On Sunday, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said that both D.J. Uiagalelei and Taisun Phommachanh will be evaluated during practice this week before a final decision is made on who the Tigers’ starting quarterback is for Saturday’s game against Florida State at Death Valley.
“Every day will be an evaluation,” Swinney said. “We’ll run somebody out there first on Saturday. We’ll all wait and find out how the week goes because everything is going to count.”
Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott was asked Monday what he needs to see from Uiagalelei this week for him to be the QB that the Tigers run out first on Saturday.
“In terms of D.J., just continue to be D.J., continue to lead and just continue to make the decisions and do the little things right,” Elliott said. “I thought he did some good things in the game. He made some great throws. Guys gotta make catches for him. And then a couple of decisions … one ball he threw up in a third-down situation, I’d like to see him throw it out of bounds.”
Uiagalelei completed 12-of-25 passes for 128 yards and threw two interceptions while rushing for a touchdown in last Saturday’s loss at Pittsburgh.
After throwing his second interception of the game — a pick-six on Clemson’s first possession after halftime — Uiagalelei was benched and replaced by Phommachanh, who led the Tigers to their first points of the second half on his first possession.
Phommachanh played two series and went 3-of-7 passing for 23 yards before Uiagalelei was reinserted and led a five-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that he capped with a 6-yard run.
“The biggest thing was encouraged by Taisun,” Elliott said. “Hasn’t had a ton of time, he jumps in there and leads us on a drive to go get points.”
Elliott reiterated Swinney’s comment that everything will count as Clemson evaluates its quarterback situation ahead of the FSU game.
“So, just going to evaluate everything and see what we need to do to put together the best plan and go beat Florida State,” Elliott said. “That’s the focus there.”
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