Mike Norvell Explains Why He Replaced DJ Uiagalelei With Brock Glenn During FSU's Loss

Norvell left the door open when asked if he's considering a quarterback change to focus on the future of the position later in the press conference.

Sep 28, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell looks on during the second half against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Florida State scored less than 20 points for the fourth straight game in Saturday night's loss to SMU as the offensive struggles continued. The Seminoles looked like they were figuring things out early on after scoring on their opening possession. However, the unit only found the end zone once on its final 12 drives with plenty of frustration in between.

Starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei completed five of his first six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. He began to melt down following an interception in the second quarter, falling into a stretch where he connected on just seven of his next 24 passes for 126 yards and three picks.

READ MORE: Florida State's Offensive Struggles Magnified in 42-16 Loss to SMU Mustangs

Following a pick-six in the fourth quarter, Uiagalelei was replaced by redshirt freshman Brock Glenn. On the TV broadcast, FSU's trainers were seen checking out Uiagalelei's throwing hand after a previous injury to a finger on his other hand.

Glenn led two scoreless possessions, missing on all four of his throws while taking a couple of big hits in the process. His first action of the season didn't do too much to inspire the notion that a quarterback change will fix Florida State's offense.

Following the game, head coach Mike Norvell went into detail about his decision to insert Glenn into the blowout.

“I mean, in all reality, DJ on the last hit, obviously something with his hand. His hand got hit as it was going through, we’ll see where that’s at, but in all reality, I was going to make a change anyway to give Brock an opportunity," Norvell said after the game. "It’s real easy to point to the quarterback and yes, we all have got to get better but there’s a lot of things that DJ did. Got the ball on guys with challenging situations. There’s times where we had lapses in protection where he thinks he’s protected and we miss that and you get somebody running on you free. There was some mistakes from guys like - they don’t do that, they haven’t done that in the moment."

"There’s not anything like ‘oh, that’s unexpected, we didn’t plan on seeing that tonight’ so I’d like to say they drew something up that was really good but they executed better than we executed. They did a better job of being better than us tonight," Norvell continued. "That’s where it’s disappointing and frustrating for me, all of us. When you look like we’ve looked offensively the first five weeks, nobody is doing a good job. So whatever that needs to look moving forward for the best display of who we are and what we can be, that’s got to show up. I’m doing all things in my power and I’ve been doing that throughout the course of the season but obviously what you see is who you are and we’re not where we want to be so we’ve got to go get better."

Norvell left the door open when asked if he's considering a quarterback change to focus on the future of the position later in the press conference. He also made it clear that he doesn't believe the current lack of success all falls on Uiagalelei's shoulders.

"I'm thinking about everything today and if one of those young guys, if they show that that's going to be the best option and opportunity for this offense...like right now it's about all guys and what we're doing to go be the best that we can be," Norvell said. "I'm at practice every day, I promise you these players, coaches, everybody's busting their butt to go out there and be the best that we can be. It's not showing up so you have to evaluate."

"I don't care who's playing quarterback. Some of the things that showed up tonight. Playing quarterback, you can have a freshman, you can whatever talent in the world, we've got to help the quarterback out too," Norvell continued. "Obviously, the quarterbacks got to play at a high level and be able to make plays to spark the offense and do some of those things. So, yes, we're going to continue to push and evaluate but I'm not going to sit here, I know it's easy for everybody to point to that one individual and that's part of the position. DJ knows that, we know that to be the head coach, the offensive, defensive coordinator, that's part of the job. It takes everybody and we all have to be better because it's absolutely not good enough."

It will be interesting to see if any changes are made when Florida State's next depth chart is released on Sunday.

The Seminoles return to action against Clemson on Saturday, October 5.

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