Louisville football: What worries me most about Florida State

Jordan Travis is coming back to Louisville and he’s dangerous

If you had told me that Jordan Travis coming back looking for revenge against Louisville was going to be a storyline in 2020, I honestly probably would’ve believed you…because what says “2020” like the follies of former Cardinals QB coach Nick Petrino coming back to haunt the Cards three years later?

Following a short stay with Louisville back in 2018 as a freshman, Travis decided enough was enough with the Petrino drama and packed his bags for Tallahassee, Florida to play for Willie Taggart and Florida State.

With James Blackman and Alex Hornibrook taking all the snaps at quarterback Travis didn’t see the field against Louisville in their 2019 matchup but still went on to have a  decent year playing in four games and throwing for 228 yards and three TDs.

Travis has once again split time with others at the quarterback position this season, but prior to the Notre Dame game two weeks ago, Coach Mike Norvell finally made it official and named him the starting QB.

Since then, Travis has produced 395 passing yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing for another 203 yards and three touchdowns. Though FSU was beaten thoroughly by Notre Dame, Travis still played well throwing for 204 yards and a touchdown.

Then, last weekend, he led a massive upset of North Carolina, tossing for 191 yards and running for another 107.

Travis was effective through the air, but it was with his legs where he made the most damage in both games. Not many players will produce the stats the Travis did running the ball against Notre  Dame and UNC, which makes him an even more dangerous threat on Saturday.

Norvell and offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham have done a good job of setting Travis up for success even with poor play from the offensive line. What they’ve done is mix in a heavy dose of play action passes with bootlegs or quick passes as well as a high number of RPO plays where Travis reads the defense and makes a decision on keeping or giving it to the running back.

That forces defense to make reads and deal with confusion and trickery, occasionally opening up big holes as players bail on their gaps, leading to big plays. While Travis has made some big throws, he’s primarily looked to run or throw short passes and allow his receivers to make plays.

Last week, however, Travis got the opportunity to sling it down field where he connected on multiple big plays and while they may have been a little “fluky” they moved the chains down the field and set up the Seminoles to score.

So what should Louisville do?

Rough Travis up in the backfield and stay gap disciplined. That has to be the game plan for Bryan  Brown on Saturday on the heels of one of the best games in the last three years for the Cardinals in regards to getting after the quarterback.

I expect to see Louisville do everything they can to get into the backfield and hit Travis, which will put a ton of pressure on an offensive line that has allowed 16 sacks already this season. The opportunity to get into the backfield will be there, but if Louisville can’t it will give Travis the time he needs to get receivers open or to take off and run.