For any young teenager, budding business or freshman quarterback, growing pains are normal, though, as the name aptly states, they can cause some agony.

In Clemson’s 24-10 win over California in Berkeley, Calif., Friday, rookie signal-caller Tait Reynolds experienced some growing pains of his own in his second start at the Tigers’ offensive helm. 

Reynolds, a Queen Creek, Ariz., native, completed 62 percent of his passes for 108 yards and added 28 rushing yards as well in the late-night victory, down over 100 passing yards and seven completions from his last performance against the North Carolina Tar Heels last week. 

While Reynolds may not have lit up any stat sheet Friday, his performance was enough to come home to the East Coast undefeated in ACC-play and 3-1 overall after one month of play.

“There’s some good and there’s some bad, but we’re going to keep working with (Reynolds) for sure,” head coach Dabo Swinney said after the victory. 

The good certainly reared its head in spurts, like when Reynolds found tight end Olsen Patt-Henry for a 22-yard first down conversion in the third quarter. It came with a short, quick pass to wide receiver Tyler Brown in the second quarter that went for 24 yards.

Reynolds himself showed off another positive aspect of his game when he started off a late second-quarter drive with a 20-yard run to put the Tigers in favorable field position.

Like any young athlete that has experienced these growing pains knows, they usually lead to periods of metamorphosis. For Reynolds, that process has begun right in front of Tiger fans’ eyes.

Mixed in between good plays and decisions, however, were moments that exposed Reynolds’ juvenile status – a trait that Swinney has loudly acknowledged in the last four weeks.

Reynolds’ youth showed quickly on a hostile stage, as he threw an interception into double coverage on the fourth play of the game, right after the Tigers picked up their first first down of the contest. 

Two Clemson drives later, Reynolds had another tough moment, when the ball bounced out of his hand after making contact with the ground on a tough tackle. While referees discussed changing an original call, it stood as a fumble, the second of the quarterback’s young career.

“It just shouldn’t happen, Swinney said of the fumble. “The ball is loose, B.I.J., ball in jeopardy. He’s outside the pocket, and it just can’t happen. He’s holding the ball on an RPO, and he just was a little cloudy. He’s handing the ball off, and so now all of a sudden, you got to take off, and so just throw it away or just put it away and run, you know. And so the ball’s outside his body and gets hit, you put yourself in those situations.”

Throughout the game, in between both positive and negative plays, Swinney could be seen teaching Reynolds on the sidelines. Sometimes, Swinney’s tone appeared encouraging, while other times the coaching looked slightly more spirited.

Apart from Swinney, Reynolds also got some help and encouragement from Clemson’s run-game, a facet of the Tigers’ offense that was activated in the final half against North Carolina and carried over to the tune of 255 rush yards against the Bears.

“I think the more you can support your quarterback with a run game, the better,” Swinney said. “Where you don’t have to just put everything on him to have to drive back, make the decisions, and things like that. So yeah, I think supporting him that way is certainly a priority, and that’s a priority regardless of quarterback, we’ve got to be able to have some efficiency running the football.”

Sophomore Gideon Davidson led the run-game Friday, finishing with a career-high 159 yards and two rushing touchdowns. With Davidson and other backs rolling, Reynolds did not have any pressure on him to create deep, explosive completions after struggling with accuracy through the first quarter.

Now, Swinney says, the next step for Reynolds and the Tigers to alleviate their growing pains is to cut down on their turnovers. Throughout four games, Clemson has yet to win an outright turnover margin.

“So, if we can ever win the turnover margin, we’re going to be going to be a tough out,” the 19th-year head coach said. “But because we haven’t won it yet, I think we were even last week and this week. Since back-to-back weeks, we’ve been even in the margin. So, if we can ever be plus, you know, I think it’ll be a better opportunity for us.”

Once the Tigers arrive back on the East Coast Saturday, they will have six days to figure out ways to generate more turnovers and to minimize them from a young offense.

The sledding will not get any easier, however, as Clemson welcomes No. 6 Miami to town next Saturday. If there was ever a time to knock out a bout of growing pains, it would be before kickoff against the Hurricanes.