Clemson football will ‘evaluate everything’ at quarterback after Notre Dame loss

Two weeks ago, backup quarterback Cade Klubnik led Clemson to a comeback win over Syracuse. But coach Dabo Swinney didn’t waver.

DJ Uiagalelei, he said, was the Tigers’ starter.

After Clemson lost 35-14 at Notre Dame on Saturday, though, Swinney was non-committal when asked about the No. 4 Tigers’ quarterback situation going forward.

“We’ll just evaluate everything,” he said, adding that “it was a lot more than quarterback out there tonight. That simple. I don’t care how your quarterback plays. If you’re not the most physical team, you don’t deserve to win. And we didn’t deserve it tonight.”

Uiagalelei — who got benched in the second half of Clemson’s Oct. 22 win against Syracuse after turning the ball over three times — entered this week as the Tigers’ unquestioned starter for a critical non-conference game against the Fighting Irish.

But similar issues plagued Clemson’s offense for a second straight game. Late in the third quarter, the Tigers were getting shut out and had punted on six of eight offensive possessions. Their other two drives ended with Uiagalelei overthrowing a receiver deep on fourth and 4 from Notre Dame’s 38-yard line and the team running the clock out before halftime.

“DJ didn’t have much of a chance, but there were some things I thought he could’ve done a little bit better,” Swinney said. “We could’ve helped him a little bit more, too. … I thought he held the ball a couple of times and just took a couple of bad sacks when the protection’s there and you’ve got to get rid of the ball. There were just a couple of those plays.”

So, for a second straight game, Clemson turned to Klubnik to “create a little spark,” as Swinney put it. That certainly worked against Syracuse, as the true freshman and former five-star recruit from Texas engineered an 11-point fourth quarter comeback.

Saturday? Far from it. When Klubnik subbed in for Uiagalelei, Clemson was trailing 14-0 and backed up to its own 7-yard line late in the third quarter. After one handoff, Klubnik dropped back for the first, faced immediate pressure … and threw an interception.

Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison made an excellent play to dive under and secure a wobbly Klubnik pass at Clemson’s 14-yard line. Notre Dame scored three plays later to go up 21-0.

“Listen, Cade, he’s trying to make a play,” Swinney said of the interception. “And I hate that (the interception) for him. It was a bad decision, throwing back across your body in their territory and their kid made a good play. He’ll have better days, too.”

Clemson returned to Uiagalelei on the following possession, and he drove the Tigers into Notre Dame territory before getting picked off by Morrison, who returned his second interception of the night 96 yards for a touchdown.

Swinney said the interception down the right sideline was a “miscommunication” between Uiagalelei and intended receiver Joseph Ngata while praising the overall response from Uiagalelei after being benched.

The junior finished 27 of 39 for 191 yards, one touchdown and one interception and led two fourth-quarter scoring drives to help Clemson avoid getting shut out for the first time since 2003.

Uiagalelei didn’t turn the ball over before getting benched, but he did take four sacks and fail to generate a single touchdown or field goal for Clemson’s offense through three quarters. Offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said that was the chief reason for the switch.

“I just think because we weren’t manufacturing any points more than anything else,” Streeter said. “Really, again, just trying to kick-start our offense a little bit. Obviously, we struggled so much so we just wanted to try and see … it worked last week so we wanted to try it again.”

Quarterback play was far from Clemson’s only issue Saturday night. The Tigers whiffed in punt protection, allowing Notre Dame block Aidan Swanson’s first punt of the game and return it for a touchdown, and got gashed for a season-worst 263 rushing yards and 5.6 yards per carry.

Swinney was also overwhelmingly self-critical of his own coaching leading up and during the Notre Dame game, describing the loss as one of his more disappointing in 14 years at Clemson.

But he also knows that Uiagalelei’s struggles — after an excellent midseason stretch that generated him some subtle Heisman Trophy buzz — must be corrected if Clemson’s going to stay in the hunt for a College Football Playoff spot (which, as of Saturday, might be a longshot).

What’s the solution? Though Swinney reiterated Saturday’s loss was on everyone, far from just Uiagalelei, he said Clemson’s still seeking one.

“I thought DJ finished well, which is good to see,” Swinney said. “I hate that that play happened to Cade. And, you know, we’ll see how it goes. Just get back to work and continue to evaluate every day.”