Can The Seminoles Fix These Glaring Issues?
“I learned more from the mistakes than from the good things.” – Bobby Bowden
The 2024 season did not start the way Florida State fans hoped for. The Seminoles would be Irish whipped by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 24-21, in a game that looked close in the broad vision but when you break it down reveals many question marks and mistakes. In what was described by many as the ‘Redemption Season’ will need a restart in week 1 as the Noles are now 0-1 in 2024, and conference play, and yet to play in the US.
We look at five things that stood out in the week one loss and the optics from a national perspective as well.
Five Things That Stood Out
Questionable Playcalling
FSU would be missing a valuable piece of their staff on Saturday.
While most were aware Florida State offensive coordinator, Alex Atkins, was not on the sideline in Ireland. Atkins will not be on the sideline for the first three contests of 2024 as the NCAA has suspended him from coaching in these games amid the ongoing investigation into the program and its collectives.
With this, we would see Mike Norvell call his offense normal. In reality, Norvell has called the plays at Memphis and now in Tallahassee. We would see a timid Norvell as he didnt seem to unleash his star transfer, DJ Uiagalelei, for the nation to see. We will delve into the debut of ‘DJ U” shortly, but for now, let’s continue with the playoffs.
Norvell would use the short and quick passing game while neglecting the strong arm we would see from Uiagalelei in Corvallis with the Oregon State Beavers. In the opener, FSU would only take five deep passes{15+ yards} in the game while completing two. In addition, the Noles would finish 10-11 from short{<5 yards} and 7-11 in medium passes{5-14 yards} in the loss. The offense many would describe as “potent” would only have nine “Big” plays for 153 yards. In comparison, the Yellow Jackets would have 10 of these plays for 202 yards.
These questionable play calls/strategies had a large effect on how the prized transfer fared in his debut under center. More importantly, we have to ask: Is this what the offense will resemble all season? Timid calls and unutilized players?
With that, we will dive into how Uiagalelei performed.
DJ U Debut
With the above questionable calls aside, Uiagalelei performed pedestrian in the loss. The fifth-year transfer would finish 19-27 for 193 yards through the air and 6 rushes for 14 yards. Fans would become accustomed to what we would see from former Nole, Jordan Travis, and what we had heard from the national media about how DJ could step right in there was an obvious drop-off.
While completing his first 12-13 passes none were more than 21 yards{his 3rd pass of the game} as he would complete the final 7 passes of this run to start the game. Following this streak, he would finish the game an even 7-7 passing. The playcalls were handcuffed with the stifling Jackets defense as they would make the Noles one-dimensional offensively as the team would only rush for 31 rushes for 98 yards, an average of 3.2 yards per rush.
This offense will not win many games relying on the arm of the quarterback and Tech exposed this quickly.
Possession
It is difficult to score points when your offense is on the bench. The Seminoles would have the ball one time in the fourth quarter and score 6 points but it wouldn’t be enough. Tech would control the line of scrimmage and bully the Noles in the final frame. To take this point even further, the Noles’s offense would remain on the field for only 5:38 in the 3rd quarter and 8:24 in the 4th when one more possession could have changed the outcome.
The deciding drives, or drives, were at the end of the 3rd quarter when Tech would take an 11-play, 89-yard, drive and eat up 6:33 off the clock while milking into the final frame. We would see the game-winning drive start at the Georgia Tech 25-yard line and run from there. We will discuss just how they would rush in the game soon but this would be the final nail in the Irish coffin of the Noles and an issue that MUST be corrected. This was perhaps the worst defensive performance against the run under coordinator Adam Fuller.
Just how bad? Let us find out.
Run Defense
The Seminoles may want to erase Dublin from their minds defensively. The only thing standing in their way is the Yellow Jackets are still running by them. On Saturday, the running game was a focus for former offensive lineman, and Yellow Jackets head coach, Brent Key. Florida State was dominated on the line and would fold under pressure when the game was on the line.
To further this point, the Ramblin Wreck would crash the FSU defense as they couldn’t defend the boundary and this would be costly. Jamal Hayes would lead the Jackets with 11 rushes for 83 yards, 2 touchdowns, and the longest rush of the game of 36 yards. The Noles would be outrushed 217 yards to 115 on the day while getting stung for 5.3 yards per attempt for Tech.
We would above speak on possession and how it was a vital factor. Georgia Tech would run the ball six straight times in the final drive and run the Noles to Tallahassee with a loss. On the day, the Yellow Jackets would run for 12 first downs compared to just 6 for FSU.
This trend for the Noles will need to be corrected as their performance was poor to put it lightly.
Don’t Look Ahead
The future does not look to be all sunshine and rainbows for Seminole Nation. Up next, is a visit from Boston College under new coach Bill O’Brien on Monday, September 2nd. In what could be a nightmare, the Noles will again be the only game on television when they again battle in the conference.
Following the visit from BC, the Noles will have a much-needed bye week. After that is a matchup with a familiar face for Norvell in the Memphis Tigers. With the events in Dublin, could we see the Noles start 0-3? If so, the nation would have much to say.
We close with the optics of FSU from a national perspective.
Optics Of Loss
Many around the country celebrated as the Noles took their first loss. To be quite honest, many had become tired of hearing how the team was snubbed in last season’s College Football Playoff and wanted a loss to stop any momentum in 2024. With all the alcohol flowing in Ireland, everyone will agree this loss was not pretty.
No matter how many pints you may have consumed you can see issues. The above issues will need to be corrected and fast as we laid out for the Seminoles to make a charge into the 12-team playoff. Can the Noles get this corrected?
