Top-ranked Clemson turns to freshman quarterback
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney always planned for talented freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei to take over for Trevor Lawrence — just not this weekend against Boston College.
That’s the situation for the top-ranked Tigers, however, after Lawrence tested positive for COVID-19 as announced Thursday night. The junior star is out today against the Eagles ( 4-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), and his status for Clemson’s next game, against No. 4 Notre Dame on Nov. 7, is unclear because Lawrence must sit out at least 10 days.
So ready or not, Uiagalelei ( oo- ee- AHN- ga- leh- lay) gets the chance to show his skills as Clemson’s starter.
Uiagalelei was a highly rated passer — ranked the No. 2 overall college prospect by Rivals. com — and is expected to be the next standout Clemson quarterback. Swinney hopes Uiagalelei has the kind of success as a Tiger enjoyed by Deshaun Watson, now with the Houston Texans, and Lawrence, who is the leading Heisman Trophy candidate and the likely top pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
The 6- foot- 4, 250- pound Uiagalelei is from Inland Empire, California, near Los Angeles. He enrolled in January and went through nine spring practices before the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports in mid-March. He has shown a big arm and a power running game in five appearances, mostly after Lawrence and the Tigers ( 6- 0, 5-0) have had victories in hand.
“I just want to be mentally prepared and do my job,” Uiagalelei said earlier this month. “Just to get live bullets and get playing time. It’s just super cool.”
He’ll get plenty of playing time now, sooner than even he exepcted.
Uiagalelei had scholarship offers from a host of national powers, including Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State. He picked the Tigers, he said, partly because of Lawrence and the chance to shadow him for a season.
“Just to see what makes him great,” Uiagalelei said. “Seeing every day the way he works, the different sacrifices he makes on the football field, off the football field and how he organizes his time. There are a lot of things I take from him to try and be as great a player as he is.”
In addition to Lawrence’s talent, part of what makes him great are the skills of those around him — including another Heisman candidate in running back Travis Etiennne — and that should also help Uiagalelei. Etienne, the two-time reigning ACC player of the year, has 522 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
Uiagalelei missed the Georgia Tech game two weeks ago with a bruised shoulder. He returned last week against Syracuse, completing one of his three passes in the final quarter.
After Uiagalelei is last year’s backup, redshirt freshman Taisun Phommachanh (PUMAchon),
from Bridgeport, Connecticut. Phommachanh played in three games last year.
The only quarterback on Clemson’s roster to throw a touchdown pass other than Lawrence is walk-on Hunter Helms, a fourth-string player who had two touchdown tosses in the 73-7 blowout at Georgia Tech.
Lawrence has been exceptional this season, when he has thrown for an ACC-leading 1,833 yards and 17 touchdowns with only two interceptions, and he is 31-1 as a starter in college, with his lone loss coming to LSU in the national championship game this past January.
Swinney and Lawrence said the quarterback from Cartersville, Georgia, has mild symptoms from the virus and has isolated since first feeling ill. Swinney said no other players are in danger of catching the virus due to contact with Lawrence. The Tigers were to test again Friday ( part of a thrice- a- week regimen), and any players positive will be on the unavailable list against Boston College.
The 10-day isolation, if counted back from Wednesday’s testing session, would end in time for Lawrence to play against Notre Dame but limit his preparation for the Fighting Irish. Of course, it looked like Alabama coach Nick Saban would miss his team’s game with Georgia earlier this month after a positive test, but three negative tests and three days later, Saban was on the sideline for a 41-24 victory.
On Tuesday, Lawrence said the Tigers had done well to stay safe amid the ongoing pandemic.
“We do a good job here staying our social distance, six feet, in our meeting rooms wearing masks, all those things to where we’re not close contacts, we’re not around each other, so we couldn’t transmit the virus,” Lawrence said.
The hardest part, Lawrence wrote in a statement posted to Twitter on Thursday, would be missing a game with his teammates. He said he’ll be watching and rooting for the Tigers “while I wait for the opportunity to rejoin the team.”