Report: Florida State Starting Quarterback Enters NCAA Transfer Portal, Sits Out Of Orange Bowl
The Seminoles’ key players continue to leave the program as the bowl game approaches.
There’s never a dull moment at this time of year, including Christmas Day. The NCAA Transfer Portal window is right in the heart of college football bowl season and the Early Signing Period, so all sorts of unexpected moves have been accelerated by the calendar.
On Monday afternoon, it was revealed that the Seminoles will be without yet another key player in the Orange Bowl. According to 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz, Florida State starting quarterback Tate Rodemaker intends to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal and will not play against the Bulldogs.Report: Florida State Starting Quarterback Enters NCAA Transfer Portal, Sits Out Of Orange Bowl
The Seminoles’ key players continue to leave the program as the bowl game approaches.
This is certainly a significant setback to the program, since Rodemaker took over the starting job after star signal-caller Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury. Rodemaker made one start before suffering his own injury, a concussion, late in FSU’s victory over Florida. He was forced to sit out the ACC Championship game, but has been practicing and preparing for the postseason in recent weeks.
Rodemaker completed 12/25 passes for 134 yards to guide the Seminoles to a second consecutive victory over the Gators. A week prior, he had a career night while taking over for Travis, completing 13/23 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions. On the season, he completed 57.1% of his passes for 510 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions.
The Georgia native was Mike Norvell’s first commitment when he arrived at Florida State. He spent most of his time in Tallahassee as a backup but started at various points of his career, including twice in the last two seasons. Rodemaker concludes his time with the Seminoles by completing 68/118 passes for 901 yards with seven touchdowns to five interceptions in 22 games, with three starts.
The move leaves the Seminoles with true freshman Brock Glenn as the only scholarship quarterback on the roster ahead of the bowl game. Redshirt freshman AJ Duffy previously entered the portal and announced his transfer to San Diego State. Glenn made his lone career start in the conference championship win, completing 8/21 passes for 55 yards.
Florida State also has two walk-on quarterbacks on its roster: redshirt freshman Dylan McNamara and true freshman Michael Grant. McNamara suited for the Seminoles’ final game in Charlotte.
The team has been publicly active in the transfer portal, pursuing various quarterbacks. Earlier this month, the coaching staff invited former Washington State standout Cameron Ward and former Oregon State star DJ Uiagalelei to make official visits. Neither athlete has made a choice yet, but Florida State remains strongly in the running.
Outside of Rodemaker, the Seminoles have seen quarterback AJ Duffy (San Diego State), running back Rodney Hill (FAMU), running back CJ Campbell (FAU), tight end Markeston Douglas (Arizona State), tight end Preston Daniel, offensive lineman Bless Harris (TCU), offensive lineman Thomas Schrader, offensive lineman Daughtry Richardson (FAU), offensive lineman Qae’shon Sapp (FAMU), defensive tackle Malcolm Ray, defensive tackle Ayobami Tifase, linebacker DJ Lundy (Colorado),
Star defensive end Patrick Payton previously declared his intentions to do so but removed the references on social media and never officially appeared in the database.
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