It's officially game week in Tallahassee.
The Florida State football team held its first of five game-week practices Monday morning ahead of Saturday's noon EST season opener vs. Georgia Tech in Dublin on Saturday (ESPN).
With game week now here, we'll be pivoting to bullet-point observations on the board instead of fully-formed stories for our practice reports from the two practices we get to watch each game week.
Here are the observations from Monday morning's practice:
The Florida State football team held its first of five game-week practices Monday morning ahead of Saturday's noon EST season opener vs. Georgia Tech in Dublin on Saturday (ESPN).
With game week now here, we'll be pivoting to bullet-point observations on the board instead of fully-formed stories for our practice reports from the two practices we get to watch each game week.
Here are the observations from Monday morning's practice:
- I thought Monday was one of DJ Uiagalelei's best practices at FSU. In fact, I think you can make the case his last two practices have been two of his best since joining the program. He was accurate at a high level, spread the ball around all over the field to all his playmakers and had some high-level throws. One in particular that stood out was an exceptional tight-window downfield throw to Jalen Brown, who caught the ball just before the closing safety got there and held on for a catch through contact and the ground. It's encouraging that he really seems to be rounding into form as game week begins.
- Quite a few wide receivers had nice days on Monday. It was a very good day for the passing game and a number of guys like Kentron Poitier, Ja'Khi Douglas, Elijah Moore, Kyle Morlock and Landen Thomas flashed. But no one on the offense may have had a better day than Darion Williamson. The redshirt senior just seemed to make plays during each portion of practice at an exceptional level. The ball just kept finding him and he kept taking advantage of the opportunities. Williamson has always been a great practice player, but injuries have kept that from ever translating to the field on a consistent basis. That changing this season would be a big boost for the FSU passing game.
- Azareye'h Thomas had one of the more impressive interceptions I've seen in an FSU practice during 1-on-1s Monday. He was in great coverage vs. Poitier, reached his hand around to deny him a catch and then caught his own deflection in midair while falling to the ground. It was a truly unbelievable play and yet also believable from the high level he's played at consistently this preseason. Thomas nearly added another interception in a team period later in the practice, but couldn't secure it and assigned himself push-ups as a punishment because of the mistake.
- Edwin Joseph and Cam Riley each had tip-drill interceptions in 7-on-7 Pass Skelly on balls that bounced off receiver's hands and up into the air.
