Jared Verse says quarterback Jordan Travis 'a lot more confident'

Florida State goes into the 2023 season as a bona fide potential College Football Playoff contender, in no small part thanks to the growth of star quarterback Jordan Travis.

Travis single-handedly won some games for the Seminoles last year, perhaps most notably against the rival Florida Gators.

“Honestly he’s just a lot more confident,” edge defender Jared Verse said of his teammate. “Like you’ve seen some of the stuff he does against Florida. That boy should have been sacked seven times in the backfield. You’re watching this, you’re like how’s he even doing this stuff?”

Quarterback Jordan Travis went just 13-of-30 passing against Florida, but he threw for a touchdown and was not intercepted. And his work evading pressure situations to make big plays was uncanny.

The Florida State dual-threat quarterback ran 15 times for 83 yards and two scores, keeping Florida off-balance throughout a 45-38 FSU win.

Now quarterback Jordan Travis is back with a whole additional season under his belt, feeling as confident as he’s ever been. He continues to make teammates look silly trying to defend him.

No different than the games.

“The worst part is he does this stuff in practice, too,” Verse explained. “It’s not something that he just magically pulls out in games, like a rabbit out a hat. Like he does this stuff. He’s so confident in everything he does, even if it looks like a mistake, just trust J-Trav, he’s going to do everything he has to.”

Florida State aiming for national title

The Seminoles won’t want to get too far ahead of themselves, not with a tough season opener against the LSU Tigers on tap. But expectations are sky high in Tallahassee after a 10-win 2022 campaign.

How high?

College Football Playoffs and potential national title game type high. That’s a testament to quarterback Jordan Travis, but also the team’s belief in him and the makeup of the rest of the roster.

“We say national championship, playoff, yessir,” linebacker Kalen DeLoach said at the ACC Football Kickoff. “I feel like that’s — we know what we’re capable of. But we want to focus on more things, more so every day. We want to focus on every game, each week, week-by-week. We never look ahead, although there is a lot of people talking about it.”