Following fifth-ranked Clemson’s 27-21 win over then-No. 14 Syracuse on Saturday at Death Valley, several ACC analysts weighed in on the Tigers’ quarterback situation during The ACC Huddle on ACC Network.
Eric Mac Lain, EJ Manuel, Mark Richt and Eddie Royal all gave their thoughts on Clemson’s quarterback switch in the second half.
Dabo Swinney, of course, made the decision to remove struggling starter DJ Uiagalelei late in the third quarter and replace him with true freshman Cade Klubnik, who provided a spark for the Tigers’ offense in their comeback victory over the Orange.
Despite benching Uiagalelei, Swinney backed him following the game, saying he remains the Tigers’ starter and the team’s leader.
“The biggest and the toughest football decision that a head coach has to make is do you change your quarterback or not?” said Richt, the former Miami and Georgia head coach. “Now, he’s in the middle of the game saying, who’s going to give me my best shot at winning at this moment? … So, he did it. Now after the game and he’s looking down the future of the season, who gives us the best shot at continuing to win? DJ, and he made that decision. So, I don’t disagree with what he did.”
Prior to being replaced by Klubnik on Clemson’s fourth drive of the third quarter, Uiagalelei had just thrown his second interception of the game on the Tigers’ previous possession. He also turned the ball over on a fumble that was returned 90 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Klubnik, the former five-star prospect from Austin, Texas, went just 2-of-4 passing for 19 yards in relief of Uiagalelei but helped ignite Clemson’s offense while doing his part to rally the team from an 11-point deficit in the come-from-behind win.
Mac Lain, the former Clemson and All-ACC offensive lineman, was asked if he was surprised the Tigers opted to sit Uiagalelei down in favor of Klubnik.
“I wasn’t just because of the situation, because there were five turnovers where half of them were his fault, where he just wasn’t controlling the game,” Mac Lain said. “You’ve got to do something. That’s for your season. You have to make a decision, what’s the best thing that we can do to win this, and they felt like that was a quarterback change. I think at the end of the day when you win the game, it’s a great decision. If Cade would’ve came in and turned the ball over or would’ve done something to put that in jeopardy, then you’re like man, why’d you do that. Or on the reverse side, if he comes in and lights it up for 200 and a couple of touchdowns, you’re like OK, maybe that’s the guy.
“But I think he managed the game enough. There was enough spark, there was enough energy and excitement to where everybody else rallied around him to where that decision was made. I love that Coach Swinney brought it up and he said, ‘DJ’s our guy.’ He just had to take a seat and take a breather, and that’s why the change was made.”
Contrary to Mac Lain, Royal — the former Virginia Tech standout and longtime NFL wide receiver — was “shocked” by Uiagalelei getting pulled from the game.
“I was shocked because we all talked about why DJ was playing well was his confidence, and when you get sat down, you get benched essentially and then you see the next guy come in and have success and win the game, that’s going to hurt your confidence,” Royal said. “So going into next week or whenever it is, after the bye week, it’s like we talked about – you’ve got to almost be perfect because you’re looking over your shoulder. So, confidence is everything for DJ, and that’s going to take a hit.”
“If I’m DJ, I’m boiling inside because I want to be out there helping my team win instead of sitting on the sideline,” Royal added. “Like, you’ve got to understand what he’s feeling as well. So, Dabo’s going to have to have some talks with DJ, a little sit-down and talk about what happened.”
Manuel, the former Florida State and NFL quarterback, was surprised that Uiagalelei got taken out as well and said he would have left the junior signal-caller in.
“If I’m Coach Swinney in that situation, that’s my starting quarterback, so I probably would’ve kept trying to make some plays, maybe make some adjustments offensively with plays that we’re calling, try to audible a little bit, run the ball more with Will Shipley,” he said. “Because again, Cade Klubnik didn’t do anything different that DJ wouldn’t have done. So to me, I would’ve still kept DJ in the game, but that’s just me.”
Manuel wonders how what went down on Saturday with Uiagalelei and Klubnik will impact the dynamic in the locker room moving forward.
“The locker room – my other thing is what are the teammates now saying as well?” he said. “Again, I’m not saying the decision was wrong. He (Swinney) can make whatever decision he wants. He’s a champion. But at the end of the day now, the thought process in there as a teammate, well who’s our guy?”
Uiagalelei came into Saturday’s game having thrown just two interceptions over the first seven games this season. Overall, after eight games, the former five-star prospect has completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 1,803 yards and 17 touchdowns with four interceptions, to go with 350 rushing yards and four more scores on the ground.
Klubnik has played in five games this season, completing 9 of 19 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.
Clemson will have an open date next weekend before returning to action on Saturday, Nov. 5 at Notre Dame – where Uiagalelei started as a true freshman in 2020 and threw for a career-high 439 yards with two passing touchdowns while also adding a rushing touchdown.
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.
Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!
