Josh Morgan/Connected Press
With star quarterback Trevor Lawrence out on account of a obvious COVID-19 take a look at, the No. 1 Clemson Tigers overcame an 18-level deficit to beat the unranked Boston College Eagles 34-28 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina, on Saturday.
Freshman D.J. Uiagalelei got the beginning as one more of Lawrence and stored the offense playing at a high stage, as he accounted for three touchdowns in the eliminate, whereas working encourage Travis Etienne scored twice as effectively.
Quarterback Phil Jurkovec led the map in which for Boston College with two landing passes and helped the Eagles produce a 3-obtain lead in the considerable half, nevertheless they had been unable to hang on in the 2nd half.
With the eliminate, Clemson improved to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in ACC play, whereas Boston College fell to 4-3 on the season with a 3-3 convention trace.
Critical Stats
D.J. Uiagalelei, QB, CLE: 30-of-41 for 342 YDS, 2 TD, 0 INT; 6 CAR for 25 YDS, 1 TD
Travis Etienne, RB, CLE: 20 CAR for 84 YDS, 1 TD; 7 REC for 140 YDS, 1 TD
Cornell Powell, WR, CLE: 11 REC for 105 YDS
Amari Rodgers, WR, CLE: 7 REC for 66 YDS, 1 TD
Phil Jurkovec, QB, BC: 12-of-24 for 204 YDS, 2 TD, 0 INT
Zay Vegetation, WR, BC: 3 REC for 63 YDS, 1 TD
CJ Lewis, WR, BC: 5 REC for 66 YDS, 1 TD
Uiagalelei’s Play Overshadows Clemson’s 1st-Half Errors
Clemson had some problems Saturday in a tightly contested sport against Boston College, nevertheless Uiagalelei used to be with out a doubt the Tigers’ ideal gleaming space.
The highlight used to be firmly on Uiagalelei as Lawrence’s replacement, nevertheless he largely rose to the occasion and done at a high stage in his first collegiate delivery.
That used to make certain on Clemson’s first force of the sport, as he drove the Tigers in for a landing after looking out at Jurkovec decimate the Clemson protection on BC’s first force.
The Eagles sent stress to be in a situation to rattle Uiagalelei, nevertheless he known it and got the ball out hasty to working encourage Travis Etienne for a 35-yard landing:
Etienne furthermore place of dwelling the occupation ACC dashing yardage file in the sport and ran for a trot-forward obtain in the fourth quarter, nevertheless Saturday used to be extra about his work as a pass-catcher and Uiagalelei’s dual-risk play beneath middle.
Though it used to be largely appropriate for Uiagalelei, an colossal mistake in the 2nd quarter left the Tigers with a astronomical gap to dig out of. Clemson used to be trailing 14-7 and utilizing for a obtain arrive the BC objective line when the alternate between Uiagalelei and Etienne used to be fumbled, picked up by Brandon Sebastian and returned 97 yards for a Boston College landing:
Bryan Fischer of Athlon Sports actions broke down the play and obvious that the fumble used to be on Uiagalelei since he ball placement on the handoff used to be too high:
As if being down 21-7 wasn’t depraved satisfactory, the Eagles set the Tigers on their heels powerful extra later in the quarter.
With the obtain sitting at 21-10, Boston College went on a almost eight-minute landing force that resulted in a landing to web it 28-10, nevertheless the Eagles got some assist from Boston College.
First an interception used to be negated by a considerably questionable roughing the passer name. Then, Boston College lined up for a spurious after in the beginning having a sight take care of they had been going to kick a self-discipline objective, and the Tigers jumped offside.
Mike Uva of WACH Fox used to be stunned on the mental mistakes Clemson made on protection and special teams on the force:
It could perchance probably seemingly well were straight forward for Uiagalelei and Co. to fold at that level, nevertheless the freshman led Clemson on a self-discipline-objective force to complete the half no topic having finest one minute on the clock and no timeouts.
That force perceived to web the Tigers encourage in the sport mentally, as they took adjust early in the 2nd half with Uiagalelei scoring on a 30-yard quarterback keeper to shrink the deficit to eight:
He introduced them even closer later in the quarter on an eight-yard landing pass to Rodgers, nevertheless an unsuccessful two-level conversion stored Boston College forward by two.
The Tigers someway took the lead early in the fourth on a 17-yard landing trot by Etienne, which spoke to Uiagalelei’s skill to retain the team in the sport even when every little thing used to be going disagreeable earlier in the contest.
David Ubben of The Athletic suggested that whereas Uiagalelei is a backup at Clemson, he could perchance seemingly delivery for masses of teams in college football:
Also, Uva marveled at Uiagalelei and the gleaming future he figures to believe with the Tigers:
Uiagalelei will return to the bench at any time when Lawrence is cleared to arrive to action, nevertheless Clemson fans and college football observers got a gape Saturday of a participant who could perchance seemingly be the appropriate quarterback in the nation subsequent season and past.
Also, head coach Dabo Swinney now knows he has a backup who can eliminate if he’s with out Lawrence at every other level this season.
Jurkovec Makes Mountainous Performs vs. Clemson Protection Despite Loss
Jurkovec quietly entered Saturday’s sport as one in every of the stay quarterbacks in the nation, ranking in the stay 10 in completions, passing yardage and passing touchdowns, nevertheless he basically proved himself with a pair of of the plays he made against Clemson.
It used to make certain from the considerable force of the sport that Jurkovec had self belief against a Clemson protection that used to be allowing fair appropriate 13.5 aspects per sport entering Saturday.
Jurkovec drove BC 74 yards on four plays in much less than two minutes, culminating in an 11-yard landing pass to Zay Vegetation in the face of stress to present the Eagles a 7-0 lead:
After Clemson tied it, Jurkovec orchestrated one more lengthy scoring force, as Boston College lined 75 yards in only appropriate 2: 13 to head up 14-7 on a two-yard landing trot by David Bailey.
Jurkovec then proved in the 2nd quarter that he could perchance seemingly milk the clock and possess the football for a lengthy length of time as effectively. With the Eagles maintaining a 21-10 lead, Jurkovec manufactured a 15-play, 75-yard force that lasted almost eight minutes.
It ended with Jurkovec’s 2nd landing pass of the sport with CJ Lewis making an acrobatic buy from 18 yards out to elongate the lead to 28-10:
The force left Clemson and not utilizing a timeouts and finest 1: 02 remaining on the clock. The Tigers did place of dwelling up a self-discipline objective entering halftime, nevertheless the lengthy scoring force gave Boston College a ton of momentum.
There used to be no shortage of praise for Jurkovec on social media after his performance, at the side of some from susceptible Sleek England Patriots quarterback and latest Patriots announcer Scott Zolak:
Yahoo Sports actions NFL draft educated Eric Edholm furthermore favored what he seen:
Justin Rowland of Competitors marveled at Jurkovec’s transformation as effectively:
Jurkovec and the Boston College offense did no longer transfer the ball in the 2nd half take care of they did in the considerable, nevertheless the Eagles’ incapability to stay Clemson defensively in the 2nd half used to be the ideal perpetrator in the loss.
It used to be unclear what the future held for Jurkovec after he transferred from Notre Dame to Boston College, nevertheless that resolution looks to be to be paying dividends. Jurkovec has someway gotten the opportunity to play time and one more time, and he’s making the most of it even supposing Boston College fell fair appropriate quick Saturday.
What’s Next?
Clemson will hope to web Lawrence encourage for its subsequent sport on Saturday, Nov. 7, when it faces the No. 4 Notre Dame Combating Irish on the avenue.
Meanwhile, Boston College will sight to soar encourage subsequent week when it goes on the avenue to face the struggling Syracuse Orange on Saturday.
