Ryan Fitzgerald, Kicker

There are a lot of complaints you can make about this game, but Ryan Fitzgerald’s performance isn’t one of them. After struggling to start his career, he was rock solid in 2023, making 19 of his 21 FG attempts and all 58 of his extra points, but none of his kicks last season were longer than 48 yards. He crushed that with both of his kicks today.

His first punt was a 52-yarder to increase the ‘Noles’ lead to 11-7 in the second quarter, but his second was a 59-yard bomb to end the first half, erasing his previous career-long 53 yards. It was the second-longest punt in Florida State history.

They also had some fun with Fitzgerald, having him do a fake jet sweep to set up the swinging gate 2-point conversion to start the game.

Late 4th Down Conversions

When it needed to, FSU came through by converting two huge fourth downs. Even on the first attempt that was rejected in the first quarter, DJ Uiagalelei read the play correctly, dumped the ball on a hot route with pressure in his face, Georgia Tech defender Ahmari Harvey just made a great tackle short of the sticks.

In the fourth quarter, however, Florida State made two big conversions on their drive to tie the game. The first was a 20-yard throw to Ja’Khi Douglas, who was sitting in the middle of the zone on 4th-and-7 after the Yellow Jackets had drawn eight in coverage. Uiagalelei drifted left and slammed past the arms of an outstretched GT linebacker.

The second came on 4th-and-8 in the red zone when Uiagalelei hit Alabama transfer Malik Benson on a slant for a gain of 19 yards to set up first-and-goal. That big play kept FSU in the game, as they would hit him into the end zone shortly thereafter.

Malik Benson, wide receiver

Even if Benson finished with a modest stat line of 4 catches for 39 yards, he still shined on the field and was more open than he wasn’t. If Uiagalelei was on target, Benson would have beaten his man on the sideline and had a walk-in touchdown, but the pass sailed out.

Benson and Ja’Khi Douglas clearly have a connection with DJU, the ball just has to be on goal.

Shyheim Brown, Safety

Shyheim Brown was really the only defender willing to step up and make a tackle, leading both teams with 13 total tackles. He’s one of the leaders in this defense, but he’ll need to increase his impact.

Safeties shouldn’t be in a position to make that many tackles anyway (we’ll get to that later), but Brown is at least willing to make the plays when necessary.

DJ Uiagalelei, quarterback

Maybe this is a hot take, but DJ Uiagalelei didn’t lose Florida State this game, he just didn’t do much to help it win. His “steadiness” also depends on your opinion of him at the beginning of the season.

As someone who didn’t think much of him, he did pretty much what I expected, hitting short completions early to keep the ball moving and hitting timely throws in the final stretch to extend drives. But it was clear that Mike Norvell didn’t trust him early on, he didn’t attempt a pass past the first-down marker until late in the first half.

Uiagalelei also missed a few throws, like the aforementioned deep shot to Malik Benson and another to Ja’Khi Douglas on a crosser that could have been a touchdown but was underthrown. A few passes sailed out of bounds with way too much force behind them, but finishing 19/27 for 193 yards could have been a lot worse.

The attack line

What was seen as a major strength for this team during the offseason was a major disappointment during the game. Georgia Tech would overload the right side of FSU’s O-Line on third downs and the ‘Noles had no answer, putting open rushers in Uiagalelei’s face. After rushing for 58 yards on its first drive, Florida State had just 40 rushing yards the rest of the way. With a running back room this talented, that falls on the offensive line.

The struggles began with Robert Scott’s introduction at right tackle. Jeremiah Byers is no world champion, but Scott was overwhelmed in this game, which is unfortunate considering how much promise he showed early in his career. Injuries have wiped out much of the athleticism he had.

Maurice Smith played solidly, but overall this unit was disappointing.

The Linebackers

Gosh, this unit was terrible in this game. DJ Lundy had bad angles and got caught in the flats multiple times, Omar Graham Jr. was absent and no one could really fill in the run. Blake Nichelson combined with Daniel Lyons for a TFL and Lundy had another one later in the game but that was it. Lundy also missed a turnover opportunity trying to pick up a Georgia Tech fumble but he ran over it and GT fell on it.

Florida State was noticeably missing Kalen DeLoach and Tatum Bethune in this game. DeLoach’s ability to run from sideline to sideline was an underrated aspect of last year’s defense and it won’t get any easier with Thomas Castellanos next week. If they had trouble containing Haynes King, next week is going to be a nightmare.

The line of defense

Before the game, College GameDay aired a segment indicating that Florida State’s starting defensive line of Patrick Payton, Marvin Jones Jr., Darrell Jackson and Joshua Farmer could all be among the top 100 picks in next year’s NFL Draft based on what scouts had seen during workouts.

Those four COMBINED for 6 tackles, 1 QB hurry, and 0 tackles for loss. It was a complete no-show from that unit. With all the noise surrounding this group this offseason, maybe the hype went to their heads to try to play for an NFL contract instead of playing defense. They were moved off blocks all game and that can’t happen going forward.

Time management

This game was poorly managed by Florida State’s offense, starting with the final drive of the first half. FSU got the ball at the 25-yard line and it took 3:13 to go 34 yards on 9 plays before Fitzgerald hit a bomb of a punt. For lack of a better word, that’s just disgusting. And it didn’t get any better in the second half.

Florida State had just three drives in the second half: 6 plays and 22 yards in 2:13, 6 plays and 11 yards in 3:25, and 15 plays and 84 yards that ate up 8:18. Georgia Tech had done a great job of controlling the ball and the clock, and FSU never showed any urgency to combat that. They had to leave themselves more than the 6:33 they had left on the clock, which Georgia Tech ate up for their game-winning kick.

READ MORE: Three Thoughts on Florida State’s Stunning Loss to Georgia Tech

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