For the first time since 2014, The Clemson Tigers Football Team will be without its week 1 starting quarterback for a full game. Last night it was announced that the Tigers starting quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, announced he tested positive for COVID-19 and will start his 10-day isolation period before having to register two negative tests before the junior can see the field again.
With that being said, Clemson will be without its starting quarterback on both offense, and defense with Head Coach Dabo Swinney announcing that Clemson will be without starting middle linebacker James Skalski will be out for a few weeks. Skalski had a scope surgery done this week on his groin and “will miss the next few games” according to Coach Swinney.
The man that takes over for Trevor Lawrence is none-other than a fellow five-star quarterback recruit in D.J. Uiagalelei. The California native was the top-rated quarterback in the class of 2020 and chose the Tigers over other big name schools to sit behind Lawrence and learn and soak in all the information he could.
Well, D.J. is getting thrown into the fire a little earlier than most expected. The last time Uiagalelei started a football game was last year in the California State Championship Game, which also turned out to be a battle for the High School National Championship.
After falling behind 28-5 in the third quarter, Uiagalelei led his team back to win the game with three second half touchdown passes and a nice ring on his finger.
If Lawrence cannot make it through the CDC and ACC guidelines for return to play after a positive COVID case, we also may see Uiagalelei start his first ever road game up in South Bend, Indiana in a top-5 matchup.
With Lawrence testing positive on Wednesday night when the Tigers team all tests, he must self-isolate now for 10 days at the minimum. The Notre Dame game is only 10 days away, and the team usually leaves on Friday afternoon for road games, so that is nine days.
Boston College and Notre Dame could be two of the hardest challenges on the Clemson schedule in 2020, and now the Tigers may be without their best player for both those games. But as Coach Swinney has always said:
“We’re a program. We don’t win games with just one player.”
Clemson and Boston College are set to kick off at noon tomorrow, and can be watched on ABC.
