Just wrapped at the final FSU practice availability of the week before Saturday's game at Clemson. Here are some updates from the day's work:
- Mike Norvell was non-committal after Wednesday's practice about the possibility of any of the injured players who were questionable coming into the week (Maurice Smith, Robert Scott, Akeem Dent) returning to action this weekend at Clemson. "We feel like things are progressing well. Some guys will probably more close to a game-time decision. We'll see where it goes in the next couple days," Norvell said. One encouraging thing, though, was seeing Maurice Smith do some work throughout practice Wednesday morning.
- I can admit I was at least a little worried by what I saw Tuesday, especially from the offense which never seemed to get in sync. What I saw Wednesday assuaged pretty much all of those concerns. it was a very nice bounceback day by the offense, which looked much more comfortable and had much more success at the second and final practice availability of the week. It wasn't the smoothest start with an unsuccessful one-minute drill, but from there, the offense definitely won the day. FSU had quite a few successes in third-down and goal-line situational work Wednesday morning and the wide receivers were dominant in 1-on-1s against the secondary after some struggles in this drill Tuesday. I'm much more encouraged that the blip near the end of the BC game will be just that and not the start of a trend based on what we saw Wednesday morning on the practice field.
- Trey Benson definitely hasn't looked like his 2022 self yet this season and his emergence would be a massive help this weekend for the Seminoles. The FSU coaches have talked a few times about how close he's been to breaking runs and I thought Wednesday's practice was one of his better days in recent memory. He made a few nice runs and generally looked much closer to last year's version of himself on the day.
- It was also a day dominated by Keon Coleman. Whatever his social media post earlier this week meant, Coleman was targeted quite a bit at Wednesday's practice and made the most of his targets, looking like his lethal preseason self once again on Wednesday with plays all over the field. His re-emergence this weekend after he was held without a catch last week would be another big boost for the Seminoles this weekend in Death Valley.
- Johnny Wilson had his moments Wednesday as well, including a really nice grab in the end zone during 1-on-1s for a touchdown. However, I was impressed with how well a few FSU defenders managed his size in 7-on-7 pass skelly Wednesday morning. Azareye'h Thomas and Fentrell Cypress had impressive pass breakups going up against Wilson during this portion of practice. Shyheim Brown also had good coverage on Wilson during a 1-on-1 rep and added another PBU during 7-on-7 while Conrad Hussey had an interception during 1-on-1s.
- Perhaps the catch of the day was a remarkably smooth one-handed grab by Destyn Hill on a hard-thrown ball by Jordan Travis over the middle during scout-team work. It drew a reaction from those watching and was impressive in how easy it looked.
- In 1-on-1 trench drills, FSU's offensive line won the majority of the reps against the defensive line. Clemson's defensive line will be one of the tougher tests in that phase this season and so that's an encouraging way to send off this week's practice availability.
