D.J. Continues to Show Who He Is; Owns Mistakes, Ready to Respond
When things don't go right, for many people, the natural tendency is to deflect, pass the blame. However that was not the case with Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei.
Even though the interception that led to the game-winning pick-six was on the receiver and he was sacked seven times—some of which were on the offensive line, running backs and receivers—his first reaction was to face the media and shoulder not some of the blame, but all of it.
“For me, It starts off with the quarterback,” Uiaglelei said. “As the quarterback, as the leader on the team, as the leader of the offense, I didn’t play very well. Off of that, a lot of people that feed off the quarterback playing well, they’re most likely the offensive line. Everyone else is going to rally around the quarterback. When the quarterback’s not playing well, it’s really hard to rally around (him)…Coach Swinney said, ‘The best players have to play their best in the big games.’ For me, I didn’t play my best and I know that."
When he was asked to expound upon what exactly he could have done different that may have effected the outcomeof the game, he wasted no time naming numerous items that he could have done better.
“There’s a lot of stuff,” Uiagalalei said. “From what I was talking about (before). There were a couple of times I should have left the pocket. Getting sacked a couple of times. Had a couple of missed reads on certain throws. Missed a couple of receivers. There was a lot of things. You watch the film, you look at it, you are like ‘Wow, I could’ve done this differently, could’ve done that differently.’ It would’ve changed the outcome of the game. I think for the most part I just got to play better.”
The good news is that last week was only Week 1, and there are still many more opportunities to improve and show the college football world that Week 1 was the outlier.
“I’m definitely disappointed, but I’m definitely eager. Always ready for a challenge. Always ready to go for Week 2. I’m ready to get back into the game plan. Ready to get back into practice. Ready to go back and fix mistakes," Uiagalelei said.
Uiagalelei saw his Heisman chances fall significantly following the game, to +1400—according to FanDuel.
