Jordan Travis had a late-night routine. He would quietly go over to the Moore Athletic Center and watch games at 10 p.m or 11 p.m. accompanied only by his dog.
“It’s like a test,” Travis said after Tuesday’s practice. “You study for a test, you’re going to be comfortable going in, ready to go. That’s where I feel like I’m at right now. Obviously the offensive line has been doing a great job. The receivers have been making great plays. So it’s easy to be confident and comfortable.”
Travis is in his third year as Florida State’s starter and he throws around words like “comfortable” and “confident” as regularly in interviews as he throws downfield dimes in practices. It shows just how far he has come since three years ago, when he burst on the scene with two long touchdown runs at Boston College and left fans and media wondering throughout an offseason, “Could he throw?”
All the speculation through the years, the work on the practice field and in film study, helped prepare Travis for the 2022 season. He went into this fall stating he wanted to show he was a better passer. And he has. The yardage and touchdown passes compared to the nation’s top leaders may not reflect it, not yet with such a small sample size. But the efficiency is there.
Travis has earned a 91.1 season grade by Pro Football Focus, the seventh-best grade in the FBS. And it’s worth noting that his completion percentage is 64.6 and could be even higher if not for a few well-placed passes that were dropped by FSU’s receivers and tight ends. Travis looks more comfortable and in large part it’s due to a deeper and improved offensive line as well as more consistent play at receiver. But, yes, it’s also about Travis’ experience.
“Just being comfortable,” offensive line coach / offensive coordinator Alex Atkins said. “He's been in the same offense for three years. And now it becomes not 'an offense' but 'his offense', built to fit him. I know he's done a great job of showcasing his ability, which we all knew he had. So you saw the confidence coming in the offseason with the staff talking about Jordan. I'm just glad he gets to showcase himself."
Travis showcased what he could do against LSU in what was one of the best games of his career. Now he goes up to Louisville, where his college career began in 2018 prior to his transfer to FSU. He keeps up with an old teammate, Malik Cunningham, from time to time and said he knows there will be emotions about returning to Louisville on Friday (7:30 p.m. on ESPN).
“I’m not going to sit here and say it’s not on my mind,” Travis said. “It’s definitely on my mind a little bit. But it’s another game for me. It’s another game for this football team. We’re just going to go out there and get a win, give everything we have, give 100 percent and get better every single day.”
Travis has put in the work, the long hours with teammates, coaches and his dog, and it's why he is able to remain composed under pressure.
“The coaches, my teammates, they give me a lot of confidence,” Travis said. “Everything comes from confidence. Confidence comes from the work. Watching film, staying after, watching, studying the playbook, staying after. Little things like that. Seeing where the blitz is coming from, it’s important. If you don’t really know what’s going on you’re not going to be calm out there.”
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