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topicnews · August 26, 2024

Winners and losers of college football week 0: Florida State flops

Winners and losers of college football week 0: Florida State flops

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Florida State only had to admit defeat to Georgia Tech in Ireland at the last second. The Seminoles could have done the same in Atlanta! The transatlantic flight home to Tallahassee should be a pleasure.

The worst part about these season-opening trips to exotic locations is that there’s a football game at the end of the festivities, something the Seminoles apparently forgot to include in their schedule. With about eight months to prepare for the 2024 season, FSU seemed unprepared for an opponent ranked ninth in the ACC preseason poll.

After taking an 8-0 lead with a touchdown drive and subsequent two-point conversion about five minutes into the game, the Seminoles were hampered by an offense that couldn’t build a run or move the ball far. Offensive problems that emerge in Week 0 often linger into November.

The Seminoles’ problems begin with a chicken-and-egg question surrounding new quarterback DJ Uiagalelei: Was FSU unable to spread the field because an untested receiver corps had trouble gaining distance, or because Uiagalelei simply doesn’t feel comfortable throwing five yards behind the line of scrimmage? Defensively, FSU struggled against an experienced offensive line, allowing nearly 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

There is good news in the form of the 12-team College Football Playoff, which gives potential contenders a bit more wiggle room than previous postseason formats. FSU, for example, could lose again and still make the playoffs as an at-large contender, depending on how things play out in the ACC.

But the team that flopped against Georgia Tech cannot and will not get very far. Still to come are Memphis, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina and Notre Dame. Have the Seminoles’ playoff hopes for 2024 already been dashed one year after narrowly reaching the top four?

Florida State and Georgia Tech top the Week 0 winners and losers list:

winner

Georgia Tech Institute

Tech was picked ninth in the preseason conference poll but received one first-place vote, so at least one person saw Saturday coming. Looking back to last season, the Yellow Jackets have scored multiple touchdowns in eight of their last nine games; establishing themselves from the front takes the pressure off quarterback Haynes King and has become the program’s hallmark under coach Brent Key. Just as the loss changes the national view of FSU, the win should propel Tech into next week’s USA TODAY Sports U.S. LBM Coaches Poll and triple the Jackets’ success.

Brent Key

Tech promoted Key from Geoff Collins’ staff at the start of the 2022 season and never looked back. After going 4-4 ​​in his interim season and 7-6 a year ago, the former Tech offensive lineman has established the program’s identity and turned the Jackets back into an ACC contender. One of the biggest areas of improvement has been the offense, which dictated the play of the Seminoles’ newly assembled front seven and should be a strength in the conference throughout the season. With Tech on a seven-win streak in the preseason, the win against FSU catapults Tech into the early top third of the conference.

SMU

As a freshman in the ACC, SMU avoided a bitter loss at Nevada and may be the winner of the night, no matter what it took to get to 29-24. Trailing 24-13 early in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs closed with a 16-0 run, leaning on junior tight end RJ Maryland, who scored the game-winning touchdown at 1:18 and had 162 yards on 9 catches. Nevada was picked last in the Mountain West preseason poll, which seems miles off the mark after a week. At least that’s what SMU says.

loser

State of Florida

That kind of performance (and loss) is straight out of the first two years of the Mike Norvell era. Although massive turnovers have caused uncertainty in the Power Four, the Seminoles were seemingly established as a major national title contender and one of three or four teams at the top of the ACC. At the very least, the loss in Dublin recalibrates the hype around FSU and lowers expectations to more like eight wins rather than 10 or more.

DJ Uiagalelei

When Uiagalelei is in the middle of the field, you get serviceable, sometimes strong, relatively error-free and incredibly cautious quarterback play, and anyone expecting more will be disappointed. The question for Norvell is whether the Seminoles need more to win another ACC title — and after one game, the answer is a resounding yes. But there are things you can do to build around Uiagalelei, like Oregon State and its former coach Jonathan Smith did last season. That he protects the football is one big advantage; that he can be a weapon on the ground is another, even though he was used little as a runner in the opener. Maybe after three years at Clemson and one game at FSU, Uiagalelei just isn’t cut out for the ACC.

Nevada

New coach Jeff Choate and Nevada, which has gone 4-20 the past two seasons, have something to build on. Taking SMU to the finish is a sign of progress, even if the Mustangs aren’t the cream of the Power Four. Can the same formula be used for success in the Mountain West? While it was nice to compete, there’s also a sense of missed opportunity for the Wolf Pack. An upset could be the difference between five wins and a bowl berth if Nevada plays to its potential after Saturday night.

New Mexico

Playing as a nearly two-touchdown underdog against Championship Subdivision heavyweight Montana State, New Mexico appeared on its way to a win in coach Bronco Mendenhall’s debut but collapsed in the fourth quarter, losing 35-31. The Lobos extended their lead largely thanks to two defensive touchdowns, the second of which made it 31-14 less than two minutes into the second half. But the Bobcats scored touchdowns of 80, 93 and 89 yards in the fourth quarter, capped by a short touchdown run with 10 seconds left that clinched the win. UNM will eventually get back on track under Mendenhall, a proven winner who previously held the same positions at Brigham Young and Virginia.

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