With Florida State campus closed and Hurricane Helene bearing down on Tallahassee in the near future, the FSU football team still went to work Wednesday morning. It was the final practice open to media members before Saturday night's road game at SMU (8 p.m. on ACC Network).
Here are the observations from the day's practice:
Mike Norvell said he thought he saw some improvements from DJ Uiagalelei Wednesday and I'm inclined to agree. I thought the quarterback was doing a much better job not holding the ball too long -- something that has been a problem through his first few games -- and distributing the ball. He operated well in 1-on-1s, throwing a perfect deep ball to Malik Benson, and 7-on-7 pass skelly, using the whole field to spread the ball around with a streak of very accurate passes. During this stretch of success, he completed a deep ball to Deuce Spann, found Landen Thomas and Darion Williamson over the middle, found Hykeem Williams for a third-down pickup at the sticks. He also found freshman running back Micahi Danzy on a few wheel routes for chunk gains in team periods. I'm not promising a breakthrough for Uiagalelei Saturday, but I will say I saw a bit more about how Norvell talked about how "close" Uiagalelei and the offense have been this morning.
While Uiagalelei was better than Brock Glenn on the whole Wednesday, Glenn did lead a scoring drive in a one-minute drill during the first team period of practice. He completed a pair of passes and drew the defense offside on fourth and four to set up a 52-yard field goal which Ryan Fitzgerald hit as time expired. Glenn also threw an exceptional deep ball to Lawayne McCoy during pass-skelly 7-on-7.
The catch of the day belonged to Hykeem Williams. In 1-on-1s on the goal line, Williams mossed Azareye'h Thomas, leaping over him and reaching in front to snag a pass and land inbounds in the back of the end zone. It was an exceptional play and speaks to Williams' incredibly high ceiling. Ja'Khi Douglas also made a really nice leaping catch in the red zone Wednesday, showcasing his athleticism.
The freshman tight ends, Thomas and Amaree Williams, got involved in the passing game with frequency Friday, each making a few plays as they continue to jockey for playing time. Williams made an even better play as a blocker, though, pancaking a defensive back during a perimeter blocking period of practice. The big block drew a huge reaction from his offensive teammates who swarmed him.
Azareye'h Thomas keeps putting himself in position to make plays, adding another pass breakup in tight coverage during Wednesday's practice to halt a drive. Quindarrius Jones, who had three pass breakups in FSU's win over Cal, added another pass breakup Wednesday against the scout team, doing a great job tracking a deep ball to the end zone and nearly intercepting it.
Here are the observations from the day's practice:
Mike Norvell said he thought he saw some improvements from DJ Uiagalelei Wednesday and I'm inclined to agree. I thought the quarterback was doing a much better job not holding the ball too long -- something that has been a problem through his first few games -- and distributing the ball. He operated well in 1-on-1s, throwing a perfect deep ball to Malik Benson, and 7-on-7 pass skelly, using the whole field to spread the ball around with a streak of very accurate passes. During this stretch of success, he completed a deep ball to Deuce Spann, found Landen Thomas and Darion Williamson over the middle, found Hykeem Williams for a third-down pickup at the sticks. He also found freshman running back Micahi Danzy on a few wheel routes for chunk gains in team periods. I'm not promising a breakthrough for Uiagalelei Saturday, but I will say I saw a bit more about how Norvell talked about how "close" Uiagalelei and the offense have been this morning.
While Uiagalelei was better than Brock Glenn on the whole Wednesday, Glenn did lead a scoring drive in a one-minute drill during the first team period of practice. He completed a pair of passes and drew the defense offside on fourth and four to set up a 52-yard field goal which Ryan Fitzgerald hit as time expired. Glenn also threw an exceptional deep ball to Lawayne McCoy during pass-skelly 7-on-7.
The catch of the day belonged to Hykeem Williams. In 1-on-1s on the goal line, Williams mossed Azareye'h Thomas, leaping over him and reaching in front to snag a pass and land inbounds in the back of the end zone. It was an exceptional play and speaks to Williams' incredibly high ceiling. Ja'Khi Douglas also made a really nice leaping catch in the red zone Wednesday, showcasing his athleticism.
The freshman tight ends, Thomas and Amaree Williams, got involved in the passing game with frequency Friday, each making a few plays as they continue to jockey for playing time. Williams made an even better play as a blocker, though, pancaking a defensive back during a perimeter blocking period of practice. The big block drew a huge reaction from his offensive teammates who swarmed him.
Azareye'h Thomas keeps putting himself in position to make plays, adding another pass breakup in tight coverage during Wednesday's practice to halt a drive. Quindarrius Jones, who had three pass breakups in FSU's win over Cal, added another pass breakup Wednesday against the scout team, doing a great job tracking a deep ball to the end zone and nearly intercepting it.
