Coach Mike Norvell reflects on the first scrimmage of Florida State's preseason camp on Saturday night.
Opening Statement
“Thank you everybody for being here tonight. You know we decided we would take up most of your Saturday night so we went a little longer. I hope everybody enjoyed waiting in the Zoom room. Definitely was a good work night tonight, I think we got probably around 120 plays. Good work from majority of the guys on the team. Able to get into all, you know, three groups. I thought it was an active scrimmage. I thought all in all defense, especially the first defense, definitely probably came out ahead if you were sitting there picking a side but I thought they did a nice job throughout. There was one drive that the offense had a coming out drive, coming from the minus three yard line and was able to drive all the way down, I think it was 20-something plays, 24-play drive. Was very impressive.
“I thought DJ did a great job of operating throughout, you know really taking what the defense was giving him. Any time you have a drive like that, it’s exciting to see the consistency of the plays that showed up, but also just making plays in the moment there on 3rd and 4th downs. Obviously, defensively, had a few missed opportunities in that drive, but I thought the first defense did a really nice job throughout the night. There were a few missed tackles that we have to continue to clean up on, a few penalties, technique things we can continue to get better at that extended opportunities, but I thought they were very active with what they were able to do and disruptive on that side of the ball.
“Offensively, some good plays. I thought quarterbacks all-in-all, I have to go back and watch it, I thought they did a really nice job. I thought they were able to locate the ball well. When they had to move and evade, they did a good job of keeping their eyes downfield. There were a couple of explosive plays. A couple big touchdowns just from being able to keep plays alive. Being able to locate the ball vertically and receivers did a nice job of staying alive during those scramble situations. Offensively, still got a lot of work to do, especially with some of the younger guys with the finer details of alignments, communication aspect. That’s always one thing you want to see in the first scrimmage, when coaches aren’t able to be out there to give reminders and those guys have to go execute exactly where they are. There was some good, some young guys that rose up. I thought Eijah Moore had some really nice plays tonight. I thought he kind of stood out in that young group. But then I thought there were obviously things we’re going to have to get better at in overall understanding and just for guys to prove they’re ready to help us early in their careers.
“For the most part I think we came out of it pretty healthy. There’s a few things that showed up and we’ll see and evaluate where that is going into next week. But I thought it was a good work day.”
Norvell on how the trenches performed during the scrimmage
“I thought it was good. There was really good moments on both sides. There were some explosive plays that showed up but also, like I said, there's some some disruptive moments from the defensive line. You're creating push, getting penetration. That's what we need from that group it's something we're accustomed to from that group and I definitely thought that was a part of it. We tried to play a good amount of personnel. We limited some guys. Darius (Washington), Maruice (Smith) were limited offensively. Also, JB (Jeremiah Beyers) and Rob (Scott) were on kind of a snap count as we were rolling. Obviously Pat (Payton) Darrell (Jackson) and Josh (Farmer) were all kind of the same on the defensive front. So it was really good to get an amount of reps for some new guys and I thought they were active. We’ll get a chance to get a better sense of it as we watch film and get (through) the weekend. But just out there on the field, I thought it was a good work day with both sides showing well in certain moments.”
Norvell on defense’s opportunity to make plays, how they occurred
“I thought they were disruptive and playing in the offensive backfield at times, forcing the quarterback to have to scramble. Getting runs stopped before they could get started. I thought in all three levels there were some good pass breakups. Like I said, there was a lot of good things. I saw speed, I saw some smart plays where guys were trusting their eyes, reading their keys, playing fast in it. It was a good overall outing from the defensive side of the ball. There were a few big plays that we gave up that we’ve got to get eliminated, and some of those were just when the quarterback got on the perimeter and able to extend. Got to work on plastering our man, make sure we’re staying on that, keeping the integrity of our rush lanes. Those are all things that show up early. Just opportunities to grow for some of those young guys.”
Norvell on the pass rush during the scrimmage
“I thought it was good. There was, we kind of had an open book as we were sitting there as we were going into it being pretty aggressive with our installations. Whether it was blitzing, different elements that we were doing with our defensive front, I thought they handled it well and were able to create some pressure. Once again I’ll have to go back and see specifically the guys that stood out consistently with that. But there were still some things that we’ve got to clean up in rush lanes. But I thought it was good, I thought it was very active. And I thought as the offensive line, as it continued to go through the scrimmage, some of those guys settled down and responded to some of the early pressures that were given up whether it was through 1 on 1 or blitz pickup.”
On play of QB Luke Kromenhoek
“Luke, he was not live. He had his live work there in spring practice. But I thought he did a really nice job. I’ve got to go back and watch some of the finer details of it, but he operated, he had some really good third-down conversions, he had a couple big plays that he was able to make with his arm and he seemed in control being out there. That work from the summer was big for him and proud of how he’s continued to grow through it. He gets in live situations, he’s shown really well. Obviously that was good to see him take another step tonight and I’ll get a chance to watch some of the finer details, some of the elements of what we put on our quarterbacks, but out there on the field it looked like he handled it well.”
Did you see more consistency from the receivers and also guys step up and raise their game?
"There was definitely some good moments. We still had a couple of missed opportunities. A couple guys that got behind the defense or had a chance to go make a play where we weren't, where we didn't finish it a handful of them. Those are opportunities for guys that are trying to establish themselves as somebody that can be in the rotation. I feel good about the group that we have. I feel good about guys that you have been performing at a high level, but we're trying to get a sense of what is this rotation going to look like. What guys are going to be able to put themselves and earn more opportunities. So just trying to throw them into different looks and give guys different one-on-ones and just chances to finish plays. It was, like I said, there were some good moments but also some plays left out there that we've got to get better at."
How did the secondary look. Not sure if any were on limited snap counts. Were takeaways part of the defensive showing?
"I thought they were good in their coverage. Had a couple of PBUs. We did have an early interception during basically a red-zone type of period that we had. Did have an early interception there, which was great to see. I thought it was good because we limited AZ and Fentrell, I think Shy, all those guys were on a limited snap count. So we got to see a lot of those corners whether it was Quin (Jones), Edwin (Joseph), Ja'Bril (Rawls), Charles (Lester), Cai, (Bates) all of them really rolled in there and so I thought they did a good job. We had a good balance of press and off, but it is really, especially for some of the younger guys, it is just the technique - keeping their hands location where it needs to be, make sure that we're not getting wide. There were a couple of defensive holding penalties that showed up just where I think we can get better. I like the group and they were disruptive there at the catch point. Had a couple nice plays."
The run game last year put together a bunch of short gains and then busted out a big run. Is it still an explosive rushing attack or do you feel you are getting more consistency?
"That's that's what we're building towards. I think that we've got a really good group of running back. I think we've got a good offensive line that is going to be able to create space. And just the mentality of when we get the ball in our hands, we want to go get four or five yards every opportunity that we can and yes, if we get a chance to break one. I thought there were some great runs where guys kept their feet running. Just that tough nose mentality in that running back room that we're gonna stay on our tracks, get all that we can get and force somebody to try to have to tackle us. I thought that was a good element to see when it's live and everybody's getting tackled. But I thought our backs handled it well and I'm excited about where our running game can continue to go."
What stood out about Elijah Moore?
"He is just finishing plays. He's still got a lot to learn. I think there's a lot that he gets to grow with in his understanding, but he wants to. He had a couple of really nice catches tonight, finishing plays down the field. That's something that we need to see. And definitely, the moments not been too big for him. Like I said, there's still a lot of things that he gets to grow in, in just overall understanding, but I mean, he definitely is, he showed up big in these types of situations here early nine practices into camp and I thought he did it again today."
How will Hurricane Debby impact the upcoming practice schedule?
"It's one of those things that we are tracking. We understand that all plans here on Monday, we'll see what that ends up playing out to be. Still plan as of this time to head to Jacksonville on Tuesday. We'll see any developments, we've got different options and things that are in place, depending on how it ends up playing out I guess. But we have a lot of precautionary options, just in case of the severity of the storm and the track of where she goes."
It was the first time in Doak for several players. How did they handle it?
"When it comes to the guys first time in Doak, it was great.. You know, there were some nerves. There was some build up. You know the kinds of things that you want. We tried to create a little bit of an atmosphere, being a closed scrimmage, but you still, when you are in Doak at night, it's definitely something that these guys they get geared up for. And you know, there were some some early to say nerves, you saw some procedural issues with some of the newcomers. You can tell, they're jacked up for the first real live scrimmage game situation that we're trying to put them in. But I thought it settled down and I thought those guys seemed to do well as the scrimmage progressed. Once again, a lot of things when it comes to detail, and the overall execution that we will see (on film) tonight and tomorrow."
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