Uiagalelei, Offense Head to Wake Forest with Lots of Confidence

With each week, Clemson’s quarterback gets better.

Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY Sports

CLEMSON, S.C. — It has been well documented how difficult last season was for Clemson’s offense. But as the season wore on there were signs, despite all the inconsistencies and injuries, the Tigers were getting better.

Never did that show up more than in last year’s 48-27 victory over then No. 12 Wake Forest. Led by running backs Kobe Pace and Will Shipley, the Tigers ran for 332 yards and had 542 overall in what was the unit’s best performance of the season.

As fifth-ranked Clemson gets set to take on No. 21 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Saturday, it appears the offense is again building in confidence at the right time. The Tigers racked up a season-high 521 yards in a 48-20 win over Louisiana Tech in Week 3, and they can take solace in the fact they did have success against the Demon Deacons last year.

“I don’t think you throw it out. I think you do have confidence, but you do not want to go too much on last season,” quarterback DJ Uiagalelei said. “You want to be able to build confidence through this season.”

Uiagalelei’s confidence is definitely building in 2022. The Clemson quarterback has thrown for 662 yards the first three weeks, while completing 64.8 percent of his passes. He has already thrown five touchdown passes after just throwing nine all of last year.

“I am just going to continue to keep playing confident and just play free out there each and every game,” Uiagalelei said. “I just want to get better each and every week. I feel like the biggest thing is I have been trying to be prepared throughout the week. From Monday through Friday, film, practice, throwing and I just want to help lead to the field on Saturdays.

“I feel like if I keep preparing the way I have been preparing each and every week, then hopefully, I will get better each and every week.”

Besides throwing the football much better, Uiagalelei has also made big strides as a running threat in Clemson’s offense. Due to injuries and the fact he was not as light, he was a non-threat in the running game last year.

But in the off-season, Uiagalelei dropped nearly 30 pounds and added a dimension in the run game Clemson never really had in 2021.

“It makes (the offense) a lot more versatile,” Uiagalelei said. “I feel like, in our offense, for it to be successful, the quarterback has to run.”

Against Louisiana Tech, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound quarterback ran for 62 yards on nine carries. Uiagalelei is currently second on the Clemson team with 117 yards. He is averaging 4.3 yards per carry.

“I know people have said that over the years and in the past. So, I know my biggest thing is, whenever I do need to run the ball, I want to be able to run it well,” he said. “I want to be able to get as many yards as I can and be elusive and be able to be a threat on the ground for the defense.

“That takes a big load off the running backs and makes it a lot easier for them to run the ball. It makes the hole a lot wider. I feel like it makes it a lot easier on the offensive linemen as well, and also the passing game.”

And as result, the Clemson offense is averaging 41.3 points and 425 yards a game of total offense.

“I feel like we have done a really good job of leading up to this Wake Forest game these last three games. I feel like we have a lot of confidence coming into this game,” Uiagalelei said. “We just have to continue to keep getting better and continue to keep doing what we are doing.”

The Clemson at Wake Forest game will kick off at noon on Saturday. The game will be televised by ABC.

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