Snap judgments as Clemson pulls away for victory over NC State

Clemson didn’t win the ACC for the first time since 2015 last season, but the Tigers took a big step towards starting a new streak with a win Saturday night against NC State.

No. 5 Clemson pulled away for a 30-20 win over the 10th-ranked Wolfpack at Memorial Stadium, avenging last year’s loss in Raleigh.

With the win, Clemson has now knocked off its two biggest contenders in the ACC Atlantic in back-to-back weeks after the Tigers survived against Wake Forest last weekend.

Here are some quick takeaways from the win:

DJ Uiagalelei is for real

It’s one thing to put up impressive stats against Georgia Tech, Louisiana Tech, Furman and Wake Forest, but to do it against one of the best defenses in the country in NC State shows just how much DJ Uiagalelei has improved.

The junior completed 70 percent of his passes, had 282 total yards and three total touchdowns. Uiagalelei is finally playing like the Heisman contender he was supposed to be going into last season.

Clemson defense bounces back

The Clemson defense had one of its worst performances in recent years last week against Wake Forest as Sam Hartman had his way with the Tigers secondary. The Clemson defense looked like a completely different unit against NC State.

The Wolfpack had only 13 points until garbage time when Devin Leary ran in a late touchdown. The defensive line created pressure up front and the young secondary grew up in a hurry after last week’s struggles.

Depth on Clemson defense showed up

The Tigers were banged up going into the game as Bryan Bresee, Sheridan Jones, Xavier Thomas and Malcolm Greene were all out. Clemson also lost Andrew Mukuba to a targeting call in the first half and had other starters come in and out of the game with injuries.

Still, the defense played well, didn’t give up big plays and Clemson earned a huge win over the Wolfpack.