Florida State vs. Southern Miss: Tuesday Practice Observations For The Seminoles

A short week of practice begins as the Seminoles look toward their home opener on Saturday night.

The opening week of the 2023 college football season was a memorable one for Florida State. After defeating a top-5 opponent, the Seminoles now find themselves as one of the highest-ranked teams in the country, sitting at No. 4. However, if this team is going to reach its lofty expectations, they'll have to take it one day at a time on their journey to the top.

READ MORE: Mike Norvell Responds To Brian Kelly's Message Following Florida State's Beatdown of LSU

FSU returned to the practice fields on Tuesday to begin preparations for the home opener against Southern Miss on Saturday night. This will be a shorter week of preparation for the Seminoles and it will be a mental test to see how the team responds coming off an emotional victory.

NoleGameday was in attendance for the entire session on Tuesday and jotted down some observations from the day.

— Ryan Fitzgerald and Tyler Keltner were both perfect from 31 yards and 41 yards out. Fitzgerald looked sharp coming off his performance on Sunday night. 

— The Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots had personnel viewing Florida State's practice.

OFFENSE:

— Jordan Travis got the offense started with a shot to the outside to Lawrance Toafili before finding Keon Coleman short. He stayed alive in the pocket while being pressured on the ensuing play, looking for Johnny Wilson downfield. Cornerback Azareye'h Thomas had a nice reaction to break on the pass and deflect it.

— Running back CJ Campbell had two short runs during the period as well.

— Brock Glenn had a sharp throw where he found Winston Wright Jr. in a pocket between two defenders. However, he also was nearly picked off later in the session where he stared down his target, allowing the defender to have a chance to make the play. Glenn is prone to not making the same mistake twice.

— After getting into the end zone twice on Sunday, Jaheim Bell brought some juice to Florida State's practice. He caught a pass on the sidelines while working downfield. Bell cut up and scampered toward the end zone, diving past the goal line.

— It felt like this was Rodney Hill's most confident practice of the fall. He was trusting his eyes to find the right hole and his feet to make the right move when needed. Hill had a 40+ yard burst up the middle where he found an inch of space and was gone. He put a couple of nifty moves on veterans during open-field tackling drills early in practice.

— Matched up in a fourth and goal scenario inside the 10, Travis won the drill for the offense. After realizing there was nowhere to throw the ball and no defender in front of him, Travis took off toward the side of the end zone. It was ruled a touchdown but Renardo Green strongly disagreed with the official.

— Johnny Wilson, Kyle Morlock, Winston Wright, Destyn Hill, and Markeston Douglas all made grabs during 1-on-1's.

DEFENSE:

— Despite just playing a game on Sunday night, this was a physical practice across the board. The offensive line and defensive line went at it during 3-on-2s. The defense was consistently delivering punishment with defensive tackle Fabien Lovett, defensive end Jard Verse, and defensive tackle Braden Fiske going to work against some of the veterans on the other side.

— The fun part of practice is getting a chance to see guys develop day-by-day that might not be massive contributors on Saturdays for the Seminoles just yet. True freshman linebacker Blake Nichelson has made noticeable strides since arriving over the summer. It looks like the game, at least in practice, is slowing down for him. Nichelson had multiple tackles for loss on the day and was in coverage on back-to-back plays where he forced an incompletion.

— True freshman safety KJ Kirkland picked off a pass in 1-on-1's with a smart read.

— Cornerback Azareye'h Thomas was consistently making it tough on the offense when passes were thrown his way.

— Safety Shyheim Brown displayed nice skills in pass coverage, sticking with Destyn Hill and diving to deflect a pass that was thrown outside toward the sideline.

— Malcolm Ray had a good effort early in practice to fight off a block and sack Tate Rodemaker from the backside.

— Patrick Payton worked off a blocker and got a hand on a running back before the offensive player could get very far upfield.

— True freshman cornerback Edwin Joseph nearly picked off a pass. He was in position but couldn't quite corral the ball.

— Walk-on linebacker AJ Cottrill delivered enough of a shot on a tight end to break up a pass that looked like it should've been caught.

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READ MORE: Seminoles On The Move In AP Top 25 Poll After Putting Country On Notice In Win Over Tigers

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