DJ Uiagalelei played his best game of the season vs. Syracuse. Can he build on it?

DJ Uiagalelei hasn’t had the season that Clemson football fans had hoped for, but he did show improvement on Friday night against Syracuse.

Uiagalelei, who started his eighth game overall and sixth game of this season, finished the game completing 21-of-34 passes (61.7 percent) for 181 yards and one touchdown.

Following the game, Uiagalelei said he thought he played “okay” and that he still had much more to work on.

"“I thought I played OK. I thought it was definitely one of my best games this season,” Uiagalelei said via 247 Sports. “But still, a lot to go. There’s still a lot I know I can get better at. Still nowhere close to where I want to be and nowhere close to where I’m capable of playing. I’m definitely getting better though.”"

Dabo Swinney said during his Sunday teleconference that DJ Uiagalelei “graded out a winner.”

DJ Uiagalelei played his best game of the season. Can he build on it?

After going back through and watching the film again, it’s fairly easy to say that this game against Syracuse was Uiagalelei’s best game of the season. But, there’s not much competition there.

He did some good things.

He didn’t turn the ball over– although he had a couple of throws that put the ball in jeopardy– and he showed more confidence in himself than we’ve seen in past games.

Uiagalelei showed that he is trying to develop touch as you can see on some of his shorter passes on how he put more air under the ball and he threw some ‘elite-level’ passes, as well, including that touchdown throw to Joseph Ngata. Uiagalelei also wasn’t helped out by several drops, including a couple from Justyn Ross.

He missed on some throws and still looked unsure in his RPO decision-making at times, but this at least looked like a step in the right direction.

Was it a huge step? No.

Was it enough to put the concerns away about Uiagalelei, specifically? No, but it was enough to show that if some of the other parts around him– including coaching– were to improve that this offense could at least look competent again. 

But, it was a step in the right direction and the hope from Clemson football fans should be that he can build from this one and continue to make strides towards becoming the player he wants to be.

There’s a clear desire from DJ Uiagalelei to be great and we should all hope for the best for him as he continues to develop this season.