Just wrapped the first practice of Louisville week. Accelerated timeline with no Monday press conferences this week due to a Friday night game. Here's today's practice report, in bulleted form:
- The first-team FSU offense had a strong first portion of 11-on-11 work, marching down the field with a few runs and catches by Malik McClain and Mycah Pittman before a missed field goal brought an unfortunate end to the possession. The second team offense's drive started strong but came to a halt when Jacksonville State transfer Malik Feaster came away with an impressive interception of a Tate Rodemaker pass.
- A lot of scout team work as you would expect after that prep began last week during the bye. After the FSU offense saw its streak of 39 straight red-zone scores end against LSU, that was a focus of a lengthy scout team portion Monday morning. The FSU offense worked against the scout-team offense on plays from inside the five, seemingly an emphasis on finishing drives with touchdowns. The FSU defense spent that portion of practice preparing for a mobile quarterback like Malik Cunningham against the scout-team offense.
- It wasn't the best day for the FSU receivers, who had too many drops across the board which hindered some consistency. However, Darion Williamson again flashed with an impressive airborne touchdown over Kevin Knowles II in the final play of the game scenario FSU runs at most practices. While the passing game didn't have the most success Monday, each of the quarterbacks had special moments. AJ Duffy uncorked a beautiful pass in stride to Kentron Poitier, Rodemaker had a few nice passes in 11-on-11 scout-team work near the end of practice -- one a very impressive catch by Wyatt Rector on a post out route -- and Travis again spread the ball around well, consistently throwing catchable passes, even if they weren't always caught.
- Each of the three main running backs had their moments of success Monday morning. After they combined for just 73 yards against LSU, this week's game at Louisville should present a chance for a bounceback and they seem poised to do just that based off Monday's practice.
- The FSU coaching staff continues to challenge true freshman offensive lineman Julian Armella in practice. He had consecutive 1-on-1 reps against Derrick McLendon late in Monday's practice. On the first, McLendon seemed to speed past him, but Armella recovered impressively and met/blocked him before he could fully penetrate the backfield for a pressure. On the second rep, Armella quickly got his hands on McLendon and shut his pass rush down from there.
- On the defensive line, Bishop Thomas had a very good day in 1-on-1s. Through a mix of speed and power, he was a force, consistently winning his reps and getting pressure. He likely won't contribute this year, but continues to look like a future contributor with high upside.
