Five Florida State Seminoles Honored on National Watch Lists

The preseason honors continue for a group of Seminoles that are loaded with talent.

Florida State Seminoles running back Lawrance Toafili (9) celebrates his touchdown. The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Louisville Cardinals 16-6 to claim the ACC Championship title in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. / Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK

Three Seminoles – running back Lawrance Toafili, quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and defensive lineman Sione Lolohea – were named to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Watch List Thursday. The Lombardi Award Watch List includes defensive lineman Patrick Payton and offensive lineman Darius Washington and is presented to the top offensive or defensive lineman.

Toafili, a Pinellas Park native, ran 69 times for 463 yards and four touchdowns and added 21 catches for 186 yards and one touchdown last season. He was the ACC Championship Game MVP in 2023, running for a career-high 118 yards and the game’s only touchdown in FSU’s 16-6 victory over Louisville, the Noles 16th ACC championship in program history.

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Toafili’s 73-yard run against the Cardinals tied the longest in his career and was the second-longest in ACC Championship Game history. In addition to the game against Louisville, Toafili was also FSU’s leading rusher against Syracuse, a 41-3 FSU win. For his career, Toafili has played 43 games with 1,439 rushing yards 689 receiving yards and 16 total touchdowns.

Uiagalelei, also on the watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Maxwell, Davey O’Brien and Unitas Golden Arm awards, has started 40 games in his career and earned a 30-10 record while accounting for 9,451 yards of total offense with 8,319 yards and 57 touchdowns passing and 1,132 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground. The Inland Empire, California, native transferred to FSU from Oregon State, where he was a 2023 Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist after throwing for 2,638 yards and 21 touchdowns with 219 rushing yards and six more scores on the ground. His 21 passing touchdowns were sixth in a season for the Beavers, with a career-high five coming in Oregon State’s victory over Cal.

Uiagalelei spent his first three seasons at Clemson, where he ranks top-10 in program history for completions, passing touchdowns, quarterback rushing touchdowns, passing yards and wins as the starting quarterback. He recorded 51 total touchdowns with the Tigers and was 22-6 as Clemson’s starting quarterback.

Lolohea, an Oregon State transfer originally from Houma Tukulalo Vava’u, Tonga, played 40 games with 22 starts over his four seasons with the Beavers. A second-team All-Pac 12 player in 2023, he started all 13 games with 47 tackles, 8.5 for loss with 1.5 sacks, seven quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He was named the Pac-12 Defensive Lineman of the Week after notching a career-high 10 tackles in a win vs. No. 18 UCLA.

Payton tied his career-high with seven tackles, including 2.0 for loss with 1.0 sack, and added two quarterback hurries and one pass breakup in the ACC Championship Game victory over No. 14 Louisville. He posted a career-best 2.0 sacks in wins over Florida and Wake Forest, and his 3.0 tackles for loss against the Demon Deacons was a career-high total. In the win at Clemson, he registered three solo tackles, including 1.0 sack and two pass breakups, the second which deflected a fourth-down pass in overtime to clinch the victory.

Washington, from Pensacola, has started 37 of the 47 games he has appeared in over the past five seasons, starting at center, left tackle and right tackle. He was a first-team All-ACC offensive lineman last season and was the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week in FSU’s 39-17 win over Virginia Tech when running back Trey Benson ran for 200 yards on just 11 carries, setting the FSU record with 18.2 yards per carry.

Behind Washington, Florida State led the ACC in scoring offense, total touchdowns, rushing touchdowns, yards per completion, fewest interceptions thrown and fewest turnovers. Quarterback Jordan Travis was the ACC Player of the Year and led the ACC in passing efficiency, yards per pass attempt and fewest interceptions.

Payton is also on the Bednarik Award Watch List, while Washington is on the Outland Trophy Watch List.

Florida State, the defending ACC Champions, will open the season August 24 at 12:00 p.m. ET in Dublin, Ireland, for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic against Georgia Tech on ESPN.

*Press release courtesy of Florida State Athletics

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