How Florida State's offense will look with Uiagalelei compared to Jordan Travis
For the first time in a long time, a quarterback not named Jordan Travis will start under center for Florida State. With Clemson and Oregon State transfer DJ Uiagalelei expected to take center stage and lead the Seminoles offense this upcoming college football season.
Travis’ name is all over FSU’s record books following 46 game appearances for his career in Tallahassee, leaving behind big shoes for Uiagalelei in what will be the final season of his career. And recently on the On3 Roundtable, Warchant‘s Ira Schoffel revealed how he believes the Seminoles’ offense will look with DJU compared to Travis.
“I think it’s gonna be pretty different, probably a little bit more like what it looked like a couple of years ago when Jordan Travis was known as a great runner but wasn’t known as a great passer,” Schoffel said. “And Florida State really pounded the ball, I just actually wrote a story about this for our website, they averaged about 5.5 yards per carry two years ago. One of the best rushing offenses in the country.”
After making just six starts between his first two seasons with the Seminoles, Travis developed into Florida State’s unquestioned starter. Always possessing an elite rushing ability, but growing as a passer year after year in ways that Uiagalelei may have room to continue growing.
“Last year they tried to throw it a little bit more, they had those talented wide receivers, the offensive line wasn’t quite as dominant as a run blocking unit, so the offensive look differently. This year I think it’s gonna go back to so the way it was before and probably similar to what Mike Norvell did at Memphis where they really liked to run the football, very physical rushing attack, and then take shots down the field,” Schoffel explained.
Like Travis, Uiagalelei posses some ability to contribute in the running game. Rushing for 1,132 yards and 21 touchdowns in his four year college career.
But in his lone season with Oregon State last year, he threw for a career-high 2,638 yards and 8.4 yards per pass attempt. A style of play that Schoffel believes will bode well in Tallahassee and translate to Florida State’s offense.
“I think that’s gonna fit well with what DJ did if you looked at what he did at Oregon State. I think the he improved there compared to what he did at Clemson partly because that’s what they asked him to do,” Schoffel said. “He didn’t complete a high, high percentage of passes, but he completed a high number of yards per attempt and per completion and I think Florida states kind of built that same way.”
“They’re gonna really run the ball, be physical, and then lead DJ take some shots down the field.”
Uiagalelei’s return to the ACC will be fascinating to see, already compared to Travis by teammates for intangibles and leadership ability. But there’s no question that he’ll be judged for how he can lead Florida State on the field by Seminoles fans this upcoming season.