DJ Uiagalelei addresses how he's improved at handling adversity this season

Credit it due to Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei for the start of his 2022 campaign. After last season, he was often dragged and criticized for how he played a year ago, specifically from a turnover standpoint. He has responded by coming out this season taking care of the ball and having the Tigers back in the national conversation.

Uiagalelei talked through his improved reaction to poor play during media on Monday. He says the biggest area of improvement for him has been not getting down on himself after a poor play. Instead, he has listened to his coaches, accepts adversity as it inevitably comes, and goes back out there to play his best.

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“I think it’s (just) a next-play mentality. Coach Swinney talks about it a lot…Definitely wish I had (the pick) back, wish I threw it away, done something different. But you can’t change it. You’ve just got to be able to keep responding,” said Uiagalelei. “The biggest thing Coach Streeter always says is adversity is gonna hit, no matter whatever game you play. Each and every game there’s gonna be some type of adversity you’ve got to face. The biggest thing he wants us to do is to be able to respond to that adversity.”

The interception he was referring to was his second of the season that he through this weekend against Boston College. It happened midway through the first quarter, but Uiagalelei didn’t let it ruin his game. He came back out and finished with 18/31 passing for 220 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-3 win for Clemson.

It’s a goal for a quarterback to value the football and not cost his team possessions. That wasn’t the case for Uiagalelei last year as he threw 10 picks compared to just nine touchdowns all season. It taught him a lesson, though, that has led to his revival this season. With all the pressure on him, he has come out firing this year with no intentions of letting a mistake check him out of the game he’s playing.

“You don’t wanna do too much. You don’t want to press…Interceptions are a part of football. It’s gonna happen. As a quarterback, you don’t want to turn the ball over. Fumbles, interceptions or anything like that. But the reality is you’re eventually going to throw one. Obviously you don’t want to throw them, but it’s going to happen. So the biggest thing is just the way you respond to it,” said Uiagalelei. “When you throw a pick, are you going to come out and throw another one? Or are you gonna come back and throw a perfect ball, throw a strike, and just keep throwing and act like it didn’t happen? that’s the biggest thing.”

Clemson has had all of the pieces to continue to compete with the best in college football. The only problem was the quarterback spot was lackluster to say the least in 2021. With this new, confident version of Uiagalelei, it has brought the Tigers back into the spotlight and into contention. The shift in mindset by Uiagalelei has made all the difference for him and his team and even he knows it.

“I feel like I definitely am better at responding to adversity. I feel like I went through a lot last year and to be able to go through it last year and be able to have a different response this year, it’s kind of understanding if something goes wrong, how do I respond to it? Coming into this year, I had a better understanding of what, if something went wrong, was the better way to respond to it. I feel like I understand it a little bit better this year.”