Him breaking through a double tackle and continuing on for the first down is gonna be seared into my brain for the rest of my life. Just wish the team could've finished the job for him.
God, if he hadn’t gotten injured there. I totally believe we would’ve won both the Mizzou and FSU games. Finishing with back to back top 10 wins to reach 7-5 would’ve put a totally different spin on the season.
It may be an unpopular opinion amongst most people who followed CFB last season, but I was never all that impressed with Jordan Travis, and that’s not because he played for FSU.
I’m a big enough person where I will give credit where credit is due. He’s big and athletic but under no circumstances at any point during the season did I watch him in literally any game and go “well shit, I’m not looking forward to having to defend this guy” and I really didn’t feel like he ever flashed enough to be considered in the Heisman conversation.
Travis and Mertz played about the same number of snaps last season and about the only thing he was statistically better than Mertz at was his rushing, and yet Travis was some god among men, depending on who you asked, and Mertz was garbage or average at best.
I feel for the kid because of how he ended his season, but you put our team with Mertz against their team with Travis and I’m not sure FSU leaves The Swamp with the W.
The only thing I’d disagree about that is that our defense has had problems with big mobile QBs for the last two seasons. Travis had a few plays in ‘22 where he turned pressure into big plays that changed the game. KJ Jefferson killed us last year. Jayden Daniels set records against us. Rattler and that Utah kid each had long runs.
I don’t think Travis was as great as FSU fans and CFB in general thought, but I do think he had the chance to eat our defense alive last year.
They were losing by two scores to North Alabama before Travis got injured, it's entirely in the realm of possibility we could have beat them with both QBs healthy.
Travis single handedly beat us in 2022. That 3rd and 27 or whatever it was play at the end of the game where we put the team on his back was impressive. I don't like your argument because you're either wrong, or it shows just how bad we were.
He didn’t flash because he was consistent. College athletes are unique because of high variance. So you see guys flash and make big plays and those get their name out there.
He made those plays the year prior and didn’t need to in 23 because of a surrounding cast that really took a lot of pressure off of him. But he had 2700 passing yards on a team with over 2000 rushing yards in effectively 10 games.
His worst game in terms of yardage (170 vs VT), he went 18-24 with 2 TDs. Some great play.
Yeah JT never gave me that “oh shit” feeling. In fact we beat him with an interim head coach in 2021 and he was thrown to the wolves in 2019. We would have beat them in 2020 too if FSU didn’t duck us. I’ll never forget Greenard smashing him that game in 2019. Lol. We lost in 2022, but in my opinion, we were robbed on the last play as a blatant facemask penalty was missed on our last play.
That was the best play all season I feel. When his arm kinda dropped when he was back at the line of scrimmage for the next play I felt all the joy leave my body. Mertz proved a lot of us wrong. Here’s to an even better 2024 season 🐊🐊🐊!!
While it may not have been a game changing catch, it’s certainly up there for one of the most impressive catches in NCAA history and possibly football history. Even the dudes on /r/NFL were saying it was one of the best they’ve ever seen.
The only way it could be topped is context. Game deciding play, rival game, championship on the line, etc. The catch itself? How can it get any better?
I do admit, this is one of the few things that allows me to have some faith in CBN. Whether it was Billy evaluating talent, providing a great environment for Mertz to improve, or a combination of both, does keep a little faith alive in me.
Mertz 20:3 TD:INT with 2903 yards with an injury at the end of the season. Hartman 24:8 with 2689 yards. One plays in the SEC against 5 ranked teams and the other plays in the ACC against 4 ranked teams with two being #19/#20.
But, yes, he was available.
I don’t to be honest. Ricky would have been a lot more productive if we had some speed and guys that could keep the safeties back. I think we have that now which will open a lot more of our scheme and passes over the middle.
I'd argue WR is a legitimate weak spot this year if they don't get someone to help Tre not be double teamed every week.
We had a speed guy last year to pair with Ricky in Tre. This year who will be the WR2 that Tre was last year?
Wilson, Dike, Jean, Jackson should be good but I think Burke is the break out player this year with Abrams being one of the freshman getting some special packages. I think we have more talent this year than last year, we just don’t have that insanely good and reliable WR way ahead of the pack like we did last year. Meaning I think our floor is a lot higher this year with speed and talent.
Jean is literally hurt though, Dike maybe works out who knows. Jackson has been a serviceable 3 when everyone else is paying attention to Ricky and Tre. I was high on Burke early last season but then he kind of faded away if I recall.
I dunno I'm definitely in wait and see mode with this year's crop. Hopefully to your point the floor is raised
He was “available”, but as soon as he entered the transfer portal it was an open secret he was going to Notre Dame. I’m sure we could’ve tampered and made a strong-ass offer before he entered the portal, but it doesn’t seem like he really considered anywhere else.
Man.. How a year has changed opinions. Go back and read the takes once he was announced.
But agree with OP. Dude came in w a chip on his shoulder and literally broke it trying to will HIS team to victory.
I saw a post where someone said Ward was the best qb in FL.. And I took that personally.
Him breaking through a double tackle and continuing on for the first down is gonna be seared into my brain for the rest of my life. Just wish the team could've finished the job for him.
God, if he hadn’t gotten injured there. I totally believe we would’ve won both the Mizzou and FSU games. Finishing with back to back top 10 wins to reach 7-5 would’ve put a totally different spin on the season.
We whip FSU's ass with a healthy Mertz. Although, to be fair, they likely still win if they also had a healthy Travis.
It may be an unpopular opinion amongst most people who followed CFB last season, but I was never all that impressed with Jordan Travis, and that’s not because he played for FSU. I’m a big enough person where I will give credit where credit is due. He’s big and athletic but under no circumstances at any point during the season did I watch him in literally any game and go “well shit, I’m not looking forward to having to defend this guy” and I really didn’t feel like he ever flashed enough to be considered in the Heisman conversation. Travis and Mertz played about the same number of snaps last season and about the only thing he was statistically better than Mertz at was his rushing, and yet Travis was some god among men, depending on who you asked, and Mertz was garbage or average at best. I feel for the kid because of how he ended his season, but you put our team with Mertz against their team with Travis and I’m not sure FSU leaves The Swamp with the W.
Unpopular yet correct.
The only thing I’d disagree about that is that our defense has had problems with big mobile QBs for the last two seasons. Travis had a few plays in ‘22 where he turned pressure into big plays that changed the game. KJ Jefferson killed us last year. Jayden Daniels set records against us. Rattler and that Utah kid each had long runs. I don’t think Travis was as great as FSU fans and CFB in general thought, but I do think he had the chance to eat our defense alive last year.
They were losing by two scores to North Alabama before Travis got injured, it's entirely in the realm of possibility we could have beat them with both QBs healthy.
Travis single handedly beat us in 2022. That 3rd and 27 or whatever it was play at the end of the game where we put the team on his back was impressive. I don't like your argument because you're either wrong, or it shows just how bad we were.
Ah yes, our historically great 2022 defense.
I agree with everything you said except calling Travis “big”. He’s a tad undersized actually.
Yeah that’s fair. I remember him playing larger than his actual size so I just ended up leaving it as is.
He didn’t flash because he was consistent. College athletes are unique because of high variance. So you see guys flash and make big plays and those get their name out there. He made those plays the year prior and didn’t need to in 23 because of a surrounding cast that really took a lot of pressure off of him. But he had 2700 passing yards on a team with over 2000 rushing yards in effectively 10 games. His worst game in terms of yardage (170 vs VT), he went 18-24 with 2 TDs. Some great play.
Yeah JT never gave me that “oh shit” feeling. In fact we beat him with an interim head coach in 2021 and he was thrown to the wolves in 2019. We would have beat them in 2020 too if FSU didn’t duck us. I’ll never forget Greenard smashing him that game in 2019. Lol. We lost in 2022, but in my opinion, we were robbed on the last play as a blatant facemask penalty was missed on our last play.
That is unpopular, have an upvote
Agreed
Coulda woulda shoulda is the theme of the last 13 seasons, it seems 😩
Mertz was the bright spot last season.
That was the best play all season I feel. When his arm kinda dropped when he was back at the line of scrimmage for the next play I felt all the joy leave my body. Mertz proved a lot of us wrong. Here’s to an even better 2024 season 🐊🐊🐊!!
Still going to give that to the catch by Pearsall but it’s #2
That was truly a spectacular catch!
While it may not have been a game changing catch, it’s certainly up there for one of the most impressive catches in NCAA history and possibly football history. Even the dudes on /r/NFL were saying it was one of the best they’ve ever seen.
The only way it could be topped is context. Game deciding play, rival game, championship on the line, etc. The catch itself? How can it get any better?
Or did Mertz pick the right coach? Either way, I agree it worked out well
I think it's the former
I do admit, this is one of the few things that allows me to have some faith in CBN. Whether it was Billy evaluating talent, providing a great environment for Mertz to improve, or a combination of both, does keep a little faith alive in me.
Napier and crew are good at evals
Cyprus!
https://preview.redd.it/fdlr42vnfjvc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4a3ae42fecde32e729d47255ca009d3861f3184
Sam Hartman was available no?
Mertz 20:3 TD:INT with 2903 yards with an injury at the end of the season. Hartman 24:8 with 2689 yards. One plays in the SEC against 5 ranked teams and the other plays in the ACC against 4 ranked teams with two being #19/#20. But, yes, he was available.
I think not having Ricky is going to hurt the offense something serious this year
I don’t to be honest. Ricky would have been a lot more productive if we had some speed and guys that could keep the safeties back. I think we have that now which will open a lot more of our scheme and passes over the middle.
I'd argue WR is a legitimate weak spot this year if they don't get someone to help Tre not be double teamed every week. We had a speed guy last year to pair with Ricky in Tre. This year who will be the WR2 that Tre was last year?
Wilson, Dike, Jean, Jackson should be good but I think Burke is the break out player this year with Abrams being one of the freshman getting some special packages. I think we have more talent this year than last year, we just don’t have that insanely good and reliable WR way ahead of the pack like we did last year. Meaning I think our floor is a lot higher this year with speed and talent.
Jean is literally hurt though, Dike maybe works out who knows. Jackson has been a serviceable 3 when everyone else is paying attention to Ricky and Tre. I was high on Burke early last season but then he kind of faded away if I recall. I dunno I'm definitely in wait and see mode with this year's crop. Hopefully to your point the floor is raised
He was “available”, but as soon as he entered the transfer portal it was an open secret he was going to Notre Dame. I’m sure we could’ve tampered and made a strong-ass offer before he entered the portal, but it doesn’t seem like he really considered anywhere else.
Man.. How a year has changed opinions. Go back and read the takes once he was announced. But agree with OP. Dude came in w a chip on his shoulder and literally broke it trying to will HIS team to victory. I saw a post where someone said Ward was the best qb in FL.. And I took that personally.
I had very low hopes because I thought he was garbage at Wisconsin but he won me over last year
I didn't realize Emory transfered again...Cincy
Ok
Wow, what an insightful comment. Thank you for contributing to the discourse! /s
