DANIA BEACH — Saturday's Orange Bowl is a game that has a lot of layers to it. While a game of this caliber is meant to be a celebration of the season, it also holds a looming shadow over what could have been and between opt-outs and transfers, both Florida State and opponent Georgia will be manned by inexperienced players hungry for meaningful reps.
For Florida State, true freshman quarterback Brock Glenn will be making his second start in as many games — once again being thrust into the spotlight with the surprising absence of Tate Rodemaker. While Glenn's start during the ACC Championship game was not a guarantee, this time he will have the benefit of knowing that he will be the starter on Saturday.
"It's awesome, it's an awesome opportunity," Glenn said as he started his press conference. "When I first started (my career), if you would have told me that this story would have happened, I wouldn't have believed you. It's God's plan, it's His process and I trust the process. I'm excited for the opportunity."
Glenn received a phone call from head coach Mike Norvell shortly after landing in South Florida, informing him that he would be starting instead of Tate Rodemaker. The redshirt junior announced on Christmas that he intends to enter the transfer portal. While opt-outs and portal omissions were bound to happen, news of Rodemaker's decision was untimely.
"We talked a little bit," Glenn said on Rodemaker. "I didn't know much but he is a great guy. I'm happy for him wherever (he goes). I wish him the best."
Despite all the outside noise, the focus for both Glenn and the rest of the Florida State coaching staff has been on the excitement around the opportunity presented ahead of them.
"We got a lot of guys that are going to be able to play that hadn’t played a bunch," offensive coordinator Alex Atkins said. "Their excitement levels are through the roof. They’ve been waiting for their chance to show and prove what they’ve been doing in practice every day ... Every guy on our roster feels like they should have been a guy anyway. I told them this is a chance for you to showcase your talent and ability. When you have an overly confident bunch like we have, it’s more just making sure we’re keeping them on point and organizing them in the best way we can showcase who they are."
For Glenn, the freshman gets a chance to showcase improvement from his first start to his second, and do so against elite competition in the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. While certainly not with the same stakes, nor the same help around him, Glenn wants to apply what he has seen from the film of his ACC Championship game performance (8 of 21 for 55 yards, no TDs and no INTs) and translate that to a better Orange Bowl performance.
"There is a lot to learn from," Glenn said. "I think that is what football is all about. You'll never be perfect in football. There is always a way to get better and there is always stuff you can do to improve. So just going back and watching the game film and seeing what I could've done differently and how I read this and that. It has helped tremendously."
Glenn added that he felt diving head first into situations like the one he currently finds himself in is the best way to learn. He will not be the only one diving head first into an early start as Florida State will be without 18 players on Saturday against Georgia (4 p.m. on ESPN). Even still, Glenn is confident in the group of players that will be participating in the bowl and they all will be taking the game seriously.
"We've got a great group of guys," Glenn said. "I truly trust all of them. We are focused on the guys we got here and now. We believe we can go out there and win this game. It's still a big game for us. We are taking it serious and we are focused on the guys we have here to help us win this game. All we got is all we need."
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