Fabien Lovett Speaks On His Confidence In FSU QB Tate Rodemaker Ahead of Rivalry Game

The fifth-ranked Florida State Seminoles head into Week 13 highly motivated and for good reason. With quarterback Jordan Travis out for the season after a leg injury against North Alabama, the Seminoles will go into The Swamp Saturday facing the Florida Gators, and despite the loss of one of the team's most experienced players, the team still has every intention of leaving the field Saturday with a win.

"At the end of the day we're still doing our same thing we do every week regardless of with Travis or not, at the end of the day he's a big help, but at the end of the day we believe in who we've got regardless," said senior defensive lineman Fabien Lovett.

With Travis unable to play, the next quarterback on the depth chart is redshirt junior Tate Rodemaker, who was one of Mike Norvell's first recruits at FSU. After coming to Tallahassee in 2020 and sitting behind Travis for much of his career, Rodemaker is gearing up for what will be his second career start. Lovett has been present for all of Rodemaker's career at FSU and has seen improvement in him as he hopes to lead the team to 12 wins.

"He's gotten a lot better, tremendously better, it's his time now so I feel like we're going to show you guys, everybody that doesn't believe in him, we're going to show y'all why you should believe in him," Lovett said.

In addition to the loss of Jordan Travis, Gators' starting quarterback Graham Mertz also suffered a season-ending injury in their last game. Unlike Rodemaker, however, UF backup Max Brown has seen the field just three times in his career and will take center stage in one of the nation's most historic rivalries for his first career start. With the lack of available film, it will be a challenge for Lovett and the defense to prepare for any offensive adjustments the Gators will make prior to the game.

"It's a challenge because it's a lot of stuff we haven't seen yet because he hasn't played that much, but at the end of the day we're preparing for anything and everything we can," Lovett said.

Having played for FSU since the beginning of Mike Norvell's tenure as the head coach of Florida State, Lovett has been a part of tremendous losses, but also spectacular wins. Alongside him the entire way was Travis, and the two teammates established themselves as leaders in the locker room. While Travis' injury left Doak Campbell Stadium in shock, Lovett knew he had to act as a leader and stay composed in order to get the team back on its feet, despite however emotional it was for him at the time.

"Yeah, it was [emotional], but I couldn't just show it because at the end of the day, I'm a leader on the team and I can't fold under pressure, I've got to be the head guy and keep everybody rolling, keep everybody in the right mindset," Lovett said. "While everybody else is like scattered a bit, I've got to try to bring it back together. So I had to stay strong, and at the end of the day I care about Trav, but in the moment I had to stay strong and keep leading for the team."

Lovett and the Seminoles will travel to Gainesville as the Florida Gators will host Florida State on Saturday. The rivalry game will conclude the regular season and will determine bowl eligibility for the Gators or a perfect regular season for FSU. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 P.M. and the game will be televised on ESPN.