Quarterbacks draw rave reviews in Clemson’s first spring scrimmage

Clemson closed out the first half of its spring football season with a scrimmage Wednesday at the team’s indoor practice facility, where D.J. Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik each drew praise from their coaches for their performance.

Uiagalelei, the incumbent at the position, continued what, by all accounts, has been a strong spring for the rising junior. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said last week Uiagalelei had one of his best practices since he’s been in the Tigers’ program, praising his slimmed-down quarterback’s decision-making, accuracy and command of the offense.

Swinney didn’t offer up any statistics from the scrimmage, which was closed to the media. But he said Wednesday was more of the same for Uiagalelei.

“Outstanding,” said Swinney, whose team will take off next week for spring break before resuming practices March 28. “He had another really, really good day. Really proud of him. Made some big plays. Managed the game. Took care of the ball. Good decisions. Very accurate. That’s kind of what we’ve seen every day.”

Offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said he saw signs of big-play ability from Clemson’s offense, a glaring omission last season when the Tigers finished near the bottom of the ACC in most offensive statistical categories. There were some explosive runs, but Streeter said touch and accuracy was also on display from his quarterbacks more often than not through the air.

“I felt like throwing the ball down the field, guys were making some plays,” Streeter said.

Swinney said he’s been pleased with the quarterback room as a whole, which includes former walk-ons Hunter Helms and Billy Wiles. But when it comes to who might be able to realistically push Uiagalelei for the starting job, all eyes have been focused on five-star signee Cade Klubnik, who’s going through spring ball as a mid-year enrollee.

Streeter said Klubnik hasn’t made a big enough push through nine practices to call it an open competition, but Swinney said the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder “took a step” during Wednesday’s scrimmage.

“Just growing in his confidence,” Swinney said of Klubnik. “The game is slowing down a little bit. Made some big plays and some nice throws. A very accurate guy. Got a great presence to him.”

Streeter said he hasn’t been surprised by the quick strides Klubnik has made mentally while getting up to speed at the college level.

“He’s a very smart kid,” Streeter said. “It’s always a big test for these young guys that come in here mid-year. They come in here for a month and a half of school and then, bam, it’s spring practice. So it’s a lot of being overwhelmed early on, and he’s handled it very, very well. He’s done a great job of working hard to learn it from the other quarterbacks.”