Florida State players Jordan Travis, Jammie Robinson, Tatum Bethune, Trey Benson and Jared Verse talk with the media after the rout of Miami.

FSU QB Jordan Travis

– on FSU win

“I am very proud seeing how far we’ve come as a football team. Two years ago we were here and it did not turn out well. I am very impressed with the guys, how they came in and worked this week. You could see it on everyone’s faces, we wanted to win this game bad. We came in and dominated.

– on going from loss 2 years ago to today

“Coach Norvell always talks about the climb. We get better every single day. We have a goal. We have a goal to win every single game we play. thought the guys we took a lot of ownership in that this year, especially this past week. Just like I said, everyone was getting to work. I look back on the past, this team has come a long way. I'm very proud.”

– on demeanor on field

“At the end of the day, I have great teammates, great coaches, I have a great supporting cast. They keep me calm at all times. After the interception, everyone was coming up to me and telling me, ‘we're good.’ I know the defense has my back all the time so it's pretty easy to be calm, cool and collected.”

– on the run game

“It's amazing. It starts up front. The line did a great job today. All credit to them because there were a lot of holes. We ran right through the holes. The running backs did a great job of holding the ball today. I think we threw 12 passes. I mean, I'm great with that. If I don’t have to throw the ball and we can keep running the ball down their throat. We won the game and got 45 points on the board.”

– on Trey Benson

“Amazing. Trey is a dog. He’s hard to bring down. There’s not many guys that can tackle him one-on-one in the open field, or one-on-one in general. Trey's a great player, a great person. I'm happy for Trey.”

On celebration

“I don't remember that. There was a lot of trash talk back and forth today. They had me pretty pumped up yeah, that was pretty cool. It means everything. Getting the win is big, no matter what. I mean we're playing Miami, we beat 45 to three. Man, we're blessed. This is a great football team. We have so much work to do. There's still a lot of mistakes that we need to correct and get better. but we just beat Miami today, that's a great accomplishment.”

– on OL and WRs blocking

“They did a great job today. Everything starts up front. Our offensive line, they are a bunch of great players. They work as hard as anyone else on the football team. I'm so proud of them and how far they have come. They got a lot of hate back then. Today you can go look at that game, they gave up one sack and I should have thrown the ball away. I'm so proud of them. The receivers played big today. Pokey had a great game. He started the game off strong. LT was big out of the backfield today so yeah, everyone played great.”

– on bowl eligibility

“It means a lot. We haven’t been bowl eligible since my sophomore year. It means a lot. We still have three games to go. That’s what the blessing is. We got our bowl, now it’s time to work. We have three games left, we need to come into work every single day and dominate the day every day. Just get 1% better every day. That’s our goal.”

FSU safety Jammie Robinson

– on what complete game win means

“Well, pretty much just the chemistry. If everything adds up, we do our job and follow the blueprint coaches put up, we will be successful. We had three (game) losing streak that brought us closer together. We came together as a team. We take it day by day, and we are all trying to keep everything brotherhood and go attack every day and just get better, 1% better every day.

– on being more physical

“I mean it's a rivalry. Then they are going to come out with their loud talking. I don't know what to call it but, we're just there. We practice the way we practice. We’re always physical so we already knew what type of game it was going to be. We knew that they were going to come out doing a lot of talking. We just had to go out and punch them in the mouth.”

– on holding Miami to three points

“Just like he said earlier, we got the offense’s back. Even if we give up a long drive, we're going to count on them to go out and put the fire out. So always have their back, they have our back. It's just a brotherhood that's how we look at everything.

– on bouncing back from 3 game losing streak

“Look back at last year, we started off 0-4 and that brought us closer together. It’s the same thing this year. We started off good and then the losing streak. But we all came in, day by day get the word in every day. It shows every game that we get better every game.”

“Look at it like real life. If you’re struggling, you have to look at it well. You just have to be positive about every struggle. Coach always talks about how we respond. You see it now, we just responded.

FSU LB Tatum Bethune

How much does a win over Miami mean given it's your hometown?

"This is a great feeling. My house is three minutes, five minutes away from here. We talked about that. Having my whole family out here, literally, watching me play and having the win, I've never felt this feeling ever in my life. I'm real happy right now."

Hard to control emotions before game for you, Miami guys?

"Before the game, I wouldn't say emotions towards (Miami), but me personally before the game, I cried a little bit because this is home for me. Being from Miami, you're taught to hate on the Seminoles. There aren't a lot of guys that do what we do, that come from Miami and go to Tallahassee. That's going against the grain, doing what we do and making a big impact at FSU. You've got to have the guts to do it. A lot of guys don't. That's why they are at Miami."

What did taking the field in this rivalry feel like?

"Like I said before, I cried because half of my family is Miami fans so I've been hearing it all season. Now, they're going to hear my mouth for the rest of this season. It's just a great feeling."

Were you a Miami fan growing up?

"Yes, I was."

What did it mean to get to play in this rivalry, even if not on the side you imagined you would growing up?

"Honestly, I never thought I would be playing for Florida State, but God has a plan for me. I'm just grateful for that."

Emotions in the week leading up

"During the week, it's been real tough for me. A lot of stuff has been going on, I can't really speak on it right now. A lot of people have been coming up to me and telling me how big this week is, how important it was. We just did what we had to do."

Coach Shannon enjoy this game because of his history?

"Coach Shannon, he's just excited for us whenever we do good and have a good game, get a win, regardless of what team it is. That's the type of guy Coach Shannon is."

Does allowing just three points boost defense's confidence?

"That boosted confidence a lot. I felt like we clicked on all cylinders and we had something to prove. We lost three straight, came back and won the Georgia Tech game, but we felt like that wasn't enough. We've still got something to prove now for the last few games that we've got coming up. I feel like we're just going to keep climbing."

Goal-line stand

"That's all just heart. Not letting them score, that's what coach Norvell preaches a lot and coach Fuller. That's what we did."

Ever lose confidence during losing streak?

"No, we never lost confidence. I feel like after every loss, even after LSU, our practice got better and better. It was just the little things. Every time we lost, it was always self-inflicted wounds. We just had to get better on that. I've got to check the stats and see how many penalties (we had) but I don't think we had a bad day today."

Any family member you'll talk to first about the win?

"Nah, they're all outside so they're going to hear my mouth right now."

Come to the game multiple times growing up?

"Yeah, every time there was a Miami-FSU (game)...This was my first time actually playing in this stadium. I played at Miami Central and we played in this stadium a lot, but when I got to high school, they switched it up a little bit. That's what brought tears to my eyes because I was a little kid coming to these games with my dad, talking about how I was going to be on the field sometimes, how they were going to tailgate and be out here all day before the game. That's exactly what they did today. It's a great feeling to have my family experience that and for me to experience that, too."

Did you ever dream the game could go that well for y'all?

"Yeah. I knew we were going to come in here and do what we had to do."

Why did you feel so confident?

"Just us, the team, the stuff that we talk about, personal, outside of football, all our goals and stuff like that, if we try to achieve them, we're going to be a successful team."

FSU RB Trey Benson

On what it meant for him to have the performance he did

“It meant a lot. I visualized it a couple nights before. Dream come true.”

On what was working so well with the running game

“On film before the game, we prepared for this game this whole week. We prepared really good. So I guess that’s kind of what happened. We expected the looks that they gave us. We expected it, and it worked.”

On his crazy run where he almost scored

“I kind of surprised myself. But I just kept moving my feet. And I was like, ‘Hold on, I’m not on the ground yet.’ So I just kept running.”

On if he’s always had those second-effort runs

“I have been developing it. High school, it was just one shot and I was gone. But at this level, I’ve been developing the second effort, third effort runs. I’m just getting better at it.”

On if he keeps track of his missed tackles

“No, I don’t keep track of it at all.”

On if he gets stronger as the game goes on

“The more reps I get, the more in sync I am. So I guess it just takes the reps.”

On if he could tell the offensive line was determined

“Oh yeah. They came off the ball. I’m proud of those guys.”

On playing well without Treshaun Ward

“Ward, he continues to push us. He was actually available today, but he just didn’t go. Me and (Lawrance Toafili) had to put the running back room on our shoulders, and we just had to fight.”

On if it was hard not to think about facing his former coach

“No, I don’t let myself think about that until that time comes. I’m pretty sure they were proud of me tonight, though. After the game, I spoke to them, chopped it up. That was about it.”

On if he thought this was the program he was joining

“This program is just about us. I expected it as soon as I got here. I had faith in this team. If I didn’t have faith in this team, I would not have committed here. I knew what coach Norvell had going with us, and we’ve just got to continue to climb. It’s all about us, honestly.”

On Cam Akers’ tweet

“Oh, I ain’t know that he did that. It’s a lot coming from Cam. Watching him growing up, it’s a lot coming from him. I’m going to have to reach back out to him.”

On if he will remember this game for the rest of his life

“Oh, yeah. This is one of the games I will remember for the rest of my life. Going up against my former head coach, and it’s a rivalry game as well. So this game is definitely in the books.”

On if he could tell how much this win meant to the FSU players from Miami

“It meant a lot to them. They were determined this whole week of practice. I’ve never seen them so locked in. They were so locked in, practicing this week. And it paid off. After the game, they were so happy. They were happy for me. They were happy for everybody. And they played their butt off today.”

On what it was like playing in that atmosphere

“I’m not going to lie, that first quarter, that was loud. We could barely hear the clap. It was loud. It was fun, though. It was fun to be here.”

On if he thinks this was the best game of his football career

“Yeah, I feel like this is number one for right now. There are three games left, so I’m hoping I can top that.”

FSU DE Jared Verse

On confidence going into the game that they could produce such a performance: "Yeah, the whole week of preparation was probably the best week we've ever had. Everybody came ready and focused, ready to play, ready to practice every day. I'm not surprised by the outcome of this game."

Was the focus because of the opponent or team realizing they had yet to play their best game?: "I think it was a mixture of both. Our opponent, you know, it's a rivalry game, everybody has their emotions in it. But you know, also, a lot of people coming back from injury, the way we played last week, we've got to realize that we can put a whole 60-minute game together and destroy our opponents."

On the locker room prior to the game: "The locker room was very business-like. Everybody had their AirPods in, their ear buds, whatever they had in their ears, locked in, focused up, you know, everybody was just doing their pregame ritual. Then once we went out, it was just a game, it was just football."

On the atmosphere of the game: "It's a whole different atmosphere. Like we've played in packed stadiums and everything like that, but this atmosphere was crazy. Everybody hates you. Everybody is yelling at you. Cussing at you. And me, I feed off of that stuff. I'm smiling. Laughing. I'm clapping. It was a whole different atmosphere that I'm not used to."

On why they didn't lose confidence during three-game skid: "Because none of the games we lost was because our opponent was better than us. I don't think there's a team better than us when you put it player-for-player, the way we play together. Anybody, I don't there is anyone that can beat us if we play our best game. This was not our best game, we made our mistakes, we've got a lot to fix, but this was one step closer. If we put together a full game, I don't think anyone can beat us."

On early and often defensive line rotation being the plan coming into this game: "Yeah, Coach JP took over that. He let us know before the game that we were going to rotate a lot. Everybody's gonna be fresh. So when we are in, we can give our full effort. No holding back."

Was a full 60-minute effort by the defense a talking point during the week: "Yeah, it was definitely a big talking point throughout the whole week. Coach kept hammering it, hammering it, yelling it. Every coach, from Coach Novell to some of the assistant coaches were yelling at us that we've got to be better, we've got put together a full 60-minute game. And I still think we did not because they still put up three points on the board. But that was one step closer."

On defense forcing multiple takeaways, how big is getting the first one: "I think it was definitely a confidence booster that we know like they're gonna cough it up and we can just take it from them. We've just got to get in there and get real physical with them and they're not going to like that."

On his post-sack breaking the U celebration - premeditated?: "It was definitely something I've seen, like on TV a lot they do like that. Throughout the week, we have a lot of Florida State-Miami videos, games, something like that, I saw a couple people do it. I was like, 'That is kind of cool, I might steal that real quick?'."

On what the game meant to the guys on roster from South Florida: "I think it meant a lot to them, you know, coming home, being able to come home, and not just be back in their city, but to be able to run it, to be able to leave winners. That was something that I feel like it's a big confidence boost for them. I haven't gotten to speak with them about it since we just ended, but I can just tell from looking at us."

On being a game he won't forget: "It was definitely throughout the whole week. Coach kept saying that, you know, this is one of those games that if we went 11-0 and then we lost to Miami, we had a bad season, it was a horrible season. So coach we kind of hammered that home throughout the week, this is one of the games that this is going to make a season, this is going to be the ones that help us propel to the end of the season. So it is definitely something that is going to be in the back of my mind for the rest of my life. Whenever I have to draw some confidence, I'll just look back on this game. I won't have to worry about my brothers next to me, I will look back on this game. It was something that it's gonna be with me for the rest of my life."

On how much fun he is having this season with FSU: "I've never had this much fun playing football. Like I've had a lot of fun playing football. I've played for about 12-13 years, I've had a lot of fun playing football. I've had a lot of good teammates, a lot of camaraderie, a lot of you know we go out, have fun, everything like that. This team has a completely different vibe. I've never had so much fun. I've never smiled so much in the building. If I'm having a bad day, I walk in the building for five minutes, I can't even have a bad day in peace. These guys, I just love these guys so much. This team is so cool. I just love it. Like I've never had a bad day just because of them."

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