Florida State will have a new starting quarterback against No. 15 on Clemson on Saturday.
According to ESPN, QB DJ Uiagalelei will be out at least a “few weeks” after suffering a broken finger on his throwing hand. The report came a day after Brock Glenn and Uiagalelei were listed as co-starters on Florida State’s most recent depth chart.
Uiagalelei’s injury came during SMU’s 42-16 win over the Seminoles in Week 5. The loss dropped Florida State to 1-4 on the season and likely ended any glimmer of hope the Seminoles had of making the ACC title game. Florida State is now 1-3 in the conference ahead of games against Clemson and No. 8 Miami in October.
Uiagalelei, who started his college career at Clemson, had his worst game of the season against the Mustangs. He was just 12-of-30 passing for 222 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. It was the first multi-interception game of the season for the senior QB and his fourth consecutive game with a pick.
If Uiagalelei was totally healthy, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to think a QB change was in the making at FSU anyway given the Seminoles’ nightmare start to the 2024 campaign. Uiagalelei has struggled all season since transferring from Oregon State. He’s just 84-of-156 passing for 1,065 yards and has thrown four touchdowns to six interceptions. He’s averaging less than seven yards an attempt and has been sacked 12 times.
FSU fans were heard chanting Glenn’s name during a Week 1 loss to Boston College. Glenn appeared in five games a season ago and started the ACC championship game after Tate Rodemaker was injured against Florida. Rodemaker started against the Gators after Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury in the penultimate game of the season.
Glenn didn’t play well in either of his two late-season starts in 2023, and that surely played a role in FSU’s recruitment of Uiagalelei after the season. Glenn was 8-of-21 for 55 yards against Louisville in the ACC title game and 9-of-26 for 139 yards and two interceptions in the Seminoles’ blowout loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
With seven games remaining in the regular season, Florida State needs to go 5-2 to simply make a bowl game after opening as the favorite to win the ACC and advance to the expanded College Football Playoff.
