After the worst offensive performance of the season in the loss to Notre Dame on Saturday, quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei spoke to the media after the game and offered his take on where the team is in terms of confidence.
The junior signal-caller described his confidence as “sky high” despite having the lowest total yards on offense (281) all season.
“Same confidence I’ve had all season,” he said. “I would rather die with these guys in the offense — my offensive line, my running backs, my tight ends, my receivers, coach (Brandon) Streeter. I would rather die with everyone on the offensive staff. The confidence is sky high. I believe in the offense and we all believe in ourselves. We have a great offense and we have to continue to show that and next week will be a good week.”
Some may question where the quarterback is mentally after being benched late in the third quarter to bring in true freshman Cade Klubnik for one drive, but Uiagalelei insists he was locked in and would do whatever the team needed him to do in that moment.
“The mindset don’t change,” he said. “Whenever we come out of the game, we want to be the biggest supporter I can to my brother Cade. He’s going to be great. It all happens, quarterbacks, we all make mistakes, but he’s going to be a great ball player. Biggest thing I love about Cade is he’s aggressive, he’s a baller. He’s a young player, he’s a freshman, but he’s going to be great. I told him he’s going to have a great career.”
The California native was already trying to shake the loss and emphasized to the media that this loss will test the resilience of the Clemson program. The quarterback referenced the 4-3 start to last season, and in that moment they had to decide the fate of the remainder of the season.
With a loss to Notre Dame, Clemson’s record moves to 8-1, but Uiagalelei insisted that the goals the team set out to accomplish at the beginning of the season still stand and ultimately how the team chooses to respond to this adversity will dictate their fate.
“We have a great team,” he said. “Today sucks, but you have to respond. We got the right makeup of the team that’s going to come back and respond, and that’s what you have to do. At the end of the day, you’re either going to starve or you’re going to go out there and eat, and we have to go out there and eat.”
