D.J. Uiagalelei benched in Clemson win, stays starter

CLEMSON, S.C. — Dabo Swinney made a change at quarterback that helped spark a 27-21 come-from-behind win towards Syracuse, however afterward, he insisted D.J. Uiagalelei stays Clemson’s beginning QB.

“DJ’s our quarterback,” Swinney instructed ESPN’s Molly McGrath after the sport. “That is our our man. That is our quarterback.”

Down 21-10 halfway by way of the third quarter, Uiagalelei threw his second interception of the day — his third turnover total — however Syracuse was unable to show it into factors. On the Tigers’ ensuing drive, Swinney turned to true freshman Cade Klubnik in hopes of igniting Clemson’s struggling offense.

Klubnik threw simply two passes on the drive — finishing one for 18 yards — however an unsightly private foul on Syracuse linebacker Marlow Wax for hitting Klubnik as he scampered out of bounds on a third-and-25 play prolonged the drive, and Phil Mafah punched in a 1-yard rating.

Klubnik remained within the sport and Clemson scored on two of its subsequent three drives — a 50-yard Will Shipley run and a 44-yard area objective — to finish the comeback.

For the sport, Klubnik was 2-of-4 passing for 19 yards to go along with 15 yards speeding.

After a powerful scoring drive to shut out Clemson’s win over Georgia Tech within the opener, Klubnik is simply 5-of-13 passing in restricted motion.

Uiagalelei struggled badly final season, however Swinney spent all the offseason defending his QB, insisting he was Clemson’s starter. Uiagalelei responded with a powerful begin to the 2022 season, and he had simply two interceptions (with 17 TD passes) getting into Saturday’s sport, main Swinney to routinely criticize followers and media who had speculated a few QB change.

“All people had their prognostications on when [Uiagalelei] would not be the starter anymore,” Swinney mentioned simply days earlier than benching the QB. “Folks love to try this sort of stuff. It is embarrassing, actually. However that is the world we stay in.”

Clemson moved to 8-0 with the win over Syracuse and all however wrapped up the ACC Atlantic Division. The Tigers have an off week upcoming earlier than heading to Notre Dame on Nov. 5.