What happen to LB Shawn Murphy, is he hurt?

FSU sports information:

For the first time since 2017, the Florida State volleyball team will be ranked in the Top 25 to start the season. The Seminoles were ranked 20th in the AVCA/TARAFELX Preseason Top 25 poll on Monday afternoon.

The Seminoles will play six teams ranked in the Top 25 - No. 4 Pitt, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Louisville, No. 11 Florida, No. 14 Georgia Tech and No. 25 Georgia - with four of those six games happening inside of Tully Gym. The Seminoles will also play SMU, Auburn and Miami who all received votes in the preseason poll.

This is just the ninth time that FSU has begun the season ranked and the first time since 2017. FSU will begin its season at home at the Seminole Invitational where they will take on USF on Aug. 30, UC Santa Barbara on Aug. 31 and No. 25 Georgia on Sept. 1.

Here are some of my thoughts on the defensive depth chart entering the GT game:

DE- Payton and Jones Jr. are the starters and could be excellent as the bookends on the front four. Jones Jr. adjusted to the change in scheme pretty quickly and is big and powerful. Will be fun to see what these two do this season. Not sure if they will be as good as the Payton/Verse combo but closer than I thought coming into fall camp. I think Lolohea and Turner are solid as backups but there is a significant drop off in my opinion. I do think Turner has improved over last year. Lolohea has experience but is not nearly the same player as Payton who he will be backing up.

DT-Farmer and Jackson are the starters here and there really wasn't even any question about that entering camp and none exiting camp. Both should be motivated as they are likely playing there last year of college ball and need to have outstanding seasons to enhance their draft stock. Jackson is unblockable when he wants to be. Farmer seems like he is ready to have his best season.

I think these two guys are the key to FSU's success on defense. They will definitely factor into how the LBs play this year. Both will be disruptive as individual players, but they will also be responsible for tying up blockers and freeing up and allowing the LBs to play downhill. We saw the LBs get better in camp and were particularly more effective when playing behind these two guys.


Lyons and Kelly or listed as the backups behind Jackson and there is clearly a drop off, but Lyons should continue to develop as the season goes on and he had a nice camp but would like to see him crank his motor up a little more often. I wasn't as impressed with Kelly this fall as I was in the spring, but you can't replace his experience and that will come in handy during the season. Sampson and Durojaiye or listed as co-backups to Farmer. I really think Sampson has the chance to take the next step in his development and solidify himself as the heir apparent to Farmer after this season. Durojaiye took to the move inside very quickly and should just continue to get better with reps. Both work extremely hard in practice.

LB-Riley and Nichelson are listed as co-starters at the WILL LB spot and that jives with what I have seen at practice. They have both improved as fall camp went on and both need to have really good seasons for FSU to be as dominant on defense as it was last year. Ward is listed as the third guy at WILL.

Lundy will be the starter at the MIKE LB spot and will be backed by either Graham Jr. or Cryer. Graham will likely get the first call to backup Lundy, but I think as the season goes on it will be Cryer as the main backup here.

Nickel Corner-Knowles and Little are listed as co-starters with Rawls as the third guy. Having co-starters here is a bit of surprise. Most of the guys that cover the program (I am not included in that group) said it would be Little by a landslide, it wasn't. Knowles had a good camp but did not play well last season. Little has potential but isn't proven. Rawls show flashes. Will be interesting to see how good this position is once we get into the season. Going to have to see if to believe it type thing here. Is Knowles that much better than last year and is Little is big as the hype some have given him?

Boundary Corner-Cypress had a great camp and seems more comfortable playing mostly on the boundary side like he did at UVA. Jones is backing him up and I think he has big-time potential himself but needs to get some game experience. Bates is behind Jones.

Strong Safety-Brown has a solid camp. I thought he might get pushed a little harder than he did by Kirkland. Shyheim is the most experience player in the secondary and should play better than last year. Still fired up about Kirkland's potential but didn't see him flash this fall as much as I thought he would. Bates his behind him.

Free Safety-Brown and Hussey are full of potential but are still young. Will be interesting to see how they play when the lights come on. Might be some trial by fire early but both should get better as the season goes on.

Field Corner-AZ is in line for a huge year and if he has one it is likely his last season in Tallahassee. I thought he had a great camp. Joseph and Lester or listed as co-backups to AZ. Both have huge potential; I just think it is a matter of who matures the fastest as who to plays more.

The Sideline guys did a great job with this one, how about the board?

You are Mike Norvell, we are the receiving team vs GT and after a decent return we are to begin our first drive of the 2024 season at the 36 yard line. . . What is the first play you call?

So many options available, and obviously you want to have some success on your first drive, so a low percentage down field heave would probably not be the smartest. . .although it would be unexpected.

I think the entire world expects us to run the ball on the first play, for good reason. Even with GT expecting us to run, it would still be nice to see how we fare against them, even with them keying on the run. An understandable play call.

My take. . .play action pass to Morlock. With so much expectation on running the ball, faking a handoff to him and throwing a nice safe pass to Morlock for 10 yards or so could do a lot for getting DJU involved, and building some confidence if it is successful.

Thoughts?

It's officially game week in Tallahassee.

The Florida State football team held its first of five game-week practices Monday morning ahead of Saturday's noon EST season opener vs. Georgia Tech in Dublin on Saturday (ESPN).

With game week now here, we'll be pivoting to bullet-point observations on the board instead of fully-formed stories for our practice reports from the two practices we get to watch each game week.

Here are the observations from Monday morning's practice:

• I thought Monday was one of DJ Uiagalelei's best practices at FSU. In fact, I think you can make the case his last two practices have been two of his best since joining the program. He was accurate at a high level, spread the ball around all over the field to all his playmakers and had some high-level throws. One in particular that stood out was an exceptional tight-window downfield throw to Jalen Brown, who caught the ball just before the closing safety got there and held on for a catch through contact and the ground. It's encouraging that he really seems to be rounding into form as game week begins.
• Quite a few wide receivers had nice days on Monday. It was a very good day for the passing game and a number of guys like Kentron Poitier, Ja'Khi Douglas, Elijah Moore, Kyle Morlock and Landen Thomas flashed. But no one on the offense may have had a better day than Darion Williamson. The redshirt senior just seemed to make plays during each portion of practice at an exceptional level. The ball just kept finding him and he kept taking advantage of the opportunities. Williamson has always been a great practice player, but injuries have kept that from ever translating to the field on a consistent basis. That changing this season would be a big boost for the FSU passing game.
• Azareye'h Thomas had one of the more impressive interceptions I've seen in an FSU practice during 1-on-1s Monday. He was in great coverage vs. Poitier, reached his hand around to deny him a catch and then caught his own deflection in midair while falling to the ground. It was a truly unbelievable play and yet also believable from the high level he's played at consistently this preseason. Thomas nearly added another interception in a team period later in the practice, but couldn't secure it and assigned himself push-ups as a punishment because of the mistake.
• Edwin Joseph and Cam Riley each had tip-drill interceptions in 7-on-7 Pass Skelly on balls that bounced off receiver's hands and up into the air.

Game week practice first impressions: Some quick thoughts from Nick and myself

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Seminole Sidelines will be live at 3pm on Tuesday and I will be joined by former FSU OL and college football coach Mark, FSU alum and Tampa sports talk radio host JP Peterson along with either Jerry Kutz from Dublin or Bob Ferrante. We will talk about my Takeaways from preseason camp, the depth chart and some college football at large.

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The latest on a lot of big names:

FSU kicked off Georgia Tech week Monday morning on the practice field. Here’s a few minutes of highlight footage.

I wanted to wait until closer to game time to see how both teams are fared through practice before the game in Ireland. . .but the spread went down to 12 again, and I took it.

The main reasons were posted in the GT front 7 post. GT was literally last in the ACC in YPC allowed on defense. They look to have added some more beef and talent on the defensive side of the ball in an attempt to address that, but I would be very surprised if such a disaster can be fixed so quickly. This O-line will just be dominant, and it will just open up so much on offense. This defense will be chomping at the bit to hit somebody else, and I have a feeling they will be out to make a statement in game one against a formidable GT offense.

Its early, but right now I'm feeling 37-10

Story from Justin Hood as the Seminoles cruise to a 10-0 win. Taylor Huff scores a hat trick to lead FSU (2-0).

Touched down at 6am and had a breakfast Guinness to start the day (hey, it’s 2am Tally time).
Seminoles on the flight. Seminoles in the breakfast pub.
Looking forward to a fun week.
1. Remember to change your phone service plan
2. Buy some euros.
3. Taxi from airport to center of Dublin is normally $25-30 euro but they can add $30 if you choose the M50 highway rather than the neighborhood. My driver asked what I preferred but didn’t tell me it would be an extra $30. I’m told travel time is equal one way or the other.
4. It is a grey flannel sky over Ireland. Drizzly with temp in the 50s, a welcome relief fro 93 in Tally. Pack accordingly. Layers and dry shoes. FSU managers need to plan for wet ball and field.
5. Locals say Temple Bar area is touristy and expensive, fine by day, but at night Grafton Street and Smithfield are where the locals prefer. They report all of Dublin is safe.
6. When asked biggest problem the response is immigration from Ukraine and African continent. Claims there is homeless as a result. Haven’t seen it yet.
7. Unless you are an FSU lineman you can split the full Irish breakfast… with your Guinness.
8. Train trip to Galway impressions. Green pastures cover slightly rolling hills similar to Tallahassee) but dotted by sheep everywhere. Very few people anywhere but in Dublin, causing me to Google it:
5.1 million people
4.7 million sheep
6.6 million cows
Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have more population (6.3 million)
Feel smarter?

How in the world is Hykeem Williams 3rd string? What’s really going on?

FSU sports information:

The No. 1 Florida State soccer team (1-0-0) returns to the Seminole Soccer Complex for its home opener on Sunday evening against North Florida (1-0-0). The Seminoles have tied the program record with an unbeaten streak of 24 games.

FSU will play North Florida for a second straight year. The Seminoles have recorded four victories in the four matches over the Ospreys and will host UNF for the first time since 2011. Florida State defeated North Florida 4-0 in Jacksonville last season and Taylor Huff recorded three assists in the encounter, her career best that she managed to equal in this season’s opening match at South Florida.

The Seminoles hold a 35-game scoring streak dating back to 2022, the longest in program history and are on the program’s longest winning streak at 16 games. FSU also holds a 24-game unbeaten streak which sits level with the school record. Florida State has been formidable at the Seminole Soccer Complex with a 16-game home winning streak that stretches back to 2022 and includes eight postseason victories.

The reigning national champions cruised through South Florida in a 5-0 victory on opening day to start the season undefeated for a 16th consecutive year. Mimi Van Zanten registered the first goal of the season off an incredible shot from outside the box before Jordynn Dudley scored her 15th career goal. Both players were named to the 2023 All-ACC Freshman Team. The second half saw three more goals and three different goal scorers, newcomers Giana Riley, Marianyela Jiménez, and Taylor Suarez each scoring their first goals donning the garnet and gold.

Florida State completed its first-ever undefeated season en route to the program’s fourth national championship in 2023 with a 22-0-1 record. The Seminoles finished their last six games with a plus-18 goal differential, scoring 19 goals and conceding just one goal. Onyi Echegini earned the program’s third MAC Hermann Trophy in the past four seasons, the best collegiate soccer player of the season.

The Seminoles return 10 players from last year’s side including United Soccer Coaches National Freshman of the Year Dudley and second-team All-ACC honoree Huff. FSU capitalized on the recruiting trail, raking in the No. 1 2024 recruiting class according to TopDrawerSoccer, bringing seven incoming transfers and seven freshmen into the fold.

Gates will open at 5 p.m. and the first 750 fans will receive a free 2024 FSU Soccer schedule magnet upon entry. The 6 p.m. game will stream on ACC Network Extra.

Spoke to two sources close to Miami. One felt he was going to LSU. The other had heard until recently UF was in the lead. The Gators biggest issue though is Bryce Fitzgerald is concerned that Napier will be fired. Neither said Miami was going to land him though neither would be surprised if they did. There are many who feel because Fitzgerald is a Columbus kid that he would end up at Miami. Fitz is not your typical Columbus player. He just transferred there this year. He was at Belen most of his time there. He does not have ties or former family members which went to Columbus or Miami.

I felt FSU's chances of landing Fitzgerald were slim until he took a visit. I was told he fell in love with FSU. I feel FSU has a legit shot at pulling him off. Not ready to put a futurecast in. Miami has a ton of safeties committed and landed a stud last year who may start. Fitzgerald wants to play early and FSU gives him their best shot. If not for Napier and his hot seat I would put them down as the school that he chooses. FSU has a very good shot at landing him. He chooses a school tomorrow.

Mike Norvell knew coming into preseason the 2024 FSU offense was going to be built around speed. What he maybe didn't know and has learned over the last few weeks is the work ethic this team brings to work every day.

"This team has been about the work...They go and work and attack it."

Mike Norvell will hold his weekly press conference on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. We'll discuss the preseason, Georgia Tech and likely get a depth chart (as always, we'll be curious how many "or" designations).

We'll have updates from Norvell below in the thread.

FSU's schedule is a little different this week. Practices on Monday and Wednesday will be open in the mornings. Tuesday's practice is closed.

Norvell will do the first "Inside Seminole Football" on Monday at 7 p.m. He will also speak to the Tallahassee Quarterback Club on Tuesday night. The Seminoles fly to Ireland after practice on Wednesday.

The team will practice in Dublin on Thursday and Friday.

Here is a highlight from Tramell Jones and Mandarin's game vs. Orange Park which they won easily. Will add more as I find them.

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