Months before the 2018 season, Clemson’s quarterback room was loaded. The Tigers had Kelly Bryant, the rising senior who’d just gotten them to the College Football Playoff. They had Zerrick Cooper, his backup. They had Hunter Johnson, a five-star QB in the class of 2017 who’d just redshirted. They had Chase Brice, a three-star rising redshirt freshman who’d been rated as a four-star for a while. And then, the big one: they had five-star true freshman Trevor Lawrence, the highest-rated recruit of any position since Matt Barkley went to USC in the class of 2009. The Tigers’ QB depth chart has thinned as Lawrence has risen. Cooper transferred to Jacksonville State right after the season. Johnson transferred to Northwestern well before fall camp. Bryant started the first four games, but after Lawrence was named the starter for Week 5’s game against Syracuse, Bryant transferred. Because he’d only played in four games, Bryant is able to redshirt this season and play immediately somewhere else as a graduate transfer in 2019. That’s left Brice, the three-star from the class of 2017, as Lawrence’s backup. And Lawrence got hurt in the first half of his first start, against Syracuse. Brice then led the Tigers to a comeback win against the Orange. His conversion on a fourth-and-6 late in the fourth quarter was key to the Tigers’ comeback. Brice is now the guy for Clemson whenever Lawrence isn’t out there. The Tigers hope that’s almost never, but Brice is a talented player. He sort of got lost in the mix when Clemson signed Johnson in the same class, but don’t sell him short. Clemson blog Shakin The Southland wrote about him after he signed: Brice is an amazing second QB pickup. You just don’t normally stockpile this much talent at the quarterback position. Chase still has a lot of work to do as he adjusts to the college level. He had a great supporting cast at Grayson, with an excellent offensive line. Grayson runs a lot of effective play-action so Brice had a lot of easy deep throws behind that offensive line. The route concepts aren’t all the intricate either at Grayson but Chase still showed good deep ball accuracy. He also improved his decision making. His junior year he could get caught making some bad throws with poor mechanics at times. Those throws off his back foot have been cleaned up a bunch in his Senior year. He’s a pro-style passer with some athleticism, not unlike Lawrence. And he’s had a whole year-plus in Clemson’s offense, learning under offensive coordinators Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott. Brice doesn’t have Lawrence talent, but that’s not to say he can’t effectively steward Clemson’s offense and win games with great defense. That’s basically what Bryant did for a whole season, and it was good enough to get to a Sugar Bowl semifinal game. It’s possible that Bryant returns, making Brice third-string again. Dabo Swinney told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after halftime that he’d take Bryant back if the veteran, seeing Lawrence’s injury, wanted to return. It’s not clear that Bryant would be violating any rules, either from the NCAA or ACC, by coming back. A compliance officer at another FBS program told SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey that if Bryant hasn’t un-enrolled from the university or taken financial aid from another school, he’d still be eligible. It appears Bryant’s still at Clemson and thus free to return, if everyone wants. Whether Bryant would want to come back isn’t known. Same with Lawrence’s health status. Ben Batson is behind Brice on the depth chart. Receiver Hunter Renfrow is the current fourth-string QB when Lawrence is healthy.<doc-sep>CLEMSON — The anointed one gave way to the anonymous one Saturday in Death Valley before one half had even been completed and yet somehow Clemson pulled off a miraculous escape in a 27-23 win against Syracuse. After a chaotic week that began with the selection of freshman Trevor Lawrence to replace grad student Kelly Bryant as the starter and ended with Bryant’s abrupt decision to transfer, more craziness ensued once the game began. With a near capacity crowd for a noon start eager to see Lawrence take over, he took a hard hit after a scramble with about five minutes to go before halftime. Redshirt freshman Chase Brice was able to hold things down enough for the defense and running game to win it, completing 7 of 13 passing for 83 yards and an interception. “I was thrown into a situation where we needed to produce, and I was prepared for it,” Brice said. “Trevor and I have been preparing, watching a lot of film and just talking with each other. I just wanted to step up and be there for the team. It was fun being out there. Getting out there with the guys and getting into a rhythm was awesome. I’m really just going to enjoy this moment and then get ready for next week.” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said after the game Lawrence was expected to be fine and even requested to return to the game. “He actually wanted to come back in and play,” Swinney said. “He got banged up and got kind of concussion-like symptoms and you just don’t mess with that. You trust your doctors and they shut him down. He was really good after the game, celebrating with his teammates.” Brice got little going until the running game got into high gear with the Tigers trailing, 23-13, with 12:58 remaining in the game. Brice completed consecutive throws of 16 and 15 yards to Justyn Ross to jumpstart one possession that led to Travis Etienne’s 26-yard touchdown run. Brice’s biggest moment came on the game-winning drive, a triumphant 94-yard march over 13 plays. On fourth-and-six from his own 48, he zinged a 20-yard dart to Tee Higgins on the right sideline to keep hope alive. On the next play, Brice tucked the ball under pressure and took off for 17 yards to the 15-yard line, prompting Swinney to later admit he was in total exasperation watching his reserve quarterback take a hard shot at the end of the run. Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said he’ll remember the fourth-down completion for years to come. “Brice, what can you say, a very difficult circumstance coming in when we were down and not on our game,” Scott said. “I’ll always remember as long as Chase is here that fourth-and-six with the game on the line and to be able to stand in there when that window was about three-feet wide. He just threaded the needle to Tee or we don’t win the game.” Brice, from Grayson (Ga.) High School, entered the day having thrown eight career passes in mop-up duty this season. In the days after the 2017 season ended, he was fifth-string on the depth chart before Hunter Johnson and Zerrick Cooper transferred out ahead of Bryant. “I knew that in every game there is a possibility of (someone) getting hurt," Brice said. "I was prepared and ready to do my job. When I went in everyone just rallied around me. It’s amazing what you can do when people come up to you and say they believe in you. I had to believe in myself I could lead the team and score enough to win. They kept encouraging me and the confidence continued with the fans and with us making plays.”<doc-sep>So, Trevor Lawrence was just broken in half. That looked horrible #Clemson pic.twitter.com/9yaWBvHNTs — Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) September 29, 2018 Clemson’s new starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence was knocked out of the Tigers game against Syracuse with an apparent head injury. Lawrence took a shot to the head with 4:56 left in the second quarter. Lawrence was running in an attempt to gain a first during a third down play. With Kelly Bryant leaving the team earlier this week, Chase Brice is the new quarterback for the Tigers. ESPN reported Lawrence will not return against Syracuse, but did not specify the injury. ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported the Clemson staff has taken away Lawrence’s helmet and the team walked him back to the locker room. Lawrence briefly went back to the offensive huddle on the sideline, before the staff walked him back to the locker room. There are few details on the injury, but from the highlights, it would make sense if Lawrence was being evaluated for a potential concussion. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney jokingly asked the media earlier this week if anyone had eligibility, but if Lawrence is forced to miss extended time the coach may need some more bodies. “Any of y’all got any quarterback eligibility?” Swinney told The State. “When we were finishing up our team meeting today, I’ve never had so many people come up to me and tell me what a great quarterback they were in high school, or middle school or whatever,” Swinney said. “So lots of volunteers to make sure I knew what a tight spiral they threw and what a good 95-pound quarterback they were back in the day. So it seems to be we have lots of options based on the team meeting.” Chase Brice Took Over as Quarterback & Wide Receiver Hunter Renfrow Is the Backup Quarterback With Brice as Clemson’s new quarterback, this means wide receiver Hunter Renfrow is now the Tigers backup quarterback. Clemson has been decimated by quarterback transfers over the last year. Hunter Johnson, Zerrick Cooper and now Bryant have all transferred from the program since Trevor Lawrence arrived. “Renfrow nation,” Swinney told The State. “We’ll get a plan for Renfrow. He obviously knows everything. But we’ve got to knock the rust off. He really hasn’t been back there ballhandling and all of that. But he’s a quick study and we’ll get him up to speed.” Earlier this week, Swinney reiterated he was confident in Brice’s ability who became the new backup quarterback with Bryant’s exit. Swinney sees some similarities with a former great Packers quarterback. “Moxie. Winner. Big arm. Great athlete. He was a big-time baseball player, too,” Swinney told the Post and Courier. “And if you just watch his tape, he’s a little Brett Favre-ish, you know? I don’t want to compare him to Brett Favre. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying he’s a little unorthodox sometimes and he’s just got this moxie to him, man. He just finds a way. He’s tough.” READ NEXT: Clemson QB Depth Chart: Trevor Lawrence & Chase Brice Lead Shallow Group<doc-sep>
Chase Brice shows up when the Tigers need him most Eric Jackson by Correspondent - CLEMSON - The departure of Kelly Bryant left the Clemson quarterback room thin. People around the nation were wondering what the Tigers would do if star quarterback Trevor Lawrence got injured, and Saturday we figured out. Lawrence went down with a head injury in the first half, leaving the offense in the hands of redshirt freshman Chase Brice. “I was prepared. When I went in, everyone just rallied around me. It is amazing what you can do when people say they believe in you,” Brice said. Brice had played minimal snaps this year before the Tigers showdown against the Syracuse Orange. Most of his playing time came at the end of games when Clemson was leading by more than 20 points, which is usually when coach Swinney puts in the backups. Saturday was a whole new story for the new second string QB, who entered the game when the Tigers were losing 16-7. The offense struggled for most of the game and it seemed Clemson was on the verge of another upset loss. But Brice made two crucial plays in the fourth quarter that helped lift the No. 3 Clemson Tigers over Syracuse. The first play was on 4th-and-6 with about two minutes left to go in the game. Brice dropped back and threw a perfectly placed ball to wide receiver Tee Higgins which kept Clemson in business. “(The offensive line) created a perfect pocket for me and all I had to do was deliver the ball to Tee and he would do the rest,” Brice said. Another key play was Brice’s run, which looked almost similar to Travis Etienne. Brice refused to go down on his way to a 17-yard gain to set up the Tigers in the red zone. Those two plays were just a part of Clemson’s 94-yard touchdown drive, which lifted them to victory. Brice was confident that his offense could drive the ball downfield and put the Tigers ahead and they did just that. “(We just had) to keep on doing what we were doing in the second half,” Brice said. “We were gashing them running the ball and they couldn’t stop it. (The coaches) trusted in me to make some plays. We just ran it down their throats and made a couple plays.” While the status of Lawrence is up in the air, the Tigers now know they have a backup who can get the job done in Brice. Today he showed the toughness needed to lead this team to more success. This was a huge team win for Clemson. It will be interesting to see how this win translates to next week on the road against Wake Forest.