Who is Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant’s backup?

CLEMSON, SC - OCTOBER 07: Linebacker Grant Dawson
CLEMSON, SC - OCTOBER 07: Linebacker Grant Dawson /
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Clemson had to finish Saturday’s game without starter Kelly Bryant, so who is their backup quarterback?

Heading into this season, Kelly Bryant became Clemson’s starting quarterback and earned the unenviable task of replacing two-time Heisman Trophy finalist Deshaun Watson. Over the first five-plus games the junior signal caller passed as a reasonable facsimile of Watson, with seven rushing touchdowns and a completion rate over 67 percent.

But during the third quarter of Saturday’s game against Wake Forest, Bryant suffered a left ankle injury and was unable to return to Clemson’s 28-14 victory. He was seen in a walking boot after the game, but head coach Dabo Swinney suggested the injury is “nothing serious.”

Bryant told reporters he’ll be in treatment all week, heading into next Friday’s game against Syracuse. That seems to go against Swinney’s assertion about the severity of the injury, which looked pretty bad.

So heading into a short week, with Bryant’s status up in the air until further notice, who is Clemson’s backup quarterback?

After Bryant left Saturday’s game, redshirt freshman Zerrick Cooper got the first chance under center for Clemson. But he was largely ineffective, going 2-for-6 for 16 yards. So highly-touted true freshman Hunter Johnson came into the game, completing all five of his pass attempts for 42 yards and what wound up looking like a pretty important touchdown as Wake Forest rallied to score the game’s final 14 points.

So if Bryant is unable to practice this week, which looks like a fair assumption at this point, Johnson seems likely to get the majority of the reps with the starters based on his solid performance Saturday. Cooper could also get some first-team reps, with an eye on being ready to play against Syracuse if needed.

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Swinney could have Johnson and Cooper split first-team practice reps evenly all week, with an  idea both will play against the Orange if Bryant can’t go. But if you’re making out a quarterback depth chart for Clemson, Johnson is the easy No. 2 behind Bryant with Cooper coming in as third-string.