A lot has changed for Patrick Payton since the last time the Florida State football faced off against Louisville.
Entering that game on Sept. 16, 2022, Payton was a redshirt freshman defensive end, one viewed with very high potential but still unproven in game action at the collegiate level.
When FSU standout defensive end Jared Verse left that game with an injury, it presented Payton an opportunity. He played 35 snaps that game — more than than 34 he had played in his FSU career before that night — and kickstarted his ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign in that comeback victory.
"That was the game I kind of emerged, I'd say. I saw Jared Verse go down, I didn't even look at Coach JP (John Papuchis). I strapped my helmet on and I walked out there," Payton said Wednesday. "It was my time now and I guess it worked out for me. I'm not saying that I wanted Jared to get injured, but it was God's plan because now we're both side to side."
Payton finished that season with five sacks and six tackles for loss, playing alongside and in relief of Verse when he returned to action a few weeks later.
When Verse somewhat shockingly decided to return for a second season with the Seminoles in 2023, it set the table for FSU to have quite the pair of disruptive defensive ends this season.
Now, this pair will once again face Louisville, this time on opposite ends of the FSU defensive line, in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday (8 p.m. on ABC) at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Verse and Payton have been very impactful throughout the Seminoles' 2023 season, but it hasn't always shown up in the box scores. They entered last week's game at Florida with 9.5 combined sacks this season before picking a heck of time for their most impactful game of the season.
The two starting defensive ends combined for 4.5 sacks in the Seminoles' 24-15 rivalry road win over the Gators.
"It was very good to see our d-line make explosive plays in the backfield. Almost all our d-line made a play Saturday, which was very good," Payton said. "It was good for us to go out there and have fun, especially in a game like that, an environment like that."
Of those sacks, four of them came in the fourth quarter, with Payton securing two during a single series of downs and then Verse following that up with two on UF's final offensive possession.
One of those Verse sacks, on Florida's final first down, was a display of Verse's remarkable strength, with him pushing the UF left tackle back into quarterback Max Brown for the sack without touching the quarterback himself.
"Big-time players make big-time plays in those type of games and Jared proved it. That one sack that he made with the offensive tackle is a pretty impressive play. We've seen him do that a number of times. He's just so powerful..." FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said Monday. "When somebody that powerful puts his foot in the ground and goes to power, that's a tough thing to deal with."
Added Payton, ""I was right there. That's a real grown man right there. One of the strongest guys on the team, he showed it right there. Jared Verse is a great player."
While Verse's play drew the attention, he wanted to push the attention back onto his co-starter at the other end of the line, tweeting, "If you rewatch the game from last weekend. Please pay attention to Pat Payton! You make it too easy to play opposite of you fam!"
Payton may not be a potential first-round pick in next year's NFL Draft like Verse or be tied for the team lead in sacks like Verse (7). But the impact he's made in his first year as a starter has still been remarkable.
He leads the Seminoles and ranks third among ACC defensive linemen with 11.5 tackles for loss to go along with his five sacks. He's also got a remarkable ability of using his long arms and 6-foot-5 frame to knock passes down at the line of scrimmage.
Payton's nine batted passes at the line of scrimmage this season are the most of any player in the country according to Pro Football Focus. Official stats don't distinguish between batted passes and pass breakups so Payton's nine PBUs are tied for fifth-most in the ACC, but he's the only defensive lineman in a conversation normally reserved exclusively for defensive backs.
Payton has six more PBUs than any other ACC defensive lineman and three more than any ACC linebacker.
"Pat with his length, obviously, his height and his arm length, he has a great skill set for that but he also has a great feel for the game," FSU special teams coordinator/defensive ends coach John Papuchis said of Payton. "I've said it a bunch of times, he has as good a feel for how to play the game as really anyone I've been around in terms of his instincts and how he has feels for blocks for pass rusher getting his hands up at the right time. I think the fact that he has I think it's nine past breakups is a reflection of those that skill set and those instincts."
Added Payton, "I felt like I had to find ways to impact the game other than just getting sacks, getting to the quarterback. Getting sacks is hard. I just had to find ways to impact the game. Any time I see the ball come out, my arms are so long I just put them up, they'll be right there."
If Saturday marked the start of a ramping-up process of the impact of FSU's two standout defensive ends, the timing would be pretty ideal for the Seminoles, who are one win away from a College Football Playoff berth.
"When you are able to get to this time of the year and they still have that growth and you are taking off some of that pound to their bodies, you get to play at a really high level whether it's in the fourth quarter or the month of November now heading into December," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. "Definitely excited about how it's all come together."
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