Clemson Football: D.J. Uiagalelei proves future is in good hands in victory over Boston College

The Clemson football team survived a major Halloween scare against Boston College

It didn’t come easy, but the Clemson football team found a way to survive a Halloween scare against the Boston College Eagles Saturday afternoon in Death Valley.

The Clemson football program received bad news Wednesday when star QB Trevor Lawrence tested positive for COVID-19. With Lawrence out, the Tigers would have to rely upon true-freshman D.J. Uiagalelei.

And did the freshman ever deliver.

The Tiger defense allowed Boston College to march down the field quickly on its first two drives and the Eagles took a 21-7 lead when Travis Etienne fumbled the ball at the one-yard line and Boston College ran it all the way back for a touchdown. Even at that point, Clemson remained confident.

Following a field goal, the defense wasn’t able to get a stop and Boston College eventually took a massive 28-13 lead into halftime.

Though it seemed as if nothing could go wrong for the Eagles, the Tigers continued to chip away at the lead and eventually took a 32-28 lead on an Etienne run straight up the middle into the end zone with 11:34 left in the third quarter.

Freshman Bryan Bresee forced a safety late in the game to give us a final score of 34-28.

Stat Leaders & Analysis for Clemson football in the victory over Boston College

Passing: D.J. Uiagalelei 30-of-41 for 342 yards and two TDs.

Rushing: Travis Etienne 20 carries for 84 yards, 1 TD; Uiagalelei 6 carries for 25 yards, 1 TD.

Receiving: Etienne 7 catches for 140 yards, 1 TD; Cornell Powell 11 catches for 105 yards; Amari Rodgers 7 catches for 66 yards.

Analysis: 

The first and major takeaway from this game is the fact that D.J. Uiagalelei did every asked of him and much more. He threw for 342 yards and accounted for three touchdowns in a game where he was put behind the eight-ball in several occasions.

The Tiger defense certainly didn’t help Uiagalelei and the offense, but that didn’t stop the team from continuing to respond when it absolutely had to and coming away with the victory in the end.

This was a Boston College team that came out firing on all cylinders, especially offensively. You’ve got to give Brent Venables a lot of credit for finding a way to hold them scoreless in the second half and fixing those mistakes that ailed this unit in the first two quarters.

Was it pretty? No. But it was a win.

This Clemson football team grew up in front of our eyes Saturday afternoon and they gave everything they had to come back and win this game, despite all the things that went against them.

The Tigers will be on the road next weekend as they travel up to South Bend to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.