After taking a day off from on-field practice, the Florida State football team was right back at Sunday morning with a practice in shells that lasted well over two hours.
And there was a whole lot of 11-on-11 competition to end it. Normally I like to throw in a few graphs of preamble, but who cares about all that? You’re here for the observations, so I’m gonna give em to you!
The day started with a hurry-up, 11-on-11 drill in the indoor practice facility and the defense dominated the offense during those few plays, highlighted by a terrific interception by Azareye’h Thomas near the sideline on a deep ball that was intended for Hykeem Williams . It was like Thomas ran the route for him. Great coverage. Great play. Maybe D.J. Uiagalelei was supposed to put the ball in a different spot? But either way Thomas had exceptional coverage. Like he usually does.
On the second series, Brock Glenn missed Kentron Poitier on a deep shot in which the receiver had about two steps on the defender.
Ryan Fitzgerald finished off the period with a 38-yard field goal. I also watched Fitzgerald make one from 54 and it looked like he was good from 57, too. Couldn’t quite tell because of my vantage point whether it split the uprights but absolutely had more than enough distance. Really is amazing how much different his leg looks from a couple years ago.
Fitzgerald did get a field goal blocked – for the second straight practice – by Patrick Payton a few moments later. He then drilled a 45-yarder. Freshman Jake Weinberg hasn’t been as accurate as Fitzgerald through the first four practices, but man, his leg is the truth. Extremely powerful pickup for Florida State.
Onto the 1-on-1s:
Thomas locked up Poitier on a sideline pass and Fentrell Cypress had an interception on a deep ball intended for Malik Benson . Picks in 1-on-1s are extremely rare, but Cypress had great coverage and made a sprawling catch. He and Thomas have been really, really good so far this camp.
Big plays for the offense were a 60-yard catch for Darion Williamson from Glenn. Benson got behind Edwin Joseph and made a really impressive hands catch on a throw from Glenn. Benson continues to look the part of the No. 1 WR in my opinion.
Jackson West had a nice contested catch against Conrad Hussey and Jalen Brown had a diving catch against tight coverage from Cai Bates . It was a good throw by Luke Kromenhoek . Perfect placement.
Hykeem Williams ran two good routes in 1-on-1s. He dropped the first ball in the middle of the field and then seemed to get free down the sideline on his next rep but the ball was thrown out of bounds. Williams had a good day overall, though. More on him in a moment.
Elijah Moore and Ja’Khi Douglas both had drops as well in 1-on-1s on plays that would have been massive gains. Douglas, typically one of the most sure-handed guys on the team, had a couple of drops on Sunday. Hopefully just a blip for the veteran, who also narrowly beat Thomas to get open for about a 10-yard gain.
Freshman tight end Amaree Williams continues to make plays and he beat Earl Little for about a 20-yard gain to close out the period.
As for the defense, Ricky Knight had another PBU in 1-on-1s going up against Cam Frier and Davonte Brown had an impressive break-up on a pass intended for BJ Gibson .
Now, we’ll get to the highlights of 7-on-7:
Caziah Holmes got free for what might have been a 60-yard touchdown pass from Uiagalelei. But it’s maybe not fair to the defense because Uiagalelei took a ton of time to roll out and throw the ball – and it felt like the play may have been dead. He also hit Kyle Morlock for a nice gain during that series.
Uiagalelei then hit his big tight end for a 20-yard completion down the right sideline. Cam Riley was right there with him, but the throw and catch were just too good.
He then hit maybe the most impressive pass of day a few moments later when he found Benson rolling to his right against Thomas. The coverage was right there, but the throw was just too good and Benson caught it, turned up field and then turned on the jets. Impossible to know if he would have gotten to the end zone, but it was going to be close. Either way it was a 50-60 yard gain.
Uiagalelei then found Brown for about 14 yards a play later. Other than the pass that was intercepted to start practice, it seemed like the Oregon State transfer had another strong day. He’s taking care of the ball and other than some miscommunication – which is normal on Day 4 with a bunch of new skill players – he seemed to be sharp.
Glenn was just 2 of 8 during the 7-on-7s, but it was hard to tell if he was just off or if his receivers weren’t where they were supposed to be. Again, it’s early. And a lot of new guys are working at those skill spots. But clearly wasn’t all that sharp during this portion.
He did have maybe the best throw of the day though in 11-on-11 when he rolled out and found Williams for what may very well have been a 60-yard touchdown. It looked like Williams caught it and was able to cut up field before stepping out of bounds. So, it was a huge play from a receiver who might be starting to come into his own.
“He’s getting close,” head coach Mike Norvell said afterwards.
Other offensive highlights in 11-on-11 included a long run by Lawrance Toafili that would have gone for at least 30. Good hole up the middle and a great cutback by Florida State’s veteran back.
Uiagalelei hit Roydell Williams for about 13 yards and then found tight end Jerrale Powers in the flat for at least 20 yards. He also hit Benson and Morlock for nice gains on successive passes.
On one of his next series – all of these were third-down plays by the way – he found Samuel Singleton for a first down and then hit Williams for a 20-yard gain near the sideline.
Deuce Spann also made an impressive 35-yard catch over Bates on a throw from Glenn. And Micahi Danzy , who really seems to be coming along, had at least a 50-yard gain on a catch and run on a throw by Glenn. With that speed it might have been a touchdown as well, but the whistles were being blown. Danzy also had a long grab on a pass from Kromenhoek in 7-on-7 work.
Kromenhoek hit Williams for a 14-yard gain in what was his best throw in 11-on-11. Singleton, too, had a big run during that portion of practice – which very much excited Norvell as he sprinted to the end zone with his running back. Frier also had back-to-back catches for positive gains near the end of practice.
But, again, just because I’ve listed a bunch of offensive highlights don’t think the day was dominated by that side of the ball. The Florida State defense, I thought, was actually the better of the two units during the practice. It was a good battle, though.
Hussey had a forced fumble on the first play of 11-on-11, knocking the ball free from Toafili on a catch.
Payton had a sack of Uiagalelei. Joshua Farmer dominated a double team to push the linemen back into Uiagalelei and force an incompletion. K.J. Sampson had another tackle for loss as did Riley.
Riley, in fact, had one of the more impressive plays of the day when he was able to get to the edge and force Jaylin Lucas out of bounds for a minimal gain. Impressive athleticism from such a big dude.
And that is it for my observations, now it’s time for the “A Gap with Aslan” and what he saw from the line of scrimmage during Practice No. 4 for Florida State.
Early line work saw mostly even play from both sides. Flashes included Patrick Payton flexing his strength to beat a tackle in a two defensive linemen vs. two offense linemen drill.
In the 3-on-3 drill where a tight end is attached and a linebacker is in formation behind the DL, Cam Riley triggered and blasted through a gap garnering enthusiastic praise from the usually stoic Randy Shannon. Justin Cryer had similar success and was mobbed by a defensive assistant.
Generally speaking, while they’re not immune from freshman moments, summer enrollees Jonathan Daniels and Manasse Itete are receiving good feedback from Alex Atkins during individual work. They’re processing and applying teaching points in real time very well.
Feels safe to say K.J. Sampson is the next best option on the interior behind Joshua Farmer and Darrell Jackson at this point. That’s no knock to others in the segment but a testament to his growth after one season. Whether it’s individual work or 11-on-11 periods, Sampson is getting past his assignments and creating negative plays.
Sione Lolohea had a very disruptive day garnering kudos from John Papuchis after both individual wins and combination concepts with a rotating cast of defensive tackles. He also affected a screen pass in team period that caught the eye of Norvell.
Quick hits
Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.
The post Corey Clark: Observations from Day 4 of Florida State football practice appeared first on On3 .
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