Mike Norvell addresses what led to Tate Rodemaker's strong second half

Florida State is off to a roller coaster 3-0 start. What a strange season thus far for the Seminoles. First a game in Week 0, then a Sunday night game vs. LSU in New Orleans, where the ‘Noles knocked off the Tigers by blocking an extra point. Lastly, in Week 3, FSU played on another odd night of the week, Friday, at Louisville, where backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker led a come-from-behind win in Cardinal Stadium after starter Jordan Travis was injured.

A bizarre yet very successful start to the season for Mike Norvell. And a heck of a performance from Rodemaker in lieu of Travis. In the week following the win over Louisville, Norvell has praised Tate Rodemaker endlessly. At one of his press conference’s the Seminole head coach spoke at length about how impressed he was by his backup quarterback and how he came through in that situation.

You can watch Norvell’s comments right here at the 4:15-mark or read them in full below.

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Mike Norvell on Tate Rodemaker stepping up at quarterback

“It’s always about that next play. And it’s not when you come into a game and there’s, especially in that situation, momentum had been going back and forth and he gets he thrown into the game. And we had a missed assignment, where we get immediate pressure on him. He tries to get the ball out, we get intentional grounding. Then on the interception, you get just a slight tug there and you’ll miss on a throw. And that’s where, in that moment, it wasn’t how anybody draws it up, but you go into halftime, you take a deep breath.

“The energy in our in our locker room at halftime was awesome. It’s the difference in our team. I mean, these guys, they believe. They know it’s it’s a mindset when things are are not going as well as you had hoped. There was coaches making adjustments and you hear our players, you hear the talk, you hear the the excitement, the sense of urgency to get back out and everybody feeds off of that.

“But I got a chance to talk to the team, talk to Tate. Just go play. Go play the next play. All the things that we do, how we train, you know, the situations that you have to work through. I mean, it’s four times like that.

“I thought the first drive of the of the third quarter was was remarkable. The throw that he had to Johnny, I mean, they blitzed off the edge. He made the right choice, the right decision. But he knew when he went to throw it he was about to get hit. And I mean he right stepped right into the throw, located perfect. And that’s the relief, is when you have that moment. You get up and then you’re able to to move forward.

“I just thought he he did a great job, I think, in one of the plays of the game. The third down and 10 where he was was able to escape out of the pocket and he ran for the first down. I mean, that was huge. You know, Tate is one of the more athletic people we have on this football team. People don’t think of him as that, but I mean, just for him to utilize his legs as well and be able to escape and extend the drive – I mean, it was just good seeing him go out there and play.

“Like I said after after game, I believe we could win with Tate and I had a lot of confidence of that whenever his number was to be called. But to see him do that on the road in that atmosphere, it was for him and big for his confidence too.”