Jordan Travis is 'having fun again' after FSU football's 18-point win over No. 17 Duke

A day after Florida State football defeated Syracuse by 38 points, quarterback Jordan Travis sat down with FSU head coach Mike Norvell to discuss something important.

"Is Travis having fun playing football," was the question the fourth-year head coach asked his quarterback on Oct. 15.

The redshirt senior quarterback has taken on a lot of pressure this season.

A Heisman campaign, the leader of a team looking to win a national championship, and putting together a solid résumé before going into the NFL Draft all while trying to stay healthy.

It's easy for the game to start feeling like a job.

"He feels like sometimes I might be pressing, I feel like I have pressure and I'm trying to do too much," Travis said. "So I'm just trying to be back to myself, enjoy the game of football, enjoy it with my teammates."

After taking down No. 17 Duke, 38-20 on Saturday - in front of 79,560 fans at Doak Campbell Stadium - Travis re-found that joy of the game.

He had fun because, as he put it, "winning is fun".

"When you win, you have fun," Travis said "I'm very thankful for my teammates...I would sacrifice the pressure and everything to win every single time."

Winning as an individual, team

Travis was the heart and soul of the Seminoles' primetime win over the Blue Devils. He rushed for a season-high 62 yards, including the game-winning score in the fourth quarter.

On top of that, he passed for 268 yards, completing 75% of his attempts and found his receivers twice in the end zone.

There hadn't really been a game this season where Travis flexed his rushing skills, but against Duke, he ran wild, and FSU let him.

"I told him at the end of it, man, that's a champion's heart, and that's how he works," Norvell said. "It's how he prepares. I have no doubt about the way that he's going to show up because we see it every day in practice."

"Just the mentality that he brings. He had fun out there tonight, and it was really enjoyable seeing him lead this football team."

Travis didn't just dominate on the ground but aired out the ball. He connected with nine different receivers, four of which finished with over 40 yards receiving.

Johnny Wilson led the effort with 58 yards on five receptions, despite leaving the game early after going down hard in the third quarter.

It was Wilson's first game back since sitting out against Syracuse due to an injury suffered against Virginia Tech. It's unknown what Wilson's status is at this time.

"Yeah, Johnny is my guy. Praying for him," Travis said. "He fights through a lot of adversity, too. My favorite thing with Johnny is no matter what, he doesn't get the ball, you never hear him complain, never see him throw his hands up in the air."

"That's one of your favorite things as a quarterback. You don't want to see your guys showing you up, and Johnny never does that. I respect that more than anything in the world, and Johnny fights through so many injuries."

In addition to Wilson having another strong night, statistically, tight end Jahiem Bell opened up his game, recording a team-second-best 53 yards receiving on eight receptions.

Wide receiver Keon Coleman made a highlight grab under double coverage and tight end Markeston Douglas caught the ball with his backside.

Travis said he enjoys it when he's having a good night individually, but it's better when his teammates around him are going off as well.

"Yeah, I love seeing my teammates be successful," Travis said. "At the end of the day, that's the biggest thingfor me. It puts a smile on my face and makes me enjoy the game even more just seeing my guys happy."

"Everyone goes really hard in practice. Keon goes hard in practice. Johnny goes hard in practice. Just guys making plays. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games."

Making history

Travis also made a little bit of history Saturday, passing 2000 Heisman Trophy winner Chris Wenike as FSU's career leader in total yards.

Weinke had 9,218total yards. Following the Duke game, Travis now has 9,229.

Travis said that he's very thankful to achieve something like that.

It was a fun night for Travis, something he's needed this entire season. He's happy that he had a game to have some fun and his teammates did not hesitate to speak on how impressive of a player he is.

"Yeah, it's always a surprise even at practice, even chasing him around at practice, it's always a surprise," defensive lineman Fabien Lovett said. "He does different stuff every day, but we're used to it now. At the end of the day, he's a ball player."

"He's in that green jersey in practice so we really can't touch him. It's always an argument in conversation, is he down or not," defensive back Shyheim Brown said. "Watching him in practice, and watching him in the game is just amazing."

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football's Jordan Travis is 'having fun again' after win over Duke