Streeter says Uiagalelei had a great week of practice, will be ready for Notre Dame

Uiagalelei set several records at Notre Dame two years ago.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Oct 31 17:33:31 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – If Clemson wants to beat Notre Dame in South Bend Saturday, the Tigers won’t need a performance of the ages from quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, but they will need a better one than what they saw his last time out against Syracuse.

No. 5 Clemson takes on Notre Dame Saturday night at 7:30 pm (NBC) in venerable Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish stand 5-3 overall but have won two in a row after a loss to Stanford in mid-October. Clemson was off last week after eight games to open the season.

Uiagalelei set several records against Notre Dame in 2020 when he started in relief of Trevor Lawrence. He completed 29-of-44 passes for a career-high 439 yards with two passing touchdowns. He also ran for another touchdown. Uiagalelei’s 439 passing yards were the third-most in a game in school history. His total broke the school freshman record of 435, set by Deshaun Watson against North Carolina in 2014.

Uiagalelei’s 439 passing yards were the most ever thrown against Notre Dame by an opposing quarterback, breaking the mark of 425 held by USC’s Carson Palmer in 2002, and his 439 passing yards were the most ever for a Clemson quarterback against an AP top-5 team.

Against Syracuse 10 days ago, Uiagalelei threw two interceptions and had a costly fumble before being relieved by Cade Klubnik in the third quarter. Klubnik helped lead the Tigers to a comeback win over the Orange.

Streeter told the media Monday that he thinks Uiagalelei has had a good open date.

"He had a great week of practice, just bounced back like I thought he was going to do. Excited for him to get back out there Saturday,” Streeter said. “He's been in that environment before. Obviously it was during COVID so it wasn't a full fanbase. But he knows what to expect. He had a really good week. Didn't skip a beat at all."

Streeter said Uiagalelei got his confidence back.

"Really, it's just a mindset. It really is. It's all about a mindset and how you flush things and move forward and gain that confidence back,” he said. “And he did that last week, no question about it. Excited about how he has responded. He's got his confidence back, there's no doubt about it.

"My message to him is just to keep it simple. Be in attack mode all the time. That's not just the message for him, but for the offense as well. That helps you with that confidence."

Streeter said the open date was good for the offense in general.

"Wanted to address the turnovers and did a few more ball security drills to make sure it's emphasized,” he said. “That was the main thing. And then everyone getting better individually. Having guys set goals and three or five things they were going to do to get better.

"I had opportunities to meet with the guys and talk about their goals. Each of those guys wrote them down and attacked them well."