• There was a lot of pressure in Week 0: The 23-year-old senior faced pressure on 10 of his 29 dropbacks against Georgia Tech, with the pressure arriving an average of 2.4 seconds after the snap.
• An opportunity to bounce back: FSU will look to bounce back tonight when they take on the Boston College Eagles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.
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Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
DJ Uiagalelei‘s debut as Florida State's starting quarterback didn't quite go as planned.
The Seminoles fell 24-21 against Georgia Tech in Week 0, with the offense struggling to a 69.7 PFF grade. Uiagalelei completed 19 of his 27 passes for 197 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions, and he added just 7 rushing yards on six carries to finish the game with an underwhelming 67.0 passing grade.
The transfer quarterback was sacked once, hit two more times and went 0-for-3 on deep passes, failing to connect on any throws of 20 or more yards downfield.The team will look to bounce back tonight when they take on the Boston College Eagles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.
The 23-year-old senior faced pressure on 10 of his 29 dropbacks against Georgia Tech, with the pressure arriving an average of 2.4 seconds after the snap. Those 10 dropbacks resulted in four completions, two scrambles, one sack, one batted pass, one hit as he threw the ball and one incompletion (an overthrow down the right sideline).
He finished 4-of-7 for 58 passing yards on those plays, adding 8 yards on two scrambles. And while he didn't record any turnover-worthy plays under pressure, he also didn't make any big-time throws to elevate the situation. His longest completion was 21 yards, but 15 of those yards came after the catch.
Florida State receivers struggled to create separation, which was why the offense failed to land any downfield shots and was held to less than 200 yards passing.
Going forward, the Seminoles will need to generate more production in the middle of the field, where Uiagalelei excels when he has time to set his feet and deliver a strike. On intermediate throws against Georgia Tech, he completed five of his six passes for 79 yards, earning a 90.7 passing grade.
All hope is not lost for the Seminoles, as the 12-team playoff creates new opportunities for teams that may suffer an early-season loss.
If the senior quarterback and the FSU offense get on the same page, they could still fight back to the ACC title game. But it will be tough, and they likely won’t be able to slip up in another conference matchup.
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