Wednesday Practice Observations For Florida State Prior To North Carolina

The Seminoles couldn't get much going on offense on Wednesday.

FSU Athletics

Florida State continued preparations for its upcoming home game against North Carolina with a practice on Wednesday morning. The majority of the day was focused on different situations such as two-minute, third-down, and goal line.

To put it bluntly, it was a rough practice for FSU's offense. The offensive line struggled to operate with a variety of bad snaps and blocking breakdowns. The quarterbacks were very inconsistent with ball placement, though part of that can be attributed to having practically zero time to operate. The skill players also had some drop issues pop up. It was clunky and things need to change quickly before this weekend.

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Head coach Mike Norvell did note that the unit tinkered with lineups due to a couple of players being sidelined. The Seminoles are expecting to get those unnamed players back to practice later this week.

NoleGameday had multiple staff members in attendance for the entire session and we jotted down some observations from various position groups. The Seminoles won't hold another open practice before taking on North Carolina on Saturday afternoon.

— The Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers, and New York Giants had representatives observing practice.

— It was a good kicking day. Ryan Fitzgerald connected from 32 yards and 46 yards. Jake Weinberg followed that up with makes from 32 yards and 41 yards.

OFFENSE:

— Florida State's two-minute drill was doomed by multiple bad snaps, including one that rolled along the ground to Brock Glenn and another that nearly went over his head. Glenn was able to complete a short pass to Lawrance Toafili but he had no time to make a decision on fourth down with the pocket quickly breaking down and KJ Sampson nabbing a sack. Patrick Payton had multiple pressures on the drive.

— Third down work was much of the same as Darrell Jackson and Tomiwa Durojaiye both recorded sacks. In general, a defender was in the quarterback's face very quickly and they had to make plays on the move or out of the pocket. Glenn did hit Malik Benson in the middle of the field for a first down and followed that up with another conversion on a sharp throw to Darion Williamson.

— The quarterback's were at their best in 1-on-1's and 7-on-7, when they didn't have to worry about an instant pass rush. With that being said, Glenn did throw a well-placed ball over the middle to BJ Gibson for a touchdown in goal line work. He had a quick delivery to Ja'Khi Douglas for another score. Glenn also hit Hykeem Williams downfield with a touch pass that allowed his wide receiver to make a play.

— Luke Kromenhoek found Amaree Williams down the sideline in 1-on-1's with the tight end making a tough catch on the play. He connected with BJ Gibson and Lawayne McCoy in 7-on-7.

— Hykeem Williams did a nice job of fighting off press coverage and coming back to the ball to win a rep against Azareye'h Thomas.

— Lawayne McCoy got wide open over the middle for a touchdown in 1-on-1's.

— Jalen Brown came down with the catch of the day for the offense, going up vertical for a contested catch over Charles Lester III near the side of the end zone. It was a great play.

DEFENSE:

— Ja'Bril Rawls was really good on Wednesday and is a defender who has been trending up over the last few weeks. He's certainly made a jump during his second year with the program and the game looks like it's slowing down for him. Rawls made an outstanding play on the ball in the middle of the field, tracking a pass and going vertical for an interception. It was the play of the day at practice. He got in for a quick deflection late in the day and wasn't shy to let the offense know they shouldn't throw his way.

— Edwin Joseph was another younger defensive back who had a nice day. He broke up a pass for BJ Gibson in the corner of the end zone and played good coverage for the majority of practice.

— Patrick Payton and the defensive line were a menace for basically the entire day. Outside of pressuring the quarterback, Payton punched a football like he was a boxer on a throw over the middle.

— Fentrell Cypress II had a nice pass deflection, sticking with Malik Benson over the middle and punching the football out.

— Earl Little Jr. delivered a hit on Kyle Morlock, stopping him short of the line to gain on third down.

— True freshman Cai Bates stood out in coverage. He knocked out a pass intended for Elijah Moore in the corner of the end zone. On his next rep, he deflected a pass that would've gone for a score to the true freshman.

— KJ Kirkland deflected a pass in the back of the end zone to prevent a touchdown.

— Cam Riley had a physical stop at the goal line. With Caziah Holmes pushing for a second effort, Riley delivered a hit and dragged him back to prevent a score.

— Walk-on linebacker AJ Cottrill deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage.

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