PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Clemson isn't used to having two losses in a season let alone a pair of losses in September. The Tigers are ranked 114th in FBS scoring offense in 2021, last year they were fourth.
"Offense they're obviously missing Trevor Lawrence, I think a lot, but they still have got a ton of players on the field," said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. "Got a lot of guys that make plays that scare the heck out of you. And all it takes is one play in this series and one play in that series, and that's all they need is explosives. They have had explosives against us before and we have to eliminate those and play great defense."
Lawrence led the Tigers to another ACC championship in 2020 with elite numbers-69.2% completion, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 games. In his career, the three-year starter completed 66% of his passes for 10,098 yards with 90 touchdowns and 17 interceptions with another 943 rushing yards and 18 scores.
There were few concerns about Lawrence's replacement at the beginning of the season. DJ Uiagalelei was the top high school player in the nation coming out of high school. He started a couple of games last year, completing 73% of his passes for 342 yards against Boston College and threw for 439 yards against Notre Dame.
It hasn't been easy in 2021. Uiagalelei has only one 200-yard game (207 vs.
BC) and only one game with multiple passing touchdowns (2 vs NC State).
"It takes time to develop a guy, okay," Narduzzi said. "You look at D.J., where he is now compared to where Kenny was as a freshman or a sophomore. There's always going to be growing pains and we are going to miss Kenny in a year, okay, so it will be the same."
"Every week you see improvement, No.
1. You see him do more things you see him evolve in some of the things they are doing. They are just getting him comfortable, and they are still finding ways to win."
Pitt working to make sure he doesn't find his game this week.
"First off he's a big body," said Pitt linebacker John Petrishen. "I think he's 6'4", 250-pounds and he's really big. Sometimes he's going to shake off arm tackles. He's also extremely shifty."
"He has good vision and good cuts in the box, especially on those run plays. He leans forward and gets those extra yards in the box. He also has athleticism to escape as well. We have to keep him contained and make sure you wrap up when you tackle."
"More times than not he's trying to buy time to throw the ball," said Pitt Assistant Head Coach Charlie Partridge. "He's got a strong arm. Obviously we all see how big he is. He is capable of running with some quarterback-designed runs that are challenging to defend."
"At the end of the day, if you are not assigned in your pass rush lanes. He's going to find the holes, and odds are, he's going to try to buy extra time to get some of those incredibly talented wide receivers down the field open on scramble routes."
"That's our challenge, is to make sure we are great with our lanes. If he does pop through, we've really got to rise as quick as we can because of how talented these receivers are. It's hard to cover them for so long."
Freshman five-star running back Will Shipley left the game in the loss to NC State, but could return this week. Shipley was the ACC Rookie of the Week after 80 yards rushing on eight carries and two touchdowns the second week of the season against SC State. He then rushed for 88 yards and another pair of scores the following week against Georgia Tech.
"They've had a few injuries in the running back room this year, but it's kind of more by a committee," Petrishen said. "We talked about the one running back, Shipley coming back this week. We are going to prepare for all of them. We know the quarterback is talented as well. Although they've had a few shaky games this season, but we know he's really talented."
"We are going to make him as one-dimensional as possible. We know to expect good plays in the run game and pass game."
"They have incredible talent all over the field," Partridge said. "We've seen what that quarterback can do. They're active. You look at their receivers, they're 6'3". We hear Shipley may be back. Their stable of running backs is as good as it gets. There is not question we respect everything."
"They are still the bar. Clemson is the bar."
