Tag: D.J. Uiagalelei

Former Clemson standout comes to defense of Uiagalelei

A former Clemson standout has D.J. Uiagalelei’s back. Former Tiger and current New York Knicks forward Aamir Simms took to social media on Sunday in defense of Clemson’s sophomore quarterback, who went 19-of-37 passing for 178 yards with one …

A former Clemson standout has D.J. Uiagalelei’s back.

Former Tiger and current New York Knicks forward Aamir Simms took to social media on Sunday in defense of Clemson’s sophomore quarterback, who went 19-of-37 passing for 178 yards with one interception and was sacked seven times in the third-ranked Tigers’ 10-3 loss to the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday night in Charlotte.

Simms took exception with Clemson fans who have criticized Uiagalelei’s performance and voiced his opinion on Twitter.

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Swinney: ‘You best believe D.J. will get better’

D.J. Uiagalelei didn’t start the 2021 season how he wanted or had hoped to. Clemson’s star quarterback completed 19-of-37 passes for 178 yards and had a QBR of 36.7 in Saturday’s 10-3 loss to Georgia in Charlotte. The sophomore struggled to get into …

D.J. Uiagalelei didn’t start the 2021 season how he wanted or had hoped to.

Clemson’s star quarterback completed 19-of-37 passes for 178 yards and had a QBR of 36.7 in Saturday’s 10-3 loss to Georgia in Charlotte. The sophomore struggled to get into a rhythm while being sacked seven times, and his lone interception with 2:58 to play in the first half was returned for a 74-yard touchdown which proved to be the difference in the game.

Uiagalelei was the first to admit he played poorly on Saturday night, and Clemson head coach Swinney reiterated during his Zoom conference call with the media Sunday evening he has no doubt Uiagalelei will bounce back from his showing against the Bulldogs.

“You best believe D.J. will get better,” Swinney said. “I promise you, there’s nobody that cares more than that guy, and he knows what he’s got to do. He’s certainly disappointed in how he played, and it’s not reflective of his preparation. You get in games like that early in the season, you hadn’t played in a while, you make a few mistakes. There are going to be a lot of people that look like that against Georgia. That’s a really, really good defense.”

Swinney chalked up Uiagalelei’s subpar performance to a combination of inaccurate throws, missed reads and miscommunication with his receivers.

“It was a combination of all those things, and again, not what we’ve seen in practice,” Swinney said. “We had some missed throws and we had some missed reads and some miscommunication. So, it was a combination of all those things, not just one thing.”

Uiagalelei wasn’t able to get much going with his arm or his legs, though Swinney pointed out he did have a few nice runs, adding that the Tigers should have given him more chances to make plays in the run game.

“We had a couple of nice runs,” Swinney said. “We had a nice draw, had two nice counters with him. But he just needs to be effective, but we didn’t give him enough opportunity, and that’s something else that we could’ve done a better job of. But just need him to be effective, that’s it, and take what’s there. Some of those things we had called where he’s got the option to run it or throw it, and he chose to throw it a couple times and I don’t disagree with his decision. But just need him to be effective.

“But as far as what we need from D.J., we just need good pocket presence and executing the system, good game awareness and make plays with his legs when we need him to.”

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Uiagalelei owned poor performance

CHARLOTTE – D.J. Uiagalelei was the first to admit he played poorly on Saturday night. Clemson struggled offensively in a 10-3 loss to Georgia in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. The Bulldogs held the Tigers to 180 yards of total offense and four yards …

CHARLOTTE – D.J. Uiagalelei was the first to admit he played poorly on Saturday night.

Clemson struggled offensively in a 10-3 loss to Georgia in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. The Bulldogs held the Tigers to 180 yards of total offense and four yards rushing in the contest. They overwhelmed the Tigers at the point of attack with seven sacks of Uiagalelei, tied for the most allowed by a Clemson team.

The sophomore quarterback struggled to get into a flow and his lone interception with 2:58 to play in the contest was returned for a 74-yard touchdown which proved the difference in the game.

“It’s on me, I don’t think I played very good. I didn’t play good at all and I didn’t played good enough to win the ball game today,” Uiagalelei said. “I started playing well later on but I have to start off playing good from the beginning, it’s clear.”

Uiagalelei finished the game 19-of-37 for 178 yards and one interception and could not find a rhythm.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney acknowledged the offense left a lot to be desired. But he has no doubt that Uiagalelei will respond to his poor performance against the Bulldogs.

“He’s a great player, and I promise you, that guy right there will respond,” Swinney said. “He’s disappointed in how we played in the first couple of quarters, but I tell you in the last quarter and a half there, man he was awesome.”

“He did some good really good things, but he took a couple of sacks that you can’t take. So there are a lot of things he’ll see on tape that he’ll improve from.”

Offensive coordinator Tony Elliott felt the blame for the lackluster performance extended to everyone. He also pointed out the inconsistency on third down, Clemson finished the day 6-of-15 on third down attempts.

“It wasn’t just on D.J., there were a couple of situations on some critical third downs where we weren’t on the same page from a quarterback-receiver standpoint,” Elliott said. “And that can cause a guy to start pressing.”

Elliott reiterated that Uiagalelei’s preparation and commitment to the game will lead the young quarterback to bounce back.

“So obviously with his preparation I know he is locked in, I know he wanted to be successful,” Elliott said. “He might not have had the early start but I’m proud of the way he responded down the stretch.”

Clemson’s bad night was highlighted by Ross’ bad play

CHARLOTTE – D.J. Uiagalelei had no issue admitting he had a bad night. The Clemson quarterback owned up to his 19-of-37 performance for 178 yards. He even tried to take blame for the interception, which Georgia safety Chris Smith returned 74 yards …

CHARLOTTE — D.J. Uiagalelei had no issue admitting he had a bad night.

The Clemson quarterback owned up to his 19-of-37 performance for 178 yards. He even tried to take blame for the interception, which Georgia safety Chris Smith returned 74 yards for the game’s only touchdown.

Smith’s interception return was the difference in the third-ranked Tigers’ 10-3 loss to No. 5 Georgia Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

“We had a route there for (Justyn) Ross. He broke in. I put it right there and the DB made a good play on it,” Uiagalelei said after the game. “That was about it. The DB made a really good play on it and took it to the house.”

But that is not the way Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney or offensive coordinator Tony Elliott saw it. They both felt the interception was on Ross because he did not do what he was supposed to on the route.

“It was a situation where we were targeting Ross there and giving him the ability to read leverage,” Elliott said. “If you are going to read leverage and go inside, then you have to make sure you do a good job of protecting the quarterback by crossing any kind of inside leverage in the defender’s face and we did not get across his face. I think the quarterback was trusting his receiver. He delivered the ball, and we did not protect him from a receiver’s standpoint by crossing that guy’s face.

“It was just one of those critical plays that I was talking about that we did not execute at high enough level, and they ended up making a play.”

It was the play of the game. Like Uiagalelei, Ross also had a bad day.

In his first action in 19 months, Ross caught just four passes on 10 targets for 26 yards. It was not the kind of return Ross, nor his coaches, hoped for. The mistake on Smith’s interception was just part of what was not a good day for Ross or the Clemson offense.

“The pick-six was on the receiver. He really was supposed to sit down and turn out,” Swinney said. “It was an option route. He has an option there and he chose to run a slant. If you are going to run the slant, you have to run it off the defender. You have to be flat.

“Anytime a defender beats a receiver off the face on a slant route, that is all on the receiver. He just did not make the right decision and it was a critical play. D.J. gave it all he had. It was an incredible effort to try and go make the tackle. Great play by them and a bad play by us.”

It was just a bad day for the Tigers all around.

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Clemson’s offense falls flat in ‘frustrating’ performance

Clemson’s new offensive era entered the season with promise. Sure, the Tigers had to replace two of the program’s most impactful players on that side of the ball in quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne. But D.J. Uiagalelei …

Clemson’s new offensive era entered the season with promise.

Sure, the Tigers had to replace two of the program’s most impactful players on that side of the ball in quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne. But D.J. Uiagalelei birthed plenty of optimism in his two highly successful spot starts last season, and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was high on the depth and versatility of the backs still left on the roster running behind an offensive line with multiple starters back from a 10-win team a season ago.

All the Tigers’ offense was Saturday, though, was offensive.

No. 2 Clemson got its 2021 campaign started with a dud in its marquee opener against No. 5 Georgia. The Tigers hung around by holding the Bulldogs to just 256 yards and 4.3 yards per play, but Clemson would’ve killed for those numbers in its first game without a touchdown since its Sugar Bowl loss to Alabama in 2018.

The Tigers’ offense looked nothing like the explosive juggernaut the program had become accustomed to with Lawrence at the helm, finishing with one of their worst performances on that side of the ball in the Swinney era. By the time it was over, Clemson had mustered just 180 yards, averaged 3 per snap and scored its fewest points since a 13-3 loss to Georgia Tech in 2007.

“It’s very frustrating,” Swinney said. “And we’ve got a lot of explosive guys. We’ve just got to put it all together. It’s just a tough opener. We could’ve played somebody lesser or whatever and had a bunch of plays and everyone’s excited. But It’s just a tough matchup out of the gate. We just didn’t quite have the consistency, rhythm and timing. We just didn’t play as well as we’re capable of playing.”

Field position didn’t help the Tigers early — Clemson’s averaging starting field position on its first four drives was its own 12-yard line — but where the Tigers were lining up wasn’t the primary issue for most of the night. It was who they were lining up against.

Clemson had no answers for Georgia’s much-ballyhooed defensive line, which plugged running lanes early and often and applied subsequent pressure on Uiagalelei in waves. The Tigers ended the first quarter with minus-5 yards of offense, and it didn’t get much better, particularly on the ground.

Clemson started Matt Bockhorst at center and true freshman Marcus Tate at left guard in Bockhorst’s place. The Tigers also rotated sophomore Paul Tchio in with Tate, but none of the combinations worked against a Georgia defense that’s been the best against the run the last two seasons.

Kobe Pace, Will Shipley and Lyn-J Dixon, who was held out of the first half for what Swinney said was a violation of team rules, combined for just 24 yards on nine carries, and Uiagalelei was sacked seven times, matching the most Clemson has given up in a game since the program began officially keeping the stat in 1981.

Add up all of that backward movement, and it left the Tigers with 2 net rushing yards. It’s the fourth-fewest for Clemson since it started playing football in 1896.

“There’s no question we’ve got to do a better job. And it was tough, tough challenge for us out of the gate,” Swinney said. “We started a true freshman at left guard that’s going to be a good player. There’s going to be some good and bad on tape. We’ve got to do a better job as coaches to put theme in position to be successful as well, but I’m not going to put my head down and write the season off because we lost 10-3 to a top-5 team.”

Taking away the running game allowed Georgia to pin its ears back and get after Uiagalelel. And since there wasn’t much time for routes to develop down the field, the Bulldogs’ secondary squatted on the short throws the Tigers’ young quarterback was often looking to make. There was no better example of that than when Christopher Smith anticipated Justyn Ross’ slant late in the second quarter, stepped in front of the throw and turned it into a 74-yard pick-six that broke a scoreless tie at the time and ultimately stood as the deciding score.

“We were trying to settle D.J. in and just give him some rhythm throws to try and get him under control and back feeling like he has command of the game,” offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “So the biggest thing for us was, the run game, we were trying to establish it, and you take out the sacks, we had 3 yards per carry.

“The biggest thing is when we started to get going, we would have critical penalties or a one-on-one breakdown or a matchup issue that resulted in a sack.”

It was part of a frustrating night for Uiagalelei, who set career-lows in completion percentage (51.3) and passing yards (178) while committing the first turnover in 11 games he’s played for the Tigers. The same could be said for the offense as a whole considering the level it played at last season in helping the Tigers reach their sixth straight College Football Playoff.

Clemson ranked in the top 10 nationally in points, yards and passing offense a season ago. But Saturday’s no-good, very-bad performance against an elite opponent showed the Tigers have miles to go to get back to that level.

“This team will be judged by what we do over the course of the season and the postseason and so forth. Not by what happened tonight in one game,” Swinney said. “Definitely disappointed and definitely a lot of bad on tape and bad that we’ve got to improve from. And we will.”

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Swinney takes responsibility for questionable fourth-down call

While the game’s lone touchdown, which culminated in Christopher Smith returning a D.J. Uiagalelei pass for a touchdown can be viewed as the game’s turning point. Dabo Swinney’s decision to go for it on fourth down can be viewed as the most pivotal …

While the game’s lone touchdown, which culminated in Christopher Smith returning a D.J. Uiagalelei pass for a touchdown can be viewed as the game’s turning point. 

Dabo Swinney’s decision to go for it on fourth down can be viewed as the most pivotal in Georgia’s 10-3 win over Clemson.

Fourth-and-5 from the Georgia 45-yard line.

Clemson had all three timeouts and could have theoretically pinned Georgia inside its own territory. The Bulldogs offense hadn’t done much of anything for the game’s first 55 minutes. Brent Venables’ unit was able to consistently get big stops when called upon.

In his postgame press conference, Swinney talked about Clemson’s inability to make critical plays at critical junctions.

This was one of them. 

Still, Swinney stuck to his guns, and he and his coaching staff’s decision to go for it.

“We felt like we were in a good rhythm,” he said. “We had just missed…we had the third down play and we dropped the ball there.”

Swinney is referring to a pass that Braden Galloway probably should have caught. One that fell incomplete after Lewis Cline knocked it out of the senior tight end’s hands.

They just needed five yards to prolong a six-play, 30-yard drive.

“Just trying to stay aggressive and go win the game,” Swinney added. “We thought we had a good call, but certainly that’s something you can definitely second guess right there. Punt the ball and maybe get it back with a little bit of time to go score.”

D.J. Uiagalelei rolled out to his right, pressure coming down on him, as it had been all game. He looked for his teammate, sophomore receiver E.J. Williams, trying to move the chains during the game’s most important play for the Tigers.

Incomplete.

Turnovers on Downs.

While the play broke down, yet again, Swinney claimed full responsibility. The buck stops at the feet of Clemson’s head coach.

“It didn’t work out, so that’s on me,” he said. “We hit it and it’s a great decision. Those are in-game tough moments, tough decisions. Again, with the rhythm, we had right there and the play call, we felt like we had them a little bit on their heels right there.”

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Georgia D-Line dominates line of scrimmage

CHARLOTTE – Georgia’s defense proved too much for Clemson on Saturday in the season opener at Bank of America Stadium as the Bulldogs bested the Tigers 10-3. Clemson lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2011 when it fell to N.C. State …

CHARLOTTE – Georgia’s defense proved too much for Clemson on Saturday in the season opener at Bank of America Stadium as the Bulldogs bested the Tigers 10-3.

Clemson lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2011 when it fell to N.C. State and South Carolina, the loss broke a 127-game streak.

It marked one of the worst performances in terms of offensive production by a Clemson team. The Tigers rushed for two yards the fourth fewest rushing yards in program history.

It was also the first time since the 2017 Sugar Bowl loss to Alabama that it did not score an offensive touchdown.

The difference in the game proved a defensive touchdown by Georgia when Christopher Smith intercepted a D.J. Uiagalelei pass with 2:58 to play in the first half and returned it 74 yards for a score to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.

Georgia built a 10-0 advantage with a 22 yard field goal by Jack Podlesny with 2:38 to play in the third quarter.

Clemson responded with a 10 play 82-yard drive in 3:48 to cut the deficit to 10-3 with 9:08 remaining in the contest.

On the following drive the Tigers forced Georgia to punt and took over at its own 25 with 7:36 remaining on the clock.

Clemson picked up a first down but stalled out at the Georgia 45 and elected to go for it with 4:49 left. The decision proved fatal for the Tigers as Uiagalelei overthrew E.J. Williams after feeling pressure from Warren Brinson.

The Bulldog’s defensive front showed out in Clemson’s first loss to start a season since 2014. They sacked Uiagalelei seven times for a loss of 46 yards, the total tied the most against the Tigers since Florida State and Virigina hit the same mark in 1997.

Uiagalelei finished the game 19-of-37 for 178 yards and an interception.

Clemson returns to action next Saturday at Death Valley against South Carolina State at 5:00 p.m.

Georgia’s defense a tad better than Clemson’s

CHARLOTTE – Fifth-ranked Georgia entered the halftime locker room with a 7-0 lead over Clemson at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night thanks to outstanding defensive play. The Bulldogs broke gridlock in the scoreless game with 2:58 to play in …

CHARLOTTE – Fifth-ranked Georgia entered the halftime locker room with a 7-0 lead over Clemson at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night thanks to outstanding defensive play.

The Bulldogs broke gridlock in the scoreless game with 2:58 to play in the half with a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown by Christopher Smith.

Georgia held the Tigers to 90 yards of total offense and one yard on 10 rushing attempts. Clemson matched the defensive intensity holding the Bulldogs to 110 total yards in the opening half.

In the first quarter, the Bulldogs pinned Clemson deep in its own territory with drives that started at its own 10, its own 2 and its most favorable start at its own 20-yard line.

Georgia took full advantage of the tough field position and swarmed the Tigers with a pair of sacks in the first fifteen minutes and three in the half.

Georgia got an opportunity to score with a 12 play 44-yard drive at the end of the first quarter and set up a 36-yard field goal attempt for Jack Podlensy that was missed and gave the ball back to the Tigers with 14:19 to play in the second quarter.

Then with less than three minutes remaining in the quarter, after Georgia muffed a punt and gave the Tigers the ball at midfield, Smith jumped in front of Justyn Ross to intercept D.J. Uiagalelei’s pass and return it for a 74 touchdown to give Georgia a 7-0 lead.

Clemson finished the first half 2-for-8 on third down as it struggled to find momentum offensively. And Uiagalelei finished 10-of-20 for 89 yards and an interception.

Swinney joins the ESPN College GameDay set: ‘This is big boy football’

This is big boy football. Dabo Swinney joined the set of ESPN’s College GameDay ahead of Clemson’s marquee matchup against Georgia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte (NC.) at 7:30 p.m. Swinney talked about D.J. Uiagalelei and Justyn Ross, but …

This is big boy football.

Dabo Swinney joined the set of ESPN’s College GameDay ahead of Clemson’s marquee matchup against Georgia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte (NC.) at 7:30 p.m.

Swinney talked about D.J. Uiagalelei and Justyn Ross, but first, he touched on the great crowd that surrounded the set in Charlotte’s Romare Bearden Park.

“This is what we missed was the roar of the crowd,” Swinney said. “It’s what we missed. We’re thankful we got to play last year, but man, there’s nothing like the roar of the crowd of college football…This is what it’s all about.”

Kirk Herbstreit asked Swinney about the Tigers’ rich history under center and what he wants to see out of Uiagalelei. Clemson was able to replace Tajh Boyd with Deshaun Watson, and then shortly after came Trevor Lawrence and so on and so forth. Now, it’s Uiagalelei time.

“I just want to see what I’ve seen on the practice field and see him play with great confidence,” Swinney said of Clemson’s starting quarterback. “He’s unbelievable. He’s put the work in, as well as the preparation. And just executing within the system, don’t try to do too much. It’s one of those games where you may try to do too much from time to time, especially as a young player. Trust the players around him and then respond.

“It’s been a long time since we played football and this is big boy football. This is heavyweight. There’s gonna be some adversity. So, respond in a positive way and respond to success too. I think both of those things are very important for a young guy getting going.”

Talking about responding to adversity, Desmond Howard made sure to bring up Ross’s name. 

He’ll be back in the fold for the Clemson Tigers after missing all of the 2020 season due to a congenital spinal issue that required surgery in June of 2020. Ross was cleared to play full contact football by his doctors this past June and was given the green light by Clemson University just prior to the start of fall camp.

“That’s asking if I can reincarnate C.J. Spiller today and put him back in the backfield,” Swinney said in response to Howard’s question regarding Ross. “He’s just a special football player. He just makes everything better. He’s just a matchup problem. He’s incredibly competitive. He’s special as a player. So, that’s what he brings to the game, but then it’s who he is as a person. It’s what he brings to the locker room. It’s that edge he brings from a personality standpoint. And then it’s what he’s been through. It’s toughness. It’s the living, breathing example of perseverance. What it looks like. You want to know what it looks like? Look at that guy.”

Swinney reiterated that Ross brings so much more to the table than being a very good football player. His joyfulness and competitive edge are infectious. He’s certainly a leader in that locker room and someone younger players look upon.

Speaking of the reincarnation of Spiller, Rece Davis mentioned Will Shipley as a possible candidate. Swinney couldn’t help but crack a smile.

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Uiagalelei prides himself on being ‘unpredictable’

As a part of a feature story that was previously recorded on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, Clemson fans and College Football fans around the country alike got to know D.J. Uiagalelei a bit better. ESPN’s Jen Lada interviewed Uiagalelei, spoke …

As a part of a feature story that was previously recorded on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, Clemson fans and College Football fans around the country alike got to know D.J. Uiagalelei a bit better.

ESPN’s Jen Lada interviewed Uiagalelei, spoke with his mother at length and also sat down with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.

“He’s got attributes of all the great ones I’ve been around,” Swinney said. “Love of the game. Love of preparation. Football I.Q. Character. Leadership. But, I’ve never had one 6-5, 250.”

That’s what makes him special, but also different.

As Lada states, Uiagalelei prides himself on being “unpredictable.”

Hailing from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower (Calif.), Uiagalelei opted to commit to a program in Clemson that’s over 2,000 miles away from home.

“I like to be different,” Uiagalelei said. “I like to be unique. When everyone’s going right, I’ll probably go left.”

Saturday’s marquee matchup against Georgia will not be Uiagalelei’s first career start. Though, Swinney claimed that he could’ve been the starting quarterback for at least 126 programs around the country.

Instead, he chose to sit behind Trevor Lawrence and learn. Uiagalelei got to see some unexpected playing time last season and made the most of his opportunity when Lawrence wound up being sidelined for two games after a bout with COVID-19.

“He really wanted to work with Trevor for a year and that just shows you why and how he thinks,” Swinney said.

In two starts against Notre Dame and Boston College, Uiagalelei completed 77 of 117 passes (66.7%) with 914 passing yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

What would it mean for Uiagalelei to have his name become a household one?

“That would be a cool accomplishment to have,” he said. “For people to know your last name like ‘Dang, that’s D.J. with the cool last name: Uiagalelei.’ It would be amazing.”

He’ll have that chance under the bright lights on Saturday night against Georgia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte (NC.) at 7:30 p.m.

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