Look: Clemson Just Benched QB D.J. Uiagalelei
Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei entered this season with high expectations, in large part because he played well in relief of Trevor Lawrence last year. Clearly, the sophomore signal-caller hasn’t lived up to the hype this season, and moments ago, Dabo Swinney reached his breaking point.
Immediately after Uiagalelei’s shovel pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Pitt during today’s game, Swinney benched him. Prior to being benched, he completed 11-of-23 passes for 101 yards and two interceptions.
Former four-star recruit Taisun Phommachanh is now under center for Clemson. It’s way too early to tell if this will be a permanent quarterback change for the Tigers.
Dabo Swinney pulled DJ Uiagalelei after the shovel pass pick six. He is 11-of-23 for 101 yards and two picks.
That means Vegas' top 2 preseason Heisman favorites have now been benched.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 23, 2021
This afternoon’s performance from Uiagalelei continued what has been an unfortunate theme for Clemson’s offense this season. The reality is Swinney’s offense just isn’t very good this year.
Coming into this game, Uiagalelei had just 974 passing yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Now, he has more interceptions than touchdown passes this season.
If the Tigers are going to mount a comeback against the Panthers this afternoon, they’ll need Phommachanh to revitalize their passing game. That’s a tall task for a player who had just 39 career pass attempts entering this weekend.
College football fans can catch the rest of the Clemson-Pitt game on ESPN.
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