First off it feels like being punched in the gut.....I was watching the game but did not really watch the injury. I thought Jordan had a high ankle sprain at first. It did not look that bad to me. I did not watch the replays of the injury so I did not know the extent of it. When it comes to Jordan....He was a player I have never been high on. I always thought that the fan base and media went a little overboard in the hype of the kid. That being said Jordan put in tremendous time as a player to make himself into a very good college quarterback. I can't take that away from him. The one thing when I coach I always say in life is we were not all given great physical talent....But something we all control is EFFORT. Jordan gave more than 100 percent. Here is a kid who was never recruited by FSU. He went to Louisville and was not good. I spoke to coaches who were there with him. He was brought over by Taggart who ironically could never find a QB at FSU. While at FSU he was behind Blackman....He was not very good and Norvell brought Milton from UCF in to take his job. Jordan never quit....He never told anyone he wanted to hit the transfer portal. He stayed the course....I think his story should continue to be told to players who come to FSU and don't play right away. He really is a NETFLIX show....Jordan overcame all that and was within 1 game of taking FSU to an unbeaten season and a playoff run. I see fans talk about recruiting quarterbacks with similar skills and MN developing him...Those fans are saying recruit a kid not good enough to play at FSU....BUT....They have that same work ethic. That is almost impossible to do. You will NEVER FIND ANOTHER JORDAN TRAVIS. It is easier to find a five star quarterback and win than to find a player who is undersized, does not have a great arm and outside of being a great athlete....should have never made it this far...Jordan exceeding most expectations....I was convinced the kid could never get it done...And I was wrong. Jordan shut up me and many other doubters...Kudos to him. This is a terrible way to end his college career. It is cruel....I wish nothing but the best for this young man...He is a one of a kind....
QB-Tate...He is the one that is going to lead FSU the rest of the way....He is not my first choice to play...That being said I do think MN can do some things with Tate that you can't do with Jordan....You can put some deeper passes into the play book. Tate can push the ball down the field. You have big targets in Wilson and Coleman....Put the ball up and let them go...Brock Glenn is obviously ahead of Duffy who does not play....
RB- I have said this a million times...As long as MN is at FSU they will be able to run the ball. CJ Campbell led the team in rushing. This is another walk on who has had success at FSU. Sam Singleton put up some nice yardage yesterday. Benson was productive in his short time.
WR/TE-Coleman first pass thrown to him....Bottle that up and make sure Tate has that makes that throw many times the rest of the year. FSU went tight formation and then rolled the pocket to the left and it was an easy pitch and catch. Man Coleman is such a special talent. One of Hykeem Williams or Jeremiah Smith (;-) will have a big roll to fill next year. The Wide receivers for FSU do a good job of blocking. That is coaching. Think you will some more 12 personal.....Bell and Morlock will be on the field more.
OL- If there is one disappointing part of the team it is offensive line. This group has not played well together. They did do a better job of keeping pressure on Tate...But on the run plays the just don't fire off the ball. I am concerned with Tate and this offensive line...Tate does not have great pocket presence so you could see more sacks moving forward.
DL-First and 10 - #44 makes a tackle for loss....I feel Farmer will be an All-Conference type player next year if he can play with consistency. He has the most upside of all the defensive tackles on the team. Saw Lyons in the game early. He needs to take his game to another level. He plays but does not give much an impact. On the QB draw from North Alabama - What was FSU in alignment wise? They went to a light front (3 guys) and their backers all seemed to be out of place...Please do not run this defensive front again. Other teams would kill FSU in that front. Lovett is playing like someone not trying to get hurt. I really think at times he is a liability.
One Concern moving forward is the defensive line struggled on miss-direction. I think other teams will try and take advantage of this with FSU defensive line. Payton did seem to make some plays...
LB-When I watched the replay...I missed hearing that Deloach did not play. Wow, he was missed. FSU linebackers did not play well up to the 13-0 lead that North Alabama got. Lots of tackles down the field from the backers...This group concerns me as well against better teams.
DB-Jarian Jones - He has actually gotten better. He is someone that bought in. He was terrible early in his career. I would not say Korey Magum bad but he was approaching that level. On Verse almost sack and pressure...It was #7 that finished the sack and got the fumble...Got to give him credit. On North Alabama first touchdown....Corner (Green) had his back turned? He never looked for the ball...Green did come back and get a great interception. I don't believe it counted. The defensive backs must tackle better.
ST-What is crazy people talk about the defense not getting off to a quick start....They actually did. They shut North Alabama down right away. Problem is the ST gave up a fake punt and it changed all the momentum of that game. On the fake. Maybe Jerry or someone on the staff can look it up but it seemed like there were a lot of backups in when the fake punt happened.
Final Thoughts: Going 12-0 would be a great accomplishment. The UF game would have been interesting if Mertz had stayed healthy. Without him UF is not going to be as close. I think FSU actually handles UF next week....Louisville is a concern with Tate. I think Louisville will be able to score. Can FSU score enough to stay with Louisville? That game which I thought FSU would win by 14-21 with Travis now becomes a game IMHO. FSU will have to fight to win the ACC title game. I think without Travis this team will be one a done. I don't see FSU beating any of the other playoff teams with Tate.
Polls....
1-UGA- They are playing so well right now...Crazy they are now dominating teams...Some thought Tennessee would give them a game...
2-Michigan-Not a great game vs. Maryland but with Ohio State up next that is expected.
3-Washington- They went on the road against a team that is tough to beat at home....Washington run game is now legit....And their defense made plays when they had to.
4-FSU- I hate to say it but without Travis it would not shock me to see a 1-loss bama and 1-loss UGA team to both get picked over an unbeaten FSU team without Travis. I think it would be wrong but FSU has not been respected all year long.
5-Oregon-This is a team that no one wants to play right now. They are big, physical and athletic. They also have a QB in Nix who is playing at an elite level.
6-Alabama-Bama lost to Texas....Bame is playing better than the Horns right now. Head to head is great...my eyes tell me different. Texas is not as good.
7-Ohio State - The Buckeyes will get their chance to prove me wrong next week. I am not sold on Ohio State..
8-Texas- Since their win against Alabama they have gotten worse. They don't finish teams off like they should. I feel Texas will lose again to OU once they play.
9-Missouri -Not going to lie....After the top 8 there is a major drop off. Watched them against Florida and this is one of the weakest top 10 teams ever....Coach Drink saved his job and Missouri is playing well. Luther Burden is one of the best receivers in College football. His value in the portal would be up there with Keon Coleman.
10-Louisville--Another team who most years is top 20-25....This year they are top ten...UGH....FSU gets their shot at them in two weeks.
11-Penn State- They are the clear cut number 3 team in the Big 10....They just cant beat Ohio State or Michigan. Another 10 win season and with a bowl win 11....Coach Franklin gets knocked but he is doing what coaches should do at Penn State...Win 10 every year.
12-Oregon State-I am not dropping this team far.....They are a very good football team. I do think if they played Louisville or Missouri they would beat them...The Beavers are good on both sides of the football. They are very good at running the ball. You want a team that is going to kick the crap out of someone in a bowl game...here they are.
13-Oklahoma-Don't know how long their QB is going to be out...I do think Jackson Arnold will be good next year. They need Gabriel to beat Texas again.
14-LSU- They are the best 3 loss team in the country. They are one team that if there is a 12 team playoff you don’t want to play...Daniels may win the Heisman Trophy.
15-Ole Miss-Still think they are overrated....
Best of the rest....
Arizona---Give Coach Fisch credit...Arizona is for real-Ask Utah...
Notre Dame
Clemson
Tennessee
Kansas State
Oklahoma State
Tulane
QB-Tate...He is the one that is going to lead FSU the rest of the way....He is not my first choice to play...That being said I do think MN can do some things with Tate that you can't do with Jordan....You can put some deeper passes into the play book. Tate can push the ball down the field. You have big targets in Wilson and Coleman....Put the ball up and let them go...Brock Glenn is obviously ahead of Duffy who does not play....
RB- I have said this a million times...As long as MN is at FSU they will be able to run the ball. CJ Campbell led the team in rushing. This is another walk on who has had success at FSU. Sam Singleton put up some nice yardage yesterday. Benson was productive in his short time.
WR/TE-Coleman first pass thrown to him....Bottle that up and make sure Tate has that makes that throw many times the rest of the year. FSU went tight formation and then rolled the pocket to the left and it was an easy pitch and catch. Man Coleman is such a special talent. One of Hykeem Williams or Jeremiah Smith (;-) will have a big roll to fill next year. The Wide receivers for FSU do a good job of blocking. That is coaching. Think you will some more 12 personal.....Bell and Morlock will be on the field more.
OL- If there is one disappointing part of the team it is offensive line. This group has not played well together. They did do a better job of keeping pressure on Tate...But on the run plays the just don't fire off the ball. I am concerned with Tate and this offensive line...Tate does not have great pocket presence so you could see more sacks moving forward.
DL-First and 10 - #44 makes a tackle for loss....I feel Farmer will be an All-Conference type player next year if he can play with consistency. He has the most upside of all the defensive tackles on the team. Saw Lyons in the game early. He needs to take his game to another level. He plays but does not give much an impact. On the QB draw from North Alabama - What was FSU in alignment wise? They went to a light front (3 guys) and their backers all seemed to be out of place...Please do not run this defensive front again. Other teams would kill FSU in that front. Lovett is playing like someone not trying to get hurt. I really think at times he is a liability.
One Concern moving forward is the defensive line struggled on miss-direction. I think other teams will try and take advantage of this with FSU defensive line. Payton did seem to make some plays...
LB-When I watched the replay...I missed hearing that Deloach did not play. Wow, he was missed. FSU linebackers did not play well up to the 13-0 lead that North Alabama got. Lots of tackles down the field from the backers...This group concerns me as well against better teams.
DB-Jarian Jones - He has actually gotten better. He is someone that bought in. He was terrible early in his career. I would not say Korey Magum bad but he was approaching that level. On Verse almost sack and pressure...It was #7 that finished the sack and got the fumble...Got to give him credit. On North Alabama first touchdown....Corner (Green) had his back turned? He never looked for the ball...Green did come back and get a great interception. I don't believe it counted. The defensive backs must tackle better.
ST-What is crazy people talk about the defense not getting off to a quick start....They actually did. They shut North Alabama down right away. Problem is the ST gave up a fake punt and it changed all the momentum of that game. On the fake. Maybe Jerry or someone on the staff can look it up but it seemed like there were a lot of backups in when the fake punt happened.
Final Thoughts: Going 12-0 would be a great accomplishment. The UF game would have been interesting if Mertz had stayed healthy. Without him UF is not going to be as close. I think FSU actually handles UF next week....Louisville is a concern with Tate. I think Louisville will be able to score. Can FSU score enough to stay with Louisville? That game which I thought FSU would win by 14-21 with Travis now becomes a game IMHO. FSU will have to fight to win the ACC title game. I think without Travis this team will be one a done. I don't see FSU beating any of the other playoff teams with Tate.
Polls....
1-UGA- They are playing so well right now...Crazy they are now dominating teams...Some thought Tennessee would give them a game...
2-Michigan-Not a great game vs. Maryland but with Ohio State up next that is expected.
3-Washington- They went on the road against a team that is tough to beat at home....Washington run game is now legit....And their defense made plays when they had to.
4-FSU- I hate to say it but without Travis it would not shock me to see a 1-loss bama and 1-loss UGA team to both get picked over an unbeaten FSU team without Travis. I think it would be wrong but FSU has not been respected all year long.
5-Oregon-This is a team that no one wants to play right now. They are big, physical and athletic. They also have a QB in Nix who is playing at an elite level.
6-Alabama-Bama lost to Texas....Bame is playing better than the Horns right now. Head to head is great...my eyes tell me different. Texas is not as good.
7-Ohio State - The Buckeyes will get their chance to prove me wrong next week. I am not sold on Ohio State..
8-Texas- Since their win against Alabama they have gotten worse. They don't finish teams off like they should. I feel Texas will lose again to OU once they play.
9-Missouri -Not going to lie....After the top 8 there is a major drop off. Watched them against Florida and this is one of the weakest top 10 teams ever....Coach Drink saved his job and Missouri is playing well. Luther Burden is one of the best receivers in College football. His value in the portal would be up there with Keon Coleman.
10-Louisville--Another team who most years is top 20-25....This year they are top ten...UGH....FSU gets their shot at them in two weeks.
11-Penn State- They are the clear cut number 3 team in the Big 10....They just cant beat Ohio State or Michigan. Another 10 win season and with a bowl win 11....Coach Franklin gets knocked but he is doing what coaches should do at Penn State...Win 10 every year.
12-Oregon State-I am not dropping this team far.....They are a very good football team. I do think if they played Louisville or Missouri they would beat them...The Beavers are good on both sides of the football. They are very good at running the ball. You want a team that is going to kick the crap out of someone in a bowl game...here they are.
13-Oklahoma-Don't know how long their QB is going to be out...I do think Jackson Arnold will be good next year. They need Gabriel to beat Texas again.
14-LSU- They are the best 3 loss team in the country. They are one team that if there is a 12 team playoff you don’t want to play...Daniels may win the Heisman Trophy.
15-Ole Miss-Still think they are overrated....
Best of the rest....
Arizona---Give Coach Fisch credit...Arizona is for real-Ask Utah...
Notre Dame
Clemson
Tennessee
Kansas State
Oklahoma State
Tulane
