In his debut season at Florida State, Jared Verse has had a knack for the spotlight.

The defensive end transfer made an immediate and significant impact with the entire nation watching in the Seminoles’ Labor Day weekend victory over LSU in New Orleans, recording a pair of sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and a blocked field goal.

“This is what I’ve been working for, what I dreamed of,” Verse said this week. “Finally getting here and getting my chance, I’m not going to waste it.”

The time since that game has been a roller coaster for Verse, who suffered a leg injury in the following game at Louisville, missed the home game against Boston College and played sparingly in the Wake Forest loss before ramping his workload up last week vs. NC State.

Now, he’ll have another primetime platform to show out when the Seminoles (4-2, 2-2 in ACC) host No. 4 Clemson (6-0, 4-0) Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“This is the type of game you come for. Games where everyone is watching, it’s a big game, it’s going to be sold out, I assume,” Verse said. “There’s supposed to be a lot of people there. Everybody’s excited, hyped up. It’s one of those games that you come to Florida State for these games. You go to big schools for games like these. I’m very excited.”

As an unranked high school prospect who landed at Albany, an FCS program, very few people likely believed the Dayton, Ohio, native would ever have the opportunity to play in games of his stature. A body transformation during the coronavirus pandemic changed that as he had a few impressive seasons with the Great Danes, which put him on a national radar of some of the best college football programs in the country when he entered the transfer portal.

He chose FSU in large part because of how FSU head coach Mike Norvell and defensive ends coach/special teams coordinator John Papuchis recruited him. And he’s been validated in his choice since arriving.

“Coach Norvell told me if I came here, every day he was going to give me his best," Verse said. "Since that day, that’s held up true. I don’t think I have ever seen him frown. He’s always smiling even when he’s yelling at you, which is weird. He always told me he’d give me his best and he always has.”

At the halfway point of the season, Verse is the second straight FSU defensive end transfer addition who has immediately become one of the best at the position in the ACC. Georgia transfer Jermaine Johnson won ACC Defensive Player of the Year in his lone season at FSU in 2021. Verse may not also claim that award, but he’s been far closer to Johnson’s production than many expected him to be.

At the halfway point of the season, Verse has appeared in five of FSU’s six games. Even though he was somewhat limited upon returning from his injury and suffered his injury early in the Louisville game, he’s among the ACC’s statistical leaders with four sacks (tied for second most in the ACC) and 7.5 tackles for loss (tied for third most in the ACC).

“He gets the edge on blockers a lot and guys have nothing to do but try and grab him and hold him,” FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. “He keeps fighting through it. He's a good player…He plays the game the right way and he's somebody we rely on to make impact plays.”

For someone who was playing FCS football last season, Verse has come remarkably far over the last 12 months. His play has even garnered the attention of NFL Draft analysts, with ESPN listing him as its No. 29 2023 NFL Draft prospect and Mel Kiper Jr. listing Verse as his No. 2 defensive end in the class behind only Clemson’s Myles Murphy.

Verse admitted this week he can see himself as the next FSU pass rusher to make an impact in the NFL, adding he thinks that is true for everyone on the FSU football roster if they are willing to work hard enough.

But first, he’ll have another chance this weekend to show that a spotlight brings out the best in him and his teammates.

“(Clemson is) a good team. They don’t have a lot of holes in their offense, a lot of things we’re looking at as a weak point,” Verse said. “They’re a very solid team. That’s what makes it exciting. It’s one of those teams where they’re so good that for our defense, it will test out how good we actually are.”

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