Now that the dust has settled on Florida State's 42-26 loss at Notre Dame, it's time for another edition of the Warchant 3-2-1, where we offer three observations, two questions and a prediction.
In this edition, we take a closer look at key leaders emerging on the Florida State offense, what main issues are plaguing the defense, who would take over at quarterback if Jordan Travis was sidelined with a game on the line, and more..
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Three things we've learned
1 -- FSU offense has established a solid nucleus
After the first two games of this football season, I was convinced Mike Norvell and his coaching staff were in deep, deep trouble. I'm sure I wasn't alone.
Not only was the defense a wreck, but I wasn't sure how this offense was going to be productive against any average defense. James Blackman had not progressed at quarterback, Tamorrion Terry and most of the wide receivers looked disinterested, the offensive line still appeared to be a couple pieces short of competent, and Cam Akers wasn't walking through that door any time soon.
Things didn't just look bleak, they looked pitch black. Like it might not matter what schemes Norvell could come up with, there appeared to be nothing to build upon. No run game, no pass game, no nothing. But after getting a glimpse of what having a play-making quarterback could do for Norvell's offense last week, what we witnessed on Saturday was a full-out resurrection.
At various points during Saturday's game at Notre Dame, while the Seminoles were putting together four drives of more than 65 yards and racking up more than 400 yards of offense, I came to the following conclusions:
* FSU has a quarterback it can win with in Jordan Travis. No qualifiers. No ifs, ands or buts. He is a legitimate college quarterback and better than a lot of the ones FSU will play against. Am I guaranteeing he'll develop into an elite player and a three-year starter? No, I can't necessarily say that. But for the first time in a long time, FSU has a quarterback it can win with. Travis not only is very athletic and a "good enough" passer, but he has a surprisingly high level of awareness, comfort and feel for the game considering how little college football he has played.
* FSU also has a running back it can win with in La'Damian Webb. That dude is a beast. Not only is he a gifted runner, but he is exactly the type of football player you want in your program. He is extremely tough, selfless and a great teammate. He is the kind of player who will make others around him better because of his competitive spirit.
* If Tamorrion Terry plays like he has in these last two games -- maintaining that same level of focus and determination -- FSU has a potentially dominant wide receiver. As you likely noticed, I did have to qualify this one. Consistency has not been a characteristic one would attribute to Terry during his first three years in Tallahassee, so there are no guarantees here. But he was outstanding for nearly all of Saturday's game. If he competes in each game going forward the way he did at Notre Dame, he could still go on to have a monster year.
