Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was benched in the fourth quarter of last week’s 42-16 loss to SMU, but he is the only co-star under center on the Seminoles’ roster heading into Saturday’s game against Clemson. Two names are listed as. But coach Mike Norvell said the decision to potentially go in a different direction at quarterback included injury factors as well as performance.
Coach Norvell revealed that Uiagalelei suffered a finger injury in the loss to SMU, and it will be revealed later this week how that will affect his ability to play against Clemson, where he played from 2020-22. will be evaluated. According to 247Sports, there are concerns that Uiagalelei could be out for an extended period of time due to injury.
According to Coach Norvell, Florida State wanted to see if redshirt freshman Brock Glenn could extend SMU’s lead with an 82-yard pick-six and provide a spark to the offense. reportedly decided to replace Uiagalelei before the injury. 26 points with 12 minutes and 55 seconds left.
“I wanted to see a chance for Brock to come in and execute. I thought he did some good things, made some great pitches that we didn’t finish, and I thought he missed one of his vertical shots. ” Nobel explained. “But the overall management of what we asked him to do was good, which wasn’t a shock to me. Brock and Luke have both done a great job with the way they’ve prepared and they’ve made every play.” I’m trying to prepare like I’m going to do a “fight” that I thought he was ready for. โ
On the depth chart, both Uiagalelei and Glenn received “or” designations as co-stars, but Norvell said Monday that it “doesn’t really matter” what they put on the depth chart as he waits to see how this week unfolds. added. .
The pick No. 6 in the fourth quarter was Uiagalelei’s third interception of the game, and his record as a starter was 1-4 with six interceptions in five games this season. Uiagalelei has just four more passing touchdowns against six picks, giving him a completion rate of 53.8%. If Norvell was already considering a quarterback change before Uiagalelei’s injury, this development could have opened the door for Florida State to try to reverse its offensive fortunes with a quarterback change.
Still, Norvell insisted that the offensive struggles are a team-wide issue and not something that directly falls on Uiagalelei’s shoulders.
โ[Uiagalelei] “We made some bad decisions and some bad throws, but you’ve got to help the quarterback,” Norvell said Monday. “I don’t think we’ve done a consistently good job of that. At the end of the day, we all have to take responsibility for that.”
Florida State has already lost three games in the conference and is out of contention for the ACC title, and faces an uphill battle to reach a bowl game. But as Norvell looks to get through the next few weeks to make the big picture the best it can be, there will be an opportunity to give young talent like Glenn a chance at live action.