Brock Glenn describes help DJ Uiagalelei provides in game preparation

Brock Glenn is on the verge of his third career start, and his first this season. The sophomore quarterback is replacing two-time transfer DJ Uiagalelei, who Florida State head coach Mike Norvell said will likely be out “the next couple of weeks” after Uiagalelei suffered a finger injury in the fourth quarter of a Week 5 loss to SMU.

Even though Uiagalalei is currently sidelined — and even though his FSU chapter has hardly gone according to plan — he’s still supporting Glenn ahead of his start against Clemson, especially in the film room.

“DJ’s been awesome in the film study,” Glenn said Wednesday. “He’s been awesome. He sees the game really clear. And he’s obviously a vet. He’s been in this game for a while, so he knows what to expect, and he knows some tricks here and there to show and help speed up your mind.”

Uiagalelei arrived at FSU having played in 48 games with 40 starts under his belt, as well as a career record of 30-10. Last year at Oregon State, he was a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, which is given annually to the best quarterback in college football.

Leading the Beavers, the 6-foot-4, 252-pound Uiagalelei threw for 2,638 yards while posting a 21:7 touchdown-to-interception ratio and netting an additional 219 yards and six scores on the ground. Before that, Uiagalelei left Clemson ranking top 10 on the Tigers’ career lists for completions (515), passing touchdowns (36), quarterback rushing touchdowns (15), passing yards (5,681) and wins (22) as a starting quarterback.

But he’s completing a career-low 53.8% of his passes this season at FSU, not to mention his 4:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio and, of course, the Seminoles’ meager 1-4 record.

Less than a year removed from an undefeated regular season, ACC title and College Football Playoff snub, FSU entered the season as the No. 10 team in the country but dropped back-to-back ACC games to Georgia Tech and Boston College. An ugly win against Cal is sandwiched between two more losses, one to Memphis — Norvell’s former team, which FSU paid $1.3 million to come to Tallahassee — and the other to ACC newcomer SMU.

Glenn will now be filling in for a veteran quarterback for the second time in his young Seminoles career. In 2023, his number was called after sixth-year star Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending ACL tear — well, really, after backup Tate Rodemaker went down with a concussion, too.

Those injuries thrust Glenn into action for the ACC Championship. Glenn struggled, completing just 8-of-21 passes, except he didn’t throw an interception, and FSU beat Louisville, 16-6 for the conference crown and a shot at the CFP.

After the Seminoles were left out of the four-team playoff, a horde of players opted out of the Orange Bowl. Rodemaker was one of them. So Glenn started once more, but, again, he completed fewer than 40% of his passes. He also threw a pair of picks in the 63-3 loss to Georgia, another program that missed out on the CFP despite an impressive season.

Glenn’s preparation in his second year with the program has helped him take a step forward.

“Understanding [and] anticipation,” Norvell said, when targeting Glenn’s areas of growth from last year to this year. “But still, even with anticipation, trust with your eyes, trust what you see to be able to go through what you anticipate to happen and then not guess. And that’s where I think Brock is very smart.

“… It’s about trusting the timing, the technique, the fundamentals because there’s times that you might see it, and you might anticipate what’s happening, but if you’re almost too quick in your timing, it takes time for the receiver to get the spot or for things to happen, and I think that’s one of the areas I’ve seen him grow.”

Glenn said he has an understanding of how fast the game moves and is better at making pre- and post-snap reads. He described this week of preparation as “great.” It’s one that Uiagalalei’s been part of, even though he’s nursing an injury.