CLEMSON — In a perfect world, Tait Reynolds would not be thrust into action so quickly as the starting quarterback at a program like Clemson. However, as most know, we do not reside in a perfect world.

The plan was always for Chris Vizzina to seize the reins this season and take over for the departed Cade Klubnik. Vizzina has been sitting, watching and supposedly learning for three years. He is a big part of the reason Dabo Swinney chose against going to the portal for a quarterback, and quite possibly the whole reason. That’s how strongly Swinney believed in Vizzina.

But Vizzina’s time as the guy looks like it will be short-lived. Two games into the season, it is readily apparent that Reynolds brings an added juice to the offense that Vizzina doesn’t.

Reynolds took over on the Tigers’ fourth possession of the 22-7 win over Georgia Southern on Saturday night, finishing 16-of-27 for 178 yards. He also added 47 rushing yards (not counting sacks), and it’s his running ability that really separates the freshman from Vizzina.

Don’t misunderstand, Reynolds is far from a finished product. While he certainly shows some moxie, there were also plenty of mistakes, which Swinney was quick to point out after the win.

“There’s a lot to be excited about, but pump the brakes,” the head coach said. “Because he did some really boneheaded stuff, and I was losing my mind on the sideline.”

Even Reynolds acknowledged there is still a lot he has to clean up.

“There are mistakes that we all make, and personally, I made a lot,” the freshman said. “But at the end of the day, you grow from it. You get better from it. It’s just how you respond.”

Again, this wasn’t exactly the way things were supposed to turn out. Following last year’s 7-6 campaign, very few saw Reynolds as a serious contender for the starting job during his rookie season.

The Queen Creek, Az. native was basically robbed of his entire senior season in high school due to a hamstring injury. That is a whole year’s worth of development. And an important year, at that.

Having a season to acclimate while serving as the backup to Vizzina would have probably been the more logical path. However, that would have entailed Vizzina winning the job outright and holding on to it throughout the season. But that isn’t what happened.

While watching the two quarterbacks play against Georgia Southern, it was hard to tell which was the senior and which was the freshman. Despite being in his fourth season, Vizzina was way off-target on multiple throws. The kind of passes a quarterback at this level should hit on in his sleep.

It surely didn’t take Reynolds long to show off his arm talent. The freshman just gets the ball out quicker and on time. Sure, there were some passes that missed the mark, but that is to be expected with a first-year signal caller, especially one who missed his final high school season with an injury.

With it having been so long since Reynolds has seen such extensive action in a game, there was bound to be some rust. Only so much of that can be knocked off in practice. But he’s now knocked most of that off.

“So, it has been a minute,” he said. “To finally just get back in the action. I missed it.”

“I have been practicing for awhile now. Even though I missed that year, I am always studying, always trying to get better.”

When Reynolds arrived on campus back in January, he was viewed as a possible quarterback of the future. Now he is set to make his first career start injust his third game.

Turns out, the future arrived sooner than many anticipated, and it’s here now.