Last season for Clemson quarterback [autotag]D.J. Uiagalelei[/autotag] was absolutely dreadful. He threw more interceptions than touchdowns and the Tigers watched Wake Forest take their spot in the ACC title game. Clemson had participated in the annual conference title game in each season since 2015.
In the offseason, the California native went to work down in Texas to improve his game and it looked to be paying off. However, you never really know how well until the games begin. Fortunately for Clemson, the work paid off. The Tigers are 7-0 and hold a lead in the Atlantic Division over Syracuse, who they will face on Saturday.
For now, we will keep the focus on the Clemson starting quarterback. I broke down his stats on third down over the last two seasons, as well as his play in the red zone.
Uiagalelei’s 3rd down stats:
| Year | Games | Comp | Att | Comp % | Yards | YPA | TD-INT | Sacks |
| 2021 | 13 | 44 | 101 | 43.6 | 672 | 6.7 | 4-2 | 12 |
| 2022 | 7 | 37 | 59 | 62.7 | 624 | 10.6 | 4-0 | 7 |
Uiagalelei has also vastly improved when running the football on third down. He carried the ball 33 times for 22 yards in 2021 which breaks down to 0.7 yards per carry. Uiagalelei didn’t have a single rushing touchdown on third down last season. This year that number has jumped to 3.8 yards per carry and one rushing touchdown.
Uiagalelei on 3rd down & 6+:
| Year | Games | Comp | Att | Comp % | Yards | YPA | TD-INT | Sacks |
| 2021 | 13 | 32 | 73 | 43.8 | 552 | 7.6 | 4-1 | 9 |
| 2022 | 7 | 26 | 43 | 60.5 | 436 | 10.1 | 4-0 | 5 |
The former five-star quarterback has really improved even from last year and it has been a welcomed sight for Dabo Swinney and the offense. The offseason work in Texas seems to have paid off in a big way for Clemson.
Uiagalelei in the Red Zone:
This season Clemson is 100% in terms of scoring once they reach the red zone, the only ACC team to score at every opportunity. They also rank second in the ACC behind North Carolina with 74.3% of those scores coming on touchdown plays. Last year the team was 11th in Red Zone conversions at 63.04%.
Red Zone Numbers
| Year | Games | Comp | Att | Comp % | Yards | YPA | TD-INT | Sacks |
| 2021 | 13 | 13 | 33 | 39.4 | 118 | 3.6 | 5-0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 7 | 16 | 26 | 61.5 | 130 | 5.0 | 10-0 | 3 |
The Clemson quarterback also has four rushing touchdowns in the red zone as compared to that same number in 2021.
Goal-to-go situations
| Year | Games | Comp | Att | Comp % | Yards | YPA | TD-INT | Sacks |
| 2021 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 27.3 | 21 | 1.9 | 2-0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 88.9 | 37 | 4.1 | 6-0 | 0 |
As D.J. Uiagalelei goes, so do the Clemson Tigers. They will be back on the field defending Death Valley against the No. 14 Syracuse Orange on Saturday.
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