Florida State Loses Jordan Travis and Florida Loses Graham Mertz

welcome again to locked on seminal going to do a little crossover action today with Brandon Olen from locked on Gators a lot to discuss considering not one but both of the seminal and the nolles have lost their quarterback headed into this week's annual Florida State versus Florida rivalry Brandon thank you very much for coming on the show um I mean if you want an opening statement about that I mean I'm I'm I've watched this ride read my whole life and I'm trying to think has there ever been a time when both quarterbacks have been out if there is I'm missing it but off the top of my head I can't think of it you're I'll just four is yours brother what do you want to say about Florida State and Florida with backups it's it's just gonna be so ugly like I'm just I I'm just watching and first I will say this I hate both of the injuries obviously I'm going to hate the Florida one like the Jordan Travis one just it it sucks as well and I I get that's I think that's one of the things where Florida Gator fans get mad at me for is that for years now I've been like oh like Jordan Travis is just like a couple of steps away from being a really good quarterback and so it looked like he finally like put it together this year and and just untimely injury it's just I I know it's just gonna be a very ugly game at that point like backup quarterbacks you're not going to see a very fun offense there from either side it it's just it's going to be one of the uglier games we seen in this rivalry and we've seen a lot of ugly games well said uh believe what was it we said the Rivalry total was like gator lead what is it 3727 something like that all time 37272 yeah and the Rivalry has had some wild swings in it um the the 90s were the best because both teams were top five for much of that decade but obviously you had the Urban Meyer years you had the Jimbo Fisher years teams just kind of they kind of flip-flopped one coach would leave and then the other team would get a really good one but now we're in a situation where Florida State seemed to be on the cusp they're about to do that again you lose it uh my my first thought here on Jordan Travis when he first went out and I see Tate in the game I'm like they're down 133 or whatever it is this may not go well and then they just went nuts T got a pretty good arm I was impressed with his Poise but he still isn't Jordan Travis and obviously the ability is part of it I'm curious to see what Florida does because their offense or their their defense has been an atrocity to mankind for well I'll let you speak to that in a moment but it's been bad do I think that they're going to go into the swamp though and just throw it down and drop 38 on the Gators probably not how do they beat him I I don't know I I need to go back through and watch some of his throws again but I was happy what would would you say about the situation with Merz not being in and with what's coming next any thoughts about the backup for the Gators yeah I think first off we have to start with raise your hand if you have been personally victimized by the Florida Gator defense because that is that is me that is a that that is not just an atrocity to mankind it is a personal attack every time I have to go watch them play but with I will say with Max Brown he's someone who you know before Florida he was a central Michigan commit he was Jim M commit then he flipped and Billy Napier came over from Louisiana and and Max Brown was someone that I was a fan of I said I think he's got the physical tools to work out needs a lot of work and Billy Napier even when he joined the class Billy Napier was like yeah he he has a lot of work that he needs to get done there um but but it was something where he has physical tools he's not ready to be a starting quarterback at all but hey now you have to be I think that what we saw when Max Brown came in I loved first play for Max he came in he threw the ball to the sticks like it wasn't just a screen it wasn't just a run it wasn't conservative there threw it to the six immediately good throw uh he had a couple of throws where I was like okay I'm not saying he's better than Graham at all that's but he he attempted passes Graham Merz wouldn't attempt like like he just threw the pass where it's like my receivers winning this or or he's not but I'm going to find out anyway and khil Jackson came down with a circus catch and it was just one of those aggressive mindsets that we see it's just very starkly different um and the mobility was huge that that that helped open up the Run game we saw a little bit option game we saw some RPO it looked kind of like the Florida offense when Anthony Richardson was there and we saw RPO we saw just quick game we saw option zonee keeper and it worked pretty consistently I mean it also helps this is something we saw all season was people going well you you don't have to respect the Florida Gator quarterback run game so you can really key in on just the running backs there and Graham can't make the plays with his legs Max Brown made the plays with his legs and that was something where it helped open up Trevor ET and it helped open up montal Johnson and so I I just think that maybe play style wise it just works better especially with opening up the running game I mean Florida's running backs had to do so much of the work by themselves Trevor eten had 82 rushing yards 81 of them came after contact uh Mona Johnson had 85 rushing yards 68 of them came after contact it it was a lot of just them needing to make plays and Max Bron picked up almost 50 yards himself too and I do I will say one of the big things with Max Brown had the fumbled on the uh the handoff exchange with Montell Johnson I'm not sure who's fault that was genuinely Max Brown should have gotten the ball lower Montell also raised his arms really late and it was his elbow that knocked the ball out on the way up um but Max I mean when Max Brown took off on one of his Zone reads he immediately just two hands on the ball and was just running like that the entire time because he was like all right can't screw it up again uh so so I think the offense opens up a bit it's obviously going to be less efficient throwing the football but we're gonna see at least I I I look at this as Max Brown this is your opportunity to one become a Florida Gator Legend if you can seat Florida state in the last game of the season when they're undefeated and you get Bowl eligibility while also this is your audition to be KB W next year grah Merz might come back DJ lague is going to be a true freshman this this is your time to show this coaching staff hey like like just don't don't forget that I'm here and I'm willing to make some plays you brought up that he takes more risks down the field two questions on that you can approach this how you see fit sometimes quarterbacks are like uhoh I don't want to get hit and I throw it up that's young quarterbacks in general I would go 90% do that at some point in their career for a little bit he's probably beyond that he's been at Florida for more than a year but was he throwing those in Rhythm I didn't watch any of that game none of it was he throwing it in Rhythm that way and he had two option and he's like I'm going down the field or was it just under duress he threw it down the field more uh it was the throw to khil Jackson that was like deep down the left sideline looked like it was just Smash and and he and he just made the read so he threw the corner route and he hit it okay yeah so he he he just made that read and he just threw it and it was blanketed coverage receiver just went up and made a play so it was one of those times where yeah it wasn't just an F it someone's down there some he threw it to Kil Jackson he wasn't throwing it to one of the elite receivers on the team he threw it to the guy who like I don't know what is khil Jackson's deal he's just a circus catch receiver it's wild and I made the joke where uh during the game I said he'll make like he he'll drop the easy things but if you like 360 no scope like he'll catch it and come down with it and that's exactly what he did they threw the ball to khil Jackson uh for the lateral at the end of the game he dropped it it's just like it was one of like he he dropped the curl where he was supposed to lateral so it just one of those situations but yeah Max it looked like just smash maybe fade Smash and and he just threw it up to the corner there and worked out well that's that's an interesting deal because Florida State secondary especially early in the year had some mishaps on wait a minute that was your guy and the guy's running into the end zone and they've gotten better but they get down early there were some really good play calling from the north Alabama I mean you know the big pond and all that they I knew they weren't gonna sustain anything because they couldn't you know do that against fsu's defense I'm curious you'd sent that chart out to everybody on walkon about the blitzes and stuff and I was looking at that a few minutes ago Florida State blitzes about 30% of the time but when you single in and you look at a team that has newbie at quarterback I would imagine you're gonna for lack of a better team see different and probably a little more exotic both directions but especially for the kid for Florida because he's a ret freshman Tate raker has been around a little bit and we'll talk about him in a moment but do you think he going to be ready for drop the defensive end and here comes the SWAT and is he that kind of guy or is he going to be the deer in head whites in your opinion I don't know what he's going to be but I I do expect this to be a game where Florida's just I I I expect to see a lot of RPO a lot of option and if Max isn't prepared for dropping a defensive end RPO is going to be a little bit of an issue then because I mean we saw the couple times they ran the RPO it was glance so it was receiver running a slot or receiver running a slant and and looking there you drop a defensive end into there and we'll find out what kind of gonna be yeah we'll find out what kind of quarterback he's gonna be if he's making that read and and they're running that kind of RPO um but I do think that we're going to see a lot of option I I I think that's going to be an approach that you have to take with Max Brown and and it's it's the good like it's it's the better approach that you can give there um I I truly don't know what they're going to give him as far as the green light pre- snap just because we know gr Merz has the green light to make any check that he needs to make gr Merz has three years of starting experience prior to this year so yeah not not too sure uh what we're going to see with Max Brown there if it's gonna be simplified if we're gonna see a lot of screen game I'm genuinely not too sure that's the fun part about this though is going hey what the hell is going to happen no no no nobody knows what the plan is there but I I would expect Max to probably struggle if you get more exotic there as most freshman making their first career start would well here's the other part to that he has nothing to lose I've had this conversation for years with people when you have a new starting quarterback that comes in especially they're not going to be favored I think even though you know Florida state was Jordan Travis and that that's a travesty with within itself they're the better football team so they're going to be favored you're playing with house money do you see him as a little bit of a Riverboat Gambler I mean throwing it one thing to Jackson or whatever and hit that's great is he that guy that's like if I get a few picks but I still want the Highlight ESPN play because I mean he's taking off too you got to give him credit he's got some guts so little I hate using this term because everybody always goes back to it but Brett farre would run and do some crazy things but he I think he's still alltime leader or close to it in interceptions in the NFL he threw some dumb passes too I'm getting the vibe that that's what this guy is a little bit not that that's bad especially being compared to Brett far but what what do you think about him as as a playmaker is that just his design yeah I think we're gonna see him be aggressive uh I mean just watching his high school tape even dating back to when he was uh I foret the high school specifically but in Tulsa Oklahoma um and he was just it was a very ver IAL offense and it seemed like he loved working in that and I think he just had better athletes than the other guys which is where we also get into an interesting conversation going to work because if you could just out athlete people and throw it up deep yeah your stats are going to look great but he he completed like 70% of his passes and like 11 yards per attempt it it was insane with how vertical they were but that seems to be what he wants to do he's got a big arm he's mobile I I would expect him to be as aggressive as Billy Napier will let him be because he also showed moments where fourth and four he threw the Slant with zero hesitation on a line then it was great there so it doesn't look like confidence is an issue with him at all like he he ran for first downs and he was like doing the little first down thing like like he was he was looking like he was a confident quarterback it on a road game against the number nine team in the country he was in the little first down Point um so he's confidence isn't an issue I think with Max and I think that's I mean we saw him throw the ball like 10 times maybe and we saw him run it another five and and he looked confident with everything he did so whether or not he's going to work out I don't know but I I fully expect him to be as aggressive as Billy Napier gives him the light to be I like it when guys go out there and represent themselves like that so without even seeing any of the Missouri game folders disclosure on that props um he went out this is what I'm going to do so that's kind of cool that brings me to my thought on R maker he's similar that he threw a couple of balls that were like these these are really small Windows he threw a 19 yard out which you don't even see that stuff at the NFL level and he put it whoa and on the I was like this Dan Marino this this was kind of weird that's not a normal backup but he did it without hesitation too so I'm going to go out on a limb and project for both of us we're going to see at least one what was that play from both quarterbacks in this game which is why you opened with this is going to be an ugly game and also we're gonna see oh look at that nice seam ball first down 25 yard gain for the Gators or for the seminal I think we'll see a little of both in this game um that leads me to the next thing Florida's running game as you noted a few minutes ago it's doing good but they they did that despite sounds like pretty bad offensive line play I mean like one yard gained that wasn't after contact for I mean that's just absurd I don't care what level Pop Warner NFL Super Bowl that should never be the case what are we doing it's the Florida Gators Give me the definition of what the hell's going on with the forers offensive line yeah I think for a lot of the season it's been that there's gen genuinely no continuity I mean you started the year with Jake Slaughter as your starting center because Kings Leen was hurt few weeks later Kingsley comes back doesn't finish the game it's Jake Slaughter again then Jake Slaughter starts the next game and then Kingsley starts the next game gets hurt doesn't finish that game Jake Slaughter comes and and we've seen that change at Center alone a ton of times uh left tackle right tackle I mean when you look at the Missouri game Florida was down to offensive tackle three and offensive tackle four starting because Austin Barber missed the game completely Damen George got hurt because he got rolled up on and then you look at cam weights and making his first start at tackle at right tackle he switched to left tackle and then Lindell Hudson was in that right tackle um there there were a ton of injuries along this offensive line there's been a ton of change but I think a lot of it is and people that have listened to my show know that I will always say your offensive line is more about how you perform as a unit than individually it's really hard to find a chemistry as a unit when you're changing your starting center every other week especially when when Jake Slaughter's been playing fine like I want to make that like he's been playing fine it's just hard to find Rhythm as a unit when you're constantly rotating guys in and out and then tackle now they weren't performing well to begin with and then they got injured on top of that so the guys who weren't performing well their backups are now in and so clearly uh the fact that they're not starting means they're generally worse than that so it's just it's just been a mess on the offensive line I'm fully expecting them to make a change on the coaching staff here because your offensive line is regressed you have two offensive line coaches and your offensive Line's regressed so if if if I'm Billy I'm making a change on the offensive line and hopefully he recognizes that as well ouch um what position would you say has ascended I'm curious about what you're going say on this for the Gators the most say in the last four weeks during you know like we're playing SEC opponents here who who have they played the best against like a unit that's taken that step forward I I think you got to look at Florida's tight ends I just think that over over the entire season they they've made strides and um I'm not going to pretend that I'm completely unbiased about it I have Hayden Hansen one of our starters on the show every Wednesday uh but but he's been lights out as a blocker Arles boardingham when he actually gets thrown the ball has kind of erupted recently you look at the Vanderbilt game and that was kind of his coming out party South Carolina he made some nice plays so Arles Bingham as a pass catcher Hayden Hansen as a blocker and in recent weeks as a pass catcher as well uh he had a 25 yarder against LSU and they were backed up on their own like two and then against Missouri he had a 34 yarder that was just straight both of them were just straight catch and run um so so they've opened up the off a little bit I think the tight ends have really stepped up and I mean statistically Florida is one of the best 12 Personnel teams in the country right now because of how their tight end have stepped up do you think they're better in the pass game or the Run game I I would say that Hayden's much better just in in in the blocking game in general Aras is better as a pass catcher and then just the overall team is just I couldn't tell you what they're better at it's just so wildly inconsistent depending on the offensive line play it's like like Graham Merz has been making plays when they're available but even Missouri before he got hurt he was not playing well he got hurt early in the game uh with it with his leg and after that he was just missing easy throws that he doesn't normally Miss and then he he fractured his collarbone after that and it was just not great if you're a Florida Gator fan it wasn't fun to watch that it was fun to watch the play it wasn't fun to the very next play watch him hand the ball off immediately turned to the sideline and go owow which just like pointing to his collarbone H so so that wasn't fun but this is if there's one thing this team is consistent with it's that they are wildly inconsistent that is the only thing that's it how far into the game was it that Graham got hurt uh mid mid late third quarter early fourth so there was so Brown actually saw you know the eye of the tiger there literally and figuratively yes pun intended playing at missou you're in a circumstance where you know the game can go either way they I mean that could have went South so if FSU or Andor their fans think they're just G to walk in and he's not going to do something that's interesting because I didn't know if he just played like a couple possessions but like the game was still possible yeah gram got hurt in the third quarter with three minutes left while driving downfield and they were down two okay so it's clutch time out yeah and then Max Brown had about five plays and then they had the fumbled uh exchange between him and monell Johnson and then Missouri scored a touchdown the very next play and Florida came out and Max Brown drove him downfield like I'm not gonna say that Max Brown's you know QB W forever for Florida but right he he showed up when he needed to show up in a time where I'm sure a lot of Florida Gator fans saw Graham Merz get hurt and we're just like well that's the game and Max drove them downfield a couple of like he gave them the lead he he drove them downfield and they took the lead and then they lost on the field goal at the end so yeah Max showed up in the biggest possible way when the team really needed him and I know that that that last drive we could talk about how maybe Florida should have thrown the ball realistically if Trev etn doesn't run out of bounds on Third and 12 when Missouri only has one more timeout and about a minute 15 seconds left you're looking at a win probably you you kick that field goal to take a lead Missouri has no time outs left so when when we look at this we can say that yeah Billy Napier should have thrown the ball and all that and and everybody screws up every now and then I'm not going to pretend Trevor etn sucks all of a sudden but if you look at the game and you look at that game management at the end there you stay in bounds you probably win that game e in being who he is a secondy year player who his brother is that's bad boy that's bad boy there's just and I I'm a big fan he's a very good runner that's bad boy so it's if he did it on his own yeah I all right let's talk about the other side what what do you think Florida can do again Brown's the quarterback what do you think Florida state is most susceptable with what Florida does considering as in your own words wildly inconsistent trying to you know and I know I'm putting on you on the spot for this but Fu's front especially if UF is having problems at tackle it's not gonna be friendly at all both Edge guys are gonna get paid and Fisk is starting to come on they've got some guys rot that's not gonna be friendly is it going to have to be option to keep them balanced to make him assign I would think so based on once you started St talking to me about the tackles that Barber's at because he's a pretty good football player when he's completely healthy but obvious I don't think he's a left tackle I think he should play right tackle or right go that's what I think but that's story for another day reason that that Napier needs to look at that oine stuff and and figure that one out because yeah Barber's a pretty good play play in high school but um it's just interesting to me that you're looking at a situation where Florida should they should never be in a left tackle problem situation it's Florida but that's again that's another story option game is there anything else or this Travis makes six guys miss on this play and then it'll be second and five because if you're in that kind of situ they're not beating Forest State you know Tate being the quarterback or not they have to have something more than we we both agree that they're going to run option what else can they do to attack this FSU defense I think one thing they were going to see is is the RPO game a little bit because if if you take the approach of hey if if FL State's going to be really aggressive if you have the slant if you have the screen whatever the route is on that play take it if you're Max I think that we see Florida with Anthony Richardson Billy Napier used to bring out a play that my listeners know I love which is and I'm sure you know it's split Zone read and I would fully expect them to bring that back now especially sure you've got you've got Hayden Hansen has been thriving in Split Zone situations specifically just coming downhill across the field so I'd expect him to see that and then I I think that we see more a little bit of just like boot slide and it's like if you're in that PA slide and then you make it look the same exact way as split Zone read and then you just dump it real quick sure yeah so I'd see Florida taking that kind of approach of just hey if you're going to be really aggressive we will run the option and like because either way if State doesn't Blitz frequently because they don't at this point but again they might with a with a freshman Mak with a red sh freshman making his first start if they don't blit frequently their edges are probably still going to be just licking their lips just ready to go into the back field and so I would expect option there and feel free to pull it anytime that they kind of shoot into the back field and then try to take advantage underneath and pick up yards after the which is what your offense does but I would also expect a couple of times just send people deep and if it's there let Max throw it just to keep them honest it doesn't have to work again you just have to you just have to let them know that you're willing to do that with Max and you're not just GNA be this cookie cutter like you're not going to be the Giants with Tommy DeVito starting like you're gonna actually try to play offense here and so I think that's your approach of just we think that they're going to be really aggressive try to take advantage of it with with just quick game and get by them and that has to be right that has to be the best approach that I think Florida can take if you want to upset Florida State here I I'm curious about that I I wondered if you were gonna say receivers a little bit ago because of Eugene Wilson I know him and he was dominant in seven on seven for team Tampa and he played at G through a program I'm very familiar with he to me is the exactor in the game because if I mean Pierce Hall's good too but you and I talked about this off the air he can't your number one if you're going to be an upper eal on SEC team he's a good football player he'll he'll probably make a roster but he's not a burner dominant guy Eugene Wilson if you take a misstep in coverage he gone I mean he can f why is he at that point now where he's a true number one in your opinion or is for a force feeding him some because okay we have to or is it a little of both I think that he's got the skill set to be a legit number one but his usage doesn't indicate that at all he's still mostly a gadget runs like like most of his work underneath yeah um so I I but also that could just be because you have a bad offensive line right now or it could just be because grah Merz is such a conservative thrower that you're just like okay well we'll at least keep Eugene Wilson in The Game Plan by keeping him in the area Graham might actually throw to so it could be that but I mean i' I've been sitting here for a month just asking Billy Napier to let Trey Wilson run actual routes as a wide receiver and and we saw that open up a little bit we saw the Georgia game his touchdown was a catch and run off a dig route and he just outran everybody after that and we saw the Arkansas game he ran a wheel at a bunch and scored a touchdown there and so we've seen things open up a bit for Trey Wilson it's just a matter of will you actually let him continue to do that and I do think that with Max Brown that's more likely just because like you mentioned you know if you take one misstep in coverage he's gone now if you have Max Brown that's willing to make that throw or at least attempt it I I don't see why you wouldn't let him uncork it well I I kind of think so too I mean sustaining drives against Florida state with a banged up oine doesn't seem like the greatest path and they're also with a quarterback that likes to throw down the field and has some accuracy apparently or Jackson would have made that catch last week for one you're GNA have to take some shots I like your point about the split Zone and doing some different things I'm going to guess that he needs 50 yards rushing maybe even 80 maybe he pops a 40 yard which could happen I mean guy takes the wrong angle he's a pretty good athlete it's possible you could see that for Florida State I think their biggest key is just real simple and I know this is a boring answer if they're even or ahead in turnovers they should win by double digits they could even be negative one I think as long as it's it's not a pick six or just like you know they get the ball in the three yard line Forest State they should win because they got the better defense I think that's a conservative answer here so is there anything before I get you out here special teams or anything else that you think could give the Gators an edge sure as hell not special teams that's why I threw that out there yeah I will say there's one thing about special teams that I love and that is that Trey smack on kickoff just has such a big leg that I that I can't see a kick return touchdown against Florida because it just goes through the back of the end zone every time so at least we haven't seen that but uh I I think that I feel like Austin Armstrong has to feel his butt getting a little bit hot right now um with with what's happened fourth and 17 best receiver in the SEC just wide open downfield uh M makes no sense if you're Florida but that's how you lost Luther Burton there wide open um it's just stuff like that can't happen and it seems to happen consistently where congratulations you didn't give up 700 yards you held Cody Sher to 148 when he had 100 in the first half and so or almost 100 in the first half um but yeah it's just gotta figure something out on on defense if you're the Florida Gator and they haven't yet I will say part of the game plan early on against Missouri I liked uh he was just aggressive as hell he he had one and I told this story on the postcast he had one play where he L the slot and the boundary corner and I asked someone that I know that that helps put together the scheme and I was like what do you call like what's the name of that what do you call that and he said crazy that's the only thing I can that's crazy to Blitz both your slot and your uh boundary corner and then drop both of your edges into coverage all we call that is crazy uh so he's clearly just throwing the kitchen sink at people right now it's just can can you put together one just one more strong defensive performance if you're Florida because you had the Tennessee game hell of a defensive performance can you put together one more like like can we have two in a year or is that just asking too much I'm gonna let this show wrap up on that because that's that's just awkward as all get out and that makes me feel much more confident about Florida State coming out with a W that's not great for the for ators right there uh I've never heard of that bloodz call not seen that's what I had to ask about I was like what do you call that and and usually I will get a legitimate answer and he just went crazy like I don't know what else to say so yeah okay well thank you Brandon for coming on uh we'll probably do something later this week I'm assuming after we know a little more about the injury front maybe something more regarding whatever it is that they call it with Florida's offensive line you know maybe they mix in some guys that can block a little bit for Travis etn you know stuff like that and uh hopefully uh this game will be still a great game because it is a rivalry game and it is one of the most important rivalry games just flat out no matter what team you root for in all of college football so Brian Smith for Brandon Olsson thank you to everybody have a great day