We just wrapped up at the final practice availability of the week before Saturday's game at Syracuse. Some good observations from the practice and some updates from Mike Norvell to follow:
- With regard to Tropical Storm Nicole, Norvell said that FSU hasn't yet had to change its travel plans for the Syracuse trip, but that FSU continues to monitor it and will adjust as needed. The latest model has the storm coming across the middle of Florida Thursday with the western edge passing near Tallahassee Thursday night into Friday morning. We'll keep you updated, but it's not expected to be something that affects anything, except for possibly the team's travel plans.
- Norvell was asked about Treshaun Ward not returning last week and if he will this week. He said that Ward probably would have been available last week in an absolute emergency, but that he's got even more practice work this week and like last week, he expects him to return pending any setbacks.
- As for Wednesday's practice, Norvell said he wasn't happy with how it started with too many mistakes in the first few periods. However, he was happy with how the team responded as the practice progressed.
- The first team period was another situational drill where the offense took over in its own half of the field trailing by three points and with 55 seconds on the clock. The drive started promising when Jordan Travis hit Ontaria Wilson for a big gain across midfield and inside the opponent's 30-yard line. However, it stalled out a bit from there as FSU's offense was called for holding and then Derrick McLendon got a sack of Travis to bring up 3rd and 26. Travis hit Lawrance Toafili for a 10-yard gain on third and long, setting up a very long 53-yard field goal for Ryan Fitzgerald in the closing seconds. Fitzgerald hit the 53-yarder, but it didn't count as the defense used its lone remaining timeout to ice him. After the break, he stepped up and hit the ball even cleaner, drilling a 53-yard field goal which would have been good from a few more yards out. It's a continuation of what has been a promising trend of late from FSU's kicker.
- In 1-on-1 drills between the wide receivers and defensive backs this morning, the secondary won the day. There were quite a few impressive pass breakups. Azareye'h Thomas had one where he seemed to be beat by Kentron Poitier, but made up the ground and got his hand in there to break up the pass and another where he took away what would have been a touchdown with tight coverage. Jammie Robinson and Akeem Dent had pass breakups when going up against Brian Courtney and Sam McCall made plays for the second straight day, including a tough pass defense vs. Wilson in the back of the end zone, denying a touchdown with a diving play.
- That being said, there were a few impressive receiving 1-on-1 wins. Johnny Wilson mossed Thomas, reaching his long arms over him to secure a touchdown. And Courtney got revenge against both Robinson and Dent in goal-line work, going against both of them and coming away with contested catches for touchdowns. His receiving ability continues to impress, considering this is his first season playing tight end.
- In the trenches, redshirt freshman defensive end Byron Turner Jr. had a very impressive day of practice. On one 11-on-11 rep, he beat his man off the edge and totally blew up the running back for a tackle for loss. On the next play, he almost did the same thing again, getting out wide and nearly securing a TFL in space. He was clearly frustrated with himself when he couldn't finish the play. Turner also had the most impressive 1-on-1 trench rep of the day, pulling out a wicked spin move to easily beat Julian Armella in a matchup of promising freshmen. Norvell admitted Wednesday that Turner was injured during the middle part of the season, but said he could be back on special teams as soon as this weekend. He said he continues to believe that Turner's future at FSU will be bright.
