Florida State’s Nightmare Start Gets Worse as QB Drama Puts Team in a Devastating Playoff Bind
The college football playoffs are set to expand to a 12-team format, causing distress among traditionalists who preferred the previous methods of determining a national champion. The change is notable, especially for Florida State Seminoles fans who are particularly dissatisfied after their team’s significant early-season decline. Initially ranked No. 10, the Seminoles suffered two consecutive losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College, resulting in their fall from the top 25 rankings.
The Seminoles’ struggles were highlighted by a disappointing performance from quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who faced heavy criticism from fans after a lackluster showing against Boston College. Historically, only two other teams have dropped from a top 10 preseason ranking to unranked after losing multiple games early in the season.
Given their schedule, which includes upcoming games against lesser-ranked teams, there remains a possibility for the Seminoles to regroup and regain some footing. However, significant challenges lie ahead, as they will face ranked opponents like Clemson and Notre Dame later in the season. The team’s performance in these upcoming games will determine whether they can pivot from this disappointing start or risk missing out on the playoffs entirely, even considering a broader playoff format.
The college football playoffs will expand to a 12-team format this year, leaving purists crying foul.
Heck, it was bad enough for them that college football even started having a national championship instead of deciding it through the AP and coaches’ polls, like the good ol’ days. Then it expanded to four teams. Now 12? What would Knute Rockne have said, dagnabbit?
One group of purists that may not be complaining about the shift are supporters of the Florida State Seminoles. In fact, ‘Noles fans might be pushing for a last-minute switch to the 68-team format the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship uses.
In one of the more stunning early season collapses in recent memory, the Seminoles became just the third team to go from the top 10 in the preseason poll to unranked in the first regular season poll after two straight losses to start the campaign.
The Seminoles began the campaign ranked at No. 10, but fell in a game played against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland on Aug. 24, 24-21.
Things got even worse when the team got home, losing 28-13 to Boston College.
Former FSU running back Treshaun Ward, who transferred to BC, racked up 138 yards of offense as Boston College managed 263 yards on the ground and 369 yards of total offense. FSU only managed 293.
To make things worse, fans began booing Seminoles starting QB DJ Uiagalelei during the game after a decidedly awful 21-42 performance, with one touchdown and one interception.
A “WE WANT BROCK” chant breaks out after Boston College takes a two-touchdown lead over Florida State.
FSU fans at the Doak have seen all they want of DJ Uiagalelei. pic.twitter.com/LKpl22jLdy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 3, 2024
Uiagalelei finished with a 27.4 QB rating; to put this in perspective, Boston College starter Thomas Castellanos had an 87.1 rating despite only managing 106 yards on 10-16 completions.
Nevertheless, because of the quirk of having played two games before most teams — having played the first one in Dublin a week before the season proper kicked off in the States — FSU joins an ignoble trio of teams that went from top 10 to out of the top 25 in the first regular-season poll.
Both of the other teams to accomplish the “feat,” such as it is, also played two games before the first poll.
The last team to do it was the 2022 Notre Dame squad, which started the season at No. 5 but got knocked off by No. 2 Ohio State and then by unranked Marshall. That team recovered to finish No. 21 in the final CFB Playoff Rankings, including knocking off No. 4 Clemson on the way to a 9-4 record.
The Ohio State University, meanwhile, managed the feat for the first time in 1986, when they were No. 10 before dropping two straight games to No. 5 Alabama and No. 17 University of Washington.
The Buckeyes would win 10 of their last 11, however, and finish No. 7 in the final AP poll.
This might not end as well for the Seminoles, however. As Jordan Silversmith wrote at Tomahawk Nation — an SBNation sub-site dedicated to all things FSU — Florida State head coach Mike Norvell’s decision to abandon plans to make 2024 a “moderate rebuilding year” may have cost them dearly.
As fans might remember, the Seminoles became the first undefeated Power 5 team to be left out of the NCAA Division 1 FCS playoffs after going 13-0 in the regular season but still finishing ranked No. 5.
According to ESPN, the Selection Committee cited a season-ending injury to starting QB Jordan Travis with two games left making the team considerably weaker than other one-loss programs; numerous players opted out or transferred before FSU’s consolation Orange Bowl appearance against the University of Georgia, which ended in a 63-3 drubbing.
“Looking back on it now, it seems as if Florida State’s playoff snub forced Norvell’s hand to abandon his off-season plans,” wrote Tomahawk Nation’s Jordan Silversmith.
“Instead of allowing his two best recruiting classes to take their lumps in 2024, ‘The Portal King’ attempted to fill every hole left open from the best Seminole roster in a decade, trying to overnight a roster in minutes.”
And the results, needless to say, are showing on the field — particularly with Uiagalelei, one of the portal transfers the Seminoles brought in.
MAX TUCKER. INTERCEPTION. 🤯💨
📺 @espn x @BCFootball pic.twitter.com/900REPnxyu
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 3, 2024
Can FSU pull off the same comeback the other two teams on this ignominious list did?
If the team was actually worth anything near a top 25 ranking, they should have no problem with their next three games against the University of Memphis, California and Southern Methodist University. Then comes their next real test: Clemson, now ranked No. 25.
Two other currently ranked teams remain on their schedule: University of Miami, Florida and Notre Dame, who currently occupy Nos. 12 and 5 in the rankings, respectively.
In other words, they do have some time to regroup and learn to play together as the No. 10 unit they were predicted to be. If they see similar results against schools like Memphis and SMU, however, the 68-team format might not even be enough for them to eke into.
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