Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was benched in the fourth quarter of last week’s 42-16 loss at SMU, and heading into Saturday’s game against Clemson, the Seminoles have two names listed as co-starters under center on the depth chart. But according to coach Mike Norvell, the decision to potentially go in another direction at quarterback includes the factor of injury as well as performance.
Norvell revealed that Uiagalelei suffered a finger injury in the loss to SMU, and how that impacts his ability to play against Clemson — where he starred from 2020-22 — will be evaluated throughout the course of the week. There is concern that the injury could sideline Uiagalelei for an extended period, according to 247Sports.
The decision to replace Uiagalelei in the game was made prior to the injury, Norvell said, as Florida State wanted to see if redshirt freshman Brock Glenn could give the offense a spark in the wake of an 82-yard pick six that extended SMU’s lead to 26 points with 12:55 remaining.
“Wanted to see that opportunity for Brock to go in and execute. I thought he did some good things, had a nice throw we didn’t finish on, I thought he did miss one of the vertical shots,” Norvell explained. “But overall operation of what we asked him to do was good, but that wasn’t shocking to me. Brock and Luke both do a great job in how they prepare, they try to prepare as if they are going to play every play in the game. … I thought he was ready for the moment.”
On the depth chart, both Uiagalelei and Glenn received the “or” designation as co-starters, but Norvell added Monday that “it doesn’t really matter” what he puts on the depth chart because he’s waiting to see how the week plays out.
The pick six in the fourth quarter was Uiagalelei’s third interception of the game, bringing his season total to six interceptions in five games with a 1-4 record as the team’s starter. Uiagalelei has just four passing touchdowns to go with those six picks and a 53.8% completion percentage. If Norvell was already considering a change at quarterback prior to Uiagalelei’s injury, this development may have opened the door for Florida State to try and reverse its offensive fortunes with a quarterback change.
Still, Norvell has maintained that the offensive struggles are a team-wide issue and not squarely on the shoulders of Uiagalelei.
“[Uiagalelei] made some poor decisions and a couple bad throws, but you’ve got to help the quarterback,” Norvell said Monday. “I don’t think we’ve done a good job of that consistently. At the end of the day, we all have to have ownership in that.”
With three conference losses already, Florida State is out of the ACC title race and facing an uphill battle to make a bowl game. But as Norvell tries to navigate the upcoming weeks to guarantee the best possible big-picture outcomes, there will be opportunities to let younger talent, like Glenn, get a shot in live action.
