How Clemson’s DJ Uiagelelei showed commitment to improving — inside an empty stadium
Long after the packed stands of Memorial Stadium had emptied and the clock struck midnight on Sunday, Clemson sophomore quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was back on the field.
Dressed in a gray T-shirt with his “Big 5inco” chain bouncing and wearing orange basketball shorts, the Southern California native was tossing around the football. Uiagalelei had just been on the field for 29 minutes, 41 seconds of a 3-hour, 31-minute football game that ended with the Tigers handing Boston College a 19-13 loss.
Following the game, he told reporters he wanted to work on his pocket presence, footwork, discipline and eyes, all of which he did a few moments later. After answering questions from the media for about eight minutes, Uiagalelei went back to the field and practiced dropping back, rolling to either side of the field, short passes and deep passes, throwing to a Tigers student assistant on both ends of the field. He took an occasional break to check his phone before throwing some more.
The voluntary, extra workout lasted for the better part of 30 minutes before he headed out with a final “I love you!” shout-out from a lingering fan to send him off.
Uiagalelei didn’t play a perfect game against Boston College, which suffered its first loss of the season — far from it. When the Tigers were trying to run out the clock in the fourth quarter, Uiagalelei had to take a sack on third down with about two minutes left in the game.
There were some improvements, though. He went 13-for-28 throwing for a 46% completion rate with 207 yards while also totaling 50 yards on 12 carries. The Tigers eclipsed 400 total yards of offense for the second time this season.
Clemson entered Saturday’s game ranked No. 121 of 130 teams nationally in total offense with 295.5 yards per game. Those offensive woes have put Uiagaelei and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott on the hot seat of public opinion. For as much as the former has gone through growing pains, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney assures the process for Uiagalelei is still unfolding.
“It’s the same guy that threw for almost 500 yards against Notre Dame last year,” Swinney said. “It’s in there, just gotta keep rolling.”
The “when” that most are asking about has yet to be determined, but Uiagalelei is committed to doing what he can to make things happen sooner than later.
“To be a quarterback, you’ve got to have intensity, just be able to lock in,” he said after the game. “You can’t worry about anything that’s around you. Just be able to lock in through the play.”
Locking in was probably a little easier early Sunday morning when no one was around. His passing may not always be where it should, but the commitment level was on full display in the early part of the morning at an empty Death Valley.
Clemson enters the open week with a 3-2 record before playing at Syracuse on Oct. 15.
“I think every game, I’m going to keep getting better,” he said. “We’ve just got to continue to stay locked in, stay the course, stay the journey. Just continue with God’s plan, His path for us, continue trusting that plan He has for me, and we’ll be all right.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How Clemson’s DJ Uiagelelei showed commitment to improving — inside an empty stadium."
