It was well past midnight on Oct. 3, but Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was still out on the field at Memorial Stadium, throwing footballs with one of the team's equipment managers. A few minutes before, his coach, Dabo Swinney, praised the team's effort in a 19-13 win over Boston College. It was another spotty offensive performance, but one in which the Tigers managed 438 yards -- nearly double their season average against FBS foes.
Still, Uiagalelei was frustrated. He had missed some easy throws -- six of them, he would later recount -- and he hoped a few more late-night reps would fix whatever is broken in the most confounding offense in college football.