FSU Football Has A Decision To Make At Quarterback - Whether Mike Norvell Likes It Or Not

The Seminoles brought in DJ Uiagalelei to bridge the youth in the room in 2024. That bridge has collapsed after two games and it's time to figure out what's next.

Sep 2, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (4) before the game agasint the Boston College Eagles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Mike Norvell didn't want to dive into his decision to let transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei handle the offense for the entirety of Florida State's loss to Boston College when he met with the media in the aftermath of the defeat. When asked about the move (or lack thereof) and if he would evaluate the situation entering the BYE week, Norvell essentially provided a non-answer after the second straight game where the offense had zero rhythm or consistency.

"Obviously we were struggling offensively. There's a lot of reasons for that. Obviously everything that we're doing we've got to push and get better," Norvell said. "That's what we're going to focus on doing. We're going to focus on pushing to get better, and we're going to put our guys in the best position to go achieve success. And that's what we're going to focus on."

Plain and simple, that's not going to cut it, especially when the veteran signal-caller the Seminoles coveted in the transfer portal doesn't look anything like the former five-star prospect who was once ranked above quarterbacks such as C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, and Carson Beck. Uiagalelei was brought in to bridge the gap between younger quarterbacks such as Brock Glenn and Luke Kromenhoek. After just eight quarters of football, the foundation of that bridge has collapsed and nothing we've seen so far says it can be put back together.

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The goals that Florida State acquired Uiagalelei to try and achieve are all but out of reach. The big-armed quarterback was expected to help the Seminoles stretch the field on offense. Instead, he's been slow to process defenses, immobile in the pocket, and inaccurate while not really showing an ounce of leadership or fire on the sideline. Like it or not, first year or fifth, it's up to the quarterback to command and guide the offense.

Uiagalelei's longest completion of the season has traveled just 30 yards and only seven of his 40 completions have resulted in gains of 20 or more yards. He's combined for 40/69 passing (58%) for 465 yards with one touchdown and one interception with an average of 6.7 yards per attempt. The fundamentals that Florida State's coaching staff worked so hard to correct this offseason are being abandoned in the heat of battle.

In the most recent outing against Boston College, Uiagalelei missed a wide-open Darion Williamson in the end zone that could've helped the Seminoles cut into the deficit late in the first half. He opened up the second half with an interception that put the Eagles in position to go up by multiple scores, something FSU would never be able to recover from. The offense went three-and-out five times, including on each of the first three possessions of the game.

Nothing is really working for the Seminoles offensively and it's growing into a source of frustration.

"There's not much that did click. We struggled to win one-on-ones early. There were times where we were giving up, getting pressure. There were times where we missed a throw or missed an opportunity for a catch, trying to get some things to find a rhythm offensively," Norvell said. "We weren't able to do that very well. I thought we did get into that a little bit later as we were rolling, had a couple of explosive plays that showed up. And we've got to be able to start fast. We've got to be able to go out there and compete and to be able to win our one-on-ones, to be able to execute, going through progressions. We've got to be able to protect. And obviously we've got to have balance in the run game."

The failures meant Florida State would end up trailing for the entirety of the contest. The Seminoles finished 3/14 on third-down and 1/3 on fourth down and there aren't really many positives to take away from what the team has done offensively through two games. The team has trailed for a total of 56:30 in 120 minutes of football.

By the second drive of the game, the rocking crowd in Doak Campbell Stadium had begun to turn on Uiagalelei. Murmurs and boos began to pick up as the first half progressed with a "We want Brock" chant echoing through Bobby Bowden Field a handful of times. Glenn never entered the game despite the Seminoles totaling 13 points on 11 offensive drives.

Norvell mentioned that Uiagalelei responded well to the criticism and didn't seem affected on the sideline. At the same time, having thousands of people calling for Uiagalelei to be benched in his debut in Tallahassee can't help what already appears to be a lack of confidence. After all, he dealt with a similar situation at Clemson in 2022 and ended up being pulled for then-true freshman Cade Klubnik after just two drives in the ACC Championship.

"That's part of the game. At the end of the day, everybody is going to have an opinion on what it is," Norvell said. "And obviously it's playing quarterback, being the head coach, being part of a great university, great program with high expectations. It's our job to go and play to a high level. And there's times that you might hear things that you don't want to hear, might have to go through hard and challenging situations, and those are all -- it's all part of it."

"But I think DJ, he's mature. He's obviously been through a lot. I think that he was very encouraging there on the sideline with his teammates. Very encouraging there in the huddle as we were going trying to go push to make the next play," Norvell continued. "That's what you have to live with. And when you play this game, it can be against you. But if you be able to go out, execute, control that next play, you'll be able to work yourself through it. But I thought he was fine on the sideline. He was able to respond there a little bit in that third quarter and have a couple of explosive plays. Him and Kentron, they were able to hit some explosive plays. Not enough for us tonight."

I understand Norvell protecting his quarterback. He's always stood up for his players in the public spotlight and it's part of the reason that his teams love playing for him. At the same time, it's important to recognize when an experiment has failed and to make the right move that will put Florida State in the best position, not only for 2024, but for the coming years.

The fact of the matter is that Uiagalelei is a one-year rental and no matter what happens for the rest of the season, he'll be moving on once the campaign ends. With a College Football Playoff berth and a second-straight ACC Title appearance off the table, there's no point for the Seminoles and Norvell to leash themselves to Uiagalelei.

This isn't a decision that FSU can take lightly as it means shifting the goalposts of a season that just kicked off less than three weeks ago. But considering the BYE week and 12 days that the team has before facing Memphis at home, all options need to be on the table.

At the very least, things have progressed to the point where Florida State has to consider inserting redshirt freshman Brock Glenn or true freshman Luke Kromenhoek into the lineup. If you're already taking disappointing losses with a veteran, I don't see any harm in doing the same with younger players, allowing them to grow through their mistakes. Glenn and Kromenhoek are both more mobile than Uiagalelei and could potentially help cover up some of the struggles of the offensive line with their ability to work out of the pocket and create more time for receivers to get open.

Glenn, in particular, already has an extra year of the offense under his belt compared to Uiagalelei and was able to learn behind Jordan Travis last season. He enrolled in January of 2023 - meaning he's been working in Florida State's system for about 20 months - and Norvell said multiple times last year that Glenn was further along than he thought.

The redshirt freshman did lose a portion of his freshman season due to an injury he suffered in the home opener against Southern Miss. Shortly after his return, he was thrust into action at a critical juncture of the year, making his first two starts in the ACC Championship win over Louisville and the Orange Bowl loss to Georgia. In those two games, Glenn completed 17/47 passes for 194 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. It is important to note that since then he's gone through another entire offseason and preseason camp, showcasing progress over that time. Glenn also plays with a moxy and energy that is noticeable in practice.

Kromenhoek just arrived in town at the beginning of the year but he was hand-picked by Norvell and quarterbacks coach Tony Tokarz before he even started a game at the high school level. The Seminoles were the first program to join his recruitment after the coaching staff watched him throw at a summer camp ahead of his sophomore season. The rest was history as Kromenhoek developed into a national recruit while sticking to his early pledge to Florida State.

The potential is obvious when you see Kromenhoek step on the field but he's still learning. For every great play, there is a freshman mistake, which is typical at this stage. The dual-threat ability is hard to deny though considering Kromenhoek completed 339/544 (62.3%) passes for 5,277 yards with 48 touchdowns to six interceptions in two years as a starter for Benedictine Military School. He added 1,011 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground. Kromenhoek compiled a 26-3 record and led Benedictine to a state championship as a junior.

Even if Florida State does make a quarterback change, there's no guarantee that Glenn or Kromenhoek will be a step up from Uiagalelei. But this is now a conversation about the Seminoles potentially finding their signal-caller of the future with the present looking pretty bleak.

Will Florida State choose to make a move? The upcoming week of practice will tell us a lot about how Norvell feels about his quarterback situation with the season still in its early stages. Actions are always stronger than words.

"We've got to build upon the things that I know we can do," Norvell said. "And we've got to build upon just showcasing our identity and what we're about. And we've got to work. Obviously, we've got a few days here this week, opportunities to go out and work to be better."

"We've got to continue to work on ourselves. We've got to continue to push, continue to build that confidence through the work and then to be able to execute in the moment," Norvell continued. "That's the -- like I said, coaches, players, everybody involved, you only get so limited opportunities. And when you get there at game day, you've got to be able to go perform and be your best. And that confidence, it's something that you've got to earn. And we work to build it through practice. We work to build it through competition. And what we try to do, but when you get out there on the field, that's where you say trust your training, you've got to be able to put that on display."

Florida State returns to Doak Campbell Stadium against Memphis on Saturday, September 14. The contest will be televised on ESPN.

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