CLEMSON — Clemson football will face a true freshman quarterback in its first conference game Saturday.

NC State coach Dave Doeren announced Monday during his weekly Zoom press conference quarterback CJ Bailey will start over Grayson McCall, who exited with an injury in the Wolfpack's comeback victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Doeren said McCall is "day to day" with an undisclosed injury, and Bailey will make his first career start against the No. 19-ranked Tigers (1-1) on Saturday (noon ET, ABC) at Memorial Stadium.

Bailey led an 11-point comeback to lift NC State (2-1) to a 30-20 victory over the Bulldogs. He went 13-of-20 for 156 yards and a rushing touchdown in his second game of action. Quarterback Lex Thomas will be his backup.

Bailey replaces McCall, a Coastal Carolina transfer who won Sun Belt Conference player of the year three times. The sixth-year player has completed 67% of his throws this season for 476 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

This will be the 92nd all-time meeting between the programs and their first conference game this season. The Wolfpack defeated Clemson 24-17 in their most recent matchup last year at Carter-Finley Stadium and have won two of the past three games. The Tigers lead the all-time series 60-30-1.

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Tigers facing freshman QB on Saturday vs NC State