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Associated Press

Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper took his snaps in Sunday's practice as the second-team quarterback for the first time since December of 2006.

CLEMSON — Tyler Grisham did not truly believe what he saw scroll across the screen on ESPN’s bottom line Friday evening.

So the Clemson wide receiver dialed up tight ends coach Billy Napier and asked him was it true. Was Willy Korn really named the starter for Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech?

“He said it was true. He said they made the change because the offense needed a spark,” Grisham recalled following Sunday night’s practice.

So Grisham along with fellow offensive seniors Aaron Kelly and James Davis went to work Sunday with a redshirt freshman at quarterback, while the team’s senior captain – Cullen Harper – took snaps with the second unit. It was the first time since December of 2006, other than some preseason scrimmages and a handful of situational drills, someone other than Harper was running the first-team offense.

“Me and Cullen have a great relationship. I told him to keep his head up and to keep working hard because you never know what will happen,” Kelly said.

That’s exactly the way Korn won the job.

"I have been preparing week in and week out since I got here that I was going to be the starter so it is kind of different knowing that I'm going to play, I'm going to start," Korn said. "Last week and the weeks before, I prepared as if I was going to be play, but in the back of your head you don't know if you're going to play or not. It's a good feeling knowing that I will be able to show all of my hard work this week."

When the season started seven weeks ago, no one could have envisioned the circumstances that have taken place at Clemson. A preseason No. 9 team and the overwhelming pick to win the ACC Championship, the Tigers (3-3, 1-2 ACC) season started off rocky thanks to a 34-10 thrashing at the hands of now No. 2 Alabama.

It was in that game fans and some in the media began to wonder about the health of Harper, in particular his throwing shoulder. In that game he fluttered passes and did not look as sharp as he did the year before. Some questioned whether Harper, who will not be available to talk to the media until Tuesday, was fully recovered from the surgery he had after last year’s South Carolina game. It did not help matters that he hurt his left shoulder against Alabama.

Even though Clemson bounced back to win its next three games, Harper still didn’t appear to be his old self. Though his numbers weren’t bad, it was obvious, even to the casual football fan, that the Clemson offense wasn’t doing the same things in the passing game that it did the year before.

“I don’t want people thinking that everything that has happened to this offense is because of Cullen because it is not,” center Thomas Austin said. “This is just a thing coaches think needed to be made to bring a spark to the offense and change up the dimensions a little bit.

“We trust their judgment and trust that it will work for the best.”

It really can’t get any worse. Since rolling up 17 points and 260 yards of offense in the first half of the Maryland game, the Tigers have managed just 310 yards and seven points in the last six quarters, which led directly to the disappointing home loss to the Terps and then last Thursday’s ugly 12-7 loss to Wake Forest.

“We need a spark right now,” Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said. “Like I said the other day, (Willy) is a little more mobile and gives us more options.”

Korn’s mobility will definitely help with an offensive line that is banged up. Left guard Cory Lambert is likely to miss Saturday's game with a foot injury, while right guard Mason Cloy is questionable with a sprained knee. It doesn't appear guard David Smith will be available either. He has missed the last two games with a badly sprained ankle he suffered in the S.C. State game last month.

"This really doesn’t have much to do with Cullen. This has to do with the fact we have so many injuries on the offensive line," Korn said. "Coming into the season we had an inexperienced line, but added with these injuries, we just needed a more mobile guy at quarterback and I just kind of fit that."

The Tigers lost Lambert and Cloy by the midway point of the second quarter last week against Wake Forest. Their status for Saturday’s game will not be officially released until Monday evening, per ACC rules.

“(Korn) definitely changes some things up and brings a different dimension to the offense,” Austin said. “It will be interesting to see how it plays out.”

Indeed it will.