Mike Norvell shares how loss to NC State continues to drive Jordan Travis

The 2022 season was overall a successful one for Florida State, but there was a tough stretch in October that kept it from being special.

The Seminoles loss three straight games — falling to Wake Forest, NC State and Clemson on Oct. 1, 8 and 15. The loss to the Wolfpack was arguably the most gut-wrenching as Florida State led 17-3 at halftime and appeared to be in control.

Instead, NC State came storming back without its starting QB, and Seminoles star quarterback Jordan Travis threw an interception in the final seconds to cap off a scoreless second half for the Seminoles. FSU lost the game 19-17.

Seminoles coach Mike Norvell spoke at the ACC Football Kickoff event about how he saw Travis respond from that moment forward.

“Nobody wants to be in a position where that last play is one that leaves a negative taste or a negative feel, but it’s how you receive it,” Norvell said. “He’s a remarkable young man. I always tell our players that your response is what’s going to determine the identity. Anybody can say what they want to say, but how you show up, the actions that you have. And he just continued to push. He continued to work.”

Florida State lost the following week against Clemson, rallying from a 34-14 second-half deficit to lose 34-28. But that would be the last loss for FSU of the season.

Travis and the Seminoles won their final six games of the year, scoring 35-plus points in all of them. A season that looked like it could be headed for trouble ended with FSU going 10-3. That loss to NC State is one that Travis still thinks about. He and his teammates don’t want to have that same feeling in 2023.

“You look at we had three loses in a row in the month of October. And Jordan was one that stood up and stepped out and continued to put the work in, continued to push through the belief,” Norvell said. “There was no point in that where it was going at each other. We can all look at the film and see the issues that showed up. Now what are we going to do and make it better? And in each of those three games, there was a different circumstance or a different situation. … We had to be more consistent. You saw a team that responded the right way, and I think he was a huge part of that, just because of what he was willing to invest and give.”