Tate Rodemaker is set to be Florida State’s quarterback down the stretch as the Noles try to make the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014.

Rodemaker replaced the injured Jordan Travis on Saturday night vs. North Alabama. He led FSU out of a 13-0 hole with 45 unanswered points en route to a dominant victory. Brock Glenn and FSU’s special teams unit added 2 more touchdowns to make it a 58-13 final score vs. the Lions.

FSU still has a lot of work to do in order to reach the College Football Playoff. Rodemaker now becomes a central figure in the race for the top 4 with programs such as Oregon, Washington, Texas and Alabama still in the mix as well.

Here are 5 things to know about Rodemaker:

He’s been in this position before, briefly

This isn’t the first time Rodemaker has been asked to step in for an injured Travis.

Last season against Louisville, Travis went down with a leg injury and was unable to continue. Rodemaker led the Noles to a comeback victory in that game as the Noles scored 21 second-half points. Rodemaker threw for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns (both to Johnny Wilson) in that 35-31 victory.

However, Travis was able to return the very next week. FSU will need Rodemaker to sustain that level of solid play over the next couple of weeks if it hopes to finish 13-0.

Mike Norvell has shown belief in Rodemaker

After the Louisville win last season, Norvell showed just how much he believes in Rodemaker as Florida State’s quarterback.

Norvell pounded the table in his postgame press conference after Rodemaker’s stellar second-half led the Noles to a comeback win on the road. Here’s an excerpt from the passionate speech Norvell gave after that big win:

“I’m so proud of Tate Rodemaker. I knew we could win with Tate. I knew we could win with Tate,” Norvell said. “I’ve seen it in practice, I’ve seen him work. I’ve seen him so much invest and be prepared for the moment. And he got put in a challenging situation. On the road. But he just went out there and responded in the second half. It’s just an incredible example for that this team is built on.

“It’s a special night. That’s one I’ll remember forever because it was an incredible atmosphere … a lot of the adversity that showed up. We talk about that heart, we talk about the identity, and the identity of Florida State football showed up tonight.”

Experience in the program

Rodemaker has been around Florida State’s program for a long time. This is his fourth season with the Noles, meaning he was around for the 2020 campaign when Florida State went just 3-6 in Norvell’s first season.

Rodemaker has been Travis’ backup over the past two seasons. He’s posted some impressive numbers this season, which were boosted by his performance on Saturday night vs. North Alabama.

Rodemaker is a redshirt junior and will have two years of eligibility remaining after the 2023 campaign.

Stellar start to 2023

So far this year, he has thrown for 376 yards, 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions on 31 attempts. The sample size is small and the competition has largely been weak, but Rodemaker has been dominant in his short spurts of playing time in 2023.

He completed 13-of-23 passes for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns vs. North Alabama. Rodemaker’s completion percentage was impacted by multiple drops by FSU receivers on Saturday night. Prior to Saturday night, Rodemaker had thrown just one incompletion (7-for-8) in 2023.

Rodemaker is averaging 12.1 yards per attempt so far this season.

Background info

Rodemaker is originally from Valdosta, Georgia. Listed at 6-foot-4, he threw for 6,811 yards and 74 touchdowns in his prolific high school career.

Rodemaker was a 3-star prospect in the class of 2020. He was the No. 652 overall player and the No. 25 pro-style quarterback in the country for that recruiting cycle, according to 247Sports Composite rankings.

He chose Florida State over programs such as Baylor, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, amongst others. He’s been committed to Florida State since Dec. 13, 2019 — just 5 days after Norvell was named head coach at FSU.