Sean Maguire vs. Clemson: Stat Line, Highlights, Twitter Reaction

Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more stories

With Jameis Winston serving a one-game suspension, Florida State turned to backup quarterback Sean Maguire in an important matchup against Clemson. Unfortunately, the sophomore struggled to match the Heisman Trophy winner's production.

Maguire completed just six of 17 passes in the first half for 106 yards as the Seminoles trailed 10-3 at home.

While the statistics were bad, the quarterback did not deserve all the blame, as ESPN's Jared Shanker pointed out:

It is halftime. FSU lucky to only be down 10-3. Maguire has no help. At all. It's not just the QB here. I'd like to be fly on wall at half.

- Jared Shanker (@JShankerESPN) September 21, 2014

Benjamin Allbright of Yahoo Sports notes that the offensive line was letting him down:

FSU pass pro is really bad tonight. The poor QB Maguire already overwhelmed, has no time to throw.

- Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) September 21, 2014

Without a rushing attack and facing pressure throughout the game, it was hard to have high expectations for a player making his first career start. Dan Wolken of USA Today noted that the first drive was nothing to write home about:

First series for Sean Maguire goes nowhere. Clemson blew up toss sweep on 1st down, pressured him on 2nd and he had nowhere to throw on 3rd

- Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) September 21, 2014

However, he bounced back on the second series, converting a third down early before completing a big, 27-yard pass to Karlos Williams. After that play, Ralph D. Russo of socialfeedia.blogspot.com was impressed:

Well, Sean Maguire looks OK

- Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) September 21, 2014

ESPN's David Hale also noted that Florida State was not afraid to throw the ball early on with the inexperienced play:

First 15 plays of Jameis' 1st start: 8 pass, 7 run First 15 plays of Maguire's 1st start: 12 pass, 3 run #CLEMvsFSU

- David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) September 21, 2014

This did not help much, as Maguire struggled to find much consistency in a disappointing first half.

The young quarterback came into the game excited about his chance to show what he can do on the big stage.

'It's going to be pretty awesome, I'd like to imagine,' Maguire said before the game, via Tim Linafelt of the Miami Herald. 'I've pictured this since I started playing little league ball, to be given an opportunity like this.'

Fortunately, he had a lot of support from the fans when he came out for warmups, according to Natalie Pierre of the Tallahassee Democrat:

The FSU QBs take the field and 'Sean Maguire' chants are coming from the student section. Pretty cool.

- Natalie Pierre (@Natalie_Pierre) September 20, 2014

Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post points out that this continued up until game time:

Sean Maguire receives loudest cheer from fans during pregame lineup announcements. #FSU

- Tom D'Angelo (@tomdangelo44) September 20, 2014

This seemed to help give Maguire some added confidence, as he took the field for the first time with the pressure on. The problem is the rest of his team could not pick up the slack during an up-and-down start.

Florida State will hope that he can find a way to pull out a win as the squad tries to remain undefeated on this young season.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for the latest breaking news and analysis.