Analysis: FSU QBs Travis, Milton a 'handful' for opposing defenses

In the days leading up to Florida State's season opener against Notre Dame, several fans suggested that Mike Norvell should pay homage to the late great Bobby Bowden by running a reverse or trick play in his honor.

It was, after all, the first game played on Bobby Bowden Field since the coaching legend passed away last month.

As it turned out, the Seminoles did indeed pull a page out of Bowden's old playbook, but it likely wasn't an intentional gesture.

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With McKenzie Milton coming on in relief and leading the Seminoles on two late scoring drives, coupled with what we have already seen from Jordan Travis, the Seminoles could have their best chance of having a two-headed monster at quarterback since Jimmy Jordan and Wally Woodham were giving defenses fits in the late 1970s.

Not sold on the idea of playing two quarterbacks?

Check out what Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly had to say after his team pulled out a 41-38 victory in overtime Sunday night at Doak Campbell Stadium.

"This football team presents some unique challenges," Kelly said of the Seminoles. "We knew about Travis, and we know how tough he is. We saw him last year, and he was hurt. And he was a problem for us last year.

"And then you add McKenzie, who is as accurate as anybody out there, and he even showed some elusiveness as the quarterback on some pulls. So those two guys, together, will be a handful for anybody."

Kelly knows that better than perhaps anyone.

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In last year's FSU-Notre Dame game, Travis made his first career start at quarterback and delivered an incredible performance all things considered.

He ran for 96 yards on 19 carries, and he threw for 204 yards on 13-of-24 passing. Travis personally accounted for 300 of the Seminoles' 405 yards of total offense, and he led the Seminoles to 26 points.

Not surprisingly, the Fighting Irish weren't about to let Travis have another big day running the football on Sunday. They stacked the box, blitzed a ton, and often played 10 defenders within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage -- with one high safety.

That was how Jashaun Corbin was able to break free for an 89-yard touchdown run, and how Travis was able to connect with receiver Ja'Khi Douglas on a 60-yard touchdown pass. The Irish were so concerned with Travis' running ability that they were susceptible to some big plays.

It's worth noting that even though the Irish took that approach and were successful in bottling up Travis -- after four sacks, he was credited with a net total of 9 rushing yards on 12 carries -- the Seminoles still were effective for most of the night offensively.

When Travis left the game midway through the fourth quarter, FSU had scored 28 points and racked up nearly 350 yards of total offense. And that was on a night when new Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman apparently threw some significant wrinkles at FSU's coaching staff.

"Notre Dame did a good job, showed some things they haven't shown before," Norvell said after the game. "That was good coaching on their part."

And that might explain why Travis looked tentative at times.

Florida State's coaches have raved about the progress he has made as a passer since the end of last season, and while it has been apparent in practice, it didn't show up a ton on Sunday. There were some bright spots -- like the bomb to Douglas and the scramble-drill pass for a touchdown to Andrew Parchment -- but there were plenty of missed opportunities as well.

That could be a result of Notre Dame having a new defensive coordinator and mixing in new looks -- which is common in season openers -- or it could be that Travis still has a ways to go. It's difficult to know given the sample size.

What is indisputable is that, even given some of his struggles on Sunday, Travis still can be a very productive quarterback.

Consider this: Notre Dame has only allowed an opponent to score 26 points in a game seven times in the last two-plus years -- and Travis was the quarterback in two of those seven games.

FSU's offense, meanwhile, has scored more than 22 points five times in its past 10 games (38 against Notre Dame, 56 against Duke, 31 against North Carolina, 26 against Notre Dame last year and 41 against Jacksonville State). Travis was the primary quarterback in all five. In the three games that were started by other signal-callers, the Seminoles scored 10, 13 and 22.

"Having Jordan Travis in there is very difficult to defend," Kelly said.

Then you add Milton into the mix -- along with a potent running game -- and you can see how this offense might present real trouble to opposing defenses.

"When Milton came in, we double-zoned everything," Kelly explained. "We wanted to be in much more of a nickel, three-down double-zone."

Because the Irish defenders didn't execute that scheme as well, according to Kelly, they blew some gap responsibilities and allowed FSU to spring some quality runs.

And remember, this was a defense that had all offseason to prepare for both quarterbacks (though my guess is they spent a lot more time game-planning for Travis, given what happened last year and also due to questions surrounding Milton's health).

It will be interesting to see how Florida State operates moving forward. And it will be equally interesting to see how the Seminoles' opponents approach their game plans.

Milton obviously is a tremendous talent. He reads defenses and processes information well, and he has an extremely quick release. If his body responds well to his first full-contact action in three years, he should be a major piece of FSU's offense moving forward. There's a reason he twice finished in the top 10 of the Heisman Trophy balloting.

But Travis undoubtedly will be a key piece as well.

Now that opposing defenses know that Milton is a legitimate threat to play, they won't be able to focus all of their efforts on Travis. They also won't have an entire offseason to add new schemes, which should make him all the more dangerous.

If Travis' passing has improved as much as the coaches believe -- and if Milton can stay healthy all year -- then the Seminoles could really be onto something special.

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