D.J. Uiagalelei didn’t feel right.
On the opening play of Clemson’s first possession of the second quarter of the Tigers’ win at Louisville on Saturday, Clemson’s quarterback handed the ball off to Will Shipley like he’s done countless times this season. As he ran around the end to finish off the play, though, Uiagalelei felt some pain in his right knee. He wasn’t sure why.
“I wasn’t really scared,” Uiagalelei said. “I just thought maybe it’s a bruise or maybe I got it hit on the last drive. That’s kind of what I thought.”
Uiagalelei stayed in the game for three more plays but had a noticeable limp. After lining up as a receiver on backup Taisun Phommachanh’s 26-yard scamper that moved the Tigers into Louisville territory, he bent over in pain before slowly making his way to Clemson’s sideline and into the medical tent, where he was diagnosed with a knee sprain.
But it didn’t keep him out for long.
Fitted with a knee brace, Uiagalelei returned on Clemson’s next possession and capped it with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Davis Allen to draw the Tigers (6-3, 5-2 ACC) even at 17 just before the half. It didn’t affect his ability to throw since the injury was to his non-plant leg, so Uiagalelei played the rest of the game and turned in one of his better overall performances of the season, finishing 18 of 30 passing for a season-high 220 yards with no turnovers.
And with Clemson trailing 24-20 early in the fourth quarter, he hobbled on that bad knee to give the Tigers a lead they didn’t relinquish. After helping move Clemson to the Cardinals’ 8-yard line in eight plays, Uiagalelei pulled the ball down on a designed run and followed his blocking into the end zone, wincing with seemingly every step.
“Couldn’t really do too much or run too much,” Uiagalalei said. “It kind of hurt to run, plant and different stuff like that. But it was OK though. I battled through it.”
Two days later, Uiagalelei said he still feels “a little bit” of pain but added he feels good all things considered. He said he plans to get plenty of treatment and physical therapy to get himself as healthy as possible for Clemson’s non-conference game against UConn on Saturday.
“Knee feels good,” Uiagalelei said Monday. “Ready to go. Everything feels good.”
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he has no plans of resting Uiagalelei this weekend, at least to start the game against the 1-8 Huskies. Clemson has a home game next week against Wake Forest before traveling to South Carolina to end the regular season.
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