Clemson football: D.J. Uiagalalei humble in defeat but Dabo Swinney threw team under the bus
Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei took responsibility for Clemson football’s loss to Georgia, showing more class than head coach Dabo Swinney in the process.
Clemson football couldn’t get anything going offensively in their season opener against Georgia.
After losing to the Bulldogs, 10-3, quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was ready to shoulder the blame.
“It’s on me,” Uiagalelei said per Grace Raynor of The Athletic. “I don’t think I played very good. I didn’t play good enough at all. I didn’t think I played good enough to win the ball game today…I’ve got to start off playing better from the beginning. I think it’s as clear as that.”
D.J. Uiagalelei handled the Georgia loss with grace
Uiagalelei went 19-of-37 for 178 yards and an interception. He ran for 26 yards but lost 48 yards on seven sacks.
While the new starter took responsibility, head coach Dabo Swinney took some criticism for not doing the same himself.
Dabo Swinney: "There's a lot of things we can go back and second guess and say this and say that. The main thing is we have to execute what we call. And we just did not execute with the type of precision (necessary)."
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) September 5, 2021
Dabo Swinney: "You’ve got to make the critical plays in the critical moments and we didn’t do it. And they did." Thanks Clemson fans, who he said were awesome.
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) September 5, 2021
Dabo Swinney says the pick 6 was on Justyn Ross. "It’s an option route and he has an option there. He chose to run a slant. If you’re going to run the slant, you have to run it off the defender and you have to be flat."
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) September 5, 2021
Dabo Swinney on the OL: "There’s no question we got to do a better job. ... but I'm not going to put my head down and write the season off because we lost 10-3 to a top-five team."
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) September 5, 2021
Swinney was accused of throwing the offensive line and receivers like Justyn Ross under the bus.
Uiagalelei and the Tigers will have the shot to rebound from the tough loss next week against a different set of Bulldogs. They’ll take on South Carolina State at home on Sept. 11. It’ll be the perfect opportunity for the quarterback to regain some confidence ahead of the ACC slate.
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