COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 03 Camping World Kickoff - LSU vs Florida State
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During the final year of the Jimbo Fisher era, the once-proud Florida State football program had fallen on hard times that continued throughout the Willie Taggart era and even during the early years of the Mike Norvell era. Coming off a 10-3 season in 2022 under Norvell and with a roster stacked with returning stars and major transfer portal additions, however, the No. 8 Seminoles entered their marquee Week 1 matchup against No. 5 LSU with an unfamiliar feeling: hope. 

After Florida State rolled to a 45-24 win inside Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Sunday, that hope was validated. 

The win over LSU proved that Florida State is "back" and fully capable of making its first College Football Playoff appearance since 2014 when then-reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston was taking the snaps. FSU quarterback Jordan Travis didn't necessarily enter this season with as much hype as Winston did in 2013, but he did have the coaching staff's confidence after leading six straight wins down the stretch in 2022 in which the Seminoles scored 35 or more points in every contest. 

The term "overreaction" gets thrown around after Week 1 for even the most lukewarm of takes, but it isn't an overreaction so say that Florida State is a complete team with great coaching and enough talent to make a push for the top prize in the sport.

Here's what we learned during Sunday's win that proved the Seminoles are geared up to make a run at the College Football Playoff National Championship. 

Elite QB play

Travis' performance down the stretch in 2022 was no fluke. Sure, it wasn't against the toughest of competition, but that's not the point. The 6-foot-1, 212-pound redshirt senior consistently worked through his progressions, changed plays at the line of scrimmage and showed improvisational skills, especially on the 1-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter as he quickly pulled the ball on what looked like a slow-developing zone read when an unblocked defender came barreling in on his blind side. That gave the 'Noles a 24-17 lead and they never looked back. 

The efficiency shown by Travis was also incredible. He finished the afternoon with a 202.99 passer rating -- tops in the nation among Power Five quarterbacks (with Duke and Clemson yet to play). And it's not like some of those quarterbacks played tough competition either. This was one of the most lackluster opening weekends in terms of intriguing matchups, and plenty of other quarterbacks feasted on cupcakes over Labor Day weekend. Travis proved he's legit on Sunday night against a deep and talented defense. 

Dynamic WR duo

Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman was OK against LSU. You know, if you like wide receivers who catch three touchdown passes and rack up 122 yards in a season opener against a top-10 team on a national stage. He is the talk of the college football world on Monday, and justifiably so. 

Johnny Wilson should be heaping more praise on his teammate than anyone. The 6-foot-7, 237-pound monster came into the game with the most buzz of any of the Seminoles receivers but left Orlando as a supporting actor. He has to absolutely love that because opposing defenses won't be able to focus exclusively on him anymore. 

Sure, LSU's secondary was atrocious, but Wilson was a big reason why. Coleman had the heads of the players in the back-end of the defense spinning, and the fact that it wasn't Wilson doing it is something that will help the entire offense moving forward. 

Defensive recipe for success

What do the names Shyheim Brown, Kalen DeLoach, DJ Lundy, Joshua Farmer, Dennis Briggs Jr and Gilber Edmond have in common? They all recorded tackles for loss against LSU. What name is missing from that list? Star defensive lineman Jared Verse. In fact, Verse -- a likely first round draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and First Team AP Preseason All-America selection-- only notched two tackles against the Tigers. Translation: His buddies, especially those up front, were able to take advantage of the threat posed by Verse. 

Championship-caliber teams need depth up front and Florida State showed it's fine on that front in the win. Think about that for a second. The front seven dominated an offensive line that was one of the most experienced in the nation. We can talk all we want about Travis, Coleman, Wilson, Norvell and all of the other higher-profile players and coaches, but the dominance shown by the defensive front was one of the major keys to the season-opening rout. 

Enough of a rushing attack

The Seminoles averaged 5.3 rushing yards per attempt during the six-game winning streak to close out the 2022 regular season, which provided much-needed balance to the offense. Sunday night, the Seminoles averaged 5 yards per carry on first down and 5.4 yards on third down. The rushing attack plays its best in the biggest situations.

Essentially, the Seminoles passed to set up the run ... because they can. More importantly, other coaches are now aware that they excel with that mindset. Moving forward, defenses will have to plan for that. The beneficiaries will be Trey Benson, Lawrance Toafili and the rest of the backfield who will feast early in games when Travis sees that the opportunity is there.