Elite INSIGHT for Gators on Noles QB: Tate Rodemaker | Billy Napier | FSU vs UF

UF will be taking on the simal in just a few days but much like the Gators the nolles are going to be without their starting quarterback I'm joined tonight by Kevin little of x's and nolles and nolles 247 Kevin thanks for joining me today how you doing yeah I'm doing about as well as you can be uh after Saturday but um yeah doing well all things considered thanks Saturday night was devastating for both of our fan bases uh likely more so for FSU fans just mainly because of what they still have to play for and how long Jordan has been with the program you've had a couple days to digest it want to talk to you a little bit how much did Jordan mean to this team yeah so Jordan was more of an embodiment of of the program so the the feeling of him going down was less sadness I mean obviously he's a great player he was in Heisman conversation I don't think anybody had had realistic hopes that he was going to win that or anything but he was a good enough player to at least be thrown into that conversation but really where where the kind of Shame and the sadness came is that Jordan Travis has been there along the way right he was he was a transfer that was brought in by Willie tager um he was a part of that crew he scored a touchdown his first play uh as a part of Willie taggert's team actually the day the game after wiie tagert was fired he scored a a touchdown on his first play and he's kind of just been there he's been kind of an embodiment of of the grind the the growth that you've seen going from kind of the lowest Florida State's been in in 50 years to kind of getting back up to to where FSU expects to be as a program and um you know he's he's been a leader of the whole way he's a guy that wanted to quit when Mike Norville showed up he convinced him to stay on and you've obviously from from the Florida perspective you you've seen the growth in him secondhand and uh from a Florida State perspective he's he's really just embodied you know where the program is as a whole Tate rodmaker is his backup he led it come back against Louisville which is a team he's gonna see next week as well but he led that comeback last season he also got most of the Reps on Saturday night what are some of your highlevel thoughts on Tate yeah so I've been a fan of Tate since day one he he was a kind of middling three star recruit he was Mike Nell's first recruit that he signed up three years ago and he's a guy that has great arm Talent so that's kind of where you want to start with Tate rodmaker he can make any throw on the field honestly if I were if I were being completely straightforward he has an NFL arm he's an he's more athletic than you would think he is he runs a 4640 can do a standing backflip that kind of stuff he stands at 64 do that once wait what I said we had a quarterback who could do that once oh yeah yeah got in trouble for doing it last season oh really yeah um yeah so he but you don't really see it on the field as much right so he's he's kind of got the long speed more than he's got the agility in the pocket so from from an outsider's perspective I wouldn't blame any any Florida fan or even even many casual FSU fans for claiming that he's a statue in the pocket he kind of gives that impression um the real question is what's between his ears right so he um made some he got some early snaps as a as a true freshman made some kind of freshman mistakes made some mistakes the subsequent spring game that kind of didn't stand well in the minds of Florida State fans and um you know in the college game when every loss matters uh there's been a lot of apprehension about a guy that you know can make a lot of throws sure but I mean you saw with Richardson sometimes these guys that are NFL kind of talents like have the have the high-end physical capability ities if they're going to throw an interception or two that could lose you a game in a season where unlike the NFL you really can't afford to lose a game so that that's a big question with him so on the road at Louisville on a Friday night isn't exactly the same as playing in the swamp particularly on a Saturday night right but do you think that that experience from last year is gonna help him on Saturday uh you would hope so from a Florida State perspective uh I think I think it's easy to Discount Louisville um Louisville you know they're they're not the most prestigious program uh that defense was was decent they they ended up uh on SP plus as the number 14th best defense in the country last year so they were a decent Squad but of course there's always concerns about you know swamp the you know Ben Hill Griffin is one of the hardest places to play in the country getting his first true start since his freshman year when he played Jacksonville State so um yeah that that's a huge concern it's a huge concern how he's going to handle that pressure if that old freshman mistake comes back to haunt Florida State because you know with the way rivalries are oftentimes one or two mistakes are are kind of what dictates the whole game all right guys we'll get right back to Kevin in a minute but I just wanted to remind you huge tailgate on Saturday at the swamp you guys know you want to come out hang out with me watch football there's going to be food there's going to be booze there's going to be lots and lots of fun football talk you can find a link to get the tickets in the description of this video come hang out with me on game day it's going to be so fun you know Jordan developed pretty insanely last year Well I over the course of his career as a passer but I think what UF fans were probably most worried about from last season were his legs what is Tate's Mobility like yeah so that's the big question right that's uh kind of how you separate the people that have been around the program from probably the people who haven't watched Tate outside of a few snaps and spring games which you know to be fair isn't necessarily their fault uh Tate has Mobility I think he doesn't have pocket presence and that's where that's where he might run into some trouble and where I think he's getting the criticism that he might be in Mobile um because frankly Jordan Travis what he did better than anybody was you know evade pressure in the pocket um I think he covered a lot of gaps in where our offensive line is he made them look a lot better than they are um just because you know he was slippery in the pocket hard to bring down so that that is a big concern uh whether or not you know Tate's pocket awareness is is where it needs to be because I I have a feeling if he gets in space if there's a situation where he pulls a read option and he gets 10 yards down field and there's not much there I mean he's been clocked at 20 plus miles per hour running at 46 so so he's got the long speed I but the first five yards are the most important yards in football and I don't I don't necessarily know if he has that first five yards so is that what you are the most worried about with him uh it's definitely the the the mistakes um I mean you saw in unaa he held the ball for upwards of five seconds uh which resulted in a sack fumble that FSU was fortunate to recover so if you see something like that happen um I mean he he held the ball on average over three seconds against North Alabama and against Louisville last year which is a really long time to throw um so that that just puts extra pressure on the offensive line and increases chances that you're going to get some sort of sack some sort of fumble and like I said those mistakes are things that can dictate a game so do you think that UF will try and put more pressure on him than they maybe would have uh with Jordan Travis uh you know it's funny because that's that's the first instinct right the first instinct to say well he's going to be less mobile let's put some pressure on him let's Blitz him let's attack him um and I think there's some wisdom to that he he had some trouble recognizing Blitz against unaa there was one or two sacks that kind of came down to him not seeing his hot route because he didn't recognize those pressures uh I think norvell's gonna kind of throw in a lot of rpos and a lot of screens to try to mitigate that if if that is Florida's game plan um but over over the unaa game and the Louisville game what you actually saw because I mean Jordan played uh almost the first half of the Louisville game and you know pretty much the first quarter of the unaa game is that both of those teams decided to take players out of the box when Tate raker came in the game um they took players out of run fits because the threat over the top became more important with him in the game because of his arm strength so that'll be an interesting thing to see how uh Florida tries to deal with that Florida also will be starting a backup quarterback and Max Brown is certainly more of an unknown than tapate raker but do you have any early thoughts on him or have you done any scouting there at all yeah I've I've watched Max Brown um you know he's he's a he's a decently electric player uh I think he made some throws in the Missouri game that I probably wouldn't have thought were in him and he made them decently cons consistent and uh so that was that was an impressive little outing for him you know in a high press environment um he's obviously got decent legs he he pulled a couple against Missouri who I I really don't think was expecting him to be as mobile as he was um there was a read option where they were I I think Missouri was hoping their defensive end Could You Know cover both the cut back Lane for the running back and and the quarterback and Max Brown kind of outran him they didn't you know they just didn't have have enough guys there to take away the Run they were they were still in uh Graham Mert's territory and so uh he they kind of surprised them there and you know if you're going to try to hurt this Florida State Defense it's going to come with a mobile quarterback I mean that that's where they've struggled all year if you're gonna say that this top top 10 unit has struggled anywhere R Maker's experience and his arm Talent versus max Brown being a dual threat quarterback and also an unknown very very little film to be found on him which team has the advantage there I mean I I think if you're being realistic you look at you know wins wins above replacement Jordan Travis was I don't think many people would argue was a top 10 quarterback um and as as high as I am on Tate rodmaker he's not he's not there right I I think he has this tools that if everything were to go perfectly he kind of opens things up for the offense but you know he's he's not a top 10 quarterback um gr Merz was everything was way more than I think anybody was expecting at UF I I I do think that that offensive staff did a really good job of making him comfortable getting him completions kind of scheming to make him to kind of utilize his strengths but I I think that's something that can be replaced a little bit easier than can than kind of what Jordan Travis was giving you um generally generally if you're a coach and you're and you have an inexperienced quarterback that little bit of Mobility kind of gives some flexibility to game planning and so I do think you know if if I were to be making odds before and after both injuries Florida's odds are a little bit better than they were before the injuries all right let's talk a little bit more General now do you have a favorite memory from this rivalry uh yeah um so I believe it was 200 4 2005 uh Chris Ricks threw a touchdown to PK Sam in the endzone uh to win it so that that's probably my favorite that was like the formative memory that had to be 2004 because they definitely won 2005 2006 yeah so I yeah you know I was uh to just to age myself here I was uh you know going 2003 that was my 2003 yeah so that would have been an early memory for me honey is the Swindle in the swamp yeah that was great um yeah so yeah I didn't have a name for it so that's kind of where I'm at but um yeah I was I was eight years old helping that's why there hasn't been ACC officials for a long time our old offensive coordinator literally banned them from being able It Was Written in the contract and Scott Strickland new athletic director took it out but so the ACC officials that'll be there on Saturday that's the first time in a very long time but there have been ACC officials in the swamp look I will not never defend ACC officials so like we can move on either so yeah they're just terrible but what's your uh least favorite memory oh man uh yeah really the only time I've ever been mad at Bobby Bowen was watching uh watching Tim TBO Le Gators just walk up and down uh dop Campbell Stadium uh so uh those weren't good times for for Florida State fans you know as as a as a young null watching uh with some Florida fans and Georgia fans and Georgia Tech fans uh those were not fun Mondays to come back to in middle school so oh Middle School you just AED me so much so those are my least favorite favorite well 2004 at do Campbell stadium that was the day that they dedicated Bobby Bowen field and Ron Zook had already been notified that he was fired uh for Florida but he um my husband played for Florida during this time he was okay at the time but um Florida beat Florida State the night they dedicated Bobby B Bowen field so Ron Zook was carried off on the shoulders of his players while all of the Florida fans that were still there chanted Ron zuk field and uh that's not a good look one of my H alltime favorite Florida Forida State memories but yeah beating y'all for a national championship didn't suck either um yeah I was luckily too young to remember that one I was in fifth grade definitely remember it all right let's talk a big picture for a minute Florida State's defense has been pretty good all season especially in the second half of games uf's offense has been a little bit more effective in five of their last six games they've been scoring over 30 points against everybody but Georgia Florida State's defense hasn't given up 30 all year so which Trend or streak continues um you know I I I'm not I'm not low as low on the Florida's offense as as I think you'll hear most FSU fans talking smack uh to be honest uh I I do think that they have a unit a decent unit I think f plus has them somewhere in the mid 20s which is to be honest one of the better units uh that Florida state would have faced at least on the offensive side this year so um I think there's some Merit to them getting points on the board I if I were to guess they're going to be around the 20 range at the end of the day um I think that's kind of where both units sit like Florida State's they've been good but they haven't been a lead at just shutting teams down you're gonna get a touchdown or two there's going to be an explosive or two that happens it's happened every game or a drive or two that just kind of I mean that that's really been the thing is once or twice a game there'll be a drive where the Oppo opponent just runs down the field gets a touchdown and then has no more success for the rest of the game so I I think what you'll see is maybe a touchdown or two um in the first half so maybe 14 points in the first half if I were to say and then in the second half Florida State generally you know ties the screws down and and kind of figures out what they want to do uh they they've been one of the best defenses in the country in the second half so I think Florida will get get some points um it's but I I would be shocked if if they if they got over 30 on this one um but I could be wrong here all right let's stick with defense but look at the other matchup uf's defense has been abysmal I mean terrible this is what all Florida fans are going to be complaining about you know all offseason is Florida's defense they've given up 30 plus points six of their last seven games Florida state has scored more than 30 points in every game but pit and Miami how do you think fsu's offense obviously now with Tate at the helm will potentially match up with uf's defense yeah so that's an interesting question and I I think that Florida State matches up pretty well against Florida um at least on that side of the ball uh so Florida so to get into some like nitty-gritty here Florida doesn't do what's called um well they they contain on what on counter plays so they don't spill counter and all that means is that when Florida State pulls linemen they keep contain instead of trying to bust the play outside um Florida State's been a lot better at running their key play counter on teams that choose to play contain it'll be interesting to see if Florida kind of changes that up if they see that on tape and say well now we got to spill counter because we're playing this team that really struggles when teams want to spill counter um but if they're going to sit there and play contain I I think Florida State's going to be able to run the ball on them uh and that's that's kind of dangerous um Florida's defensive line is is big but but kind of slow and I don't I'm gonna be honest I don't I don't think they're super well coached on on that unit um they just they just catch a lot of blocks they they don't really attack well they're not Gap Gap Setters um and you saw it in the Kentucky game which I think was just you know the extension of the problem where they just weren't able to get to the gaps the secondary struggle tackling um and to be fair to Florida I think they've faced a bevy of top you know 50 offenses that's kind of inflated the stats worse than they probably are I think they're probably a top 6070 unit um and that's that's okay but that's that that's going to be one of the worst units that Florida State's played they've played some decent defenses uh as of this year and so um if Florida's unable to stop the running game then Florida State's going to just be able to run up and down the field it doesn't matter if t r maker a quarterback um if they're able to stop that and maybe get some pressure um I think their best chance defensively is is getting some turnovers getting some mistakes that's how Boston College was able to kind of stay in the game against Florida State um is just really trying to force those turnovers uh whether it's adding blitzes or um you know kind of being funny with coverages I know Florida loves to do different coverages um that doesn't mean they're necessarily great at all of them but they they like to throw different looks at out there and so maybe you can kind of um get Tate to to make a bad read and and throw the ball into coverage and I I think what Florida has to Hope is that they're going to be able to get some turnovers on that side of the ball so I've kind of asked this with my last two questions and we've kind kind of answered it for me but do you have a lean here or even a score prediction this early in the week um I I think Florida State still has the advantage on this one um to be honest and and I think it's going to be a sort of ugly game for a while um that's just kind of tended to be how Florida State's played this year a lot of kind of back and forth in the first half keeping the games close and it BEC rivalry in general too though right yeah um in Florida State uh you know they they don't play their best games in the swamp and no one does um I I think they're still the better team I think Florida's I think Florida's just too banged up on the defensive side of the ball I think I think there's some things that you can exploit in Florida's defense um and and Florida state has some weaknesses on the defensive side of the ball mainly in their safeties but I don't I don't think that um Brown is really the guy to take advantage of that I I think Florida State wins I think it's closer than most Florida State fans would like um but I I like Tate's experience I like Florida State's team as it stands right now I think they're a little bit better injury-wise and um I think it's going to be a close game um and one that Florida State hope hopefully from my perspective comes out on top of all right Kevin I so appreciate you being willing to join me tell everybody where they can find your work where they can follow you all good things yeah so uh I run a podcast mostly or videoast a YouTube channel called x's and nolles I I try to do my best at analytically breaking down opponents and looking at film um trying to be very objective about it you know but uh you know the bias Creeps in every once in a while so uh yeah if you'll if you'll check me out over there if you're interested at all at at some of the opponents that we've faced or just want to learn a little bit more about the X's and O's of football that's where I'll be and yeah thanks for thanks for having me Ally I've had a good time I appreciate you and uh go Gators