For the final time before Saturday's home game against Memphis, the Florida State football held an open practice to media members Wednesday morning.
FSU head coach Mike Norvell said after the practice that they wanted to bring a bit more speed and intensity to the day's work to prepare the team for Saturday after it hasn't played up to its standard in the first two games of the season. I thought that was clear and translated onto the field, especially as the practice progressed. Below are the Osceola staff observations from Wednesday morning's practice:
FSU was definitely trying to find some unique ways to work on tackling in practice Wednesday after struggling to make tackles consistently enough in the first two games. One particular drill which we don't often see in practice during game weeks saw the skill-position players work on a perimeter blocking/tackling drill with screen passes and lateral runs towards the sideline. The coaches watching this drill seemed pleased with the defense's response to the physical challenge.
For the second time in as many practices, I thought the passing game really grew into the practice and finished quite strong after a slower start. There was a fairly successful one-minute drill which moved the ball across midfield early in practice and then the offense finished strong when working against the scout-team defense. Yes, it was the scout team, but we saw a level of very successful deep passing from DJ Uiagalelei during this portion of practice that we hadn't seen in some time even against the scout team. During this final portion of practice, he hit a number of beautiful deep balls to Ja'Khi Douglas through some pretty good coverage, found Jalen Brown open deep for a few more touchdowns and generally took more shots and had more success with the intermediate to deep passing game than we've seen him have in recent memory. It's not to say it was a perfect day for Uiagalelei. He had some miscues and missed opportunities. But it was an encouraging trend if he again starts for the Seminoles against Memphis.
Brock Glenn also had some success during this final portion of practice, including a few connections with Deuce Spann, who made a few nice catches against the scout team in addition to an exceptional leaping, toe-tapping catch in the back of the end zone during 1-on-1s. Norvell said that Hykeem Williams has had to shake some rust off this week as he's ramped back up, but he again made a few plays on Wednesday, including a really strong leaping catch near the goal line during situational work.
Freshman QB Luke Kromenhoek continues to impress, especially during 7-on-7 pass skelly. His arm is legit and he uses it well to rocket some throws over the middle of the field.
The run game also found a bit of success during the scout-team period with both Roydell Williams and Caziah Holmes busting a few runs. Freshman RB Kam Davis continues to flash as a pass-blocker with a few really nice reps Wednesday, showing how far he's come in this facet in a short period of time.
Patrick Payton added to his practice "sack" total Wednesday, combining with Tomiwa Durojaiye for a sack on the goal line. Marvin Jones Jr. also had a "sack" during an early 11-on-11 period when the defensive line converged on the quarterback. Redshirt freshman safety K.J. Kirkland added an interception against the scout-team offense.
On the special teams front, freshman kicker Jake Weinberg made what seems like an impossible trick shot when, on a field-goal attempt, he made the kick through the uprights and also fit it into a small window of approximately one foot by one foot way up the wall where FSU uses a camera to film out of. It was an impressive display of accuracy to match the big leg Weinberg possesses as FSU's kicker of the future.
FSU head coach Mike Norvell said after the practice that they wanted to bring a bit more speed and intensity to the day's work to prepare the team for Saturday after it hasn't played up to its standard in the first two games of the season. I thought that was clear and translated onto the field, especially as the practice progressed. Below are the Osceola staff observations from Wednesday morning's practice:
FSU was definitely trying to find some unique ways to work on tackling in practice Wednesday after struggling to make tackles consistently enough in the first two games. One particular drill which we don't often see in practice during game weeks saw the skill-position players work on a perimeter blocking/tackling drill with screen passes and lateral runs towards the sideline. The coaches watching this drill seemed pleased with the defense's response to the physical challenge.
For the second time in as many practices, I thought the passing game really grew into the practice and finished quite strong after a slower start. There was a fairly successful one-minute drill which moved the ball across midfield early in practice and then the offense finished strong when working against the scout-team defense. Yes, it was the scout team, but we saw a level of very successful deep passing from DJ Uiagalelei during this portion of practice that we hadn't seen in some time even against the scout team. During this final portion of practice, he hit a number of beautiful deep balls to Ja'Khi Douglas through some pretty good coverage, found Jalen Brown open deep for a few more touchdowns and generally took more shots and had more success with the intermediate to deep passing game than we've seen him have in recent memory. It's not to say it was a perfect day for Uiagalelei. He had some miscues and missed opportunities. But it was an encouraging trend if he again starts for the Seminoles against Memphis.
Brock Glenn also had some success during this final portion of practice, including a few connections with Deuce Spann, who made a few nice catches against the scout team in addition to an exceptional leaping, toe-tapping catch in the back of the end zone during 1-on-1s. Norvell said that Hykeem Williams has had to shake some rust off this week as he's ramped back up, but he again made a few plays on Wednesday, including a really strong leaping catch near the goal line during situational work.
Freshman QB Luke Kromenhoek continues to impress, especially during 7-on-7 pass skelly. His arm is legit and he uses it well to rocket some throws over the middle of the field.
The run game also found a bit of success during the scout-team period with both Roydell Williams and Caziah Holmes busting a few runs. Freshman RB Kam Davis continues to flash as a pass-blocker with a few really nice reps Wednesday, showing how far he's come in this facet in a short period of time.
Patrick Payton added to his practice "sack" total Wednesday, combining with Tomiwa Durojaiye for a sack on the goal line. Marvin Jones Jr. also had a "sack" during an early 11-on-11 period when the defensive line converged on the quarterback. Redshirt freshman safety K.J. Kirkland added an interception against the scout-team offense.
On the special teams front, freshman kicker Jake Weinberg made what seems like an impossible trick shot when, on a field-goal attempt, he made the kick through the uprights and also fit it into a small window of approximately one foot by one foot way up the wall where FSU uses a camera to film out of. It was an impressive display of accuracy to match the big leg Weinberg possesses as FSU's kicker of the future.
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