Seminoles striving to build on upset of Tar Heels

By Iliana Limón Romero

Florida State coach Mike Norvell said the roots of his team’s transformation began after the team sustained a frustrating 52-10 loss to rival Miami.

Norvell returned from quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 and urged his team to buy into getting back on track ahead of a home game against Jacksonville State.

“I’m seeing growth. That started more collectively as a football team a few weeks back,” he said Monday. “Going into the Jacksonville State game, I talked about defining moments. We hadn’t started the season the way we wanted to and then all of a sudden in that game we found ourselves down 21-7 and there’s an opportunity for defining moments there.”

The Seminoles rallied for a 41-24 win, their first victory of the season. Jordan Travis came off the bench to lead the Seminoles’ rally, directing multiple scoring drives and winning the starting quarterback job.

“I thought we came back and practiced at a better level but not as consistent as we needed to in the Notre Dame week and you saw flashes,” Norvell said, noting his team was competitive during stretches of a 42-26 loss at No. 5 Notre Dame. “And I really thought this last week we had our most consistent week in how we’re preparing, how we’re working.”

The result was a 31-28 upset of No. 5 North Carolina Saturday, the biggest win of Norvell’s tenure.

“You can turn on film and see that we’re playing harder,” he said. “Our guys are playing together.”

Norvell said he was thrilled to see the team pull together and celebrate a milestone win.

“Really pleased with our football team, doing the things necessary to win the game,” he said. “... Through the course of that contest, there were a lot of plays that made an incredible impact. And on the flip side of it, I thought there was a lot of things that we’re going to have to continue to clean up, continue to address and stay focused on because the reality of it is we made that game a lot more interesting than it needed to be.”

Travis update

Travis was 8-of-19 passing for 191 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 107 yards and two more scores against North Carolina.

Norvell praised two nifty Travis third-down conversions, praising spin moves that helped the Seminoles extend drives.

Travis, however, paid a price. Near the end of the game, he seemed to avoid putting any pressure on shoulder and it was unclear whether he could throw the ball before his final scramble of the win.

During his postgame interview on ABC, he raised his arm and reassured viewers he was fine.

Norvell offered an optimistic update about Travis.

“He’s doing fine,” Norvell said Monday. “Obviously like any quarterback, he was a little sore there yesterday. But he played hard. Throughout the contest, I thought he did a really good job of really protecting himself.

“... Jordan, you could see his confidence. You could see through every opportunity and experience that he has that he’s getting better.”