Clemson Football: D.J. Uiagalelei looked like vet ahead of Notre Dame

Clemson football quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei looked composed in his first start. A big plus heading into a prime time matchup versus Notre Dame.

Last Saturday, it looked like Clemson football might snap its 27-game winning streak in the ACC. The No. 1 Tigers found themselves down 28-13 at half to Boston College, and despite the solid, first-half play from true freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, it didn’t seem to be their day.

A porous first-half defense and a fumble down at the goal line that was returned for a BC touchdown looked to break Clemson. The young quarterback rose above with the tremendous supporting cast around him.

In the first quarter, he hit the short-to-intermediate routes well. He zoomed in quick outs to the sideline, found Travis Etienne in the flat, on the hot route, while he was under pressure for a score and delivered most throws where they had to be. He was decisive too, making snap decisions and launching darts at his receivers (Video Courtesy of zzLIAMzz11).

The team asked more of him from there. Uiagalelei began to stretch the field a bit with his NFL-level arm in the second. He rarely put the ball in harm’s way but still delivered high difficulty throws with tremendous velocity.

He had the guts to pull the ball on a fourth-and-one on the zone read and race 30 yards for another touchdown to cut the Boston College lead to 28-20. Then, he let loose a perfect deep ball to Etienne, before finally tossing a great back-shoulder touchdown throw to Amari Rodgers to continue the comeback.

Etienne completed the comeback with a 17-yard romp to give Clemson a lead it would never relinquish. Every time the Boston College defense threw something at him or a tough situation arose, Uiagalelei answered with poise beyond his age.

Head coach Dabo Swinney’s confidence is clearly extremely high. In his first start, Uiagalelei went 31-of-41 for 342 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and added 25 yards and another score on six carries. He was responsible for 47 plays and the offense was unbalanced. He trusted Uiagalelei to carry the day, and he did.

Clemson football will need those exact same skills he displayed more than ever this week in South Bend. The No. 1 Tigers travel to play the undefeated No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Trevor Lawrence is still out with COVID-19, meaning Uiagalelei will make his second career start.

He’s got the hopes of an undefeated season on his shoulders. Last week, he proved he could carry the weight when the odds were stacked against him, but Boston College is far from the level that the Irish are on. He’ll need to continue to do what he did against BC: avoid turnovers, make quick decisions and stay composed in what’s going to be a prime time matchup.