Have you heard the about the ACC-Cal Curse? When Cal, Stanford, and SMU applied to join the ACC, the movement was opposed by four schools: FSU, North Carolina, Clemson, and NC State. NC State eventually relented and was the deciding vote in conference expansion in August 2023, but the other 3 held firm to their “No” votes. After the news of expansion, UNC reaffirmed their opposition, releasing a statement that they still opposed the expansion that was happening with or without their approval. FSU was so mad they sued the conference, claiming that the addition of Cal, Stanford, and SMU would “handicap ACC members vying for a position in future CFPs against peers from the other Power Four conferences, including peers with inferior won-loss records” (source). True to their word, FSU has been handicapped in vying for the College Football Playoff ever since.
Ever since that ACC expansion vote, the teams that opposed Cal to the ACC have gone on to ignominious fates after playing Cal. In 2024, a year after a 13-0 regular season, FSU went on to have a 2-10 record, with their only FBS win being… well, that part’s not important. North Carolina, after an ugly 21-18 loss in Berkeley, stumbled onto a 4-8 season, culminating in an offseason investigation into drug use and inappropriate sexual relationships, resulting in the departures of UNC football general manager Mike Lombardi and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick.
So how did Clemson respond to the recent ACC expansion?
Well, unlike UNC’s petulant statement, Clemson released a statement:
We respect the conference membership's decision and welcome the University of California-Berkeley, Southern Methodist University and Stanford University to the ACC.
Well okay, fair play then. In that case, I hope you have a more successful year than FSU.
Cal currently leads the series with Clemson 1-0, with that win being a 37-13 win in the 1992 Citrus Bowl, led by “The blond bomber” Mike Pawlawski. In a chippy game that resulted in the ejections of 3 players, Cal caught the Clemson defense off-guard with trick plays (like a “double reverse flea flicker” and a “fumblerooskie”) and a 72-yard punt return TD from WR Brian Treggs (father of future Cal WR Bryce Treggs).
Clemson is led by head coach William Christopher “Dabo” Swinney, the winningest head coach in Clemson history with 189 wins, 8 ACC Championships, and 2 National Championships (2016, 2018). (If you’re like me and wondering where the name “Dabo” came from, it’s apparently from his baby brother mispronouncing “That Boy” when referring to him, and Dabo claims he learned his legal name was William from a Scantron in 3rd grade). Because of this historic run of success, it makes it all the more painful for Clemson fans who see Dabo failing to keep up in the new era of college football, as they skidded to a 7-6 season last year, their worst record since 2010 (Dabo’s 3rd year and only losing season at Clemson). Dabo has been slow to embrace the NIL and Transfer Portal era, and this season is the first year that Dabo added players via the Transfer Portal (which started in 2018). Is it a coincidence that Clemson has been slowly declining from that National Championship peak in 2018, that very same year?
Dabo clearly has loyalty to his recruits, and he even caught ESPN/ABC off-guard this year with how early he was finally willing to play a true freshman:
Clemson’s offensive coordinator is former SMU/Arkansas head coach Chad Morris, who also happens to be the father of this season’s Indiana QB Chandler Morris. However, the offense has struggled mightily so far this year. Clemson is currently last in the ACC in total offense with just 297.7 yards per game, and 2nd to last in points per game (20.0, Stanford is last with 16.7).
Let’s take a closer look at why.
Quarterback
Clemson is expected to start true freshman and 2025 Elite 11 quarterback Tait Reynolds for the Cal game. Reynolds is a dual-threat quarterback with a large frame and a big arm, and runs the ball like a fullback. Reynolds was already thrust into action in the first game of the year, Clemson ugly blowout loss to LSU:
Clemson fans have noted the trend for Swinney to stubbornly stick with the veteran quarterback with a true freshman talent on the roster: he stuck with Cole Stoudt over Deshaun Watson in 2014, Kelly Bryant over Trevor Lawrence in 2018, DJ Uiagalelei over Cade Klubnik in 2022, and so on to out current situation in 2026. Swinney definitely has some sort of stubborn loyalty to players who stick with the program, although that’s currently being tested by the modern state of affairs in college football. I’m guessing Clemson fans are hoping Reynolds is more Lawrence than Uiagalelei, as Reynolds is starting as a true freshman earlier than all of them.
First, the most obvious, is that Reynolds has plus arm strength. Here Reynolds effortlessly hits his receiver in stride:
Reynolds has a large frame and toughness, and will take a hit to deliver the throw:
And again, he stays calm under pressure to buy time for his receiver here:
Reynolds is a strong runner and tough to bring down for a quarterback. Here he runs through one tackle and stiff-arms another defender into the dirt:
Reynolds really likes to roll out to his right for throws, designed roll-out or not:
Here Reynolds rolls out under pressure and throws across his body:
As a true freshman, Reynolds is still learning command of the offense. It seems that he’s not always on the same page as his receivers. Here I believe he misses the throw because he misread the route the receiver was going to run:
And although Reynolds may have a bigger arm, he still needs to learn how to add touch to his throws, layer throws over defenders, and keep fundamentals solid:
Reynolds has some very good deep threat receivers and he’s often looking to make big plays downfield, but he just hasn’t been in sync with his receivers, whether it’s due to timing or accuracy. Here his receiver gets open deep, but Reynolds overthrows him:
Here Reynolds again has his receiver wide open deep down the field, but he fires this throw late and puts way too much air under the ball, which gives the defense plenty of time to recover:
Similarly, if Reynolds is going to take this shot, he needs to pull the trigger sooner and put this ball in a better spot for his receiver:
In other words, Reynolds is “raw.” He has a lot of talent and upside, but he’s likely going to have plenty of growing pains as he learns to manage an offense — the play-calls, his reads, his touch on throws, because he hasn’t been putting his receivers in a position to succeed yet.
The original season starter and now backup quarterback is the senior Christopher Vizzina. He was supposedly dealing with some sort of injuries, but Dabo said that Vizzina was healthy last week against North Carolina and Tait Reynolds got the start anyway, so it’s safe to assume that will continue. However, if Vizzina is healthy, I also think it’s likely he will make an appearance for some drives as well (likely in the second half, if either Reynolds is struggling or the unfortunate event of a blowout). As I mentioned in that preseason, I was not sold on Vizzina this season.
Vizzina is the more experienced option, and he has made some better touch throws:
Vizzina also has the ability to run the ball himself, even if it’s not a focal part of his game:
However, you’d hope that your senior quarterback would be able to run the offense more smoothly:
Vizzina, like Reynolds, was also often looking for the big play, but he struggled to make the throws downfield:
This is a difficult throw and probably not the right read, but you do what you want when you’re down 41 points:
One of the main reasons I am not sold on Vizzina is that he isn’t making reads like a senior quarterback. Here LSU brings pressure, and you have to know your hot route in the event of a blitz like this, but I think he made this read presnap and stubbornly stuck to it despite the coverage:
Again, it’s not easy to make reads under pressure, but here he misses that he has a wide open receiver:
This is something that takes a lot of preparation and film study to do; knowing how teams are blitzing you, where the voids in the defense will open up, and which (of your abbreviated reads) you should be making under pressure as a result. But it was clear that LSU was far more prepared for Clemson than Clemson was for LSU:
Whoever it is behind center, Clemson needs them to mature in a hurry.
Running back
Clemson’s starting running back last year, Adam Randall, went to the Baltimore Ravens in the 5th round of the NFL Draft this year. Clemson has struggled to replace his production so far this season, averaging just 3.7 yards per carry so far this year. The bulk of the carries have gone to returning sophomore Gideon Davidson:
Davidson is more of a between-the-tackles type of runner. He’s physical, has a good burst of speed, and he runs patiently to let his blocks develop:
After Davidsons’ 45-yard run above, no other runner has a run longer than 17 yards so far this season, so this running back section is a little lighter on highlights than usual. There’s RB David Eziomume, whose more of a physical runner and power back:
And on the other end of the spectrum is the running back that I was the highest on during the preseason, former Miami and SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr. (who I’ve already covered twice before: Miami 2024 / SMU 2025). As I’ve mentioned in previous years, Chris Jr. is not the son of NFL RB Chris “CJ2K” Johnson, but you could be forgiven for confusing the two of them though, because Chris Johnson Jr. has similar speed: he was the Florida state champion in the 100m and 200m. Chris Johnson Jr. is the son of former Oregon State wide receiver Chris Johnson Sr., who I realize now I’ve seen play at Memorial Stadium back when I was in college, which is a troubling reminder of the rate at which I am hurtling towards middle age.
Unfortunately, it’s been a disappointing season so far for Johnson. I still think he’s a homerun threat running the ball, but Clemson hasn’t given him too many opportunities to do so:
As I mentioned here in the preseason, I did think Johnson was going to be an impact transfer for Clemson (and there’s still plenty of time):
Johnson has breakaway speed and viability as a pass-catching threat, but combined with his smaller stature mean he’s much more prone to boom-or-bust play. Clemson hasn’t had much success in the run game so far this year, but Johnson is the running back that needs to be contained.
Receivers
Clemson has no shortage of talent at receiver, and I think quite of few of these guys will have the opportunity to play on Sundays. At WR-X is Bryant Wesco Jr., the 6’2” 195 lbs. receiver with a long frame and high top-end speed which makes him Clemson’s top deep threat receiver (in case you couldn’t tell from all his appearances earlier in the QB section). Unfortunately, due to Clemson’s offensive struggles this season, I’m going to rely quite a bit on some of my 2025 clips instead.
Wesco Jr is a clean route runner, and his long frame give him the ability to make some contested catches:
Wesco Jr has the ability to cleanly get in and out of his breaks, and his speed gives him legitimate YAC ability:
Just watch the way he accelerates:
However, one of Wesco’s biggest cons is that he’s been very inconsistent catching the ball, and he has more drops than someone of his caliber should have:
On the other side of the field at WR-Z is TJ Moore, the 6’3” 200 lbs. receiver known for his sure-hands. Moore also has the speed to threaten to take the top off the defense, and so he makes a lot of catches on intermediate routes as defenses often give him big cushions:
Here Moore uses that speed to get behind the defense and makes a ridiculous catch:
And here Moore showcases his explosiveness after the catch:
At the slot is WR Tyler Brown, another reliable pass-catcher:
Brown is also a dynamic player in space, and here he makes the entire defense look silly as he helps clinch the game last week against North Carolina:
Here Brown does a good job creating his own yards:
Also in the slot is redshirt freshman WR Juju Preston (sorry, ESPN’s coverage was more interested in an LSU cheerleader at this point of the game):
Behind TJ Moore is the senior Tristan Smith, who hasn’t played a ton of snaps so far this season, but I recall him being above average at contested catches as well as creating his own yards after the catch. Here he makes a nice contested catch in the endzone:
And here he does a nice job creating his own yards:
Filling out the rest of the depth chart are all true freshman, high 4-star receivers: Gordon Sellars III, Naeem Burroughs, and Connor Salmin. So far only Sellars III has a catch (1 catch for 4 yards), so I don’t have an opinion on any of these guys yet.
At the tight end position are Christian Bentancur and Olsen Patt-Henry, both of whom feel like jumbo receivers, although Clemson hasn’t really relied that much on pass-catching tight ends so far this season (which bucks the trend I’ve seen throughout the rest of the ACC).
Most of the tight-end receptions this year have come on tendency-breaking plays:
Clemson may have the worst passing attack in the ACC, but it’s not due to a lack of talent at receiver. Expect to see some Clemson receivers streaking deep down the field on Friday (whether they can connect with passes remains to be seen).
Conclusion
Clemson’s offense has struggled this year and has certainly taken a big step back from last year, when their offense was firmly middle-of-the-conference. Breaking in a new quarterback is never easy, and Clemson is betting pretty heavily on the development of a true freshman quarterback to fix their offensive issues in a hurry. Unfortunately, Cal is having their own inexplicable offensive issues, and both of these teams have defenses that look pretty solid, so I am expecting this to be another painful Cal game to watch. Clemson has solid corners (particularly Ashton Hampton), middle linebacker Sammy Brown, defensive end Will Heldt, etc. I think Cal’s receivers might struggle to create space, and I am not sure throwing 30 bubble screens a game is the solution, but what do I know. This game is probably Cal’s best chance to beat a team that won a national championship in the past decade in Clemson, as they likely won’t be this vulnerable again for a while.
As always,
Go Bears.
You can find my full clips here.