The Florida Football Insiders podcast is part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast
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our Florida realtor, Drew Felios. Enjoy the podcast a look at college football
news, analysis and insight from around the Sunshine Stage. This is Florida Football
Insiders, a part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast and here's your
host, Jason Powers. All Right, Welcome in to the Florida Football Insiders
Podcast Thanksgiving Week. Addition, hard to believe we are already in week thirteen
of the college football season. Only two weeks left in the one week left
in the regular season. Then we have Championship Conference Championship Week next week,
and a week from Sunday we will know who our final fourteen teams are in
the College Football Playoff. New college football rankings came out on Tuesday night.
Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, and Washington now takes over the number four
spot. Florida State drops from four to five uh in the in the rankings,
more so probably to do with what Washington did than what Florida State didn't.
Do. We're gonna We're gonna focus on Florida State and UH in the
podcast as well, we are going to talk to the play by play voice
of the Seminoles Director of broadcasting with the Seminole UH Seminoles Sports Radio Network,
mister Jeff Colhayne. He is going to join us. We're gonna talk Jordan
Travis injury, how the how that potentially affects the college football playoff rankings,
preview the Florida Gator game, and just all the going all the news around
the Florida State, the athletics program related to football, little basketball, little
women's soccer and such. So you will enjoy our chat with Jeff, who'll
give you some great perspective of who Tate Roddamaker is and how they have The
Seminoles are preparing for their showdown on Saturday night in Gainesville versus the Gators.
So interesting week in the state of Florida college football wise. Obviously, you
had the the devastating injury up at Florida State with Jordan Travis in the game
versus North Alabama. Graham Merch was lost by the Gators in their game at
Missouri. Florida loses a heartbreaker at the at the gun with a late field
goal in Columbia. To remain not Bowl eligible as of yet, they need
to beat Florida State to get Bowl eligible. Miami lost to Louisville. And
we're gonna recap these games. USF lost, f AU lost, f IU
lost. Pretty much everybody the state of Florida lost last week except the Florida
State Seminoles. So we're going to recap up those games and who they have
left here in the final week of the regular season still lots to play for
him for or many of these teams in the state Florida can get Bowl eligible.
UCF can get Bowl eligible, USF can get Bowl eligible. So again,
especially for a team like USF, getting Bowl eligible is gonna be critical.
And UH, we'll give uh and we'll hit on that here just a
couple of minutes. So again, Jeff Colhaynes, Voice of the Knowles,
will be joining us here in a few minutes as we get through the recaps
of the UH game from last week. Remember, you can find us if
you haven't already done so, hit the subscribe button on your podcast platform.
You can find us on x and slash Twitter at JPO Sports. Love to
hear your comments. It is Thanksgiving week, so if you want to,
you want to tweet us a picture of your Thanksgiving feast, how you will
handle your Thanksgiving festivities, We'd love to We'd love to uh see those,
so so definitely tweet out. Also, obviously it's a rivalry week around the
country, and obviously here in the state of Florida with the Knoles and the
Gators, but you got riivalries all over the country from the Iron Bowl to
Ohio State, Michigan, to the Apple Cup to the Civil War, just
all the different rivalries and in the various states around the country. So a
very fun and festive week with a lot to play for for a lot of
these teams and such so fun week. And again obviously you got a lot
of NFL action going on on Thursday. You're gonna have Thanksgiving NFL games.
You're gonna have a Black Friday game in the NFL with involving a Florida team,
the Dolphins traveling up to New York to play the Jets. And obviously
you'll have your full slatest Saturday games and your Sunday games in the NFL as
well. So let's get to it. Florida State uncharacteristically fell behind very early
in this game thirteen nothing to North Alabama. They end up coming back and
beating the Lions from North Alabama fifty eight to thirteen. Obviously, the headliner
in this game is the is the season ending leg injury to Jordan Travis who
was injured early in the late first quarter early second quarter on a on a
on a quarterback run. If you didn't see the highlight, he you know
got his Basically his leg was I don't know what the official diagnosi of it
was an ankle fracture or or tibia fibula fracture, but broken leg, broken
ankle, situation, terrible situation he was. It was the media, there
was no doubt what it was. He was carted off, obviously, the
emotional leader in the in the on field leader for the knowles. What a
career he'th had with the Seminoles his four years in Tallahassee with coach Norvel and
again was absolutely the leader of that team going into going into into the action
on Saturday night. Uh. He's replaced by Tate Rodimaker been there for three
years. Rode Baker came in through for about two hundred and fifteen yards really
stabilized the the this situation that obviously got Florida State to the finish line beating
North Alabama fifty eight thirty. Obviously, the big question is can Tate Rodimaker
step in, can he beat go to Florida and win, and then obviously
they have to play Louisville in the ACC title game next week in Charlotte.
Good thing is Roddamaker has played a fair amount of football at Florida State.
If you remember last year, he came in for an injured Jordan Travis at
Louisville. It was a Friday night game in like week three or week four
of the season last year and brought the Knowles back to beat Louisville on the
road. So he's got some experience doing it. He's a good player,
he knows what he's doing. He would start for a lot of people around
the country in a lot of different programs. So I think coach Norvell is
in a pretty comfortable spot as far as knowing Tate knows the offense and such.
The key thing is here is can he just can't he deliver? He's
got plenty of weapons, got a good running game, got plenty of weapons
on the outside. With a high school team of jaheem Bell the tight end,
so he knows him really well. You got Keon Coleman, Johnny Wilson,
you got a good running game. So this is if you're Mike Norvel,
you lean on your other skill guys. And if you're Tate Ronnemaker,
be a distributor. You don't have to be a superman. You don't have
to throw for four hundred yards. Be the distributor. You've got plenty of
weapons. You got plenty of offensive firepower. The defense is playing better.
If you'll do those things, I think you'll be just fine in Gainesville against
the depleted Florida team. You have to wonder what Florida's motivation is. They
lose a heartbreaker at Missouri. You know, Billy Napier feeling some heat there,
so backup quarterback in the game for the Gators. So but if again,
if you're Tate Ronemaker, just do your job. You don't have to
be superman. Just try to just throw the ball away when it's time to
throw the ball away. I anticipate Florida State will not be running many RPO
quarterback design runs because one, Ronnemaker is a good athlete, but he's not
as good as runner as Jordan Travison. Two, you can't risk something happening
to Rodemaker and then having aign your third quarterback. You have to minimize the
quarterback opportunities for him to get hit, and the quarterback runs as a prime
example to prevent him from getting hit by not calling him. So I would
expect a little more of a traditional drop back offense here with Rodimaker and again
very little RPO action design quarterback runs. So I think Florida State can definitely
is definitely motivated. Obviously they saw Washington pass them in the rankings. I
don't think that really is gonna matter. I think if Florida State wins the
next two and show some competence, they're going to be in the playoff.
I think a thirteen to er Florida State team is not going to get denied
a playoff spot unless they just mightily struggle on offense and figure out a way
to win the game if they beat you know, if they beat Florida fourteen
to ten and they really struggle offensively against Louisville but win, then you would
have a scenario where you could justify potentially Florida State getting left out if the
offense is just really bad with Tate Rodimaker. But I don't think it's gonna
be that way. I think Rodamaker will do a good job. Again,
if you could score twenty four points in each game, I think that that
you got a great chance to win the games. And again you're gonna play
You're gonna play Louisville up in Charlotte next week, guaranteed that game, no
matter what. But if you're looking at this Florida game, go take care
of business against a Florida team that's that you're better then Uh, Florida's showed
some showed some signs of life in the last cup few weeks. But again
no Graham Mertz. They got a good running game. You gotta you gotta
contain at the end in Johnson. But again, top to bottom, Florida
State is the better team and they should be able to win the game.
I would expect an apathetic crowd in Gainesville on Saturday night. Again, you'll
have a good crowd, but it will not be an electric, over the
top crowd like like it's been in the years past. Because of the struggles
with the Gators. So go win the game, Florida State. You're about
a six and a half point favorite. It'd be a primetime game. It's
a great opportunity to make a statement if you're Florida State in Gainesville Saturday night,
let's go to the Gators. The Gators again lose a heartbreaker at Missouri
thirty three thirty one mevs. For Missouri kicks a game winning field goal in
the last ten to fifteen seconds of the game, maybe in the last play
of the game, I can't remember. But again lose a heartbreaker thirty three
thirty one. Merch got hurt, you know, probably mid mid to late
third quarter, early the fourth quarter with a collar boat injury. He will
not play this week. Max Brown came in played okay. Florida drops to
five and six on the year, which makes this week a must win game
to get Bowl eligible and avoid a five game losing streak to end the year.
The Gators have lost four in a row here again, tough, tough
loss if you knew Missouri was gonna be a tough place to play. But
give the Gators credit. They went toe to toe with Missouri in Columbia,
but just come up a little bit short. Again, I don't think Billy
Napier was gonna get fired. I think with him being as competitive as he's
been. The LSU game, he was pretty competitive, the Missouri game competitive,
I don't think they'll get blown out here against Florida State. I think
Napier is gonna get another year. I think he's shown enough from a recruiting
perspective. But again, we we gotta see what Florida is just devoid of
dynamic offensive talent. I think that's the biggest thing that's got to keep getting
better is just the the dynamic playmakers on offense. The defense has not been
great the last four or five weeks, giving up a lot of points in
a lot of yards, So got to get that fixed. But I think
Napier is gonna survive. Funnier things have happened, so we will see,
but I think Napier's gonna survive. But next year he'll definitely be on the
hot seat as far as need to win show some major improvement in the program.
So again, tough game for the for Florida. Again. Thanksgiving week
always a tricky week as far as preparation. You know who knows what the
motivation level is of the of the Gator players. Obviously they need to win
the game to be Bowl eligible. But but but in totality doesn't matter if
you're Bowl eligible and you're playing in a nothing bowl here in two week,
two or three weeks, or would you rather be done from a player perspective,
recoup, recover, get out on the recruiting trail, transfer portal,
and all that stuff and really focus on those things as opposed to another couple
weeks of practice. So would be a very int you to see what the
spirit level is that the Gators comes Saturday night, all right, Miami.
They go down to Louisville thirty eight thirty one in a very entertaining game back
and forth to fall to six and five. Louisville has been the absolute surprise
of the a SEC, moving to ten and one clinch their spot in the
AEC title game. Alex Or Tyler van Dyke throws for three hundred twenty seven
yards. Mark Fletcher runs for one to twenty six and two touchdowns. Xavier
or streppbow is a great game eight catches for one ninety three in a touchdown,
but again, just the Miami's inability to win these close games here late
in the year has been an ongoing problem. The quarterback situation has been up
and down, fluctuating. After obviously, Emery Williams gets hurt in the Florida
State game, so Vandyke's back in the game. They got to get that
spot figured out and who's gonna be the long term answer at quarterback. But
again, the Miami season derailed once the Georgia Tech debacle happened. In the
time management situation with Mario happened. I think the whole spirit of the program
took a hit following the Georgia Tech game and it's just been a seesaw up
and down situation ever since. Again, lose thirty eight to thirty one.
They go to Boston College this week. Ironically, this is the thirty ninth
anniversary of BC in Miami. Back in nineteen eighty four, Fluties Hail Mary
in the Orange Bowl to beat the Canes on Thanksgiving weekend, So pretty ironic
that they're playing Boston College. They are on the road is up. It'll
be up at BC this week, probably be some cold weather, so it'll
be interesting to see how Miami is able to finish off the regular season.
Can they finish off strong or will they just kind of mail it in here?
They're gonna go to a bowl game. They'll least their Bowl eligible six
and six, and again, I don't think Mario's in danger of losing his
job this year, but again, two years in the books. You got
to show some significant improvement next year if you're Mario Christobal and you have to
get the clock management issues figured out one way or the other. All right,
let's move up to the middle of the state here in Tampa. Let's
go to USF the Bulls. They fall to five and six. They lose
on last Friday night to utsa forty nine to twenty one Byron Brown throws for
two hundred eighty seven yards and a touchdown. Sean Atkins ten catches for ninety
two yards. The Bulls are still have the ability to be Bowl eligible with
a game at home against Charlotte, A very winnable game. Who's three and
seven, three and eight. It's a game you gotta win if you USF.
They've won four games the last three years. Great job by Alex Golis,
should get them to five and six. This is a game you gotta
win. Saturday night in Tampa. If you're USF. This is a massive
motivational game, big game for the USF program to get Bowl eligible again.
They've had a lot of hard times here at USF the last several years.
You got to win this game. You got to beat a team that you're
better than if you're USF and Olex Golish on Saturday night against Charlotte again,
a huge, huge, huge motivation for the Bulls program this week is to
get Bowl eligible in a game that they can win. Nobody, you know,
most people didn't think they can beat UTSA with probably a little overmatch there,
but this is a game you can win. You got to beat Charlotte
again. Will you'll learn a lot about coach Goalish and his coaching ability,
motivational ability this week. So I expect USF to win the game, to
get forligible, to be a big accomplishment for this program. Not many people
thought they would even be Bowl eligible this year. So again give the coaching
staff credit. But again you got to finish the deal and you got to
get Bowl eligible to win the game, and I anticipate in USF to do
that. I would lay the six points there if I was playing the game
but again US have great opportunity to get Bowl eligible at home Saturday night against
Charlotte, FAU falls to four and seven. They lost to Tu Lane at
home twenty four to eight. Year one of Tom Herman. Lejhonte Western continues
his great, great career at FAU. Eleven catches for eighty six yards.
They will wrap up their regular season with Rice on Saturday. Again. Herman
has done a pretty good job in year one. Down there again, two
lanees a force there in that conference, and again you lose twenty four to
eight. That's not the worst thing in the world if your FAU will not
be going bowling this year with the Owls, but a good, pretty decent
start in year one. If you can finish out the year winning five and
go five and seven and winning at Rice, I think it'll be a good
catapult into the offseason if you're FAU and Tom Herman f IU. They go
to four and seven as well. They lose at Arkansas forty four to twenty.
A pay for play game going on Arkansas, Chris Mitchell six catches one
fifty seven in a touchdown. They will wrap up the regular season Coach McIntyre
for at home against Western Kentucky on Saturday. Again. Uh, not that
you were not expecting them to beat Arkansas a late season game here against an
SEC team, lose forty four to twenty and again you can if you can
win another game, get to five and seven, that be that'd be a
good accomplishment for coach McIntyre in that Panther program. Last, but not least
UCF. They lose a heartbreaker twenty four to twenty three at Texas Tech to
go to five and six. They need to win this game Saturday to get
Bowl eligible as well. R J. Harvey twenty carries for seventy eight yards
and two touchdowns. Javon Baker four catches for oneint eighteen and a touchdown for
UCF. Jumped out early in this game fourteen to nothing. Uh and again
not able to get it done in Lubbock. Uh, lose a heartbreaker.
UCF has lost a bunch of heartbreakers this year, and they're gonna wrap up
their regular season at home against Houston, A very viable team there. Again,
a winnable game, but it's a game. They've lost a bunch of
heartbreakers they've lost. They lost a one point game to Baylor early. They
lost to Texas Tech by one point, lose a tough game to West Virginia,
lose a two point game at Oklahoma. So I mean Florida UCF has
been in all in most of these games this year, but they've they've lost
a couple of heartbreakers in the conference. So gus Malzon again, it will
be important to get bowl eligible if your UCF year one in the Big Twelve.
There's some speculation that if UCF and USF both win, that could be
a bowl matchup in the Gasparilla Bowl here in Tampa. And I think that'd
be good for the bowl game, good for both programs since they no longer
are playing in the regular season. So let's root for a UCF USF win
and a bowl match up in mid December in the gas Burl Ball. I
think it'd be good for the community, good for both programs to do that.
And there you have it. So there's your recap again. Forty year
anniversary Doug Flutes or thirty nine year anniversary of Doug Flutes Hail Mary against the
Canes. I remember watching that as a little kid. I was eleven years
old and all that. That was a CBS game with Brent Musburger and Arab
Parsigen. I remember watching that vividly in the Orange Bowl on that Friday afternoon.
What a game. Sixtieth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination on is
today on Wednesday, and then you have obviously Thanksgiving weekend for everybody. Enjoy
your weekend. Hope everybody stay safe, Remember be thankful for what you have.
Not everybody's going to have an enjoyable Thanksgiving unfortunately, so if you do,
if you do have a moment, make sure you give thanks to you
and your families, and be thinking about those that maybe are a little bit
less fortunate and not able to enjoy the holiday like like like some some can
so uh again at a lot of stuff going on in the world, in
the country, uh, but be thinking about other people on this Thanksgiving weekend,
enjoy little football. And again we're gonna talk to Jeff Colhane, voice
of this Florida State Seminoles preview in Florida State, Florida and talking about the
uh Jordan Travis injury and the college football playoffs. So stay tuned. And
again, if you are in the state of Florida looking for tickets for the
Florida State Florida game. If you want to go to an NFL game this
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and join the rest of the podcast. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend, and
we will see you next week for our final Week fourteen edition of the Florida
Football Insider's podcast as part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network.
See in a minute Now. We're from Titan Home Lending. Are you in
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seven nine zero one four zero four. I appreciate you finding us back on
the podcast. Remember, if you haven't already done so, hit the subscribe
button on your favorite podcast platform. It is Rivalry week in the world of
college football, and we've got the announcer for an eleven to zero team,
top five rated team in America, the team that is on the brink of
a perfect season, potentially already qualified for their championship game in the ACC.
The play by playboys of the Florida State Seminoles Radio Network Basketball Football Soccer getting
ready to has a huge game this week, mister Jeff Colhay and welcome back
to the podcast. Sir Jason, how are you doing. It's great to
talk to you, and happy Thanksgiving to you, your family and everybody out
there. We're excited for a big weekend coming up. You got a very
busy week in Florida State Athletics. You had a earlier in the week,
you guys had a tremendous basketball win. You won the Little Florida, a
little tournament here in the state of Florida. You beat upset number eighteen Colorado.
Give us a little give us a little perspective of the nice win for
the Seminoles. Yeah, Jason was really happy for the guys. You know,
as you know and anybody that's played, when you go through tough times,
you know, it affects you mentally more than it does physically. And
so you're trying to recapture that winning culture under Leonard Hamilton. And I can
tell you these guys wanted this really badly, and coming off the Florida game
last Friday where it did not go well, I was very interested to see
how this team would respond. You hear Mike Morville talk about response all the
time with this football team. Well, Leonard Hamilton's basketball team responded in a
big time way like the coach ham teams that we've grown accustomed to before the
last couple of years, which I know have been tough. So still not
one hundred percent healthy, you know, still trying to get all their guys
at their disposal. And Cameron Corn, talented sophomore big man, got hurt
in the game as well and was not available, so shorthanded and got it
done. I guess a really good Colorado team that Ted Boyle, their head
coach, feels like it's his most talented he's ever had in his fourteen seasons
in Boulder. So really happy for those guys to taste some success. Let's
bottle that up and keep it a roll of moving forward. If they can
do that and play the way they did the last couple of days, it's
always the challenge in a long season. This is a team that's going to
give some people some problems. And on another front in athletics, got a
huge showdown on Friday for the women's soccer team quarterfinal matchup in the NCAA tournament
home game. If they win, they go to the final four. Women's
soccer who I know they Florida State the last numerous years has been a perennial
power in women's soccer. Give a little update on the other soccer program.
Well, it's a special group and these these gals are on a mission.
I tell you. You know, you talk about winning ways, and I
know we talk a ton of football, and rightly so, but man,
Florida State soccer is elite and Brian Penske in his two years here has you
know, continued the high level of success and expectation. And this has been
the number one team in the country for over half the season now and they
destroy to Texas Squad five nil on Sunday, night they have a night they
have a big challenge. Pitt coming in. Pitt is the team I think
that really pushed Florida State the most at home this year and so that was
a three to two win in acc play. This will be a great match.
I'm excited for these young women. They are tremendous at what they do.
Joe Etchighini is a star. I think you'll see her playing on a
professional stage at a high level. And Jordan Dudley as a true freshman.
She just looks different than everybody else does. So there's a lot of great
players. I have only named two that Christina Rokay great and goal all the
best of Brian Penske as a take on Pitt Friday for a chance at the
College Cup, give the audience a little perspective of what Florida State and the
athletic department does in general. This time of the year, you got women's
basketball, men's basketball, women's soccer, football, bunch of different teams where
those kids can't go home for the holidays. They're having to stay in Tallahassee
be around their team. They got busy to take care of. Talk about
what some of the things that some of the different coaches in the athletic departments
in general, does to take care of these guys and ladies during these holiday
periods when it's sometimes tough emotionally not to be around your family. There's no
nine to five hours, Jason, you know how it goes, and anybody
that's been in athletics this time of year knows how it goes. It's it's
a crossover month. There's you know, you kiss your wife and kids and
you stay honey, I'll see you. In the middle of December probably is
the time when it might slow down a little bit for you. So you
have a lot of things happening at once. I want to mention Florida State
Volleyball Chris Pool and company will play for a chance of the share of an
ACC championship Saturday after it at home against against the Notre Dame. So they've
had an unbelievable year in a top twenty five team, They've been tremendous,
so a lot of great success. The brand is very strong, great leadership
at the top with Michael Alford and his entire administrative team. You got a
great crew there and it trickles down from the administration into marketing and Sports Info,
the facilities, a lot of people are working a lot of hours,
you know, seminal production, seminal sports properties, and of course the teams
and coaches. So truly a team effort and you try and work in the
same direction to move things down the right path. All let's get to the
main event here Saturday night in Gainesville at the Swamp. We'll do a little
pre little recap of obviously the terrible events with with Jordan Travis in the North
Alabama game. Just give the audience that that maybe the obviously people that weren't
in the building, just the what the thought was the moment. Obviously,
you guys, I was listening to the broadcast and once bar Nunn saw the
replay, we all knew what it was. That it wasn't good. Just
talk about the silence that went over that stadium when everybody kind of knew what
it was. Yeah, Jason was it was tragic. I'm not trying to
be dramatic, it really was. It was a tragedy. Uh, And
it's not how that story was supposed to end for Jordan Travis. I can
understand, you know, even even if you know some guys may not be
the best guys, right that play I spent you know, football and and
there's emotion and gestosterone and some guys are bad guys like you have to have
some of those guys. Not this kid, and I call it he's you
know, he's a man. Jordan Travis is a man with the way he
handles himself, you know, the way he treats people, the way he
leads, what he's gone through. He very easily we know the story by
now. He very easily could have left, gone somewhere else, whitched positions,
he believed, he persevered, He said yes to Mike Norvel, and
uh, you know, I feel for those two guys because of the amount
of work they've put in together over the last four years. Right. So,
some people have said it's the quietest they've ever heard Doe Campbell Stadium.
Some people go back to Wide Write one and that moment. But you had
the Miami fans in the stadium that were obviously making noise, and so it
wasn't it wasn't completely silent. This was completely silent. There was no noise,
and the air got sucked out of the building. And to no surprise,
after you hear what Mike Norvell said, about when he was talking to
Jordan on the field, you know, Jordan was thinking about other people.
He was thinking about his parents. He said, he was good, he's
a coach him good. You know, I'm fine, I'm gonna be okay.
Let my parents know I'm okay. I mean, that's unbelievable, right,
It's amazing. So it's another example of how you never know, and
you know, the cliche of this could be eitherr one play away or or
you know, you never know when your last play is. When coaches say
that this is a prime reminder that you gotta be ready on the back end
of it and that when you play, don't take it for granted. And
you just hate to see it because Jordan Travis is a great person, a
great young man, and also had so much out ahead of him in the
short term of this season. Here at the end, all right, let's
let's get to Tate Rodamaker who comes in and fills in for him. Obviously
at the again, people don't forget, people forget Florence A was down thirteen
nothing at the moment he goes out, it was you know, on the
it wasn't They probably weren't gonna lose but it wasn't trending well the first quarter
or so there in Tallahassee, and give raw Tomaker credit. He came in,
played well, righted the ship there. Obviously, the emotion got back
into the building once they realized Jordan was gonna be okay, and it was
you know, they knew they were losing them, but they had to take
care of business. You couldn't let this derail six months and eight months of
great work. So give us a little background on Tate Rodemaker. We know
a little bit about him if you follow Florida State. He came in last
year, played really well in the Louisville game, kind of bailed out the
Seminoles when Jordan got hurt in that game. Give us a little background on
Tate ronn a maker, and he's been in this program three or four years.
He knows this system very well. He was one of Norvel's first recruits.
So it's a guy Norvel trusts. Yeah, you lay it all out
perfectly right there, Jason. I think the game for me was Louisville a
year ago. I knew they were gonna beat North Alabama. He was gonna
come in and perform. He's a very talented young man, huge arm,
nfl arm. You're obviously going to notice a difference from an escapability standpoint,
He's still capable, but there aren't many that are Jordan moving around and so
that's going to be a difference obviously, and his awareness in the pocket and
trying to feel the pass rush coming and getting away to extend plays. He's
capable of running. He can. You know, he's more athletic than you
believe him to be. He can do it. There. The question everybody's
asked me is is he good enough to win the next two? And the
answer is yes, he is good enough to lead this team to win the
next two. Is it going to look dominant for sixty minutes over the next
two weeks? Probably not, because we're playing at Florida and it's one of
the great rivalries in college football, regardless of the records, and you're playing
a Louisville team that's a top ten team and having a great year. So
it's not gonna be easy. But nothing that is greatly achieved ever is right.
Even the ninety three team suffered a loss, I had to go through
some had to go to Florida and play a great Florida team and came out
of the swamp with a big win, as you know, Jason, So
it's going to be challenging, it's going to be wild on Saturday taking do
it. And you know, I think the other item that we need to
talk about we're talking all about tape. Floria State's defense is playing unbelievably well.
They are taking the ball away. They've done so and essentially you know,
on my notes in front of me, but like thirteen to the last
fourteen games, whenever it's been they can get to the quarterback, and Florida
has a backup quarterback in this game as well, and Max Brown, a
young man who's a dual threat guy. Graham Mertz was leading the SEC and
completion percentage. So he's having a good enough year for them, probably better
than what people thought he was going to have this season. So Florida State
defensively, I look to that group. Adam Fuller's done an unbelievable job,
semi finalist for the Broyles Award for the top assistant coach in college football.
That's the group I think that can really lead this team and pace it to
help it out and help relieve some of the stress on the offense offensively,
do you anticipate less to be run RPO kind of stuff because of one,
you don't want to put Ronn a maker in danger of you don't want to
have to think about a third guy. You think that part of the game
plan changes a little bit these next two weeks. Well, I don't know
if we were doing that a lot anyway, to be honest with you,
Jason, I mean, I know that the threat was there with Jordan,
right, but Jordan w wasn't really And that's also the sadly ironic part about
this was he he gets hurt on r PO and we haven't done a lot
of that this year. A lot of it's been him in the pocket,
yeah, yeah, eluding and extending plays. We have not done a lot
of run pass option with him this year, and so I would. I
would since you're gonna see a lot of the same things we do with Tate.
You know that Jordan has done. You know, the threat is different,
right, But again, he is more than capable than that. I
think what people give him credit for. Uh, And he's won a lot
of games, you know, high school, he played for his dad,
he's a coach's son, but of huge numbers at Valdosta High. He's a
high school team at jaheem Bell, So those guys have great connection. Watch
out for that, you know. Set up the next two weeks, so
we'll see how the offense changes. But I would assume, knowing Mike Norvelle,
that I don't think he's gonna change a whole lot. He knows what
what tit is great at He's gonna play to his drinks and do what needs
to be done and get him comfortable and finding a rhythm throwing it. So
we're recording this Wednesday, just after Tuesday night. When the new rankings come
out, Florida State drops from four to five. I think that's more of
a product of Washington than it was a Florida State injury personally, and I
think there's still plenty. I think if Florida State wins the next two,
they're in no matter what happens. I don't think they're gonna keep out a
thirteen to er ACC champion Florida State brand out of the playoff. That's just
me personally, and I think they've got enough good wins on the resume to
justify that. How do you think my coach is gonna He's not gonna publicly
say this, but how do you think he's gonna behind the scenes play this
up of everybody thinks we can't do it now, or everybody thinks our leaders
out. How do you think coach coach plays that up amongst the entire team.
You know, that's a good question. I honestly think that these guys
are so focused on today getting better, and then they're gonna focus on Thursday
getting better, and then on Friday and then they're gonna go play Florida.
He may use it. I don't know if I'm not sure what his message
will be. He's it's definitely there. I mean, look, the players
were all watching last night. Everybody, Yeah they know, and so from
that standpoint, yeah, I think it can be used as motivation, there's
no question. But these guys are so locked in Jason that they're aware of
the situation. They're aware what's in front of them. You know, they
know how close they are. But they got to do it Saturday. And
so I think that's the thing that that Mike Norvel has done an amazing job
of with his message within this program. These guys don't look ahead they're not
thinking about Charlotte, they're not thinking about January one. They're literally thinking about
today. And then you know, you have to be ready. One of
the things he said, and it's really it's it's so true, is don't
allow yourself to not focus on the main thing and regret missing something at the
end of the day. And I think this group is so focused and in
wanting to not have that regret that they're gonna do whatever they have to do
to figure it out here and to win in Gainesville and win against Louisville in
Charlotte, and so definitely motivated. You can definitely, you know, use
what you need to use on the outside. But I think these guys don't.
I think they're so locked into their own message Jason, that they don't
really care what everybody else says. They know how good they are and how
good they can be, and they're gonna do what they can to win these
next two all right. From a personal perspective, for you, how cool
is it for you? I mean, you've been you've you've done some big
games at North Dakota and all that, But how cool is it gonna be
for you knowing you're gonna be calling an eleven to zero team got a chance
to go to the college football playoff. This is the big time and this
this big time ball. Here from a play by play guys perspective, the
atmosphere and the energy, and them from your perspective, the motivation to do
a great job on Saturday with you and bar None in the whole broadcast.
I'm fired up. Yeah, I'm fired up. But I'd be lying to
you if you said I wasn't. I wasn't juiced up for this one man.
This is this is what it's all about. You know, the great
Gene Deckerhoff called how many of these games over the decades, and so I'm
just you know, I'm I'm so fortunate, blessed to be a part of
a group that has put everyone in a position around them to be associated with
something like this, right. You know, it's the players, it's the
coaches. Those guys have been just unbelievable to be around this year. And
so yeah, I'm I'm repped up. You know. We just got back
from Daytona Beach last night, from from hoops, and so you know,
I've been looking at a few things, but I'm I'm full go today man,
I told Sarah and my wife, I said, Hey, I got
the football stuff to do today. So we're locked in. We're gonna We're
gonna mix in a little Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, and then we're back to it
and hit the road Saturday morning to get down to enemy territory. What's Jeff
Colhaynes's favorite Thanksgiving side dish or main course? What is Jeff? What's the
good to in the col Haynes household. Jeff called for me, it's stuffing
and just load up the gravy. Man, it's a farm city and I'm
the mayor. I mean, I don't care. I don't you know.
I'm a discriminatory in any way. Give me all. I'm going for seconds
if I can. If I can't, I'll wait and go later a post
secondary meal later on in the night or the day, you know what.
We Actually my parents were in town from South Dakota the first nineteen days of
the month and we had a Thanksgiving dinner last Sunday with them. So we're
not doing the full Monty tomorrow. But I can make a mean steak on
the grill, So we're going steaks, lobster tails, probably a little mac
and cheese, you know, just doing a little alternative thing on Thursday.
So we're gonna get after it and get the weekend set the right way,
all right, Saturday night in the Swamp seven point thirty. Tell the audience
where they can find these if they're not in the don't have an affiliate in
their town, where they can find the seminal broadcast with you and bar none.
Yeah, best way is download the FSU Game Day app, free to
download. You can listen to us wherever you go. If you're at if
you're doing Thanksgiving leftovers, you're traveling, you're at the house, you're at
the store, you're in the car, and you listen to us wherever you
go. Obviously we're we've got a statewide network, affiliates and all the places
you need to have them. So we're we're fired up looking forward to it
on the air at four point thirty on a Saturday afternoon from Ben Hill Griffin
Stadium. We'll have a great broadcast and we're gonna be in Charlotte next week
for the ACC title game, so we will be looking to go thirteen and
oh get to the college football playoff. And I'm thoroughly convinced you guys win
the next two unless they win ten to seven. Both weeks are going to
the playoffs, So you get your tickets book because we're going to the playoffs,
boys and girls, and Kate Ronimercker is gonna do a great job.
The team's gonna do a great job, and Jeff Colhayen, you and Barnet
will do a great job on the broadcast as well Saturday night. So thanks
for the time, sir, have a great Thanksgiving with the family, and
let's get another no win here in games on Saturday night. Yeah, that
sounds good, Jason, great talking to you as always. Happy Thanksgiving everybody
and going old. Thanks for listening to the Florida Football Insiders Podcast as part
of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network. Please remember subscribe, rate
and review if you've not already done so, and you can reach out to
me on Twitter at jPOS Sports. Love to hear your comments and feedback about
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well on my YouTube channel, Jason Powers Sports Channel, and we'll see you
next week on the Florida Football Insiders Podcast.