Mike Norvell details his message to Tate Rodemaker when he entered Friday night's game

On paper it was a disastrous scenario for Florida State, losing starting quarterback Jordan Travis to a leg injury in the second quarter on the road against Louisville on Friday night. But backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker had other plans and head coach Mike Norvell wasn’t surprised.

Norvell’s seen the redshirt sophomore in practice and knew he had the goods. He also knew that Rodemaker would need to take a moment to settled in to the game.

“Took a deep breath,” Norvell said. “You’re sitting there — that’s part of this game. There’s emotion in this game. It’s — he got put into a challenging situation and it didn’t go great at the beginning. But ultimately we took a deep breath at halftime, we knew the plan of what we wanted to do and he went out and executed flawlessly in the second half. I mean, even on some of the incompletions that he threw, he was in control. He was in control in that second half and I thought he did a remarkable job. He just played football. The guy is a good football player. And like I said, I get to watch it every day.”

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Florida State trailed, 21-14, at halftime, and things were looking bleak. As is often the case, Rodemaker was a little too revved up when he first came in but slowed himself down during the break and lead a come-from-behind win in the second half.

A long connection on a deep ball to wide receiver Johnny Wilson — the Arizona State transfer dominated on Friday — helped Rodemaker get in a groove and lead the Seminoles.

“That’s part of the deep breath,” Norvell said of calming things down. “You want it so bad. And ultimately, he’s — Tate can absolutely spin a football. And we’ve known that and he’s shown that time over time. But his preparation, things we had in the game plan that he was able to go out and execute. Even some of the checks and things that we were able to put in. But he got out there and just did what he did in practice. Once you connect on the deep ball to Johnny, it probably puts you in a lot more comfortable situation. And then he just continued to be our quarterback for that game and bringing us back to victory.”

Rodemaker didn’t put up a blow-you-away state line — 6-for-10 passing for 109 yards, two touchdowns and an interception — but he looked in control as Norvell noted and pushed the Seminoles offense down the field for points when they needed them most.

“So proud of Tate Rodemaker,” Norvell said. “I knew we could win with Tate. And I’ve seen it in practice. I’ve seen him work. I’ve seen him so much, invest and be prepared for the moment. he got put in a challenging situation, on the road. But he just went out there and responded in the second half. It is just an incredible example for what this team is built on.

“Just keep playing. Trust your eyes, trust your feet. Go out there and trust your training. That’s the reality of it. What he did tonight, I’ve seen before. I’ve seen before. Now, it’s not been on Friday night national television. But like I said at the beginning, I knew we could win with Tate. And for him to go out in the second half, being down, on the road, hostile environment, and he just kept playing. And that was something, like I said, it was special.”