Former Clemson Football quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has successful debut for Oregon State

Former Clemson Football quarterback DJ Uiagalelei got the start for the Oregon State Beavers when they kicked off their season at the San Jose State Spartans.

Many Clemson fans are rooting for DJ to do well in Corvallis, but they are also curious to see how he will fare with a new team and in a new system.

DJU finished the day 20-25 passing, for 239 yards and three touchdown passes. He also had two rushing touchdowns. Oregon State won 42-17.

Uiagalelei got his 1st first down with his legs on a designed run. He went 3-3 on his first drive and finished it with a touchdown run. He found his first touchdown pass in the 2nd quarter.

DJ Uiagalelei had a successful debut for the Oregon State Beavers

Overall, DJU played well. We did see a few examples of inaccuracy, but nothing major. The main thing that stood out to me was that Oregon State’s pass catchers were often open. The Spartans didn’t have great coverage in their secondary, which was also the case in Week Zero when they lost to USC 56-28.

Another reason DJ wanted to play for the Beavers was the opportunity to audible at the line of scrimmage. We saw him do that a few times. It is difficult to determine if he made the right decision, but at least a couple times it looked like the play he changed to wasn’t successful. That is something that will likely improve with experience.

It was a good start for Uiagalelei, but the bigger tests will come later in the schedule with Utah, Washington, Oregon, and possibly Colorado if they maintain a high level of play.

Oregon State’s backup freshman quarterback, Aidan Chiles, got into the game late and went 2-3 passing. He looks to be the heir apparent to Uiagalelei when he moves on.

Next up for the Beavers is FCS opponent UC Davis and then San Diego State.