No. 5 Clemson survived a scare vs. No. 14 Syracuse, coming back from an 11-point deficit to beat the Orange, 27-21. In the process, head coach Dabo Swinney benched quarterback DJ Uiagalelei in favor of true freshman Cade Klubnik.
In the end, while Klubnik led the comeback, it was the running backs, Will Shipley and Phil Mafah, who combined for 266 yards and three touchdowns to propel the Tigers (8-0) to victory. In fact, Klubnik only attempted four passes, completing two for 19 yards, in relief as Clemson rallied successfully.
After the game, Swinney stood behind Uiagalelei as the team’s starting quarterback despite the poor performance. Uiagalelei completed 13 of 21 passes for 138 yards with two interceptions.
“Sometimes Steph Curry goes 2-for-25,” Swinney told ESPN’s Molly McGrath on the field after the game. “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. We showed we got that guy that can come in.
“DJ’s our quarterback. There ain’t no question about that. 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?”
Uiagalelei had played well this season until Saturday, with 17 touchdown passes and four rushing touchdowns. However, his two picks against Syracuse doubled his season total.
Nevertheless, Swinney ended any speculation that the Tigers would make a permanent move at the quarterback position.
