DJ Uiagalelei picked for why Florida State will not repeat as ACC Champions

There’s a lot of excitement about what DJ Uiagalelei can to Florida State this season after transferring from Oregon State. However, at least one person isn’t buying that the transition will be so smooth.

Dan Rubenstein of the The Solid Verbal joined the Andy Staples On3 podcast on Tuesday, where he was faced with a game from host Andy Staples. Rubenstein had to weigh FSU’s chances of winning ACC title game against that of Clemson and Miami simply making the game.

He ultimately landed on the Seminoles not winning, citing questions about Uiagalelei as the reason why.

“I like a lot of what Florida State has on defense,” he said. “Generally, my rubric for greatness is quarterback and defense. With what Florida State lost on its line, even with what it has coming back and occupying their defensive line, I think DJU is fine. I do not trust DJU.

“I think he’s a totally fine quarterback, but I don’t think he’s a championship caliber quarterback. That is my bias. I watched a lot of him at Clemson and Oregon State. I’m just not there, whereas I can talk myself into the upside of Miami. I think I like Clemson more than Florida State in this moment.”

Uiagalelei had a couple of less-than-stellar seasons at Clemson that resulted in him being benched during the 2022 ACC Championship Game. He then transferred to Oregon State and went on to have the best year of his career to finish with 2,638 yards passing and 21 touchdowns to seven interceptions.

In his two seasons as a starter at Clemson, Uiagalelei posted a touchdown-to-interception ratio of rougly 2:1. That improved this past season with the Beavers to 3:1. That provides hope for what he can do in his final season of college eligibility with the Seminoles, but they also lose several of their key receivers from when Jordan Travis was the gunslinger.

Comparatively, Clemson returns Cade Klubnik after one year as starter and Miami brings in Cam Ward from Washington State. That’s a lot of uncertainty among the quarterbacks for the the top three teams in the ACC preseason poll, leaving it truly a toss up among the favorites.

“There is something to me about where I believe Clemson’s defense will be this year,” Rubenstein said. “I know the issue has not been defense for Clemson. But I think with as flawed as we can look at Clemson being with what they’ve done in the portal and not being able to figure out offense and receivers specifically, which is odd given Dabo’s background, they still won a ton of games recently.

“I like the continuity of Clemson. I still think continuity is the secret sauce to college football. I can’t fully buy Mario Cristobal, but I still like the upside. I like Clemson a little bit more in this moment.”

Rubenstein is not writing off Florida State will his prediction, as the Seminoles can still make the ACC title game. He is simply predicting them to lose to Clemson and we’ll see whether that ultimately comes to fruition.