Saturday’s performance against South Carolina was not D.J. Uiagalelei’s best performance. The sophomore quarterback completed just 9 of 19 passes for a season-low 99 yards and threw an interception.
Those are numbers, in today’s college football, that usually signify a loss. However, that was not the case as No. 23 Clemson overpowered rival South Carolina, 30-0, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. But don’t think Uiagalelei played bad because he did not.
Granted, he threw a couple of bad passes, like most quarterbacks do during the course of game. But also remember, three of his passes were dropped and a South Carolina defender did a good job of breaking up another pass.
Now, I am not trying to defend Uiagalelei’s play this season. He has not always played well this year, and he will tell you the same thing. He has not played to his standard.
However, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound quarterback deserves some credit. He has been out there giving his all for his team and the Clemson fans. Let us not forget, he has played the last four games of the season hurt.
Against Louisville on Nov. 6, Uiagalelei suffered a PCL injury in his left knee. Though banged up, he slipped on a knee brace and rallied the Tigers to victory. He even scored the game-winning touchdown, an 8-yard touchdown run where he hobbled into the end zone standing up.
Since then, Uiagalelei has played through the pain. And he has done it both throwing and running the ball. His performance against the Gamecocks might not rank up there with Deshaun Watson’s 2014 performance, but nonetheless it was a gutty effort.
It was Uiagalelei’s 22-yard run on third-and-11 from the Clemson 49 that set the tone in Clemson’s 30-0 win. Despite his bum knee, the Inland Empire, California native took off running when things broke down and rumbled down field, even cutting once to make a would-be-tackler miss.
The 22-yard run moved the football to the USC 29. On the next play, Will Shipley ran the football off the right side for a touchdown, capping a 73-yard scoring drive on the game’s first possession.
Uiagalelei finished the night with 33 rushing yards. Though he did not put-up huge numbers against the Gamecocks, he did something more. He showed leadership.
When his teammates see him out there playing hurt and making plays on an injured knee, it makes them play hard. It makes them want to play hard for him and help him as much as they can.
We have seen that from the Clemson offense the last four games. Despite all the injuries, despite a starting lineup that has just one senior and two juniors playing, they have come together and have gotten the job done.
Though the Tigers will not have a shot to defend their ACC Championship this year, and though they will not advance to the College Football Playoff for a seventh straight year, they did prove something down in Columbia this past Saturday. They came together as a team, and they finished the regular season with a five-game winning streak.
“It showed the determination and the heart of our team,” Uiagalelei said following the win over South Carolina. “It showed the heart of this team. We have a do-not-quit attitude. We have come out each and every week and played hard and kept our mind right. It showed the heart of our team.”
And though it was not pretty all the time, the Tigers got the job done, while taking the lead from their quarterback.
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