CLEMSON — While Tait Reynolds had the best statistical game of his young career on Saturday night, it wasn’t nearly enough, as Clemson fell to fourth-ranked Miami 41-13.
Reynolds finished 29-of-44 for 295 yards, but he also turned it over twice, including an interception on his final pass that was returned for a touchdown. Reynolds ‘ third-quarter fumble deep in Tigers territory also led to a Hurricanes field goal.
While the freshman showed a lot of poise in just his third career start, the offense still struggled to finish off drives. Two different times, with the game still very much in reach, the Tigers drove inside the Miami 20-yard line, but only came away with three points.
Despite the struggles, Reynolds still believes the offense is close to getting on track.
“At the end of the day, there are just a lot of things we need to clean up,” Reynolds said. “We didn’t get the win. Offensively, we need to play better. We know that, and we are going to. I keep saying it is going to happen, that it is going to pop at some point. You guys just be ready for it.”
The freshman quarterback is confident that if he can clean up some of the finer details, success will come. He also believes the unit has taken great strides since the beginning of the season.
Despite the one-sided result against Miami, Clemson at least made it competitive for most of the night against the Hurricanes, unlike what was seen in the blowout loss to LSU to start the season.
“I think we are a lot closer than it showed. The game was a lot closer,” the quarterback said. “We made some mistakes at the end that created a gap. We are a lot better football team than that. We know we are. Once we clean it up, you guys will see.”
“We just need to clean up the little mistakes we are making and make the routine plays, like coach Swinney always tells us.”
And Reynolds is so confident in what he believes is coming, he doubled down on the prediction.
“Every single guy in that locker room,” Reynolds said. “It is going to happen. The coaches, as well. It is going to happen. That is what makes me confident.”
The Tigers will now have a bye week before returning to the field on October 17 at home against Charleston Southern.
