D.J. Uiagalelei Reportedly Out vs. Clemson, Finger Injury forces QB Change
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Clemson (3-1, 2-0) continues to dominate their recent opponents, the Tigers, ranked No. 15, are surging with an impressive 40-14 victory over Stanford on Saturday night. Since the 34-3 loss to Georgia, they’ve outscored their last three opponents 165-69, averaging a staggering 55 points per game.
Meanwhile, the situation at Florida State, their next opponent, couldn’t be more different.
FSU once ranked No. 10 in the AP preseason poll, find themselves in a free fall. Their 1-4 record (1-3 ACC) tells the tale of a team in disarray, and Saturday’s crushing 42-16 loss to new ACC member SMU has only intensified the frustration within Seminole Nation. At the center of it all is head coach Mike Norvell, who led the team to a 13-0 record and an ACC Championship last season, and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who spent three seasons with the Tigers (2020-2022) before transferring to Oregon State and eventually FSU.
The Seminoles’ 1-4 start has the fanbase pointing fingers—and many of those fingers are aimed at their quarterback after he completed just 12 of 30 passes and threw three interceptions against the Mustangs. His final pick returned 82 yards for a touchdown, led to his replacement in the fourth quarter by freshman Brock Glenn.
Was Uiagalelei benched?
That’s been the question on everyone’s mind. Norvell addressed the issue, "I said it after the game, 'After the interception, I decided I was going to make the change,'" he said during his Monday morning press conference. "Obviously, DJ did have the injury (finger) there as well but [I] just wanted to see [Glenn] have that opportunity to go in and execute. I thought he did some good things."
Norvell was quick to point out after the game that despite the switch to Glenn, Uiagalelei isn’t solely to blame for the team’s struggles.
"It’s really easy to point to the quarterback," he stated Saturday night."We’ve all got to get better, but there’s a lot of things that DJ did. Putting the ball on guys with challenging situations. There were times where we had lapses in protection where he thinks he’s protected."
"I don’t care who’s playing quarterback," he added. "If some of the things show up tonight, you can have a freshman. You can have whatever talent in the world. We’ve got to help the quarterback out too, and obviously, the quarterback’s got to play at a high level, and to be able to make plays to spark the offense and to do some of those things."
The matchup between the ACC rivals on Oct. 5 was once highly anticipated because FSU was expected to contend for the playoffs and a second straight ACC title, and Uiagalelei would be facing his former team. Clemson fans had circled this date to see how Uiagalelei would fare against the program where he followed Trevor Lawrence, the Jacksonville Jaguars 2021 No. 1 Draft selection, and was replaced by current quarterback Cade Klubnik in the 2022 ACC Championship game.
But now, the question looms: Will Uiagalelei even start when the Tigers come to town as it’s been reported that his finger injury is more significant than first thought.
“We'll see how things play out throughout the course of what this week holds," Norvell said of the quarterback situation on Monday. "Brock and Luke [Kromenhoek] both do a good job of how they prepare. They try to prepare like they're going to play every play in the game. If you do that, when you get into the game -- it's usually going to translate a lot better for you.”
Norvell, in his fifth year at FSU, was also asked if he thought the team had checked out or quit.
"I don’t feel that, and I don’t believe that that will be the case," said Norvell, signed to an eight-year contract worth more than $84 million in January but is feeling the heat from the fanbase. A buyout would pay him $65 million for the remainder of the deal, which expires on Dec. 31, 2031.
"This program means a lot to the guys that are in that locker room. Unfortunately, we’re not representing it very well, but we get to choose to continue to fight to get it better. That’s what we’re going to do."