<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2n4rwe_0vkJE5Er00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2n4rwe_0vkJE5Er00" width="1210" height="806" ></figure><p>While an eerie breeze swept through the Tallahassee air Wednesday morning due to Hurricane Helene, work carried on like normal for Florida State Seminoles football inside the Dunlap Practice Facility. </p><p>Actually, more work went on than usual, as the entire offense exited the locker room 20 minutes earlier than they normally do. Although the media cannot access that portion of practice, the whistles ringing from the building answered what they wanted to achieve.</p><p>Unfortunately, their efforts did not reap immediate rewards as the defense took care of business while participating in the first few portions of team drills. Mike Norvell ran his team through two-minute work to begin the day, and Adam Fuller’s unit kept everything in front of them, resulting in the offense finding difficulty creating chunk plays. The defense continued their positive momentum during third-down practice on Wednesday. DJ Uiagalelei rarely found a place to go with the ball as the secondary locked down the back end. </p><p>The Florida State offense finally broke through late when working on the red zone, where improvement must happen quickly. Uiagalelei also found a rhythm during seven-on-seven, including slinging a toe-tap grab to freshman Lawyane McCoy for one of the highlight reel plays. After practice, Norvell did not mention if their plans changed due to the storm, but ESPN reported Wednesday night that the Seminoles would leave tomorrow to avoid the effects. He also summarized practice during his opening statement.</p><p>“I thought today was a good practice. I thought, once again, guys came out with good energy. It was a 3rd down day. Really tried to push and the speed work, trying to keep the good-on-good, trying to keep somewhat of an emphasis of what we’re going to face here this week.”</p><p>Three themes stood out on what ended up being a get-away day practice.</p><h2>No. 1: Lawrance Toafili </h2><p>While the running back did not rip off any highlight reel runs on Wednesday, his pass-catching out of the backfield became the quarterbacks’ most efficient way to move the ball down the field. During the first 11-on-11, Brock Glenn found Toafili on back-to-back plays to get his two-minute drill off the ground. The second of the two catches opened eyes around the field as the RB made a difficult hands catch to come down with the completion. However, his best reception came during one-on-ones in the red zone. LT cleanly beat his man off the line of scrimmage, and a beautiful throw from Uiagalelei and a difficult catch resulted in a touchdown that brought plenty of offensive players over off the sideline into the end zone to celebrate. During the final team period, he ripped off at least a first down before the coaches whistled the play dead as he stuck his foot in the ground after finding the hole and burst out the other side. After the game against Cal, Norvell talked highly of his senior leader.</p><p>“LT really had to battle throughout the week. He’s such a consistent person, player, just remarkable young man. I was really happy for him and the performance he was able to put. Yeah, LT, we needed him to be a workhorse tonight and I thought he definitely answered the call.”</p><p>With Roydell Williams out for an “extended period of time,” Toafili should be the bell-cow for the second week in a row against SMU.</p><h2>No. 2: Secondary </h2><p>Truly, every practice in the last couple of weeks produced tremendous performances from the secondary, but when the offense finds this much difficulty moving the ball through the air, it deserves to be highlighted.</p><p>Even as Patrick Surtain rotates tons of bodies on and off the field, communication has improved remarkably from the beginning weeks of the season to now, and they displayed that on Wednesday. Uiagalelei could not find open receivers during the two-minute drills or 3rd-down practice as the corner played solid coverage underneath, and the safety always ended up in the right spot above him. The transfer QB took some early shots on deep balls to Malik Benson and Darion Williamson, but they forced him to send the ball into the stands with shutdown coverage. Part of their success came from their own ability, but part came from Fuller's hard coaching. He sounded like Coach Norvell, constantly harping on guys to run everywhere, step up, and be a real one. The defensive coordinator’s scheme takes time to get everyone on the page to begin the season, but with the secondary beginning to find their stride, they should put on another strong display against the Mustangs.</p><h2>No. 3: Highlight reel plays</h2><p>One of the main differences between this season and the 2023 team, besides all of them, is the lack of individual brilliance. So often last year, someone would just make a play that changed the course of the game, and this team lacks that feature. </p><p>On Wednesday, multiple players put in a nomination for SportsCenter Top 10. The first jaw-dropper came from Conrad Hussey during one-on-ones, who undercut the route run by Kyle Morlock and, with one hand, plucked the ball out of the air for an interception. In that same period, Hykeem Williams took Azareye’h Thomas to school when he ran a fade route and took the ball off Thomas’ helmet for a touchdown. Not to be outdone, the 5’9’’ inch Ja’Khi Douglas mossed his defensive back for another score. The plays from Toafili and McCoy mentioned earlier also deserve consideration for plays of the practice. When meeting with the media, Norvell discussed how his team could translate their skill to the game.</p><p>“There’s been moments, but it's got to show, and it's got to be consistent. Take the confidence in the work that you put in, and then you’ve got to go apply it. It’s one of the things, I think we’re really close, I really do.”</p><p>That is all from practice this week as the Seminoles take off for Texas tomorrow. The full availabilities from Mike Norvell and Jalen Brown can be found below.</p><h2>Head Coach Mike Norvell</h2><div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3GD0rh7EZco?rel=0" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div><h2>WR Jalen Brown</h2><div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sys2Mr6geRg?rel=0" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div></div></body>

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“Everything matters!” Notes, observations from FSU’s last practice before heading to Dallas to take on SMU

While an eerie breeze swept through the Tallahassee air Wednesday morning due to Hurricane Helene, work carried on like normal for Florida State Seminoles football inside the Dunlap Practice Facility. Actually, more work went on than usual, as the entire offense exited the locker room 20 minutes earlier than they...