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Clemson

Snap judgments as Clemson survives against Wake Forest

Matt Connollyby: Matt Connolly09/24/22MattConnollyOn3
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DJ Uiagalelei had a great game for Clemson Saturday afternoon at Wake Forest. (Lance King/Getty Images)

For much of last season, it was the Clemson defense that came up big and overcame mistakes made by the Tigers offense. Saturday afternoon at Wake Forest, the roles were reversed.

DJ Uiagalelei and the Clemson offense did enough to overcome an incredible day by Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman, as the Tigers survived with a 51-45 overtime win.

Uiagalelei topped the 300-yard passing mark for the first time since his freshman season and had five touchdown passes through the air.

On the other side, Hartman passed for 337 yards and six scores, picking on Clemson’s young cornerbacks.

“You hate for anybody to lose a game like that. That was an unbelievable college football games – two teams that fought with every ounce of everything they had,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “That’s what a top-15 matchup should look like, especially on the road.”

Here are some snap judgments from the game:

DJ Uiagalelei getting better and better

The junior quarterback continued his strong start to the 2022 season with another excellent performance. Uiagalelei looked in control of the offense, made some critical throws on third down and took care of the football in a way that he didn’t consistently do last season.

He genuinely looks like a completely different quarterback from the one we saw last year.

The California native was 26 of 41 passing for 371 yards and five scores. He also rushed for 52 yards.

Clemson secondary has real concerns

The Clemson secondary allowed too many big plays last weekend against Louisiana Tech. That trend continued Saturday afternoon against Wake Forest.

Hartman picked Clemson’s defense apart as Nate Wiggins, Fred Davis, Toriano Pride and Clemson’s other cornerbacks had a tough afternoon.

Clemson was down some players in the secondary as Sheridan Jones, Andrew Mukuba and Malcolm Greene didn’t make the trip, but allowing that many easy and deep passes shouldn’t happen.

Tigers need to get healthy

As mentioned, Jones, Mukuba and Greene were out, as was Xavier Thomas and Tre Williams. Clemson has another top 25 matchup next Saturday when NC State comes to town. The Tigers need to get healthy before then.