After three turnovers against Syracuse, D.J. Uiagalelei was sent to the sidelines in the third quarter of the game. However, with a week of rest and recovery, Clemson is preparing for the next task at hand, which is traveling to face Notre Dame this Saturday.
Offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter shared with the media that the quarterback has already moved past what happened against Syracuse and has directed his attention this week toward preparing to face the next opponent.
It wasn’t just Streeter who spoke on Uiagalelei moving past his performance versus Syracuse, but his teammates as well.
Sophomore wide receiver Beaux Collins, who played with Uiagalelei in high school (St. John Bosco), spoke on the signal-caller’s resilience, not just after Syracuse, but throughout the entire time he has known him.
Collins shared that within one day, he saw Uiagalelei already back “in good spirits.”
“After the game, he’ll be a little down on himself, but back when we come in on Monday, even Sundays when I see him, he’s already past it, he’s in good spirits,” he said. “I’m never worried about him, for sure.”
The California native described Uiagalelei as having a high level of self-awareness, which he believes contributes to the effectiveness of his leadership out there on the field. Although Uiagalelei is acutely self-aware, some of that confidence comes from the support of his teammates.
Collins spoke to the fact that the team constantly reminds Uiagalelei that they have his back, which is important especially in the final stretch of the season where confidence is everything.
“It’s a little bit of both for sure,” he said. “It kind of goes to show, D.J., he’s very self-aware and he’s a strong leader for this team, so all we do is let him know we got his back the majority of the time and he takes care of the rest. He comes back the next day ready to work no matter what happens.”
Uiagalelei is looking to repeat his strong 2020 performance at Notre Dame this weekend. Then a freshman, he threw for 439 yards on that occasion and he will look to rival that performance with the confidence of his teammates behind him in South Bend this Saturday.
