With no love lost for Miami, FSU football’s Jordan Travis makes history against Hurricanes

Florida State football quarterback Jordan Travis has made it very clear that he doesn’t like Miami.

It’s not just because of the role he’s taken on as one of the most successful and recognizable players on the roster. It goes a lot deeper.

“It’s [the rivalry] big for my family,” Travis said. “Going to my brother’s baseball games when I was ten years old Florida State versus Miami just hearing the fans and what they said to my brother always stuck with me.”

His older brother is Devon Travis, who played baseball for FSU from 2010 to 2012 before getting selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 MLB Draft and playing professional baseball for seven seasons.

The fan impression has stuck with Travis for a long time and growing up in South Florida, in West Palm Beach, it didn’t help that he was in the heart of Hurricane country.

Saturday in the Seminoles’ 27-20 win over Miami, Travis did something no other FSU (10-0, 8-0 ACC) quarterback has done as a starter.

Beat the Hurricanes three times in a row. Amongst it all, he’s grateful for the opportunity to represent the university, compete with his teammates and get better.

“Miami came out to play today 100%,” Travis said. “Those teams find a way to win. Fans came out and supported us today and that helped a lot, too. I’m not a fan of Miami at all, and I’ll say that for the rest of my life.”

Grades: How FSU football grades out after beating Miami, clinching perfect ACC season

No love lost

Travis picked up his first win against Miami in 2021 in what is now known as the “4th and 14” game, in which he converted on fourth and long in the final minute of the game, eventually leading to the game-winning touchdown.

In 2022, he led the Seminoles to their largest victory over the Hurricanes since 1997 in a 45-3 win.

This time around, he passed for 265 yards, completing 19-of-31 passes and connecting with Keon Coleman for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

His third straight meeting with the Hurricanes didn’t help in swaying his opinion.

During the game, Travis said Miami safety James Williams was trash-talking at him the entire game and at one point came over a ripped his chain off his neck.

“He was talking a lot the whole game,” Travis said. “Yeah, he snapped my chain and I had a couple of words for him. That’s it. I got it back though.”

‘He’s a dog’

The undefeated stat line over one of FSU’s biggest rivals stands out to FSU head coach Mike Norvell and another impressive feat from Travis.

“I think when you see what Jordan Travis has meant to this program, and especially the path that he’s been on, there have been ups and downs,” Norvell said. “He’s had to work, he’s had to believe, he’s had to grow throughout it, and he is a tremendous leader.”

“For him to finish up as a starting quarterback 3-0 against those guys [Miami], it’s big. I’m so proud of him.”

Travis’s teammates agree that what he has accomplished is impressive and that he deserves to be in a category of his own as the only FSU QB to weather the Hurricanes for three straight years.

“He’s a dog,” linebacker Kalen DeLoach said. “You see what he goes through and the things he does throughout the week and come out there and play on Saturdays. it means a lot to him and a lot to me.”

“Yeah, again, numbers don’t lie,” Coleman added. “This dude has a lot of heart. You think some quarterbacks are soft. That’s not him. He’s going to go out there every day and compete.”

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.