Dabo Swinney reflects on the week DJ Uiagalelei had, his response

The No. 6 Clemson Tigers on Saturday recovered from a poor Week 1 performance by defeating the South Carolina State Bulldogs with an emphatic, 49-3 final score. And while the opponent certainly wasn’t as strong as the Georgia Bulldogs team that beat Clemson 10-3 in Week 1, it’s a step in the right direction for Clemson, according to head coach Dabo Swinney.

One major storyline in Saturday’s contest was the response of sophomore quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Uiagalelei, like the rest of Swinney’s offense, struggled mightily in their Week 1 loss to Georgia; he completed 19 of 31 pass attempts for just 178 yards, and he failed to throw a touchdown. Instead, Uiagalelei in Week 1 threw an interception — and a costly one, at that. The pick-six late in the third quarter ended up being the game-winning score for the Georgia Bulldogs.

In Clemson’s dominating Week 2 victory, Uiagalelei looked a bit more polished than in Week 1. He completed 14 of 24 passing attempts for 171 yards and a touchdown. However, he did still throw an interception, and as the game got out of hand, Swinney pulled Clemson’s starters and Uiagalelei watched the rest of the game from the sidelines.

“I think this is great experience for him,” Swinney said of Uiagalelei after the win. “Sometimes you learn more from the bad than you do the good. I think we could probably, as adults, all relate to that. [Uiagalelei had] kind of the same [reaction as last week]. He was disappointed in himself. But also, again, how he finished was really good. And how he responded was a bright, bright positive in that game.”

Uiagalelei and the Clemson offense saw no shortage of first-quarter points, as they jumped out to a 28-0 lead before the second quarter even came around. But they staled later in the second quarter, with three consecutive possessions ending with a punt, a Uiagalelei interception and a Michel Dukes fumble. His repsonse, as Swinney noted, was exactly what the Tigers hoped to see: Uiagalelei’s final possession before he was taken out, which came early in the third quarter, resulted in a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive.

“He was dissappointed in how he played, but back to work. Same thing. [Uiagalelei] is very mature beyond his years,” Swinney said. “He gets it. We don’t have anyone in denial around here. We’ve got a bunch of great kids that have good self awareness. And especially when you sit down and you watch things together, and everyone’s kind of on the same page about what we’ve got to do better.

“I think [Uiagalelei’s response] was excellent today.”