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Most of the 2024 college football projections for Florida State have the No. 10-ranked Seminoles among the favorites to win the ACC title, as well as earning one of 12 College Football Playoff berths.
It’s a fair assessment, given the breakthrough head coach Mike Norvell had last year in his fourth season, guiding FSU to a 13-0 regular-season record before the CFP brutally excluded the Seminoles from a four-team postseason. With nearly two dozen players opting out of their Orange Bowl game, they got stomped by Georgia for their only loss.
When FSU opens its season against Georgia Tech in Ireland on Saturday (12 noon, ABC), it will be accompanied by the highest preseason expectations since the tail end of the Jimbo Fisher era.
FSU has the talent and depth to repeat as ACC champions, but one concern bears watching about reaching that goal: the accuracy of incoming quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.
Nobody questions the size (6-foot-4, 252 pounds) or arm strength of the QB that succeeded the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, then transferred to Oregon State for the 2023 season.
Now with his third program, Uiagalelei has a ton of experience with 40 starts among his 48 games, but his completion percentage of 57.1 last year (180 of 315) with the Beavers is incredibly low for someone who had 28 starts entering his fourth college season.
In fact, among 92 FBS quarterbacks who attempted a minimum 250 passes in 2023, Uiagalelei ranked 81st in completion percentage, though his yards per attempt did jump from 6.8 yards to a respectable 8.4 yards.
FSU offense must adapt quickly
There’s plenty of optimism in Tallahassee because Norvell’s program has done a phenomenal job with the transfer portal. FSU anticipates that paying big dividends again this season as two of Uiagalelei’s top targets, SEC imports Malik Benson…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gene-frenette-dj-uiagalelei-being-014930305.html
Author : The Florida Times-Union
Publish date : 2024-08-23 01:49:30
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