CORVALLIS, Ore. — DJ Uiagalelei picked Oregon State as his transfer destination, sight unseen, primarily because of an NFL-style offense that puts great responsibility on its quarterbacks.
Despite the demanding scheme, Uiagalelei, who started most of the past two seasons at Clemson, has felt even more liberated on the practice field this spring.
“I wanted to go somewhere where the scheme is going to fit me,” Uiagalelei told ESPN. “I wanted to go somewhere where they’re going to let me be who I am as a player, let me play free, and let me go out there and just cut it loose. Just somewhere where I can do what I wanted to do.”
Uiagalelei, ESPN’s top-rated pocket passer in the 2020 recruiting class, entered the transfer portal Dec. 5 and selected Oregon State 18 days later without visiting campus. Viewed as the next elite Clemson quarterback following Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson, Uiagalelei went 22-6 as the Tigers’ starter and showed improvement last season after a turbulent 2021 campaign, but was replaced by freshman Cade Klubnik early in the ACC championship.
The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Uiagalelei sought a return to the West Coast, closer to his home in Southern California. He extensively researched Oregon State’s offense, which had elements that he felt could best prepare him for an NFL career. Uiagalelei also noted the successful transfers of quarterbacks such as Will Levis, who left Penn State for Kentucky and could be a top-10 pick in next week’s NFL draft.
“I wanted to be able to do play-action, throw a lot of deep balls, deep posts, scheme-wise, a little bit more complex than I was doing at Clemson, a little more NFL-style,” Uiagalelei said. “I looked at Will Levis. A lot of people have him going first round, because he’s a good player, but also because he played in a pro-style system.”
Uiagalelei is competing this spring with redshirt sophomore Ben Gulbranson and freshman Aidan Chiles. Gulbranson went 7-1 as Oregon State’s starter as the team went 10-3 and finished No. 17 nationally. But the Beavers also ranked 104th in passing and wanted to add quarterback options. All three players worked with the first-team offense in Thursday’s practice in advance of Saturday’s spring game.
Coach Jonathan Smith praised Uiagalelei’s approach toward learning the offense and connecting with his new teammates. Uiagalelei hasn’t led an offense that huddles since the seventh grade.
“He’s been great, early on not trying to be showy or the face of the program from the get-go, but just fitting in with the guys,” Smith told ESPN. “He’s in this building every day, trying to digest. This is a new system. It’s drastically different from what he was doing, so it’s taken him reps to get comfortable with the calls, changing the play at the line of scrimmage, reading the signal, protections.
“From day one to where he’s at now, it’s night and day.”
Uiagalelei has adjusted well to Corvallis, a bigger college town than Clemson and one that offers more places to go and greater anonymity. He often sees his younger brother, Matayo, a freshman defensive end at Oregon, a 50-minute drive from Oregon State’s campus.
“It’s something different from Clemson where every player, they recognize you, come up to you, ask you for a picture,” Uiagalelei said. “Here, it’s nice, I just walk around, me and my girlfriend, go eat, no one knows who I am. It’s great.”
Uiagalelei spoke glowingly of his time at Clemson and the friendships he built with Bryan Bresee, R.J. Mickens, Tyler Venables and others. He hopes to apply everything that happened at Clemson — good and bad — to his next chapter at Oregon State.
“The biggest thing is if you don’t learn from your losses, you don’t turn that ‘L’ into a ‘W,’ then what’s the point?” he said. “Everything in life that you go through, it’s a lesson.”
Hagel will miss Saturday’s Game 3 in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers lead the series 2-0.
Around midway through the third period of Thursday’s Game 2, Tampa Bay was on the power play while trailing 1-0. Barkov pressured defenseman Ryan McDonagh deep in the Lightning zone. With the puck clearly past Barkov, Hagel lined him up for a huge hit that sent the Panthers captain to the ice and thumping off the end boards.
A penalty was whistled, and the officials conferred before calling a “five-minute penalty.” After review, Hagel was given a 5-minute major for interference. Barkov left the game with 10:09 remaining in regulation and did not return to the Panthers’ 2-0 win.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the game that he didn’t expect Hagel to receive a major penalty for the hit.
“Refs make the call. I was a little surprised it was a five, but it was,” he said.
The NHL ruled that Hagel’s hit made “some head contact” on Barkov.
“It’s important to note that Barkov is never in possession of the puck on this play and is therefore not eligible to be checked in any manner,” the league said.
In the Friday hearing, held remotely, Hagel argued that he approached the play anticipating that Barkov would play the puck. But the Department of Player Safety said the onus was on Hagel to ensure that Barkov was eligible to be checked. It also determined that the hit had “sufficient force” for supplemental discipline.
It’s Hagel’s first suspension in 375 regular-season and 36 playoff games. He was fined for boarding Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen in May 2022.
The Panthers held an optional skate Friday. Coach Paul Maurice said Barkov “hasn’t been ruled out yet” but “hasn’t been cleared” for Game 3.
“He’s an irreplicable player,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said of Barkov. “One of the best centermen in the league. He’s super important to our team.”
The Lightning lose Hagel while they struggle to score in the series; they scored two goals in Game 1 and were shut out in Game 2. Tampa Bay was the highest-scoring team in the regular season (3.56), with Hagel contributing 35 goals and 55 assists in 82 games.
Canadiens starter Sam Montembeault was replaced by rookie Jakub Dobes, who made his playoff debut, in the second period. Capitals starter Logan Thompson left late in the third period after a collision with teammate Dylan Strome.
The Canadiens won 6-3 to cut their series deficit to 2-1.
Montembeault left the crease with 8:21 remaining in the second period and the score tied 2-2. Replays showed him reaching for the back of his left leg after making a save on Capitals defenseman Alex Alexeyev. Montembeault had stopped 11 of 13 shots. For the series, he stopped 58 of 63 shots (.921 save percentage) with a 2.49 goals-against average.
Dobes, 23, was 7-4-3 in 16 games for the Canadiens in the regular season with a .909 save percentage. Dobes had a win over the Capitals on Jan. 10, stopping 15 shots in a 3-2 overtime win.
Thompson was helped from the ice by a trainer and teammates after Strome collided with him with 6:37 left in regulation right after Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky made it a 5-3 Montreal lead. Thompson attempted to skate off on his own but couldn’t put weight down on his left leg.
Backup goalie Charlie Lindgren replaced Thompson, who had been outstanding for the Capitals in the first two games of the series, winning both with a .951 save percentage and a 1.47 goals-against average. He made 30 saves on 35 shots in Game 3.