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Football Observations from FSU's Wednesday practice of Miami week

Florida State put a bow on Miami week in terms of open practices Wednesday with the second and final practice availability of the week before Saturday night's game at Hard Rock Stadium. Once again, the Hurricane flag was waving over the practice field and once again, crowd noise was blaring inside FSU's practice facility to simulate the expected hostile atmosphere the Seminoles are walking into this weekend.

Here are the Osceola observations from Wednesday morning's day of work:

  • As always, Wednesday’s practice saw a bunch of situational work during team periods. The first of those periods was a one-minute drill. Brock Glenn’s drive was derailed by a strong effort from the defensive line. On third and short, Glenn’s pass was tipped at the line and nearly intercepted by KJ Sampson. On fourth and short, a handoff to try and convert was blown up in the backfield by Byron Turner Jr.
  • Luke Kromenhoek’s one-minute drill, on the other hand, was quite successful. After gaining just one yard on the first two plays, he got the offense out to midfield on third and long with a quick anticipatory sideline pass to Elijah Moore which the true freshman ran down and caught for a first down. The very next play, a pass over the middle was a bit high and tipped into the air by a defensive back but Amaree Williams made quite the heads-up play to see the ball in the air and run it down, making a diving catch on a ball that wasn't intended for him. The very next play, Kromenhoek again connected with Moore down the sideline for a 25-yard touchdown. The offense went 74 yards in three plays with all production from true freshmen with Moore amassing 49 yards and a touchdown on a pair of catches. Moore was did fumble in the next team period so he continues to have some freshman moments. But the upside continues to make it tempting to put him on the field and see what happens.
  • Glenn and Kromenhoek each made some nice throws later in team periods as well as the practice progressed. Glenn stood in the pocket and aired out an exceptional deep ball to Williams in stride during the next 11-on-11 period and had a great pass down the seam to Kyle Morlock during 7-on-7 pass skelly. Kromenhoek had a dart of a touchdown to BJ Gibson in red-zone work while Glenn had a great throw down the sideline to freshman running back Micahi Danzy during the same period.
  • In 1-on-1s, Hykeem Williams and Jalen Brown each had great catches in the back corner of the end zone where they created enough separation and high-pointed passes thrown their. Another freshman wideout, Lawayne McCoy, had a drop during pass skelly on a pass that hit him right in the hands but redeemed himself the very next play with an impressive diving catch over the middle.
  • While the "sacks' weren't always whistled dead when they probably should have been Wednesday morning, the defense got quite a bit of pressure on the offense, especially during the middle period of 11-on-11 work Wednesday. Omar Graham Jr. and Justin Cryer each had "sacks" when blitzing from the linebacker spot while Edwin Joseph had one blitzing from the cornerback spot. Pat Payton had a sack during red-zone work
  • Redshirt freshman DB Ja'Bril Rawls had a forced fumble during 11-on-11 work, ripping the ball out after Moore caught it. Charles Lester III had a nice pass breakup on a pass into the end zone and Payton had one during red-zone work, reading the quarterback's eyes and drifting back enough to knock a pass over the middle out of the air. Blake Nichelson also had a PBU during the pass-skelly period.

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Football FSU's two-QB system hasn't worked yet but Brock Glenn is keeping the faith

Through three games, FSU's two-QB system hasn't worked, with twice as many interceptions (4) as passing touchdowns (2). But that hasn't affected Brock Glenn's relationship with Luke Kromenhoek or his faith in the players around him on FSU's offense.

We talked to FSU's starting QB after Saturday's loss and I thought his comments and demeanor were impressive.

New coaches...timing

The general consensus is that Norvell will likely be shopping for some new coaches. Doesn't he need to pull
the trigger sooner than later because of the portal. Example, if he is hiring a new OL coach, they are the ones that will
be making evaluations. I don't really know how vested some of the coaches (majority) are in recruiting when they know they
will be looking for another job.

Football Observations from FSU's Tuesday practice of North Carolina week

The Florida State football team was back at work on the practice field Tuesday morning.

The Seminoles held their first of two open practices to the media this week during the morning. Here are the Osceola staff observations from Tuesday's practice:

  • I thought the quarterback play was fine at Tuesday's practice. Not incredibly consistent, but some impressive moments. Brock Glenn broke off a long scramble during the first team period and had a great deep ball down the sideline to Darion Williamson in the final good-on-good team period. Luke Kromenhoek had an exceptional deep ball to BJ Gibson in 1-on-1s and a few nice throws in 7-on-7 as well. Gibson seems to be good for at least one really nice catch a day in practice. He won a few 1-on-1 reps with some clean route-running Tuesday.
  • Trever Jackson, who has largely been with the scout team this season, got a few opportunities running with the actual offense on Tuesday. He made a few plays given this opportunity, throwing a nice sideline pass to Elijah Moore, who made a great catch above his head, in 11-on-11 and then ending the practice with a great 50 (or so) yard downfield pass against the scout-team defense. It's always a bit up and down with Jackson which isn't a surprise considering he's a true freshman and a preferred walk-on. But the ups were quite nice Tuesday morning.
  • Sam Singleton Jr., one of the breakthrough players on FSU's offense this season, had a nice run in 11-on-11 right up the gut and another off the edge that was sprung by a great edge-setting block from redshirt freshman left tackle Lucas Simmons. Simmons got in at the very end of the Miami game. Could he get a bit more playing time down the stretch as an audition of sorts to be FSU's left tackle in 2025?
  • Defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. built off his breakthrough two-sack performance vs. Miami with some nice plays at Tuesday's practice. Most notably, he did well to batted down a pass at the line during the middle 11-on-11 period.
  • In the secondary, redshirt freshman Ja'Bril Rawls made a few nice plays Tuesday. He had an interception during the middle 11-on-11 period and then had an exceptional pass breakup in 1-on-1s where he extended his hand at the perfect moment to deny a catch as a trailing DB on the play. Edwin Joseph also had a great pass breakup Tuesday in 7-on-7 pass skelly, diving across the middle of the field to deny Malik Benson a catch with some quick hands.
We'll be back Wednesday morning with a practice report from the final availability before Saturday's game vs. North Carolina.

Football Updates: FSU vs. No. 15 Clemson (7 p.m. on ESPN)

One of the more anticipated dates on Florida State's 2024 football schedule is upon us.

The Seminoles host ACC rival Clemson Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium (7 p.m. on ESPN). Unfortunately, this year's matchup has lost pretty much all of its luster. And even more unfortunately for FSU, that's because the Seminoles have struggled mightily early this season, entering Saturday's matchup with a 1-4 record (1-3 in ACC) that has all but certainly ended their bowl-game chances.

Clemson, on the other hand, seems to have rediscovered some of what it had lost over the last few seasons. Since a season-opening loss to Georgia in Atlanta, the Tigers have averaged 55 points over their last three games, home wins over Appalachian State, NC State and Stanford. Quarterback Cade Klubnik seems much improved in his second full season as starter and has a much better supporting cast around him.

While FSU leads the all-time series over Clemson 21-15 and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Tigers last year in Death Valley, the Seminoles are hefty 16.5-point underdogs for Saturday's home game.

It's expected to be the first start of the season and third career start for redshirt freshman quarterback Brock Glenn. Mike Norvell confirmed Tuesday that DJ Uiagalelei will miss this game and potentially more because of an injury to his throwing hand suffered last week at SMU.

There could be a few other youth-movement changes to FSU's starting lineup as well Saturday night. True freshman tight end Landen Thomas is one of three co-starters at tight end after catching his first career touchdown last week and redshirt freshman offensive lineman Andre' Otto is listed as a co-starter at right guard.

We'll be monitoring the state of the lineup and how many changes we could see starting around 5 p.m. when the press box opens. We'll also have game updates here once things get underway.

Armella, why is he not getting any reps.

Anybody have actual knowledge of why he never plays over a few ST snaps. Is it poor practice effort, injuries or is he just not very good? Honestly I never viewed him as a five star talent but I thought he had enough raw ability to be better than what we are seeing from the others on the field. I can’t see him or many of the younger talent who no getting a chance sticking around.

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Football Quote book and video: Mike Norvell reflects on UNC loss, FSU's confidence issues

Here's the video and transcript of FSU head coach Mike Norvell's press conference after Saturday's loss to North Carolina. He talked about the team's confidence issues, why he doesn't think the Seminoles quit and why he's confident things will get fixed going forward

Basketball Notes, updates: FSU hoops exhibition on Thursday, 3 p.m.

The FSU men's basketball team plays its second and final exhibition game on Thursday against West Florida at 3 p.m. Early start with Halloween. No TV or streaming but we'll have some notes here as well as updates and stats in the thread below.

FSU opened up with an exhibition win over St. Leo. Malique Ewin scored 19 points and Jamir Watkins had 18 points. The Seminoles were able to show all of their newcomers, with 12 playing 10 or more minutes. Curt Weiler had takeaways on the Seminoles.

Watkins is clearly looking to refine his all-around game, taking a number of jumpers / 3-pointers to help the Seminoles and raise his NBA draft stock.

If you're in Tallahassee, home games will be heard on WFLA 100.7 FM beginning with Monday's regular-season opener against Northern Kentucky (7 p.m.). That game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

FSU also showed off its new black jerseys yesterday:

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