D.J. Uiagalelei says 'next-play mentality' has led to turnaround at Clemson

On how fast he can throw a football:

“I’ve never been clocked football-wise before. Sometimes, yeah, I guess I throw the ball pretty fast. In baseball, like 95-96.”

On winning the middle eight: 

“I think that’s where a lot of momentum is started. Especially going the last four minutes of the second quarter, going into halftime, I feel like that leads you to starting off the half-- going into the 3rd quarter. I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing.”

On playing up-tempo:

“Just going fast. I feel like guys aren’t thinking-- just reacting. It’s a lot more reaction. If you are playing fast, you don’t have as much time to think. You just lean on the work and preparation that you put in.”

On the tight ends:

”It makes my job a lot easier. When you have a tight end room that’s super deep. They can all run routes. They can all block. It makes my life easier to be able to throw the ball to a big guy-- a tight end-- big 6’5, 6’6 guy just throw it up there, go win a jump ball. It makes my life a lot easier.”

On shaking off adversity: 

“I think next-play mentality. Coach Swinney talks about that a lot. You can’t change it. You have to be able to keep responding. Coach Streeter always says that adversity is going to hit no matter what game we play. The biggest thing he wants us to do is to be able to respond to that adversity.”

“I feel like I am better at that. I feel like I went through a lot last year. I just kind of understand if something goes wrong, how do I respond to it? I think I understand a little bit better this year.”

On seeing new looks every weekend:

“I think it’s nice. It’s a testament to how good the defense is in the ACC-- how good the defensive coordinators are in the ACC. A lot of guys do their own different things. I think it’s kept us-- as an offense-- fresh. Helping us stay on our Ps and Qs and go through our reads.”

On playing at FSU:

“I’m excited. Florida State-- the program itself is a historical program. They’ve had a lot of rich traditions down there. I’ve never gotten to play there. I’ve never been to a game in person. I’ve always heard it’s so loud. Just to be able to see it. I remember when Jameis Winston was there. Seeing the different games and stuff like that. It’s definitely going to be exciting. I’m excited to play down there.”

On his running ability this season:

“I think one thing is 100% healthy. It feels good being healthy and being able to run. Not have a knee brace on. Knee feels healthy. I feel comfortable knowing during the game that every time I get the ball, I’m trying to take it to the house-- make a big gain. The offensive line has done an unbelievable job of giving me holes in the defense. It’s been good.”

“I love running. I love passing too. It’s what the defense gives us. If that means I have to run the ball 30 times a game. It just depends on what the defense gives me. It’s been working out well. Hopefully, it continues to keep working.”

On tripping in the open field:

“I knew I wasn’t going to outrun the defense. That’s just the reality. I knew I wasn’t going to outrun them. I tried to cut back and ate it. Just fell on my face right there. It looked pretty bad. I watched the TV copy-- it looked pretty bad. I wish it hadn’t looked that bad. I’ve just got to keep my feet underneath me. I was pretty pissed. I was pretty mad. I was pretty upset.”