With a Monday night game in Week 1, Florida State has had a delayed schedule of practice availability this week. Because of this FSU held its final practice availability before the Boston College home opener Friday morning.
Here are our quick observations from the practice:
It was an up and down day for the FSU passing game in Friday morning's practice. On the bright side, the wide receivers won 1-on-1s against the secondary at a higher rate perhaps than at any practice we've seen since preseason camp began. Throughout the first few reps, elite route-running and really strong playmaking in terms of finishing plays were on constant display. Jalen Brown and Kentron Poitier ran clean routes to beat some of FSU's top DBs and Brian Courtney made a great play where he tipped a pass to himself in the air for a catch. Outside of that stretch, though, drops were a problem Friday morning. FSU ran one-minute drill periods with each of its top two units early in Friday's practice and both drives were essentially totally stopped by catching issues from the wide receivers along with some solid coverage.
I didn't think the passing game struggles were reflective of the quarterback play on the day. DJ Uiagalelei had a few really nice passes to Darion Williamson and generally operated things well. Brock Glenn had maybe the most impressive throw of the day, a bolt over the middle under pressure that hit Williamson right in the cradle of his arm for an impressive throw and catch and a solid pickup.
It was also the second straight day where Jaylin Lucas made his presence felt in team periods. Mike Norvell seems to have challenged himself in some ways to make sure Lucas is involved vs. BC after he saw minimal usage over the final few drives of FSU's loss to GT.
On the whole, the FSU defense made things hard for the offense in team periods Friday. There was quite a bit of pressure and plays on the ball. Pat Payton flashed a few times, recording a sack in 11-on-11 work and tipping a pass at the line of scrimmage during the opening team period. Conrad Hussey also had an interception in 7-on-7 pass skelly on a tip-drill pass knocked into the air by another defensive back. Edwin Joseph also made a few plays during the one-minute drill, sticking with the receiver to prevent catches.
Walk-on freshman QB Trevor Jackson is again working with the scout team as the stand-in for FSU's opposing quarterback this week. After working as Haynes King last week, he's served as the surrogate for BC starter Thomas Castellanos this week. It's a role that fits him as Jackson is very athletic and made a few really nice throws on the run Friday, something Castellanos did last September vs. FSU. It's hard to imagine many teams have such a talented, mobile fill-in at scout team QB to replicate what the defense will see this upcoming week in the game.
