he had to give a shoutout to the offensive line because they played well, especially the first group.

–There was an interception thrown by the quarterbacks. However, we were not able to confirm who threw the interception. Swinney reported that linebacker Drew Woodaz picked off the pass and returned it for a TD.

“I thought they all did a really nice job,” he said. “There was nothing that disappointed me, as far as their ability to run the offense and their ability to make plays. We had a couple of miscues with a turnover due to the timing of the snap and the motion. We had one pick, but it was a great play by the defender. But they did some good things. They all made big plays. They all threw touchdowns.”

–Swinney was not sure if freshman Brock Bradley threw a TD, but he did say he had a couple of big plays. He also said Trent Pearman had a nice TD pass to freshman wide receiver Cam Blivens.

–TCI also learned there was a fumble during the scrimmage. We were told that there were a couple of really good passes thrown by Vizzina and Reynolds that were dropped.

–Swinney reported Saturday’s scrimmage was every bit as hot and grueling as Friday’s practice. He said both practices were two of the hardest practices they have had in a long time. He said the hot weather has played a major role in that, which is good.

–We can tell you, despite Friday’s and Saturday’s practices, the hustle on the team has not been hampered by the hot weather or the rigors of practice. A source told us Swinney is doing a really good job of coaching this team. He has them in shape and, despite the grueling practices, they were getting on and off the field with a purpose during the whole scrimmage without him having to fuss at them. There was no loafing on the field, either.

–The most noticeable thing about the scrimmage, we were told, was the size of the offensive line. We were told, physically, they looked the part. We were told they were noticeably bigger than the Clemson defensive line, which is usually not the case in most years.

–However, with that said, the defensive line, we were told, held its own for the most part and did a good job shedding blocks and creating small to no holes for the running backs to run through.

–Speaking of running backs, Gideon Davidson broke off a 60-yard run in the scrimmage. However, it was called back due to a holding call on wide receiver Bryant Wesco. Swinney also said Jarvis Green continues to show up and make plays in practice.

–The Clemson coach also said Chris Johnson, Jr., is in a different box than the other running backs. He did not go into any specifics, but it sounds like Johnson has his own set of plays and formations he lines up in, which sounds like he and another running back are on the field at the same time.

–Swinney said they worked on a lot of situational type stuff in the scrimmage so they could expose them to as much as they can. They worked on short yardage, goal line, ball at the five, red zone, etc.

“We tried to expose them as much as we could,” Swinney said. “We tried to get everybody work. It is going to be a fun tape to watch. There were some really good things on both sides, but we did some bad things on both sides.

“We had some mental mistakes. We had a celebration on a pick-six that cannot happen. They did not call it, but they could have called it.”

–Swinney said there was also a blind-side block by a defensive guy after they made a stop. The offense responded with a score.

“Those third-down penalties will often times lead to negative consequences,” he said.

–Kicker Nolan Hauser continues to have a very good camp. He had another good practice on Saturday. He kicked a 56-yard field goal and made a bunch of kicks, as well. He did miss a couple, according to Swinney.

–Swinney said they also created a lot of noise. I can tell you when I was walking up to the stadium for the postgame interview, Clemson had Garth Brooks’ Callin’ Baton Rouge playing on the loudspeaker.

–Swinney admitted they did some good things when the loud music was blaring, but they also missed on a few things and had some critical mistakes, especially in the red zone.

–On the injury front. Swinney said safety Polo Anderson tore his ACL and will soon have surgery. He will miss all of the 2026 season. Defensive tackle Vic Burley is still out and is listed as day-to-day. Running back Jay Haynes is banged up and was held out of the scrimmage. He is day-to-day. Wide receiver T.J. Moore was held out, as well. Swinney said Moore is banged up, but it is nothing serious.

–Linebacker CJ Kubah-Taylor has been banged up, as well. However, Swinney said he was in on 15 snaps in the scrimmage. The linebacker had been wearing green in practice the last few days but he was back and played in the scrimmage on Saturday.

–Former quarterback Chris Denson was also back, as Swinney said the athlete had his first live (tackled) practice of camp on Saturday. Denson tweaked his hamstring prior to camp beginning on Aug. 6.