Dabo Swinney clears the air on Clemson quarterback controversy
One week after giving a passionate defense of his quarterback, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney benched DJ Uiagalelei on Saturday.
But that doesn't mean Clemson is changing quarterbacks the rest of the way.
Swinney sat Uiagalelei in favor of freshman Cade Klubnik in the second half of Saturday's come-from-behind win over Syracuse, but the job still belongs to the man who had it to start the season.
QB controversy at Clemson?
"DJ's our quarterback. There ain't no question about that," Swinney said after the game.
"That's our guy, that's our leader. You can write that right now. DJ's our guy. He's got to play better and he will. But how about Cade Klubnik coming in there and leading these guys?"
Swinney added, "Your best player sometimes can have a bad day and he just got out of rhythm, made some bad plays. We just needed a change."
Uiagalelei threw two interceptions and lost a fumble near the goal line that Syracuse recovered for a long defensive touchdown, and the early lead.
Clemson needed the comeback
Clemson trailed 21-10 at halftime, but held Syracuse off the board in the second half for the eventual 27-21 victory and an 8-0 mark in its bid to get back to the ACC title game and College Football Playoff contention.
"We showed we got that guy that can come in," Swinney said.
Klubnik didn't provide any meaningful help on the stat sheet, going 2 of 4 passing for 19 yards with no touchdowns, but his entering the game did seem to correlate with Clemson's overall improved play in the second half.
Phil Mafah ran for a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and Will Shipley for a 50-yard score two minutes later for Clemson's lead.