FSU football could see its fourth different starting QB Saturday.
FSU football has four quarterbacks on its roster and the eighth game of the year could see its fourth different starter.
James Blackman began the season as the starter but was replaced by Tate Rodemaker in the third game of the season. Rodemaker made it just over a quarter before being replaced by Jordan Travis.
Travis is the starting quarterback, but his style of play has exposed him to a lot of hits that have begun to take their toll through roughly five games of play.
He missed the second half of the Pittsburgh game and saw freshman Chubba Purdy take over for the majority of the second half after James Blackman was pulled.
A lot of FSU football fans have been calling for Purdy to play as the blue-chip quarterback was the high-water mark for Mark Norvell’s 2020 recruiting class.
However, Purdy wasn’t an early-enrollee and missed most of fall camp with a broken collarbone suffered in their first scrimmage.
Purdy’s been taking reps in practice and trying to learn the offense and it showed against Pittsburgh Saturday night. The Panthers have one of the best defensive lines in college football, and the game looked to be moving at warp speed for the talented freshman.
It didn’t help he was under constant pressure each snap and the Noles seemed to abandon the run game. It was a learning experience, but Saturday’s game against NC State could be the perfect opportunity to see what Purdy can do with a week to prepare.
Let’s discuss the top three reasons he should start Saturday night.
NC State’s Defense Isn’t Very Good Overall
“We’ve thrown him to the wolves,” is been how the FSU coaching staff has described Chubba Purdy playing in the Pittsburgh game.
Purdy saw some time at the end of the Lousiville game and didn’t look too bad. His stat lines weren’t good, but that’s because the FSU wide receivers forgot how to catch the ball.
Against Pittsburgh, it was a tough spot for a guy with relatively no college experience. The Noles were already down multiple scores,and Pittsburgh was pinning their ears back to get after the quarterback.
FSU had lost Devontay Love-Taylor to injury earlier in the game, which didn’t help their cause in terms of blocking the Pittsburgh defensive line.
NC State isn’t anywhere near what Pittsburgh brings to the table defensively.
They are ranked No. 82 in the SP+ advanced metrics, which is behind FSU’s defense(No. 77). They are allowing 35 points per game and 5.69 yards per play. The defense as a whole has 21 sacks, but six of those came in the season opener against Wake Forest.
FSU Should Be Able To Run The Ball
Piggybacking off the NC State defense not being good overall is their inability to stop the run. They are allowing teams to average 4.37 yards per rush.
This factor should allow the FSU running game to get going and help take some of the pressure off Chubba Purdy in the passing game.
As I mentioned, the team dropping back to pass almost every time did Purdy no favors against a pass rush like Pittsburgh.
I understand why they did that, as they were losing, and Pittsburgh came into the game allowing less than two yards per rush.
FSU being able to run the ball should help slow the game down for Purdy, and maybe we’ll get a better representation of what he can do when a defense has to respect the run game.
Opposing quarterbacks are completing 62 percent of their passes and carry a 138 passer rating against the Wolfpack.
Jordan Travis Can Heal/Experience
Jordan Travis was banged up going into the bye week and will likely be banged up the rest of the year. The NC State game would be a spot for Chubba Purdy to allow Travis to heal up with the Clemson game on deck.
No, I don’t expect FSU to win that game no matter who the QB is, but they are going to need both players for the year if they want to win more than two games.
Some fans don’t believe in a quarterback getting ruined by getting thrown in the fire, but I disagree wholeheartedly.
Confidence is everything, and if a quarterback starts off his career getting beat up with little success to show for it?
It hurts their confidence, no matter how mentally tough they are, not to mention their teammates possibly deciding they may not be the future of the program because of the results. NC State is a game where Purdy may be able to give some hope to FSU football fans and his teammates.
The only question is, will the defense finally decide to play for longer than the first few series in a game?