The plan seemed straightforward for Florida State: find a veteran quarterback in the transfer portal, then plug him in for the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion and preseason favorite to win it again.
N.C. State and North Carolina made similar bets to bolster their offenses.
Yet things have gone awry. FSU has had ineffective play at the position for a team that is perilously close to being winless. For the Tar Heels and Wolfpack, injuries to the arriving starter have forced them to alter their approaches amid 0-2 league starts.
“It’s just having the ownership of the offense, having guys in the system, that have been with the coordinator,” said ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain, a former Clemson offensive lineman.
“That changes a lot all over the place, with new coaches and new players. Having that continuity as the guy and having the reps as the guy, it’s one of those things that that’s where you see the drop-off.”
Just as elite play can elevate a program — look at UNC with eventual No. 3 overall NFL draft pick Drake Maye the past two years — setbacks at the position can become an obstacle. And the ACC is seeing that scenario unfold this year.
No. 10 Clemson (4-1, 3-0) leads the ACC standings with Cade Klubnik ranking in the top 10 in the Bowl Subdivision ranks for TD passes (14) and top 20 in passing efficiency (two interceptions). No. 6 Miami (6-0, 2-0) is still unbeaten behind Washington State transfer quarterback Cam Ward as the FBS leader in passing offense (369.8) and passing TDs (20).
No. 22 Pittsburgh (5-0, 1-0) is thriving with Alabama transfer Eli Holstein ranking eighth in passing (313.4), tied for fifth in TD throws (15) and 15th in efficiency. And at Syracuse (4-1, 1-1), Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord is second to Ward in passing offense (362.8) and passing scores (17).
“When you have a difference-maker at quarterback, it can just change everything so quickly,” Mac Lain said.
Yet things look very different for the Seminoles, Tar Heels and Wolfpack right now.
FSU (1-5, 1-4) has struggled on numerous fronts, including offensively under former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Uiagalelei has thrown for an average of 213 yards per game with four touchdowns, six interceptions and a 53.8% completion rate.
Uiagalelei missed last week’s loss to Clemson with a finger injury, leading to redshirt freshman Brock Glenn getting the start. Glenn completed 23 of 41 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in the 29-13 loss.
“We’ve got to make plays around him as well and we’ve got to be able to get the run game going to take pressure off the quarterbacks,” coach Mike Norvell said. “Obviously it takes pressure off the offensive line there in some of those situations with the pass rush. But I thought he did a good job.”
N.C. State (3-3, 0-2) had planned to lean on Coastal Carolina graduate transfer Grayson McCall, who threw for more than 10,000 career yards but also had a concussion history before arriving in Raleigh. He twice has been knocked from games, including last weekend against Wake Forest on a scary hit that caused him to be carted off and taken to a hospital for evaluation.
That has pushed the Wolfpack’s long-term option into a play-now mode with freshman midyear enrollee CJ Bailey, who made his first career start at Clemson and is coming off his best statistical outing (272 yards passing, two TDs) in the Wake Forest loss. Playing through Bailey’s learning curve wasn’t the plan for a team picked in the preseason to finish fourth.
“For a freshman quarterback, he’s seen a lot,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said.
As for the Tar Heels (3-3, 0-2), they turned to former LSU and Texas A&M quarterback Max Johnson as the starter after a preseason camp competition. But he was lost for the season on opening night with a serious leg injury at Minnesota.
The Tar Heels shifted to preseason runner-up Conner Harrell, but he ultimately gave way to Jacolby Criswell as the third starter through four games. Criswell, who started his career at UNC and transferred to Arkansas before returning this year, has shown the ability to push the ball downfield. But UNC’s offense has been inconsistent when it comes to sustaining drives, converting just 6 of 23 third downs (26.1%) going back to halftime of the loss against Duke on Sept. 28.
And the reality is that Criswell is still relatively inexperienced considering the former third-stringer threw nearly as many passes in last weekend’s loss to Pitt (45) as he had in his career before this season (58).
For now, the teams can only try to polish that QB play and hope for a breakthrough.
“Getting the reps of all the different looks I think for a quarterback is important,” UNC offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. “And an inexperienced quarterback, they haven’t seen all that. They don’t have that library in their head. … I think the more he plays, the better he has gotten and he’s shown that.”
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