Tag: DJ Uiagalelei

DJ Uiagalelei Discusses Facing Clemson as Florida State’s New Starting Quarterback in 2024

DJ Uiagalelei recently discussed what it will be like facing Clemson as Florida State’s new starting quarterback.

Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program will take on a familiar face in the 2024 season when they play against one of their top rivals.

Former Clemson and Oregon State starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei transferred to Florida State this offseason, becoming the Seminoles’ new starting quarterback. From a three-year start for the Tigers to the Seminoles starter under center, things can change fast in modern college football.

Uiagalelei met with the media recently, his first time since joining the Florida State football program. During this time, he touched on what facing the Tigers will feel like.

“I think yeah [it will be weird], because that’s somewhere I played at,” the former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback said. “That was my first place I played at. That’s the place I graduated from. A lot of my friends are still on the team, a lot of the coaches I still know, and I still have a lot of love for Clemson, and they did nothing but—it was an amazing time I had at Clemson.

“Granted, my journey ended up taking me somewhere else, but I loved my time at Clemson. Coach Swinney is an amazing coach. All the guys there were great. Every single staff member there was great, and I loved it. I graduated. My best friends still play there. I still talk to them to this day. Like, my brothers are still on that team. When that time comes, it’ll definitely be different.”

Leading Oregon State to an 8-4 season in 2023, Uiagalelei completed 180 of 315 passes for 2,638 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. During his career at Clemson, from 2020-22, he completed 515-of-861 passes (59.8 percent) for 5,681 yards with 36 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in 1,913 snaps over 36 games (28 starts).

Former Tigers rank high on ESPN’s transfer portal rankings

Former Tigers were some of the top players in the transfer portal.

The transfer portal has become a massive piece of what college football is today and it is something that no team can avoid. Whether you’re as big of a program as an Alabama or as small as an Akron (sorry, Akron), the portal will effect your team in one way or another.

For the Clemson football program, it is far less about what they bring in and ultimately about what they lose. The Tigers are one of the least active transfer portal teams in college football, but that doesn’t mean they don’t lose players to it. We’ve seen some great players depart in the transfer portal, with more coming this season.

ESPN recently ranked the top 75 transfer portal players ($$$), with multiple former Tigers making the list. Here is each of those Tigers and what writer Tom VanHaaren had to say about them.

Former Notre Dame quarterback foe headed to Florida State

Hand him another L at ND Stadium?

Notre Dame will have the chance to do something to an opposing quarterback that likely has never been done in the program’s long history: Beat him three times at Notre Dame Stadium.

Former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback [autotag]DJ Uiagalelei[/autotag] entered the transfer portal right after the 2023 regular season. On New Year’s Day, he announced he will join the Florida State program.

Uiagaleilei played at Clemson from 2020-2022 before transferring to Oregon State this past year.  Notre Dame beat Uiageleilei in 2020 when he started in place of Trevor Lawrence, who was out with COVID. He returned as Clemson’s starter in 2022 when the Irish beat him again. He was no longer a part of Oregon State’s roster when Notre Dame beat the Beavers in the Sun Bowl.

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Notre Dame will have a chance to hand Uiagaleilei another loss on Nov. 9 when it plays host to Florida State.

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DJ Uiagalelei leaves the Pac-12 and returns to the ACC

D.J. Uiagalelei is transferring out of Oregon State and going to Florida State.

The story of D.J. Uiagalelei has taken another fascinating turn. The Southern California product who chased his college football dream at Clemson quickly tired of Dabo Swinney. He went to Corvallis — a most unlikely place — to play for Jonathan Smith at Oregon State. The move wasn’t a disaster, but it wasn’t a towering success, either. Moreover, with Smith leaving for Michigan State due to the death of the Pac-12 as a conference, Uiagalelei felt he needed another fresh start.

You might be surprised by the school which was willing to take a chance on him.

Clemson’s rival, Florida State, wanted Uiagalelei. Now the Seminoles have the quarterback, who has committed to the ACC school. It’s an amazing plot twist, given that a high-profile quarterback is now landing on the opposite side of a fierce and highly consequential conference rivalry. When Clemson and Florida State meet in 2024, it will be appointment television for this reason alone.

Oregon State, meanwhile, is left to consider how it will re-construct its quarterback room in 2024. The Beavers lost Uiagalelei to Florida State. They lost Aidan Chiles to Michigan State and the aforementioned Jonathan Smith. They have some decisions to make.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Social media reacts: DJ Uiagalelei transfers to Florida State

Former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei is heading back to the ACC.

After a one-year stint at Oregon State, former Clemson quarterback is back on the move again, this time transferring to Florida State, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Monday.

Uiagalelei transferred to Oregon State in December 2022 after three seasons at Clemson, the latter two of which he was the starting signal-caller for the Tigers.

In his one year as a Beaver, the former five-star recruit completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 2,638 yards, 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for 219 yards and six scores on the ground. Prior to Monday’s decision, Uiagalelei was deciding between staying in college or declaring for April’s NFL draft.

With the move, Uiagalelei will play for the Seminoles, one of Clemson’s biggest rivals in the ACC, in his last season in college football. The Tigers will travel to the Seminoles in the 2024 season in what will be the first meeting between Uiagalelei and Clemson since he left the program.

Here’s how people on X reacted to Uiagalelei transferring to Florida State.

Former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei commits to Florida State

Former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei is transferring to play football at Florida State.

A former Clemson quarterback is transferring back to the ACC to play for one of the Tigers’ biggest rivals.

According to reports from Pete Thamel, former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has confirmed that he will be transferring to Florida State to continue his football career. Major news for Clemson, FSU, and the ACC: Uiagalelei makes a return to the conference and will face his former team next season.

Leading Oregon State to an 8-4 season in 2023, Uiagalelei completed 180 of 315 passes for 2,638 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. During his career at Clemson, from 2020-22, he completed 515-of-861 passes (59.8 percent) for 5,681 yards with 36 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in 1,913 snaps over 36 games (28 starts).

The 2024 ACC season will be a wild one after this news.

What the experts are predicting: Sun Bowl

What’s your pick for this game?

Notre Dame and Oregon State will face each other in a Sun Bowl that already is giving a real boost to the economy of El Paso, Texas. The least these teams can do is give the locals a thriller in a sold-out stadium. With so many regulars on both sides missing, that might happen purely on accident. This will be a must-watch.

There are plentiful predictions for this game. Here are some of them:

Matayo Uiagalelei breaks down viral postgame meeting with DJ Uiagalelei after Civil War

Oregon Ducks freshman Matayo Uiagalelei breaks down the special moment he shared with his brother DJ Uiagalelei after the Civil War.

In the moments after the Oregon Ducks closed out a Civil War victory over the Oregon State Beavers earlier this season, something took place on the field that touched a lot of fans from both programs.

Though there is often a lot of bad blood that comes with this rivalry, a relationship that goes far deeper than football came to the forefront.

Brothers Matayo Uiagalelei, a freshman edge-rusher for Oregon, and DJ Uiagalelei, the starting QB for Oregon State, met at midfield and shared a moment together. The two hugged, got on one knee, and prayed together for a couple of minutes. All of the game-planning, preparation, and intensity of the matchup went out the window, and the two were left there, sharing in a moment that meant more than anything.

That wasn’t the first big moment in the game. Not too long before that, Matayo found his way into the backfield and pushed his blocker into DJ, officially recording a sack. For the younger sibling, that’s a moment he’s dreamed of for a long time.

“I used to joke about it growing up, like if there was one goal that I had in football, it was going to be to sack my brother,” Matayo said on Tuesday afternoon.

In all, Matayo said that the entire day was special, and looking back he can appreciate the opportunity for what it was.

“I try not to think about it because I don’t want to put my personal goals first,” Matayo said. “But you can’t really not think about it. Like, we’re on the field and I’m seeing him warm up thinking ‘I’m really about to play my brother.’ I don’t think I’ve ever been that excited to play the game.”

The two are very close, and talk constantly throughout each and every week. That was no different in the days leading up to the Civil War, which is something that Matayo said he eventually had to temper.

“We were talking a little bit in the beginning of the week, and then I was just juggling like ‘Alright, stop texting me, I don’t want to talk to you no more.'”

Though the conversation may have died down, big brother did get a final word in before the game started.

“He texted me right before the game and said that he wanted to pray after,” Matayo said. “Stuff like that just kind of shows me what kind of person my brother is, and just helps me to look up to him.”

It led to one of the more touching moments of the season for either player, and for their dad, Big Dave, who was watching from the stands.

“I think I’m one of the luckiest dads,” Dave told me back in November. “I mean, any father would just dream for this, you know, so I’m just totally grateful and thankful.”

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Former Clemson quarterback set to visit Florida State this weekend

The Seminoles are hosting a former Clemson quarterback this weekend as they search for their next QB.

Former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has reentered the transfer portal after one season at Oregon State and is set to visit an ACC rival in Florida State.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports, Uiagalelei is taking an official visit to FSU this weekend as they search for their next quarterback. Uiagalelei back in the ACC would be interesting, especially considering that this destination would arguably be the top one in the conference.

“DJ Uiagalelei is taking an official visit to Florida State this weekend,” Thamel said. “The former Oregon State and Clemson quarterback is one of the top remaining quarterback targets in the NCAA transfer portal.”

Uiagalelei led the Beavers to an 8-4 record this season, throwing for 2,638 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions, adding 6 touchdowns on the ground. This weekend will be a huge one for FSU and the ACC.

Two ACC schools are the top suitors for DJ Uiagalelei, per reports

According to reports from Pete Thamel, former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei’s two top suitors are in the ACC.

Former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has reentered the transfer portal after one season at Oregon State, and early reports indicate that two ACC schools are the top suitors for the transfer quarterback. 

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports, Florida State and Louisville have emerged as Uiagalelei’s top suitors. He discussed this Tuesday on College Football Live, talking about multiple transfer portal quarterbacks, including Uiagalelei.

“As for DJ Uiagalelei, we could see a return to the ACC,” Thamel said. “Two schools have emerged as his top suitors are: Florida State and Louisville. He has no visits set. Mississippi State has also shown some interest. But DJU could be making a cross-country trip back to the Atlantic. He obviously started at Clemson, thrived last year at Oregon State, has one more year of eligibility left, and he’s one of the top quarterbacks available in this portal.”

Interesting news from Thamel: could Uiagalelei end up back in the ACC? This is a situation to monitor closely.