Let’s just get this out of the way, if Florida State goes undefeated by winning the ACC Championship Game on Saturday they should be in. Undefeated champions of major conferences should always be in (barring there being 5). Undefeated champions of minor conferences should always be in the discussion. The point of this article isn’t just to try and convince you that they SHOULD be in, the point of this article is prove why the haters are wrong.
The committee’s perfect scenario would see UGA, Michigan, Washington, and Florida State all win this weekend and walk right into the playoffs with #1. UGA vs #4. Florida State and #2. Michigan vs #4. Washington.
However, seeing how chaos seems to love playing a role in college football there are scenarios out there that have people (ie. Kirk Herbstreit, Paul Finebaum) saying they aren’t one of the 4 BEST teams without Jordan Travis and should be out of the playoff because of it. This argument is why I’m writing today.
I’ve always thought the 4 most deserving teams should always make the playoff and if we get blowouts then we get blowouts. Such is the nature of sports. 22 out of 57 Super Bowls had a margin of 15 points or more, 25 if we go down to 14, and 36 out of 57 we won by 2 scores. Obviously, the final score doesn’t necessarily indicate blowouts or how the actual game played out but it’s a good point of reference to counter any blowout talk.
Most people agree the Quarterback is the most important, singular position on the football field. Many teams have won championships with less than elite play at the QB position but it ABSOLUTELY helps to have an elite QB.
Through 10 games and roughly 14 minutes, Jordan Travis threw for 2756 yards, 20 TDs to 2 Ints, and rushed for another 7 TDs on 176 yards. He was instrumental in the comeback of Florida State into national prominence the past few years. He was also in the Heisman conversation and losing him on any team, much less a National Championship caliber team, is detrimental. However, there are 21 other starters on this team that have helped carry the load this season and we shouldn’t discount how the rest of the team stacks up.
Jared Verse and Kalen Deloach both have 7 sacks and a total of 20 tackles for loss between them. Deloach leads the team in tackles with 63 followed by Tatum Bethune with 62. Jarrian Jones has 3 Ints, 1 sack, and 5 tackles for a loss. 9 guys have forced a fumble, and 7 guys have an interception. Collectively the defense has 38 sacks on the year which is 7th nationally. They are 11th in Scoring Defense and 5th in 3rd down defense.
Offensively, they aren’t setting records (with or without Travis) however they are filled with talent. Keon Coleman is looked at as first round pick in the NFL draft and has 11 TDs on the season. Trey Benson could be a day 2 pick at RB and leads the team in rushing with 838 yards and 14 TDs. Johnny Wilson and Jaheim Bell are big targets who look like NFL talents as well with over 1,000 yards receiving between the 2 of them.
A team without their star QB is still a team. Tate Rodemaker may not have looked impressive enough against Florida but with only 1 week of first team prep for their rivalry game he did enough to not lose the game. Rodemaker hasn’t been practicing with the 1st team all year and we should keep that in mind when judging his capabilities.
The main thing here is the unknown factor of what we don’t know. We don’t know how he’s going to play against Louisville with 2 full weeks of prep as the starter. If they were to win, we have no idea how he would play with 6 weeks of prep. When the pundits and internet trolls talk about them NOT being one of the top 4 teams, they need to keep in mind they do not know what he’s capable of, nor do their opinions determine how the other 21 starters would play and if any of them would pick up the slack that’s missing if given the opportunity they deserve.
However, they must beat Louisville on Saturday for this to even matter because lose and they are out of the playoffs, but win and they should be in.
4 teams should control their own destiny and if Florida State wins the ACC with no losses after experiencing the adversity of losing a Heisman candidate at QB then by all means put those darn Seminoles in the playoff even if UGA loses to Alabama.
-RJ
The Other Side of Sports 