The Seminoles faced off against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to kick off the 2024 college football season in Dublin, Ireland. The Yellow Jackets brought a stout defense with them and stuffed the Seminoles, allowing their leading rusher to record just 38 yards. The biggest talk of the game for Florida State, however, was quarterback DJ Uiagalelei who fans were extremely critical of following the 24-21 loss to the Yellow Jackets.
Florida State Seminoles quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, College FOotball
Aug 24, 2024; Dublin, IRL; Georgia Tech defensive lineman Kevin Harris II tackles Florida State University quarterback DJ Uiagalelei at Aviva Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tom Maher/INPHO via USA TODAY Sports
Following the narrow loss to the tough Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Florida State Seminoles fans were quick to place the blame on their new quarterback. DJ Uiagalelei was once a five-star commitment to the Clemson Tigers but later transferred to Oregon State where he shined a season ago. Now, Uiagalelei is on his third school and did not have the introductory performance that fans were truly hoping for.
The quarterback recorded 193 yards through the air on 19-of-27 passing but did not record a touchdown against the Yellow Jackets. Uiagalelei also had a pair of nice rushes in the second half, but only had seven yards to show after taking a loss on a designed quarterback run. While Uiagalelei did not look bad on paper, a deeper dive reveals what the real issues with his performance were.
The quarterback attempted zero big-time throws (BTT) against the Yellow Jackets and was only hit as he threw the ball (HAT) once in a relatively clean pocket. Uiagalelei, however, did not hurt the team either as he had a turnover-worthy play (TWP) percentage of zero, meaning he made the safe reads throughout the game. The one stat truly not going in the favor of the quarterback is his -0.2 average of yards through the air on his pass attempts in the first half of play.
For the Florida State Seminoles, tackling was a supreme issue as it led to key players with the Yellow Jackets wanting to get the ball to to get free. The Seminoles had four players record two missed tackles, with 13 tackles being missed in total for the defense. Shyheim Brown, Conrad Hussey, DJ Lundy, and Davonte Brown all missed two tackles for the Seminoles and recorded the lowest defense ratings for the team in the tackling department.
