Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
QB, defense buoy Clemson
Uiagalelei accounts for three TDS; No. 5 Tigers top No. 10 N.C. State
CLEMSON, S.C. — D.J. Uiagalelei played well as he has all season to power No. 5 Clemson’s offense. The Tigers’ defense finally looked like the stellar group it was projected to be.
The result was Clemson’s most complete game of the season: a 30-20 win over 10th-ranked North Carolina State on Saturday.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
“That was a great thing to see on both sides of the ball,” fifth-year defensive end K.J. Henry said.
Uiagalelei ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third as Clemson (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Wolfpack (4-1, 0-1) for the ninth time in 10 seasons.
The Tigers won their ACC record-tying 37th straight at home and 11th in row overall, and they cleared a path back to league title game they won annually from 2015 through 2020.
Clemson followed its 51-45 overtime victory at No. 22 Wake Forest last week by shutting down N.C. State in the second half to hold division tiebreakers over the two teams many figured would be the most likely to knock the Tigers out of title contention for a second straight year.
Instead, Clemson once more looked like the class of the league.
“We did a great job tonight,” said Uiagalelei, who threw for 209 yards and ran for a team-high 73 yards. “I thought we did a great job in execution, a great job taking what the defense gave us.”
Uiagalelei was front and center at the game’s most critical stretch. After Wolfpack quarterback Devin Leary connected with tight end Ced Seabrough on the game’s first TD for a 10-6 lead less than two minutes before the half, Uiagalelei led a 75-yard drive he ended by stretching the ball over the goal line to send Clemson into the break ahead instead of behind.
When the Tigers stuffed Leary with two sacks to start the third quarter, Uiagalelei cashed in with a 7-yard pass to tight end Jake Briningstool for a 20-10 lead.
“I thought D.J. was in total command of what we were doing,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.
Clemson’s defense did the rest, holding the potent Wolfpack to a field goal over the first 29 minutes in building a 17-point lead. The Tigers also picked off Leary and recovered a fumble when N.C. State went for it on 4th-and-13.
“Lost the turnover margin, lost the line of scrimmage, you don’t win many games like that,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said.
Clemson, which hasn’t lost at home since November 2016, matched Florida State’s ACC mark of 37 straight at home set from 1992 to 2001. The Tigers’ 11 in a row since last season is the Football Bowl Subdivision’s longest active run.
“We’re definitely not there yet,” Henry said. “But I can say the mindset for four quarters definitely showed up tonight.”
Clemson also holds tiebreakers in the division over the Demon Deacons and Wolfpack.
Leary was 28 of 47 passing for 245 yards and an interception. He also rushed for a 4-yard TD with less than a minute left as the Wolfpack finished with their fewest points this season.
■ Georgia Tech 26, No. 24 Pittsburgh 21: At Pittsburgh, linebacker Charlie Thomas recovered a fumble and had an interception to set up two of Gavin Edwards’ five field goals for the Yellow Jackets (2-3, 1-1 ACC), who made interim coach Brent Key a winner in his debut.
Kedon Slovis threw for 305 yards and three TDS for the Panthers (3-2, 0-1), with two of the scores coming in the final two minutes. Hassan Hall ran for 157 yards for Georgia Tech, including a 63-yard burst that set up quarterback Jeff Sims’ 18-yard TD run with 1:25 left.
The victory snapped a nine-game losing streak to FBS opponents by the Yellow Jackets, the last five by a combined score of 210-20, including a 27-10 setback to Central Florida last weekend that cost coach Geoff Collins and athletic director Todd Stansbury their jobs.
Mountain West
■ San Jose State 33, Wyoming 16: At Laramie, Wyo., Chevan Cordeiro passed for 314 yards and a TD and ran for two scores for the Spartans (3-1, 1-0), who had a 456-253 edge in yards of offense. Kairee Robinson ran for 102 yards and a TD on 20 carries for SJSU. Andrew Peasley was 6 of 20 passing for 85 yards and two TDS and ran for 74 yards on seven carries for the Cowboys (3-3, 1-1).