Back in December, the Florida State Seminoles were denied entry to the College Football Playoff due to concerns at the quarterback position. Several months and thousands of miles later, as Mike Norvell’s team faltered and stumbled to defeat in Dublin, Ireland, there is a more significant question to answer.
Does Florida State have a DJ Uiagalelei problem?
Lackluster Performance Prompts Questions About Florida State With DJ Uiagalelei Under Center
An 11.5-point favorite as kickoff approached in Week 0, Florida State stumbled offensively after an explosive opening drive, falling to a last-gasp Georgia Tech field goal as time expired. A prized pull from the transfer portal, Uiagalelei was meant to be the driving force of the Seminoles’ offense this season, but his performance in the season opener left much to be desired.
Yet, it wasn’t just the on-field product from the former Clemson and Oregon State signal-caller that should trouble Seminoles fans. Troublingly, the head coach Norvell — in the game day absence of offensive coordinator Alex Atkins — seemed to lack faith in their quarterback to be unleashed fully into the late afternoon Dublin air.
Florida State flew out of the blocks on the opening drive, leaning heavily on new running back Roydell Williams as a weapon out of the backfield, rushing, receiving, and even blocking with devastating effect. The first, scripted drive showed promise for the Seminoles’ offense, mixing a potent ground game with short, accurate passes and the threat of Uiagalelei’s arm.
However, that threat failed to materialize. As the Georgia Tech defense neutralized the ground game and cottoned on to the screens and dump-offs, the Florida State offense was crying out for Uiagelelei to test a Yellow Jackets secondary that had been regularly torched during the 2023 season despite ranking fourth in the ACC for interceptions.
That Florida State head coach Norvell didn’t dial up some deep passing options for Uiagalelei and the Seminoles offense spoke volumes about their faith and belief in their QB1. After two years away tearing up defenses in the pass-happy Pac-12, fans of ACC football witnessed a familiar sight. On Saturday night, his play was reminiscent of Clemson-era Uiagelelei.
When the coaching staff took the decision to let him air it out some, there were overthrows, there were missed reads, and there were placement issues. If the Uiagalelei problem is that Norvell either didn’t believe in him or didn’t put him in a position to succeed on Saturday, there was an equal element of the Florida State quarterback giving them reason to have those doubts.
Subsequently, the longest passing play of the defeat to Georgia Tech was 21 yards. Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King, notably trusted by his coach Brent Key despite some issues turning the ball over a year ago, had a long passing play of 42 yards while averaging 9.1 yards per pass attempt. Uiagelelei averaged 7.1 yards per pass attempt.
It gets more damning still for the Florida State quarterback. Of the 193 total passing yards Florida State put up on Saturday afternoon, 119 were yards after the catch. The reliance on running backs Williams and Lawrance Toafili to create for themselves was evident. At the half, Uiagalelei had averaged negative air yards per pass attempt. Negative. Air. Yards.
While Georgia Tech quarterback King was orchestrating an unlikely — or so most people thought — win overseas with a clinical performance on the ground, Uiagalelei lacked the ability to add a dimension to the offense with his legs.
Six carries for a 1.2-yard average doesn’t really begin to tell the full picture. The Florida State quarterback showcased the ability to move deftly in the pocket to escape pressure but was sluggish to move downfield and quickly engulfed by pursuing Georgia Tech defensive linemen whenever he tried to pick up yardage with his legs.
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You could say it’s just one game. Some of the best teams have overcome sluggish starts to come good as the season progresses. A trip overseas isn’t the ideal way to begin the year in mid-season form. Ultimately, you want to avoid an overreaction based on one performance.
That said, Uiagalelei left the ACC with question marks over his game. Despite some of the statistical success during his time at Oregon State, those same issues still persist. Now on his third different coaching staff, it’s unlikely that those nagging doubts about his ability to turn it on, to deliver consistently, to take a game by the horns and win it will depart. That’s a problem for Florida State.
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