The Clemson Tigers squared off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on November 7, 2020 in a thrilling double-overtime finish in which the Fighting Irish won the game by a score of 47-40. The game featured two top five teams while Notre Dame played an ACC regular season schedule for the first time as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and its effect on college football scheduling.

One of the main storylines going into the game was the absence of star quarterback Trevor Lawrence due to his recent diagnosis of contracting COVID-19. As a result of Lawrence’s absence, highly touted quarterback DJ Uiagalelei started against Notre Dame.

Despite losing, DJ Uiagalelei lived up to the hype and delivered an impressive performance.

Here are DJ Uiagalelei’s stats against Notre Dame for the November 7, 2020 game:

  • DJ Uiagalelei completed 29-of-44 passing for 439 passing yards.
  • DJ Uiagalelei threw for two passing touchdowns and added another rushing touchdown.
  • The 400+ passing yards by DJ Uiagalelei was his first of his career. He became only the 5th Clemson quarterback to ever accomplish the feat. Interestingly, Trevor Lawrence has only done it once.
  • DJ Uiagalelei broke the freshman record which was previously held by Deshaun Watson which was 435 passing yards.

While Trevor Lawrence will likely be back soon and help lead the Clemson Tigers to many more victories and perhaps another College Football Playoff appearance, Clemson fans now know the future is quite bright even after Lawrence heads to the NFL. The next few years with DJ Uiagalelei under center as quarterback will likely be just as excited as the past few years with Lawrence.