How do I clear my name when wrongfully accused of cheating?
How do I clear my name when wrongfully accused of cheating?


Putting myself in the shoes of the TA, I would say that you haven't even been accused of cheating.

You say:


  I received an email from the TA asking why I submitted an entirely different project than what was being asked, and my only simple answer is that I had no idea what I was doing. Obviously, that isn't a good enough answer when someone is implying you cheated.


The answer is right there: Your TA asked you why you submitted an entirely different project than the one you were supposed to complete and you said you didn't know what you were doing, which, by the way, completely confirms your TA's suspicions (i.e., that a clueless student completed a project in one of the most completely incorrect ways).

TL;DR: I wouldn't worry about the cheating "accusation." 

(but do worry about whether you are putting your best foot forward with respect to completing course assignments and projects the way they're intended to be completed, etc.)