Heisman Watch: DJ Uiagalelei's place in the Heisman race at midseason

Uiagalelei has an outside shot to make his case and a strong schedule to point to if he can perform.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sun Oct 09 17:49:47 GMT-04:00 2022

If someone would have said last season that DJ Uiagalelei would be in contention for the Heisman, I don’t think I would have believed them. But, it’s a new season, a new DJ, and a new Clemson. Now, with Clemson ranked fourth overall in the country, the third-year quarterback is on the rise as a potential Heisman candidate.

FOX Sports comes out periodically with the odds of the top 10 players who have a chance at winning the Heisman this season. While this has mostly been dominated by Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud -- Uiagalelei is in the top 10, with the ninth-best odds right now (+2200).

So far, Clemson’s quarterback is having the best season of his young career. He has a completion record of 63.9%, throwing for 1,462 yards and 14 touchdowns. Uiagalelei also only has two interceptions to give him a total quarterback rating of 150.3. This is a drastic improvement from last year when he only had nine touchdowns all season and threw 10 interceptions, giving him a quarterback rating of 108.7.

Despite the clear improvement out of Uiagalelei, Heisman-favorite C.J. Stroud has put up some better statistics thus far this season. His completion percentage is nearly seven percent higher than DJ, has thrown for 1,737 yards, and is leading college football with 24 touchdowns. His quarterback rating is 207.6.

Even with the clear difference in performance statistically, one thing that could certainly play in Uiagalelei’s favor is Clemson’s strength of schedule as compared to Ohio State’s. None of the teams that Ohio State has played are currently ranked; they played Notre Dame in the season-opener who was ranked No. 5 at the time. They are no longer ranked after a 3-2 start. Ohio State is currently set to play two ranked teams, No. 10 Penn State and No. 5 Michigan.

Clemson, on the other hand, has played two ranked teams and is set to play one more this season. Uiagalelei won ACC Offensive Player of the Week following Clemson’s double-overtime win against Wake Forest, who is now No. 14. Uiagalelei also had a solid performance against NC State the following week, who is now ranked No. 15. Their next home game on October 22 will be against Syracuse, who has jumped to No. 18 in the rankings.

A Clemson player has never won the Heisman. The closest any Clemson player has gotten is second in the Heisman voting, with two of the last quarterbacks for Clemson, Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence, who both did so in their final season before being drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. In fact, they are also the only two Clemson players to finish second in the Heisman voting. So, even if DJ Uiagalelei finishes high in the voting, he will solidify his place in Clemson’s history.

Uiagalelei’s next opportunity to prove himself among the elites in Clemson and college football history will come against Florida State in an important division matchup this Saturday in Tallahassee (7:30 p.m./ABC).