Pitt wary of explosive Florida State offense

When a football team carries a 2-6 record into the month of November, it is apparent every game has been a challenge in its own way. The 2-6 Pitt Panthers host No. 4 Florida State on Saturday for a 3:30 kickoff at Acrisure Stadium and the challenge at hand won’t be too well disguised.

The Seminoles are one of the best teams in the country and will bring an 8-0 record into this matchup. It is not conjecture to say this will be the toughest test this Pitt team has faced in the 2023 season. Pitt senior defensive end Nate Temple pulled no punches when looking ahead to the game with Florida State this weekend.

“Florida State is an unbelievable team,” Templed explained. “They’re got great players all over the field, man, I’m just trying to do the best I can and do my job and help the Pitt Panthers as much as I can.”

Temple is right in his assessment that Pitt has enough to worry about itself as a team. The Panthers are coming off of a 58-7 loss to Notre Dame last week and have plenty to fix internally before they can really start to worry about the opponent, but Florida State won't really afford them that luxury.

The Seminoles are a team with national championship aspirations and they have a roster that looks capable of getting there. Florida State’s offensive attack is fronted by sixth-year senior quarterback Jordan Travis, who has thrown for 2,109 yards, 18 touchdowns, and two interceptions and finds himself squarely in the Heisman conversation.

“The quarterback is a tremendous player,” Pitt defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said of Travis. “I’ve known him since he was in high school and throughout his career. He had a great first half against us when we played them in 2020. He popped off a very long run against us in that game and it’s a play they still run and we’re very aware of.”

Pitt faced off with Travis previously, though the circumstances are a little different. The Panthers went into Tallahassee and won convincingly 41-17 back in 2020. Travis, then a redshirt sophomore, showed promise even back then. He guided Florida State to a 14-3 lead before Pitt started to seize control, before being unable to finish the game.

Pitt senior cornerback AJ Woods remembers that 2020 meeting well. It was his first ever starting assignment and he recorded his first career interception in the game as well. Woods recalls thinkingTravis stood out, even back then before his Heisman candidacy.

“I’d say he’s always been a really good quarterback, really good athlete,” Woods said of the Florida State quarterback. “When he stepped in there in 2020 and drove them down the field and they were up I think 21-0 against us, and that was all his doing and being a great quarterback and great athlete, and he’s still that.”

Travis started to take his game to a different level last season, and has even elevated it further in his final season. He is playing at a high level and is drawing pretty notable comparisons for his style of play.

“He’s tremendous with his feet,” said Partridge. “He’s got a tremendous arm and can throw off-balance passes. I’m certainly not going to compare him to (Patrick) Mahomes, but some of the out-of-position throws that he makes are special.”

Pitt will have its hands full with Travis alone, as the senior quarterback can also run, with nearly 2,000 career rushing yards to his name. The weapons he has at his disposal are no joke either and it what has seemingly separates the Seminoles from the rest of the pack in the ACC this season.

Keon Coleman, a 6’4” junior, has shot up draft boards this season. Coleman has 38 catches for 538 yards and nine touchdowns, and had two scoring receptions in Florida State’s win over Wake Forest last week. Johnny Wilson, a 6’7” junior, is one of the more intriguing receivers in all of college football given his height. Throw in the dangerous Jaheim Bell, a 6’3” junior tight end, and the star power on this offense is oozing with talent and it will present quite a challenge to the Pitt secondary.

Woods, along with fellow senior cornerbacks Marquis Williams and MJ Devonshire, have a tough task going up against the Florida State receivers, but it’s nothing new to the trio who are used to playing a lot of man coverage in Pitt’s defensive scheme.

“Obviously we have to go out there and compete,” Woods said of facing the talented Florida State receivers. “All three of us are looking forward to the challenge. They’re great players, so we can’t wait for the challenge on Saturday.”

The Seminoles are certainly geared towards letting Travis do his thing, but they can also hit big plays on the ground with junior tailback Trey Benson (544 yards, seven touchdowns) leading the charge. Coming off of a tough outing against Notre Dame, it will be a tall task to slow down this vaunted Florida State offense for the Panthers. Florida State looks primed primed to make a run at the College Football Playoffs, but part of being in that elite grouping is avoiding upsets.

Pitt has sprung some memorable top-5 upsets through the years and will need the kind of magic on Saturday as a three-touchdown underdog at home. The Panthers last top-5 conquest in Pittsburgh occurred back in 2017 when Kenny Pickett made his first start and stunned 10-0 No. 2 Miami.