Florida State football has been hard at work over the last couple days.
The Seminoles’ first two practices of the week have gone smoothly, with the offense being much more efficient than last week. The offense has held onto the ball for nearly every drive they’ve had in team periods. Outside of some offensive line struggles due to some workload days on the outside, the offense seems to be finding its footing in week three of practice. Here are takeaways from the last two days of practice, with a focus on offensive skill players that stood out:
- Jordan Travis has looked determined to leave his mark this week after getting some time off for workload purposes last week. Travis has had back-to-back strong practices to start the week, two of his best of fall camp. The quarterback has shown off a wide range of skills this week. He’s shown his normal skills: elusiveness and ability to create when the play break downs. The most impressive part of Travis’ game this week has been the deep ball, which has been much improved through confidence. On Tuesday, Travis was throwing dots left and right. His best sequence came in the red zone, where he hit a wide receiver on a back-shoulder throw for a TD before dropping a perfect pass in Joshua Burrell’s breadbasket for another TD.
He opened the week by leading the offense down the field for three first downs in tempo in a drive that resulted in a short field goal. One of his last throws of the day was an executed anticipation over the middle of the field, where he connected with a WR in a soft spot of the defense. Over the last two days, he’s dropped multiple perfect deep balls to his wideouts in 1v1’s for TD’s (literally wrote down in my notes ‘perfect ball’ four separate times). While FSU was working from the three-yard line, he scrambled for a score twice. On his last play of 11v11 on Wednesday, he found a TE break open down the sideline for a shot-play touchdown, his second touchdown of the day in a team period on a pass 30+ yards down the field. He didn’t throw an interception in each of the last two practices. Travis still has steps to take on throws over the middle of the field and his anticipation, but the confidence in his arm is night and day from a year ago.
- Chubba Purdy has also been efficient this week. Last week’s spike in reps has given Purdy a boost in his on-field performance. The redshirt freshman has seemingly gotten more comfortable behind center every day over the past two weeks. On Tuesday, his best pass came on a back-shoulder throw in the red zone for a touchdown. He’s beginning to take the easier play and not trying to do too much, more often taking off and running when he has grass in front of him, something Mike Norvell has been preaching to him at practice. He had a handful of eye-opening passes in one-on-ones on Wednesday, including a pretty deep ball to Kentron Poitier for a touchdown. In the red zone, he rolled out to his right and found a tight end for a touchdown after patiently waiting for a target to come open. He had a couple of passes dropped, one on a would-be touchdown in the red zone and another on a would-be touchdown on a shot play. The second drop was a perfect ball deep down the middle of the field, as he split the safeties and dropped the ball right in the wideouts arms. Purdy still has steps to take when it comes to throws from inside the pocket and his decision-making, but the positives are starting to flash more and more consistently.
- Treshaun Ward had a massive day on Wednesday. The running back broke off three separate runs for big gains. Two of those runs went for touchdowns. The first two runs, he found a hole in the interior of the defense and broke up the middle. On the last run, he bounced it to the outside and sped past the defenders down the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown. The only person that could keep up with him was a sprinting Mike Norvell as he held his hands up in the air in excitement. After practice, Norvell said, “He’s a really good running back. He was on scout team last year for most of the year… He just kept showing up. He’s really emerged as a go-to guy for us.”
- Andrew Parchment was the star of the offense on Tuesday. The wide receiver has had an up-and-down camp but showed on Tuesday his ability and potential to be a dynamic playmaker. The wideout hauled in five to six catches during team periods. In the early tempo drill, he helped Travis move down the field with two first-down catches. He dominated the 7-on-7 period. He opened the period with a long reception down the sideline for a fifty-yard gain. A few plays later, he tapped his toes in bounds as he dove to snag a back-shoulder touchdown near the pylon. “I thought he responded well today, came out and made some contested catches. He’s understanding now how we operate and how we practice here at Florida State. He’s taking ownership and buying to that. I think AP is taking strides in the right direction,” said wide receivers coach Ron Dugans after practice on Tuesday. FSU will hope the up-and-down trend ends here for Parchment and he can start to stack positive days heading into September 5th.
- Malik McClain is beginning to stack good days on top of each other. McClain has always flashed the skill, but he’s starting to develop the consistency necessary to be a reliable option for FSU’s quarterbacks. A lot of fifty-fifty balls, fades, and back-shoulder throws are being tossed at the freshman, and he’s hauling in a good portion of them. On Tuesday, he got separation from a defensive back and high-pointed the football for a touchdown just inside the pylon of the end-zone. On Wednesday, he brought in a tightly contested catch in 1v1’s. At 6’4, McClain creates a tough matchup for any defensive back. On Tuesday, Dugans praised McClain (along with Joshua Burrell) not just for his physical assets, but also called him a ‘smart football player.’
- Wyatt Rector flashed twice for big plays on Wednesday. The tight end hauled in two of the deep balls from Travis. The first came up the seam of the defense, as he beat a linebacker and got wide open down the field for a 40+ yard gain. On one of the last plays of 11v11, he got lost in coverage on a wheel route and took it 50+ yards to the house.
More offensive notes: Tight end Jordan Wilson is getting more and more action in the passing game as each practice goes on. Wilson will likely be used as a run blocker first, but in the last couple of days, he’s shown dependability down the field with a couple first down catches and a TD catch in the corner of the end-zone in one-on-ones. Running backs DJ Williams and Lawrance Toafili have both flashed in the passing game. Once Toafili catches the ball in open space, he’s tough to catch. Jashaun Corbin’s best run of the week came on a toss, as he broke to the outside for a third-down conversion. Darrion Williamson hauled in multiple contested catches in one-on-ones and has been a common target for Purdy. FSU’s veterans Pokie Wilson and Keyshawn Helton have been ultra-dependable for the quarterbacks in fall camp. Both are good for at least one first down catch a day, and Helton’s quick feet have made him a near automatic win in one-on-ones. Drops have plagued the FSU offense over the last two days. There were close to ten drops in team periods over the last two days. The drops have come from young players in the wide receiver and tight end rooms. The young guns have flashed, but they need to find their consistency to be reliable for Florida State in 2021.
Defensive notes: The defensive line has had success in the pass rush the last couple of days. With the offensive line undergoing some workload days, both Jermaine Johnson and Keir Thomas have had lots of success off the edge. Johnson had a handful of pressures on Tuesday. Malcolm Ray had a sack on Tuesday as well. Thomas’ first step is explosive, and he’s forced multiple quick throwaways in recent days. Freshman defensive back Kevin Knowles has moved all over the field and made it into the backfield for a sack on Wednesday. Meiko Dotson showed off his veteran eye as he diagnosed and blew up a screen on Wednesday. Travis Jay seemingly gets better and better at cornerback every day. He always keeps his receivers close on one-on-one matchups. Freshman safety Shyheim Brown has flashed in one-on-one coverage against tight ends with a couple PBU’s. Brown has the size and physicality to stick with any tight end, as he poked one away from the big-bodied Wilson. Freshman CB Omarion Cooper had a few wins in one-on-ones on Tuesday. On Wednesday, there were breakdowns in coverage which allowed a handful of successful shot plays for the offense.
