Tigers hang on without Lawrence
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
Freshman DJ Uiagalelei threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns in relief of Trevor Lawrence, home with COVID-19, and No. 1 Clemson rallied from 18-points down in the first half to defeat Boston College 34-28 on Saturday.
Travis Etienne became the ACC’s all-time rushing leader and his second TD put the Tigers (7-0, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) ahead for good. A jarring week for Clemson ended with its 28th straight win over league competition, 10th straight over the Eagles and 27th in a row at home.
Clemson was missing several key players. Lawrence was out after testing positive for the virus and starting linebackers James Skalski and Mike Jones Jr. were missing because of injuries.
The Eagles (4-3, 3-3) took advantage, putting Clemson in a 28-10 hole in the second quarter with the virus-reduced crowd stunned.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told his team at halftime, “Don’t flinch.”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been down like this,” he said. “We’re fixing to find out what this team’s made of.”
It’s made of highly talented players ready for the moment like Uiagalelei, who showed why he was a five-star prospect coveted by every college power and the heir apparent once Lawrence leaves for the NFL.
Uiagalelei ran for a 30-yard TD on Clemson’s opening third-quarter drive to begin the comeback, then threw an 8-yard scoring strike to Amari Rodgers that drew the Tigers within 28-26.
Etienne, Clemson’s other Heisman contender, put the Tigers in front for good with a 17-yard touchdown run with 11:34 to go.
The Eagles got the ball back with 1:24 to. But Phil Jurkovec was called for intentional grounding in the end zone for a Tigers’ safety, a fitting end to a second-half shutout by the Clemson defense. Etienne ran for 84 yards, pushing him to 4,644 in his four seasons and past North Carolina State’s Ted Brown (4,602) as the ACC’s all-time leader.
THE QUOTE
“We’re still having additions in our cases, and that’s something we’ve got to get our arms around and control it.”
— Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez in regards to COVID-19 cases rising to 22 within the football program