ATLANTA – D.J. Uiagalelei played the first three quarters and change during Clemson’s opening win over Georgia Tech late Monday night. Then Cade Klubnik came on and led the Tigers’ final touchdown drive.
That doesn’t mean there’s a quarterback conundrum at Clemson. At least not yet.
“D.J. is our starting quarterback, and Cade is going to play,” offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said afterward. “It’s fun to watch both of those guys compete.”
Klubnik, the Tigers’ latest blue-chip signee at the position, completed 4 of 6 passes on the lone drive he led, including a 3-yard scoring toss to Will Taylor. Most of those snaps came in garbage time against defenders further down Tech’s depth chart because Uiagalelei’s playing time was uninterrupted.
Uiagalelei finished 19 of 32 passing for 210 yards in the first game of what head coach Dabo Swinney and Streeter have repeatedly said they believe will be a bounceback season for the Tigers’ signal caller. As much as any point last season, Uiagalelei, roughly 30 pounds lighter, was also used often as a runner, proving to be one of the Tigers’ more effective options on the ground.
It was a low bar considering Clemson’s running game struggled to the tune of just 3 yards per carry, but Uiagalelei ran for 41 yards on 13 carries – 19 net yards with sacks included. Two of those carries totaled 21 yards, including a 9-yard score late in the third quarter.
Uiagalelei was far from perfect. Some of those sacks were a result of him holding on to the ball too long. A snap that went through his hands for lost yardage killed the Tigers’ first possession of the game, and a red-zone fumble was another lowlight in a sluggish first half for Uiagalelei and the Tigers’ offense, which had just 140 yards — and scored one of its two first-half touchdowns after a blocked punt set the Tigers up inside Tech’s 10-yard line – through the first two quarters.
Uiagalelei actually had a better completion rate in the first half (11 of 15) than the second (8 of 17), though E.J. Williams and Beaux Collins each had a drop on well-placed balls on the same fourth-quarter possession that didn’t help matters. Uiagalelei also had some of his most explosive plays through the air after halftime, connecting with tight end Davis Allen on passes of 16 and 29 yards, his longest of the night.
“Very pleased,” Streeter said of Uiagalelei’s performance. “We talked about it all week long and today before the game, how we respond as an offense. That’s the name of the game for football. It’s the name of the game for life is being able to respond. He did that.
“A lot of good things. A lot to clean up, but really proud for him as far as how he responded.”
Uiagalelei led scoring drives of 74, 26 and 15 yards to help the Tigers take a 34-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter before giving way to Klubnik, who led the offense 66 yards in 10 plays.
“I was very proud of Cade coming in cold off the bench and executing and doing a really, really good job of that,” Streeter said. “That was kind of exactly what we wanted. We wanted to be able to play D.J. a good bit and be able to go through those first couple of quarters. I think D.J. really can build from some confidence right there. There’s no doubt that Cade is going to continue to improve, and so will D.J.”
Clemson turns its attention to FCS foe Furman on a short week. After that awaits another home date with a Group of Five opponent, Louisiana Tech. Then it’s back on the road for what figures to be the Tigers’ toughest test of the young season at Wake Forest in three weeks.
Things could always change, but both Streeter and head coach Dabo Swinney said Uiagalelei has earned the position that he still holds atop the depth chart.
“Just like we’ve said, it’s no different than when D.J. came in here when Trevor (Lawrence) was the starter,” Swinney said. “We wanted to get D.J. as much opportunity as we can, and we definitely want to get Cade as much opportunity as we can within the flow of the game and within the flow of the season.”
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