The No. 10 Florida State Seminoles opened the year with a surprise loss to Georgia Tech in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

The Seminoles (0-1, 0-1 ACC) jumped out to an 8-0 lead with an impressive first drive, but the offense never really got going from there. New starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and the receivers struggled to break down the field, especially in the first half, when the team averaged just 5.6 yards per play and went 2-5 on third down and 0-1 on fourth down.

Florida State’s defense was unable to compensate for these offensive difficulties and struggled to get a handle on the game as Georgia Tech’s running attack moved the chains, lengthened drives, and tired out the Noles’ defensive unit – most crucially on the Yellow Jackets’ decisive drive, which lasted 6 minutes, 33 seconds and ran the clock to zero.

FSU’s 17-game winning streak ended in disappointing fashion. What can we learn from the loss heading into next week’s showdown with the Boston College Eagles on Monday night?

The Tomahawk Nation The staff discusses it further below.

What were your biggest takeaways from DJ Uiagalelei’s first game in Garnet and Gold?

sabine_kahl: The offensive line was a disappointment; too many missed blocks and poor technique (inside-out Byers, inside-out) from such a senior-laden group; the other takeaway is that I would have rather seen DJ make at least three interceptions when trying to throw the ball down the field than what I witnessed today.

Brian: It was the DJU we saw at all his other stops. He’s a good to decent college quarterback. He’s not bad. I see the memes, but he’s not bad. He’s just not Jordan Travis. He can still win games as long as the team around him makes plays.

Evenflow58: DJ would do well on a team that runs the ball well and uses it in the run game to keep the numbers in their favor. He needs to be able to hit the deep shots to keep the defense on its toes. It doesn’t seem like that was the game plan, and it doesn’t seem like this FSU offense could accomplish those goals, at least not today.

Tim: Similar to his quarterback game plans in the past, Norvell calls the play conservatively. The result is that DJ has to pass on obvious pass attempts, making it easier for the defense. The jury is still out in my opinion.

Perry: One of my biggest fears before the game, which I put down to typical paranoia, was that we would see a performance from Uiagalelei reminiscent of his much-heralded and then much-derided debut as a starter at Clemson. I’d say it’s a bit of an exaggeration to call the performances equivalent, given that he threw an ultimately game-winning pick-six in his outing against Georgia, but my reptilian brain still went crazy as it became increasingly clear that the staff – at least based on the way the game was approached from start to finish, even when the running game was struggling – doesn’t trust him or the receivers to efficiently execute a passing attack.

Do you think the difficulties in the offense are due to the team’s first game together or to the fact that the team’s parts don’t fit together?

sabine_kahl: I think so, because you could see a complete loss of confidence in the passing game and I think that is more due to a lack of familiarity than an inability to ever play as one.

Brian: I think a lot of it was the team’s first game together – they were trying to figure out how everything worked. You see individual players playing well in certain moments, but they didn’t seem to have a clue how to work together to get the chains moving. I like the guys with the skills.

Evenflow58: It’s hard to say. The offensive identity seems pretty straight forward. I’m not convinced by the approach in the first game because they came out of the starting blocks with a mediocre pace. After adjusting and going off script, they didn’t figure it out. Time and time again, GT linebackers would hit the gap on the backside where the pulling linemen went left, and there seemed to be little adjustment to compensate. It’s possible GT has improved a lot along the defensive line, but FSU definitely got pushed around a lot up front.

Perry: A little bit of column A, a little bit of column 2, with a D that wanted to play Georgia Tech. FSU’s performance didn’t do the team any favors, but it’s not like the Seminoles gave it away — the Yellow Jackets defense rose to the occasion on several drives, especially on third down (where FSU went 5-12).

Why was Florida State’s defense unable to get off the field most of the day?

sabine_kahl: The first seven were shit.

Brian: Even with GT getting in their way, they couldn’t hold onto the lead. Georgia Tech is a veteran offensive line that was very successful on the ground a year ago. They return for a big game, even with the QB back. That’s a dangerous recipe for game one. But I still expect more from this DL, which we’ve heard all season is better than last year’s group and better than any in the country.

Evenflow58: LastNoleOfKrypton did it. The front four were weak and couldn’t get off the blocks, and the linebackers didn’t know where to run.

Tim: How many times have you heard the names of the front four called after the game started? Lundy was also a step too slow and Omar kept taking bad angles.

Perry: Everyone has pretty much said it, but I’ll say it again – the front seven was outnumbered, outgunned and out of position for most of the day. Only 3 tackles for loss, despite 36 running attempts by the Yellow Jackets, is a testament to the inability of the FSU front line to win the battle in the trenches as the game went on.

How can they adjust before playing Boston College next weekend?

sabine_kahl: The front seven can try not to get pushed around for 60 minutes, and the DBs can fend off blocks on the perimeter. On offense, they can’t bang their heads against the wall for 60 minutes again; no one is going to do anything against your running game unless you try to go down the field on early downs.

Brian: They need to figure out how to get the upper hand defensively. We saw Thomas Castellanos make life miserable for this team last year, and I think we can all agree by now that the defense was better than this one. Given his experience against them last year, he’s not going to avoid FSU. BC will be gunning for the season to essentially end before the end of Labor Day weekend. This defense needs to find a way to stop him and get off the field sooner.

Evenflow58: It’s either a matter of wanting to or lack of attention to detail. I don’t think GT did anything special to take down FSU, they just beat them up front. Of course they can adjust their game strategy, but at some point there’s no game plan left to get your teeth knocked in.

Perry: Norvell’s teams have shown they can shake off disappointments, and while this latest disappointment is one of the most frustrating, it’s still early enough in the year to correct mistakes and develop a new identity. If this week’s game plan was an anomaly born out of a desire to keep things simple and leave Ireland with a win and no stress, then I think that transformation starts with adding a little more explosiveness to the offense. Defensively, they need to drill discipline leading up to game day, as Thomas Castellanos brings the same hard-to-defend offensive threat that Haynes King FSU struggled with today.

How should FSU fans’ expectations change for the rest of the season after this loss?

sabine_kahl: Ask me about Labor Day, Go Noles.

Brian: I’m not sure that’s the case. FSU plays this exact game against a lot of teams in this conference and will probably win. Georgia Tech is a really good team that FSU got drawn in a really tough situation. I thought this team was 3 or 4 losses early in the year and I still think so. If you were expecting this to be a scorched earth revenge tour, take a deep breath and adjust. Otherwise, there’s no need to panic…yet.

Evenflow58: I went from 9-3 to 8-4. I think 7-5 is more likely considering the issues they showed along the lines. Those should be this team’s strengths and they seemed to be the biggest issues. Hopefully it was just a one game thing.

Perry: I stole this from LNOK’s Twitter, but – I’m glad FSU is taking the one loss from my 11-1 prediction.

Actual Answer: While I still have many of the same concerns I had at the beginning of the season, now compounded by some additional ones, I still don’t feel to worried – if only because nobody knows anything in the first few weeks of the season. I don’t want to paint the glass half full too much, but the probability that Georgia Tech is just that good and not FSU that bad is much higher in my opinion. While the running game didn’t get going consistently today, the roster of running backs is still strong enough that it’s only a matter of time to find the right rhythm. The receivers are still a big problem, and that impression won’t change until I see a number of games of consistent performance, but seeing what this team actually looks like on the field should mean a lot to the staff’s future game planning. My final and probably most rational answer is that FSU’s defense has course-corrected during the season under Adam Fuller in the past, and given the talent at nearly every position on that side of the ball, I expect the same to happen in 2024.