Lottie Woad, James Tibbs recognized as FSU's athletes of the year

With Jared Verse and Braden Fiske watching from the sidelines, FSU's pass rush consistently made its presence felt in Saturday's Spring Showcase led by Marvin Jones Jr. and supplemented by others.

FSU sports information:

The No. 18 Florida State softball team (36-10, 15-3) stayed hot with its 10th consecutive win as FSU defeated Boston College (25-19, 5-13) 10-3 to complete the series sweep in front of a capacity crowd on Sunday afternoon.

The Noles got the offense going right away as Kaley Mudge led off the game with a single. Jaysoni Beachum then smacked her 12th home run of the season to earn her 50th RBI of the season. Beachumis now tied with Sydney Sherrill for second place in school history for the most home runs by a true freshman. Beachum joins Jessi Warren and Sherrill as the only true freshmen to eclipse the 50 RBI mark in their first season.

FSU added another run in the top of the third as the top of the lineup came through again with Mudge earning a single and Beachum earning a double to put runners on second and third. Isa Torres then hit a ground ball to score Mudge to extend the lead to 3-0.

Boston College responded with three runs of its own to tie the game in the bottom of the third. The Seminoles responded with a two out rally in the top of the fourth with back-to-back singles from Katie Dack and Devyn Flaherty to put runners in scoring position for Mudge. Mudge delivered with a laser down the left field line for her third hit of the afternoon to give the Noles a 5-3 lead.

Boston College threatened in both the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, but the FSU defense held strong to keep the Eagles off the board. The Eagles led off the bottom of the fourth with a hard hit ball that took an awkward bounce off the wall. The batter tried to turn a triple into an inside-the-park home run, but Jahni Kerr started a perfect relay to Flaherty who fired it into Dack who applied the tag to keep the Eagles off the board.

The Eagles threatened again in the bottom of the fifth as they loaded the bases with two outs, but Ashtyn Danley froze the hitter on a changeup to get out of the inning.

FSU carried the momentum into the top of the sixth as they exploded with five runs on four hits to blow the game open. After Hallie Wacaser walked, Katie Dack hit a moonshot over the scoreboard in left field for her third home run of the year to make it 7-3. Torres continued the scoring with a double down the right field line to score Mudge and Annie Potter. Kerr added one more run on a single to give FSU a commanding 10-3 lead.

Danley, Mimi Gooden and Allison Royalty combined to keep the Eagles off the board in the sixth and seven innings to secure the win for FSU. Danley improved to 13-3 on the year with the win.

The Noles will now head to Gainesville on Wednesday night for a top 20 rivalry matchup with the Florida Gators. FSU will go into Wednesday night's showdown as winners of 18 out of its last 19 games.

FSU has won five consecutive games against the Gators, which is tied for the longest win streak by either school in the series. First pitch against the Gators is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.

QB - DJ Uiagalelei - What I watched is exactly what was expected. There is good, bad and ugly with DJ. The thing that stands out is FSU is going to have more BIG PLAYS this year with DJ at QB. He can stretch the field. He is going to test the deep middle of the field. Watch out for the deep seam routes. FSU is going to be able to utilize the deep sideline routes. They will be able to play outside the numbers.


Where DJ is going to struggle is in the shorter passing game. The screen game will be something that I expect to be inconsistent. For FSU to sustain drives they are going to have to win 1st down. You are going to need to have him gain 3-4 yards. DJ gets behind the sticks there are going to be a ton of short drives. Reality is Jordan Travis is a more accurate QB. I do think FSU will be able to get big plays for touchdowns. His arm strength is what will allow that. I also think you are going to have plenty of short drives where you have to give the ball back quickly. I do think MN will incorporate a ton of run plays to keep FSU in front of the sticks. The final analysis is with DJ there is going to be a ton of good...But there is going to be a ton of bad as well. It will get frustrating at times because Jordan is much steadier. Think the offense will be good but fans need to be patient with DJ.....

RB-As long as MN is the head coach at FSU, I am not going to worry about the run game. He has had success running the football from the moment he stepped on FSU campus. While none of the backs are Trey Benson, it won't matter much. They will be able to pick up 4-5 yards consistently on the ground, keep the chains moving and sustain drives. DJ ability to run will also help the run game. I liked Roydell Williams - He showed great patience on the TD run. He let his blockers do their job and he waited till a big opening was there and pounced. He showed very good vision on the run. I love mr. Toafili. He had a very good run. Reality is his blocking was not very good but he bounced it outside and got into the end-zone.

Lucas....Don't kill me for saying this but he has a little #28 in him. Think he provides some big plays.

WR-Not going to lie....I have some concerns at WR. Malik Benson was the one bright spot. Hopefully Benson is not hurt for long. Love the way he attacked the ball in the air. He has great body control. Very good hands. Runs good routes. He is FSU best WR. The rest of the group needs a ton of work between now and next season. I still have a ton of hope for Hykeem Williams because we have seen him flash. He just needs to become more consistent. Poitier made one good catch and had a bad drop. It would not surprise me to see him hit the portal. If he gets beaten out and FSU needing a spot it would not shock me to see him move on. I liked the one run by Jalen Brown. This group is a major drop off from Wilson and Coleman. There is some potential but right now that is all it is.

TE- Probably the most disappointing group on offense. I have heard a ton about Jackson West this spring. He is solid....Did not see Morlock out there. Courtney may also be on the Transfer Market. The mentioned Landen during the broadcast....Overall the group did not do much and I honestly expect FSU to not run a ton of 2 tight end sets this year. You could have some attrition and honestly it would not surprise me to see FSU try and find another TE In the portal.

OL - On Williams TD run they did a very good job. On Toafili run it was on him. I think the OL will be fine. These guys have some starts and this should be the strength of the team. They did struggle at times with a pass rush. That being said with DJ being in a colored jersey it took away his greatest strength and that is his ability to get you with his legs. I think the line will be very good. Would have liked to have seen Armella, Lucas Simmons and Early have played. I think it is a big year for all three of them.

DL- MJJ- Was real high on him coming out of HS. Did not hear real positive things about him at UGA. He looked good yesterday. He has size, length and ability to get up the field. He is going to have a big season. I could see him having all conference type year. On one play he dropped into coverage and could have had an INT. That showed you his athletic ability. Kid just has talent oozing out of him. Pat will be fine...I do think MJJ has more upside and will have the better season. That being said Pat will benefit with having MJJ on the field with him. I liked what I saw from the interior DL. Add in Jackson and Farmer inside and FSU will be fine up front. The DL will be a strength again.

LB- DJ Lundy - He looked trimmed down and honestly, I liked what I saw from him. This is the best version of Lundy we have seen. He is the best backer on the team. I know Ace Nole is not going to like this but Blake Nichelson is the 2nd best backer on the team. He made a couple of plays behind the line of scrimmage. On another player he stayed with a receiver or back and locked the guy down. Believe he may have also had a pass break up. Lundy and Blake are FSU two best backers. Now Shawn Murphy - I will say this....I am not going to fully judge him off this game....But Wow. On Toafili TD run what was he doing? He needs to stay on his feet. His technique was terrible and he went flying. He is not one of the top 2 backers and honestly needs a ton of work. He runs around blocks. He did not look very instinctive. I can see why he did not get on the field at Bama and it was not because of the talent in front of him. The plus side...Look at what this staff did with Bethune and Deloach. Lundy and Blake have gotten much better...So there is hope for Murphy but he can’t play like yesterday or he won't see the field.

DB- Think the secondary is going to be very good again....AZ Thomas is going to be a very sought after DB in the 2025 draft. He is another Xavier Rhodes. Big, long and athletic. Edwin Joseph....FSU hit on him. Great coverage on Hykeem on one play. He had a pass break up on Darion Williamson. I liked what I saw from Quindarius Jones. I believe Charles Lester made a play. Also think I saw Cai Bates get into the action as well. Overall the size, length and speed of the secondary is quite impressive.

Grades on newcomers from spring game.

QB- Luke Kromenhoek- Did not play INC.
RB-Kam Davis, Roydell Williams, Jaylin Lucas- A+- Davis did not play- Williams and Lucas both looked good.
WR- Malik Benson/Jalen Brown - B+ Benson did what he was brought into do...
TE-Landen Thomas-Inc
OL-Richie Leonard, TJ Ferguson - C+ Neither was great but both should provide both the ability to start and depth if needed.
DL-Marvin Jones, Sione Lolohea, Tomiwa Durohaiye, Grady Kelly - B+ close to saying an A. MJJ exceeding my expectations
LB-Shawn Murphy- D- I can see why they took him...Size and some speed...But he has a ton of work to do this summer and into the fall.
DB-Earl Little, Davonte Brown, Charles Lester - Not sure what grade I would give...LEAVE IT BLANK...Did not see much from Little but heard he did well this spring. Lester will be good.

Final Thoughts: I like the team overall. I am not sure if they are going to be as good as last year’s TEAM. I think the talent and depth will be better across the board but this season comes down to one guy...DJ. He needs to be better than what he has shown so far in college. What we saw at Clemson is what we saw yesterday. INCONSISTENT PLAY at the most important position on the field. I have way more faith in MN developing DJ than Dabo. How he performs will be the difference between winning the ACC and making the playoffs or being a 9-3 team in 2024. There is talent on the roster but the experience of last year’s team is what will be tough to replace. It should be an exciting year.

We spoke with him right after he personally received his offer from CMN.
https://floridastate.rivals.com/news/2026-db-ayden-pouncey-recaps-showcase-visit-talks-fsu-offer

Cooper is shaping up to be a nationally sought after recruit in the 2026 class.
https://floridastate.rivals.com/news/fsu-the-top-school-for-2026-rivals100-ath-derrek-cooper

Here are three early takeaways from FSU football's Spring Showcase.

A strong finish for DJ Uiagalelei after a slow start, impactful debuts for quite a few SEC transfers and an explosive run-game perofmrance.

Some late-game heroics in Game 1 Saturday forced a rubber match vs. Wake Forest. But the depleted FSU pitching staff was stretched too thin and couldn't find the zone, losing the rubber match at Wake Forest.

A 1-3 week for FSU drops its record to 31-8.

Florida State (30-7, 10-6 ACC) plays game 2 at Wake Forest (25-12, 10-9) on Saturday at 4 p.m. on ACC Network.

LHP Carson Dorsey (2-2, 4.34 ERA) is on the mound for FSU.

LHP Josh Hartle (4-1, 5.52 ERA) is on the mound for Wake.

We'll have some updates in the thread below, although we'll also be following the spring showcase.

DJ Uiagalelei accepted the spring showcase for what it is: an opportunity to build his connection with teammates and strengthen his understanding of the offense in what is the next step in the Florida State quarterback's learning.

“It was up and down,” Uiagalelei said. “Thought there was some good, thought there was some bad. It wasn’t obviously the cleanest day. Stuff I can learn from. But overall throughout the whole spring I thought I did a good job, continue to keep progressing day in and day out. I just try to get better each and every day. Learn from what I did right, from what I did wrong.”

There was a mix of both in FSU’s spring showcase on Saturday. There was enough to be optimistic about for what Uiagalelei and the offense could show in August as well as some rough edges that need to be worked out.

Uiagalelei completed 12 of 26 passes for 177 yards and had 17 rushing yards. On the surface, those numbers may not look like much. Factor in at least three drops, all on catchable passes, and Uiagalelei’s total easily surpasses 225 yards.

Florida State was finally able to get Kromah back on campus, his first time on campus since October.

https://floridastate.rivals.com/news/rivals100-rb-ousmane-kromah-happy-to-be-back-at-florida-state

FSU sports information:

The second-seeded Florida State Men’s Golf team was firing on all cylinders in the second round of the ACC Championship at Charlotte Country Club, shooting a 9-under on Saturday to sit in second place at 13-under (280-275). FSU’s second-round showing was the low round of the day.

The Seminoles are just three strokes out of first place, with North Carolina leading at 16-under. The final round of stroke play is Sunday, followed by the match-play semifinals on Monday which include the Top four stroke-play teams.

Georgia Tech is in third place at 8-under, followed by Duke (-6), Wake Forest (-5), Virginia (-4), Clemson (-4) and Louisville (-4).

Senior Frederik Kjettrup is in second place at the ACC Championship at 7-under (68-67). Sophomore Luke Clanton is tied for third place at 6-under (69-67).

Kjettrup played another very clean round on Saturday, totaling four birdies and no holes above par. Clanton added six birdies in what was another quality round for one of the nation’s top golfers. Clanton now has eight consecutive rounds in the 60s.

Seniors Gray Albright and Brett Roberts have both shown steady play as well, as each is tied for 22nd at even par. Albright recorded just one bogey on Saturday, and Roberts added four birdies to aid the Seminoles tremendously.

Cole Anderson improved by three strokes from his opening round with a 71, and is currently 3-over.

Anderson begins Sunday’s final round for the Seminoles at 9 a.m. on hole 1. Albright then goes off at 9:12 a.m., followed by Roberts (9:24 a.m.), Clanton (9:36 a.m.) and Kjettrup (9:48 a.m.).

In-round updates of the ACC Championship will be provided on the team’s X account: @FSUGolf. Sunday’s final round can be tracked on Golfstat.com.

No official stats from FSU's Spring Showcase but here are my unofficial stats on what the Seminoles' offensive players did in today's event.

Florida State will be hosting a large crop of prospects from the 2025, 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes on campus today for the Seminole Showcase. If you are interested in seeing who we expect on campus today, here is the visitors list that we published yesterday:
https://floridastate.rivals.com/news/recruiting-fsu-s-spring-showcase-visit-list-will-be-updated-

Throughout the afternoon, we will be posting pictures of prospects as we see them and will be posting post-showcase interviews as we get them. Those updates will be in this thread here adjacent to the main showcase thread.

Florida State plays its spring showcase on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Doak Campbell Stadium. The ACC Network will broadcast the showcase, with EJ Manuel part of the crew.

As Mike Norvell has emphasized, it's not a game. There won't be squads split up into a garnet team and gold team.

No official stats will be kept by FSU but we intend to track some numbers from the press box and will have updates below.

The Seminoles will begin with a team stretch period and some individual periods, followed by situational (red zone and special teams, for example) followed by a 15-minute first quarter. Following a break, and potentially some more special teams, there will be a 10-minute second quarter and a grand finale.

Four members of the 1999 national championship team — Peter Warrick, Corey Simon, Travis Minor and Tommy Polley — will also return as guest coaches.

This is the fans' first look at DJ Uiagalelei in an FSU uniform. Also Trever Jackson, who has earned the No. 2 reps with the minor injuries to Luke Kromenhoek and Brock Glenn.

The Osceola staff discussed what we've seen from FSU's defense this spring.

We also discussed what we've seen from the FSU offense this spring.

FSU sports information:

The No. 18 Florida State softball team (35-10, 14-3) scored four runs in the top of the seventh to take down Boston College (25-18, 5-12) on Saturday afternoon. With the win, FSU has moved into sole possession of first place in the ACC with seven games left. The win also marks FSU's ninth consecutive which is currently the longest win streak of power five teams.

It was a pitchers' duel for most of the afternoon, but the Eagles struck right away with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first to gain the early lead. Ashtyn Danley settled in and allowed just five hits for the remainder of the game as she went the distance for the complete game.

Offense was hard to come by for the Seminoles as they mustered just two hits in the first six innings of play. That all changed in the seventh inning as the Noles gained momentum with Isa Torres reaching on an error, and Amaya Ross walking to put runners on first and second with no outs.

Jahni Kerr singled up the middle to score Torres to tie the game and put runners on the corners with no outs. Kennedy Harp then hit a ground ball to the shortstop that allowed Ross to score to give the Noles the lead. Devyn Flaherty stepped in and ripped her first home run of the season over the right field wall to blow the game open and give the Noles a 4-1 lead.

Danley easily retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure her 11th win of the season in the circle.

The series finale will be at noon Sunday on ACC Network Extra.

Sophomore Mirabel Ting finished in a tie for seventh place in the individual standings, and the Florida State Women’s Golf team finished in a tie for sixth place in the team standings as stroke play in the ACC Championship at the Porters Neck Country Club came to a close. Ting’s finish marked the seventh consecutive year a Seminole player has finished in the top-10 of the individual standings at the ACC Championship.

Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia, and North Carolina finished as the top four teams after three rounds of stroke play, with all four advancing to the match play portion of the event beginning Sunday. Rachel Kuehn of Wake Forest carded a 10-under par score of 206 to win the individual ACC Championship for the first time in her career.

“While we are disappointed with how the week finished, we learned a lot about ourselves which is a good thing,” said Head Coach Amy Bond. “We saw what we need to work on heading into the full postseason. Many of our goals are still ahead of us, and that’s very exciting.”

Ting carded a 4-under par score of 68 in the final round, finished with scores of 74-70-68, and a three-round total of 212 – the third best ACC Championship score in program history. Her tied for seventh place finish marked her second consecutive top-10 conference championship finish as she placed second in the individual standings of the 2023 Southland Conference championship tournament as a freshman at Augusta University.

Ting carded a team-high five birdies as she finished just three strokes from tying the Seminoles’ all-time record for lowest single-round score in the ACC Championship. She was 2-under par on both her front nine (three birdies and one bogey) and 2-under on her back nine (two birdies) in the third round. Ting birdied three of her first eight holes to move to 3-under par, and birdied two of her final seven holes to finish at 4-under par.

Senior Alice Hodge finished in a tie for 20th place with a 1-over par total of 217. It marked her second career top-20 finish in the ACC Championship; she finished in a tie for 16th place in the event during the spring of 2022. Hodge carded scores of 70-72-75 for her final score. She totaled one birdie and 14 holes scored at par or better during her third round of play.

Hodge totaled her career-best ACC Championship score 217; she finished with a three-round total of 220 in 2022. She carded the seventh eagle of her Florida State career on her final hole of the second round. Hodge’s eagle was one of 10 eagles carded in the championship by eight different players.

Sophomore Katherine Cook carded a 73 in the final round and finished in a tie for 45th place in her first career ACC Championship appearance. Her score of 70 in the first round of the event ranks as her career-best score for a single round.

Three Seminoles – Hodge, Charlotte Heath, and Madison Hewlett – finished the event with scores of 75. Heath finished in a tie for 38th place in the individual standings.

The Seminoles will be selected to play in one of six NCAA Regional Championship when the 2024 NCAA Championships field is announced on Wednesday. The Seminoles’ selection to the NCAA Regional Championship (May 6-8) will mark the 18th consecutive season the program will compete in an NCAA Regional – every tournament since 2006.

The Seminoles have appeared in each NCAA regional championship since 2006. During that span of 18 consecutive years of participation in the regional championships, the Seminoles have earned two team championships (at Louisville in 2021 and at Tallahassee in 2022), finished in the top-five seven times, and in the top 10 a total of 13 times. Florida State finished in fifth place and advanced to the championship finals from the NCAA Raleigh Regional in 2023.

A total of 72 teams and 30 individuals will be selected to play in six regionals across the country. From each regional five teams and one individual not on those qualifying teams will advance to the National Championship Finals at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Atlantic Coast Conference Championship/April 18-21, 2024

Porters Neck Country Club/Wilmington, N.C./Par 72

T6/12.-Florida State, 872

T7.-Mirabel Ting, 212

T20.-Alice Hodge, 217

T38.-Charlotte Heath, 222

T45.-Katherine Cook, 225

T59.-Madison Hewlett,152

T59.-Kaylah Williams, 78

Atlantic Coast Conference Championship/April 18-21, 2024

Porters Neck Country Club/Wilmington, N.C./Par 72

1.-Wake Forest, 841

2.-Clemson, 848

3.-Virginia, 856

4.-North Carolina, 865

5.-Duke, 866

T6.-Florida State, 871

T6.-NC State, 871

8.-Virginia Tech, 873

9.-Miami, 877

T10.-Boston College, 881

T10.-Louisville, 881

12.-Notre Dame, 890

First Nole hits the portal, De’Ante Green.

If you're coming to Doak today:

Gates open at 3 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for security check

It's a mobile ticket delivery system and they do not want you to screenshot your tickets (I've used the Apple Wallet previously and that works well)

With the construction at Doak, capacity is only 22,000 for the showcase

The FSU ticket office said roughly 15,000 tickets have been sold / claimed by students

The Marching Chiefs will be in the north end zone in section 1

From the NCAA:

Optional technology rules in football, effective for the 2024 season, were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Thursday.

In games involving Football Bowl Subdivision teams, each school will have the option to use coach-to-player communications through the helmet to one player on the field. That player will be identified by having a green dot on the back midline of the player's helmet.

The communication from the coach to the player will be turned off with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first.

For all three divisions, teams have the option of using tablets to view in-game video only. The video can include the broadcast feed and camera angles from the coach's sideline and coach's end zone.

Teams can have up to 18 active tablets for use in the coaching booth, sideline and locker room. Tablets cannot be connected to other devices to project larger additional images and cannot include analytics, data or data access capability or other communication access. All team personnel will be allowed to view the tablets during the game.

The Football Rules Committee, which met the last week of February, had a thorough discussion regarding wearable technologies.

The committee invites non-FBS conferences that are interested in using wearable technologies to submit an experimental proposal to the committee. Any proposals must be made to the committee by June 15.

Two-minute timeout​

The panel approved adding an automatic timeout when two minutes remain in the second and fourth quarters.

This rules change synchronizes all timing rules, such as 10-second runoffs and stopping the clock when a first down is gained in bounds, which coincides with the two-minute timeout.

First-down timing rules​

After a year of review, Division III committee members decided to adopt the timing rules where the game clock would continue to run when a first down is gained in bounds. The game clock will stop when a first down is gained during the last two minutes of either half. Division I and II schools used this timing rule last season.

Other rules changes​

• Allowing conferences the option of using a collaborative replay review system. This will be formally added to the rules book; it had been an experimental rule.
• Penalizing horse-collar tackles that occur within the tackle box as a 15-yard personal foul. Previously, a horse-collar tackle within the tackle box was not a foul.

Additionally, head coaches can conduct interviews with broadcast partners after the first and third quarters. This was allowed on an experimental basis last season and will be added as a permanent rule.

Uniforms​

The panel did not support a uniform rule proposal made by the Football Rules Committee. Panel members were not comfortable with on-field officials having to enforce the recommended rule.

The panel understands the rules committee's concern but encourages the committee to look for an administrative solution that does not include game official enforcement.