Dino Babers shares impressions of Florida State football
Syracuse football is in full reverse after a 6-0 start, losers of three straight games — a run kicked off by a close road loss to Clemson on Oct. 22. Now the Orange has the challenge of stopping the slide against a Florida State team that, based on what Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said, is a force to be reckoned with.
The Seminoles are hot and playing great on both sides of the ball, Babers said at his weekly press conference. After FSU lost three-straight in October by a combined 18 points, the Seminoles beat the next two opponents by a combined margin of 77 points.
“Coach Mike Norvell does a nice job with those guys,” Babers said. “They’re really on fire. They’re having a good year. They’re 4-3 in conference, 6-3 overall. Obviously the win against Miami is impressive, holding those guys to not scoring a touchdown. And even more impressive is the 41-16 win on a Georgia Tech team that’s really gotten a lot better as the season’s gone along.”
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On the offense, Babers raved about Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis and his development as a player.
“Jordan Travis is different,” Babers said. “We thought he was one way last year, now he is multiple and that offense is clicking. They are absolutely on fire. They’ve done some amazing things in the year.”
Babers singled out the Florida State defensive line when highlighting the other side of the ball. Babers didn’t mention him by name, but Seminoles star edge rusher Jared Verse is the best of the bunch — and he was a transfer from Albany. He played Syracuse in 2021 when Albany visited the then-Carrier Dome.
With Syracuse star running back Sean Tucker coming off a season-low 19 rushing yards, handling the Florida State front will be a key for the Orange.
“Defensively, they’ve got defensive linemen and defensive ends and it’s an exceptional defense,” Babers said. “When you take Miami’s athletes and you hold them and they don’t get a touchdown — that’s telling you what we’re dealing with right here.
“It’s going to be a tall task but we got them at home and that’s the best place to get people when have tall tasks. And we’re going to see how it goes. But we know that it’s a difficult game. We know our opponent is really good. And we’ll be there, eight o’clock, Saturday night.”