Ahead of one of Clemson’s most anticipated games of the season against South Carolina in Memorial Stadium, D.J. Uiagalelei has a lot of emotions headed into the historic matchup.
Saturday’s game will be Uiagalelei’s first meeting with the Gamecocks in Death Valley — an experience he had from a fan’s perspective while on a visit during the rivalry game back in high school — but it will be a first for the quarterback despite it being his third season with the Tigers.
“Man, I’ve only heard stories, but I’m super excited,” Uiagalelei said. “I remember the last time I was here for a visit, and it was at home, the stadium was rocking. It was a night game, but I’m super excited to be able to play South Carolina here at home, it’ll be unbelievable. I’m super excited for it.”
Last year’s 30-0 shutout win in Columbia over the Gamecocks was an eye-opening experience for the California native, who grew up following a much different college football rivalry in USC and UCLA.
“For me, I grew up a USC, UCLA fan and I knew that was a rivalry,” the junior said. “But Clemson-South Carolina is about a hundred times bigger, and a lot of people take it 10 times more seriously than the USC-UCLA rivalry, no shade to that. At the end of the day, it’s a huge game and it means a lot to a lot of people.”
With history on the line, Uiagalelei realizes just how important this game is to not only the Clemson fan base, but also to the program and its alumni. If the Tigers can piece together a victory in Saturday’s noon meeting, Clemson will make history, winning the rivalry eight years in a row, a first for the decades-long rivalry between the Palmetto State pair.
“I know that game means a lot to a lot of people here in South Carolina and a lot of Clemson fans, and that means it means a whole lot to me,” Uiagalelei said. “For us as a team, Coach [Dabo] Swinney talks about it as a game of its own. It’s a season of its own and we got to make sure we put our best foot forward to be able to win it, what, eight straight years in a row against a great South Carolina team.”
Clemson enters its 119th all-time meeting with the Gamecocks, who are coming off of a huge 63-38 win over the Tennessee Volunteers. Kickoff of Saturday’s game is set for noon in Memorial Stadium and will be televised on ABC.
Don’t miss Cyber Week Deals at Dear Old Clemson’s online store. Deals will run through midnight Monday.
- Footballs signed by the Clemson 2022 class discounted by 30%.
- Free Avengers unsigned poster with the purchase of a signed Avengers football
- Free signed Myles Murphy 8 by 10 picture with the purchase of Myles Murphy signed card
- Free 2022 class unsigned poster with purchase of signed Avengers poster
- Free #Team 4 unsigned poster with purchase of any signed softball
- Free unsigned Valerie Cagle card with purchase of any signed softball poster
- Free unsigned Bakich to Omaha poster with purchase of any signed baseball
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