CLEMSON – Before Saturday, Christopher Vizzina had not taken a snap in a Clemson football game in 63 days.

After the starting senior quarterback suffered an elbow fracture in the Tigers’ win over Georgia Southern back on Sept. 12, Clemson turned to freshman signal-caller Tait Reynolds to lead its offense. Since then, the Tigers have notched five wins, including four over ACC opponents.

For better or worse, it has been Reynolds’ show in Upstate South Carolina.

Vizzina, in the meantime, worked his way through physical therapy and back into practices, only to suffer an ankle injury ahead of Clemson’s victory over Syracuse last weekend. After that, head coach Dabo Swinney said that third-string veteran Trent Pearman would be Clemson’s backup signal-caller, should anything happen to Reynolds against the Orange.

True to his word, when Reynolds suffered a leg injury one week later in Clemson’s matchup against Georgia Tech, it was Pearman who came in to lead the Tigers’ offense.

Upon entering the game, Pearman and his offense struggled, connecting on only two of his six pass attempts for six yards across four drives. For reference, the Tigers picked up 27 yards on the first two plays of the game before Reynolds’ injury.

When Clemson’s offense went out with 8:25 to play in the first half, a familiar face came with it– Vizzina, injury and all.

The veteran completed his first passing attempt to wide receiver T.J. Moore for one yard. Two plays later, he connected with underclassman Juju Preston for 33 yards, entering Georgia Tech territory for the first time.

With another 11-yard pass to Bryant Wesco Jr., and three more plays for respective short gains, Vizzina set up kicker Nolan Hauser for a 40-yard field goal, putting Clemson on the board for the first time of the afternoon.

On the next drive, after the Tigers regained possession by an interception from safety Corey Myrick, Vizzina got the offense rolling again with a 15-yard pass to Jarvis Green followed by another completion for 17 yards to tight end Christian Bentancur.

Due in part to offensive line issues, Vizzina took a sack for 13 yards on the next play, but still kept Clemson in field goal range for another Hauser attempt.

Before Vizzina came into the game, the Tigers amassed just nine passing yards and 30 all-purpose yards. With him in the game, Clemson finished with 117 yards over around half of a quarter. 

In the meantime, Reynolds was seen cheering on Vizzina from the same position he found himself in against Georgia Southern two months ago.