OR not? DJU’s broken finger spares Mike Norvell from having to bench his struggling QB

It’s not often you get bailed out by an injury, but Mike Norvell might have the perfect excuse to bench the underperforming DJ Uiagalelei.

Uiagalelei suffered a broken finger in Florida State's 42-16 loss to SMU this past weekend.

His collegiate career hasn’t gone how national recruiting pundits anticipated it would go as Uiagalelei was ranked the No. 2 quarterback and No. 2 player in the 2020 recruiting class.

Despite Uiagalelei’s struggles this season, Norvell has stuck by the transfer portal addition. But with his availability uncertain ahead of Clemson this week, what will Norvell do?

If Uiagalelei is able to play, do you throw him out there? Or do you make the switch and use the injury to justify an overdue change at quarterback?

Could this be the last we see of DJU or will it provide even more uncertainty on who can reignite this offense under center. 

Why DJU’s unfortunate injury might be timely

Florida State is in an odd situation. 

The season is essentially over and even if it manages to win out, it won’t be able to salvage the damage that’s already been done. That provides a unique opportunity. 

Uiagalelei has been underwhelming in his first season in Tallahassee. He has more interceptions (six) than he does touchdown passes (four), he’s completed about 54 percent of his passes and has 1,065 passing yards. 

While he’s in the top 50 in passing yards, he just hasn’t quite played well enough to make Florida State’s offense respectable. 

Enter Brock Glenn. 

Could Brock Glenn be the change of pace for Florida State’s offense?

It was reported that Brock Glenn is next up if Uiagalelei is unavailable to play against Clemson this week. 

In the games Glenn has come in relief, he hasn’t looked like a reputable backup option. But can it really get any worse? 

In Glenn’s five career appearances, he’s just 19-for-55 with 229 yards. He’s thrown four interceptions and hasn’t thrown a career touchdown pass yet. He didn’t complete a pass when he came in for Uiagalelei against SMU. 

Maybe it’s not Glenn at all and it’s one of the other options in the quarterback room. Either way, this is Norvell’s chance to make a much needed change. And he has the perfect reason to.

Injuries are never ideal, but it might provide a fresh opportunity for a struggling team with nothing to lose and everything to gain in an already disheartening season.