Swinney says DJ Uiagalelei is starter: 'He's a long way away from why we lost the game'

DJ Uiagalelei struggled against South Carolina.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Nov 27 17:08:16 GMT-04:00 2022

Dabo Swinney was succinct on the ACC Championship conference call Sunday, saying without hesitation that quarterback DJ Uiagalelei will start for Clemson when the Tigers take on North Carolina on Saturday.

Uiagalelei struggled in Saturday’s rivalry loss to South Carolina. He went 8-of-29 passing for 99 yards, with just 13 of those yards coming in the second half. Completions down the field were almost non-existent, and the lone explosive play (59 yards to Beaux Collins in the first half) was more of a catch-and-run.

On Sunday’s teleconference to preview this weekend’s ACC Championship, Swinney was asked the plan for the quarterbacks this week.

“Are you telling me DJ is the reason we lost the game?” Swinney asked. When he was told no, the media member then said that he asking to know the plan for the quarterbacks and if Uiagalelei was still the starter.

"Yeah, he's still the starter," Swinney said. "He's not the reason we lost the game (to South Carolina). He can't catch it. Again, he doesn't play safety. He doesn't return kicks. He's got his share of things he can do better but he will definitely start the game."

Swinney said there were many reasons why the passing game struggled.

"It was a combination of a lot of things. One time early had (Jake) Briningstool wide open and we get hit,” Swinney said. “Did not do a great job of protecting on that play. Missed Antonio Williams open. Then we hit him and dropped it. Other critical drops and mis-plays. Turnovers and you're out of rhythm. It's a recipe for getting beat.

"DJ would like some plays back, but he's a long way away from why we lost the game. He doesn't return kicks or play safety or catch the ball."

Swinney was then asked about backup quarterback Cade Klubnik’s progression this season.

"Doing good. Doing really good,” Swinney said of Klubnik.

When he was asked the reasons for the struggles at wide receiver -- and he said the loss of Beaux Collins (to injury in the first half) hurt, he wouldn’t use that as an excuse.

"(South Carolina) did a good job on multiple occasions. Several times where we won, but dropped it or the protection let us down,” Swinney said. "Beaux’s injury was certainly a loss, but definitely not our best day."

He also said that he wishes they would have gotten the ball to running back Will Shipley more in the fourth quarter.

"The play call just didn't go to him. Missed some plays that killed more sequence of plays and opportunities there,” Swinney said. “Hindsight is 20/20 for sure, but wish we could have gone back and re-done some things."