Rece Davis, Pete Thamel consider if FSU should turn DJ Uiagalelei loose after Week 0

A big story coming out of Week 0’s opener in Dublin between No. 10 Florida State and Georgia Tech was the struggling play of DJ Uiagalelei. Now, with where the Seminoles already find themselves, Rece Davis wonders if they should, at this point, put the ball completely in his hands.

Davis examined that thought with Pete Thamel on the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ on Monday. He thinks that, to get DJU more comfortable, FSU has to do what they have to in order to get him confident enough as they quarterback.

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“Maybe they need to turn DJ loose a little bit, you know?” Davis said. “I mean, if he’s going to be your guy, maybe you trust him.

“That is something – and this is not Mike Norvell-specific. This is coaches. Coaches, as a rule, often think what could go wrong – how can I make him comfortable, take care of him? Sometimes the best way to make a quarterback particularly and players, athletes generally comfortable is to act like you believe in them by saying, ‘Go get it, kid,'” Davis continued. “You know, go get ’em cowboy. Let it rip.”

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Uiagalelei’s debut as a ‘Nole saw him go 19-27 (70.4%) overall for 193 yards with no scores or picks. That was good for 10.2 yards a completion but little of it came from hardly any shots that they took as an offense.

For that, Thamel gave credit to the Yellow Jacket defense. He noted how all of Uiagalelei’s throws ended up being tough ones with how their opponent played them. That then brought out some of the poorer qualities in Uiagalelei’s game.

“Georgia Tech completely whipped their offensive line at the line of scrimmage. That put a lot of pressure on DJ,” Thamel said. “From talking to some coaches after the game, one of the things I thought they did a really good job of – and when they said this it clicked. Even the short stuff was hard for DJ. Everything that he was throwing short was to the field side. They clouded the boundary and made the boundary crowded so the so-called ‘easy release throws’ were five yard throws that had to travel 25 yards.

“DJ is not the most accurate quarterback. We’ve seen that, you know, over time. He’s also just not an elite runner, right. He looked like a tepid runner the other night,” continued Thamel. “(Tyler Santucci) did what good defensive coaches do. They put him in positions where he didn’t appear comfortable. They were not able to sort of take what was given because of that.”

With Florida State now at 0-1 and Uiagalelei in his last season of eligibility, Davis just thinks they have to do whatever possible to finally tap into his previously well-touted potential. That could be among their and his top priorities when they take the field next in week one.

“You know, maybe that’s something they’ll look at from this point forward,” said Davis.