Just when you thought that Billy Napier and the Florida Gators were the biggest disasters of Week 1, Mike Norvell and the Florida State Seminoles shouted, “hold my beer!”
After Florida State’s shocking loss to Georgia Tech in Dublin a week ago, most people expected the Noles to be foaming at the mouth to right the ship against the Boston College Eagles.
You would have thought that a primetime Labor Day evening ACC clash against a Bill O’Brien team (at home!) should have been more than enough to get the Noles excited … But that was anything but the case.
Despite the game being ultra-critical for their season, Florida State came out lifeless and uninspired and were completely dominated at the line of scrimmage.
The most embarrassing aspect of the game was the horrific performance by DJ Uiagalelei who proved once again that he’s not anywhere close to being a reliable quarterback.
O’Brien and Boston College deserve full credit for their impressive performance in the 28-13 victory. They were the hungrier team. They were the tougher team. They were the sharper team. And it wasn’t particularly close.
Having said that, the story of the game was the Noles who inexplicably fall to 0-2 on the season. Remarkably, September has just began, and Florida State’s season (big picture wise) is most likely over.
Unless something drastic happens the rest of the season, Uiagalelei is well on his way towards capping off one of the most disappointing careers in recent college football memory.
Dabo Swinney was loyal (to a fault) to Uiagalelei at Clemson where he never came close to meeting expectations.
Following a mediocre season at Oregon State, Norvell brought Uiagalelei to Tallahassee hoping he could finally live up to the hype that surrounded him as a top-ranked recruit coming out of high school.
But so far, Norvell’s decision looks like an epic flop.
Last night, the redshirt senior completed just 21 of 42 passes for 272 yards, with one touchdown and one back-breaking interception, in a game that saw the Noles struggle mightily to move the ball.
The frustration in the stands was palpable, with fans chanting, “We want Brock,” calling for backup quarterback Brock Glenn to take over after Boston College extended its lead to 21-6 early in the third quarter.
When asked if he considered benching Uiagalelei during the game or if he would consider a change for the upcoming home game against Memphis, Norvell avoided directly addressing the possibility.
“We were struggling offensively and there’s a lot of reasons for that,” Norvell said while not singling out Uiagalelei. “Obviously everything we’re doing, we got to push and get better and 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 are going to go focus on.”
Again, Uiagalelei was far from the only problem for the Noles.
Florida State’s offensive line failed to protect the troubled quarterback for the majority of the game. However, when Uiagalelei did have time in the pocket, he routinely missed even the easiest of throws.
Needless to say, the frustration is boiling over in Tallahassee.
After being shut out of the College Football Playoff last season despite an undefeated regular season record, Norvell’s team was expected to take the 2024 season by storm with an extra chip on their shoulder.
But after just two games, some fans are already calling for Norvell to be fired.
Uiagalelei’s father has been a controversial figure going back to DJ’s days at Clemson.
“Big Dave” doesn’t do himself many favors on social media. Unsurprisingly, Seminole fans are letting their frustrations heard loud and clear on X. (Just look at some of the responses.)
Norvell is certainly feeling the heat for his decision to bring in Uiagalelei from the transfer portal, especially since there were better options available.
Could that decision end up being what gets him fired?
Or do you think Norvell and the Noles will be able to dig deep and turn the season around before it’s too late???