Advertisement
football Edit

After record-setting day, FSU's coaches expect even more from QB Travis

It was Jordan Travis' best day as Florida State's starting quarterback.

He accounted for a record-setting five touchdowns, led the offense to a turnover-free and efficient 35 points, and he helped the Seminoles earn their first road victory since 2019.

But during their weekly press conference on Monday, FSU head coach Mike Norvell and offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham seemed more interested in discussing how much better Travis can play down the road than they were soaking up his performance at North Carolina.

Although they did plenty of complimenting that as well.

"I thought Jordan played at an extremely high level," Norvell said. "Had some explosive plays with his legs, but the efficiency of him throwing the football was incredible. He had two incompletions -- one tipped pass in the first drive; both incompletions were in the first drive -- and then he completed the next 11."

Don't miss out on any of our great FSU Football coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial!

Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis makes a throw on the run Saturday against North Carolina.
Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis makes a throw on the run Saturday against North Carolina. (USAToday Sports Images)
Advertisement

As Norvell said, Travis did not throw an incomplete pass in the final three quarters.

The redshirt sophomore, who was starting his third game of the year -- and eighth at quarterback as a Seminole -- completed 11 of 13 passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

"I think this was his best game," Dillingham said. "I'm obviously ... y'all know I'm a big believer in Jordan Travis. But I'm also not going to say he's anywhere close to where he can be. I think the kid can get dramatically better. I think he needs to start games better. He needs to slow his mind down a little bit. Because when he gets in a rhythm, he can be special."

He was pretty special against the Tar Heels.

And Norvell said he had a good feeling Travis was going to play well when he completed a nine-yard pass to receiver Keyshawn Helton on a third-and-6 on the Seminoles' second drive. It wasn't necessarily a difficult pass, but Norvell loved the decision-making process.

When he took the snap, Travis first looked to his left, where he had tight end Camren McDonald running deep from the slot and outside receiver Kentron Poitier cutting across the middle of the defense. With neither open, Travis found Helton coming underneath from the other side of the formation, and the veteran wideout was able to pick up the first down.

"Not many people look at that and [say], 'Oh man!'" Norvell said. "That was a real play. That was one where he went through a progression ... looked so calm and natural in it. And I thought that kind of even helped spark him a little bit. For the rest of the game, it looked like it was going in slow-motion for him."

According to FSU's sports information department, Travis on Saturday became the first Seminole in school history to throw for three touchdowns and run for two more in the same game. He also became the first FSU quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in back-to-back games.

On top of that, Dillingham credited Travis with putting the running backs in favorable positions, often checking the Seminoles into better plays based on the defensive alignment.

As a team, FSU racked up 383 yards of offense on just 54 plays against the Tar Heels -- that's an average of 7.1 yards per snap.

"He's a super, super intelligent kid," Dillingham said. "People don't understand what he does for us, getting us into run-game checks. What he does for us in his own pass-protections, setting slides certain ways, identifying pressure. When you combine all those things, he has a chance to be pretty special."

Dillingham also was pleased by decisions Travis made when he was breaking off a few of his big runs. With the sophomore quarterback still not being 100 percent healthy, and given his history with injuries, Dillingham loved seeing Travis avoid taking unnecessary risks.

"He managed to get down. He managed to not take those hits," Dillingham said. "And because of that, his body feels better today."

Travis now has started three games this season, and the Seminoles have won two of them -- 35-25 against North Carolina and 33-30 over Syracuse. Their lone loss with Travis as the starting quarterback came in the season opener against then-No. 9 Notre Dame in overtime.

According to Pro Football Focus, Travis' overall offensive grade of 93.4 on Saturday was tied for No. 1 in the country among quarterbacks.

And after reviewing the film, Florida State's coaches believe Travis is only scratching the surface of his potential. While his statistics won't always be as good as they were on Saturday, they believe the best is yet to come.

"Jordan is still a first-year starting quarterback," Dillingham said. "When you take the amount of snaps that he's played in a game ... I mean, it's less than a year. The more games he plays, I'd better see improvement. Because he's becoming more of a veteran than he is. ...

"I'm lucky to be able to coach him. And I'm excited to see how much better he can get, because there's a lot of room for growth."

----------------------------------------------------

Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council

Advertisement