Florida State’s Flop in Ireland Isn’t a Catastrophe in College Football’s New Era

The Seminoles got outplayed by Georgia Tech in the 2024 Aer Lingus Classic, but the expanded playoff gives the program plenty of chances for redemption.

Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei struggled to make big plays in the Seminoles’ 24–21 loss to Georgia Tech in the Aer Lingus Classic. / Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Put the tantrums on hold in Tallahassee. As much as the undefeated Florida State Seminoles were harmed by the four-team College Football Playoff format in 2023, their season might now be saved by the 12-teamer in ’24. 

If, that is, the Noles are good enough to rebound from a stunning, 24–21 loss to the unranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Ireland on Saturday. That remains to be seen. But at least the new format, and its new math, means an opening defeat is potentially far less damaging than ever before.

The Noles simply have to make the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game to have a chance at the playoff. Finish in the top two in the league in conference winning percentage, and an ACC title-game opportunity is theirs. (God knows how many tiebreakers might be involved, but that headache is months away.)  

Win that game and FSU almost certainly gets an automatic bid and a likely top-four playoff seed. The ACC championship runner-up figures to be in contention, too.

There is much less to lose on any given Saturday now. While that might take away some of the cataclysmic stakes associated with every game, at least teams that lose in the early weeks of the season aren’t doomed.

That said: Florida State sure did flop in Ireland.

No disrespect to Georgia Tech, which continues to make impressive strides under third-year coach Brent Key. He’s become the ACC’s new upset king, with five of his 12 wins with the program coming as a double-digit underdog. It’s been a steady build to this team, with a veteran offensive line and a second-year transfer quarterback in Haynes King. Maybe the Yellow Jackets have what it takes to make the ACC title game themselves—they’re already a game plus the tiebreaker ahead of FSU.

But the Dublin Debacle for Florida State was the bigger story of the opening game of this college football season. There was a lot wrong with a program that believed it had returned to perennial contender status—and loudly believes it is too good for the rest of the ACC.

Georgia Tech kicker Aidan Birr played the hero for the Yellow Jackets, drilling a 44-yard field goal as time expired for the victory. / Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Start with this: The Seminoles were fortunate to be in the game down to the final play. After sprinting to an 8–0 lead, FSU was outplayed the rest of the day. It was dominated in the running game, with Tech rushing for 92 more yards. The Seminoles needed field goals of 52 and 59 yards, a gadget-play two-point conversion and a pair of fourth-down conversions to even be in a tie game in the fourth quarter. 

So this wasn’t some set of fluke circumstances and bad luck. The current Florida State team bears no resemblance to the one that went 13–1 last season and blew out the LSU Tigers in that opener.

For all the increased reliance on the transfer portal, quick fixes via that route are not guaranteed. And the most glaring example of that for Florida State is at quarterback. 

DJ Uiagalelei is a solid fifth-year player. He’s never been as good as his billing as a five-star mega recruit out of high school, with a three-year body of work at Clemson and one year at Oregon State underscoring that. In his first game at Florida State, one of two things were true: Uiagalelei wasn’t ready to be a game-changing player, or his coaches didn’t trust him to be.

Uiagalelei’s pass efficiency rating against Georgia Tech was 130.41, which is virtually identical to his career rating of 130.43. There was no transformation from the player he’s always been.

He didn’t turn the ball over Saturday, but he also made very few big plays with his arm (and none with his legs, but that’s not a surprise). Until leading a fourth-quarter drive to tie the game, Uiagalelei’s completions were almost all short, safe throws that put little vertical stress on the Yellow Jackets defense. The few deep shots he took were inaccurate.

Florida State was missing highly touted young receiver Hykeem Williams, who was out with an injury. It certainly had no replacement Saturday for Keon Coleman, a second-round NFL pick who turned contested catches downfield into an art form. We’ll see what the Noles do going forward to cultivate a deep passing game.

The other glaring disappointment for FSU was at the line of scrimmage. A touted offensive line looked great on the opening drive, then didn’t respond to Georgia Tech’s adjustments and couldn’t assert itself in the running game. And the defense was pushed around at key times by Tech, recording just three tackles for loss and no sacks.

All things considered, it was a humbling encore to a great Florida State season. It also should (but probably won’t) diminish the arrogant grandstanding from the school’s boosters about wanting out of an ACC they believe is holding their team back. FSU is suing to get out of a league in which it is currently 0–1 and in last place.

But 0–1 isn’t the playoff death sentence it used to sometimes be in the four-team playoff era. No need for a fan meltdown now, tempting though it might be. 

Florida State has seven more league games in which to bounce back and make it to Charlotte for the ACC title game. A championship in a power conference has never been more important than it is now, when it carries a near-certain ticket to the 12-team playoff.