Dabo Swinney, Clemson Players Respond To Jordan Travis About Being 'Disrespected' By Tigers Defense

Travis felt like Florida State's offense was disrespected by the way that the Tigers defended them.

Florida State's offense struggled at times during the overtime victory against Clemson. The Seminoles were outgained by 118 yards and held to just 22 rushing yards on 1.1 yards per attempt. It wasn't pretty by any means as the Tigers made it tough with a physical effort on defense.

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With that being said, the Seminoles were at their best when their backs were against the wall. Florida State responded with back-to-back touchdown drives in the final 5:10 of the first half after Clemson went up 10-0 and 17-7. On the second play of overtime, star quarterback Jordan Travis delivered a 24-yard pass on a fade route to wide receiver Keon Coleman, who made a terrific catch for a touchdown that would eventually end up being the game-winning score.

Following the contest, Travis revealed that he thought Florida State's offense was disrespected during the game. He didn't agree with the way that the Tigers covered two of the most electric wide receivers in college football; Coleman and Johnny Wilson. The pair combined for 10 catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 25 targets.

“I feel like we were disrespected all day,” Travis said following the game. “You play one-on-one against Johnny Wilson and Keon Coleman, I feel like you have no respect for either the receivers or the quarterback. I missed a lot of throws early on against one-on-ones. I wish I could go back and complete them. But man, we stepped up when we needed to. Keon made a big-time play, the offensive line gave me time and it was just a fade one-on-one. I like my guy every single time."

Travis finished 21/37 for 289 yards and two touchdowns along with zero turnovers. However, he was limited to 8/19 passing for 129 yards over the third and fourth quarter as Florida State failed to score on offense in the second half outside of a field goal drive on its first possession.

“They were disrespecting me a little bit,” Travis said. “I don’t think they believed I could make those throws and I’m glad it ended like that. So glad it ended like that. Just kind of shows the journeys. All the ups and downs. It’s like a roller-coaster, man. I overcame it all and this football team overcame it all and so grateful for a moment like that."

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney responded to the comments after being informed by a reporter about what Travis said. Swinney noted that the Tigers weren't trying to disrespect the Seminoles at all. Instead, they were trying to put pressure on the athletic quarterback instead of sitting in a zone defense.

“He’s a great player, amazing player,” Swinney said after the game. “We’re trying to win the game. I mean, this kid, he can really, really run, and we felt like it gave us the best chance to create some pressure on him and not let him just sit there and hold the ball and pick us apart with some zone stuff. But no, we’re just trying to win the game. Again, I think he’s an amazing player with a ton of heart and again, we're trying to win and I thought second half, I thought we're in position to win. The whole game but again they made one more play than we did but that [defense] didn't have nothing to do with him. He’s as good as there is in the country.”

One of the members of Clemson's secondary, redshirt senior safety Jalyn Phillips also chimed in with his opinion on the matter. Phillips was tied for second on the team with six tackles and two pass breakups in the loss to Florida State.

"Man, we have one of the best secondaries out there so we have unbelievable confidence in everybody that's on the field," Phillips said. "They're on the field for a reason and they're at Clemson for a reason. We control what we can control. We can't control what he says or what anyone says, we just believe in ourselves and what we put out there."

Shortly after the contest went final, Travis and Coleman reconvened on Frank Howard Field to cut a piece of sod in the end zone where they connected for the game-winning touchdown. It was a special moment for a program that hadn't defeated Clemson in nine years.

No. 5 Florida State (4-0, 2-0 ACC) is enjoying a week off prior to three straight home games in Tallahassee to begin October.

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