Dabo Swinney says there were 'a lot of people' who wanted DJ Uiagalelei to fail |
Clemson head coach
Dabo Swinney says people were pulling for quarterback
DJ Uiagalelei to fail, and that makes the success the Tigers’ signal-caller has had this season even more special. But he also says that Uiagalelei has to go out and prove it every week.
The junior quarterback had his best game of the season Saturday in the win against Wake Forest, recording 371 yards and five touchdowns. He now has 10 touchdowns against just one interception on the season, and Swinney said it was easy to stick with his quarterback, even when there were loud voices that advocated a change. "I just know his heart, his talent and I know what he is capable of doing. It's a lonely spot to be in when you get all the blame and criticism,” Swinney said on his Sunday evening teleconference. “Some of it is warranted but a lot of it is not. How he handled things ... he handled it so well. He just went to work. No one had more eyes on him than himself.” Swinney said there were people out there who wanted Uiagalelei to fail. "To be honest, I think there were a lot of people out there pulling for him to fail. I know how talented he is and what he can do,” Swinney said. “I feel like people attacked the player and not the play. It's really sad but that's the state of the world we live in. He has to prove it every week, but I'm just so happy for him to have gotten off to a great start. He has found his mojo again, if you will. He knows it's not far from the penthouse to the outhouse. That's for sure. Turn on that tape and watch N.C. State, you get focused quickly." Other notes On the win over Wake Forest “That was a heck of a college football game yesterday. We're reliving it today watching the tape. Both teams competed literally to the last play. You look around the country, you're reminded every week how hard it is to win. That's the first time we've won in overtime on the road since 2009. So it was good to get one of those on the road. A lot of heart and toughness from our guys. You learn a lot about your team and your coaches when you get into a situation like that. This group won't quit. They'll fight. “We made a lot of mistakes, but we beat a really good team. That's a very smart, veteran, team. They're going to be a tough out for every team they play. We made enough mistakes to lose three games. That we won it was a real positive for us. Our best football is in front of us for sure. Wake made a lot of good plays. I didn't think we handled early success well. We rose up when we had to have it. That's a game that will serve us well as we build this team.” On penalties “It's a miracle that we actually won because we had 120 yards in penalties. We had another game where we had 140 yards in penalties, the (2014) Orange Bowl, and we won both of those game.” On the offensive line starters playing all 90 snaps "Oh yeah. They're much improved. We do need to get more guys in there. As the game went on, it was literally living and dying on every play. We were at a point where we had to score, so we went with the best we had. I'm really proud of them. Certainly a lot of things we have to improve on.” Marcus Tate and young OL improvement “Marcus has come a long way from where he was last year, that's for sure. Blake Miller is handling his business and is getting better and better." On Malcolm Greene and injuries “He got banged up in the (La. Tech) game. He pushed through practice but just wasn't able to go. Everybody is back in there today. We have a long week. Hopefully we'll get a lot of guys back this week, but it's just a day to day thing." On if the players can learn from secondary struggles "Nothing good ever comes from easy, I'll tell you that. You hate it but if you're made of the right stuff, you get better from adversity and challenges. Our safeties actually played well. Everything was at corner ... just awful. I mean just really poor. From a technique standpoint, a fundamental standpoint ... poor. These kids work hard and have a lot of pride, so you win a game like that, you have their attention. It's a lonely position to play. We just did not do much well at all there yesterday. They made plays, too. The play on Trenton Simpson ... that was just a great throw and catch. “Now, we didn't do a good enough job of making him uncomfortable throwing. Toriano Pride did some things that were good. I thought that was a tough call ... the defenseless player. He doesn't know the kid is dropping the ball. That was a tough play and a tough call. It changed the momentum there. He's going to get better from that. Jeadyn Lukus was peeking in the backfield and let the guy behind him and that just can't happen. He's a true freshman and he'll get better. For sure. These guys have pride in their performance." Would he do anything different schematically "Yes. We should have protected the corner more. We called a cover-2 one time and the corner busted. They hit a guy in the flat and he went 15 yards. We finally just went to some Tampa-2 and we were in that on the last play. Definitely some things we could have done better. We needed to do some things better up front. We didn't affect the quarterback as well as we needed to." On corner Sheridan Jones' health "There's always concern when you're held out of a game. He seems to be doing well today and hopefully he'll be back this week." #Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on his starting QB DJ Uiagalelei: "After four games if you don't recognize he's special, you're blind." pic.twitter.com/f0z3ju0PF6
Upgrade Your Account
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now
