After Chase Brice pulled off his latest heroics last Saturday – lifting Appalachian State to a miraculous 32-28 victory over Troy with a 53-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass on the game’s final play – Dabo Swinney had a message for the former Clemson quarterback.
“I called him and said he and I need to go to Vegas, like, right now,” Swinney said this week. “Man, unbelievable. Unbelievable. His comment was ‘winners win,’ and I loved it.”
Clemson’s head coach believes that comment perfectly sums up Brice, who of course is fondly remembered by Tiger fans for stepping up during the 2018 national championship campaign, relieving an injured Trevor Lawrence in a 27-23 come-from-behind victory against Syracuse to preserve what would become a perfect 15-0 campaign.
“That’s Chase to the core, man. He’s a winner,” Swinney said. “I’m really happy for him, really proud of him. He’s a great young man and has just become a great leader for (App State). You can just see everybody around him, they all believe in him. He’s just one of those guys that finds a way, he finds a way. That’s who he is. I love that guy, man. He’s a good one.”
After playing for Clemson from 2017-19 and graduating in May 2020, Brice transferred to Duke, where he threw for 2,170 yards while passing for 10 touchdowns in 11 starts during the 2020 season.
Since transferring to App State before the 2021 season, Brice has led the Mountaineers to a 12-5 record in 17 games as their starting quarterback while starting all 14 games at quarterback last season and the first three this season.
Last season, he was named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and earned All-Sun Belt third team honors after finishing the season with 27 touchdown passes (tied for the Sun Belt lead), 238.4 passing yards per game (No. 3 in the Sun Belt), a 62.1 completion percentage (No. 3 in the Sun Belt), a 151.1 rating (No. 3 in the Sun Belt) and 8.6 yards per pass attempt (No. 2 in the Sun Belt).
In 2021, Brice set App State’s single-season record for passing yards with a league-leading 3,337 to break the previous school record of 3,291 set by Armanti Edwards.
A week prior to his Hail Mary against Troy, Brice and the Mountaineers pulled off a major upset, defeating then-No. 6 Texas A&M on the road on Sept. 10 by a score of 17-14.
As someone who knows Brice very well, his former quarterbacks coach, Clemson’s Brandon Streeter, said this week that he’s “so proud” of him.
“He’s been an awesome kid. I love that guy,” Streeter said. “We had a great relationship when we were here, and I’m just happy that he’s happy. He’s doing some really, really good stuff. He’s at a great program with App State, and man, it was exciting to watch. I saw the replay of that last play, the Hail Mary play, and it’s really a great teaching moment for a lot of programs out there, how important that last play is and why you work it every single week.
“But just to see him succeed like he’s doing has been really, really special. And then not just this week but last week against Texas A&M, being able to come out on top. I’m just excited for him and his journey. Everybody’s got a different journey and his journey is paying off, and it really comes down to him putting in the work and being positive throughout the whole journey.”
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.
Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!
