Corey Clark Observations: WR Keon Coleman shines during Day 3 of Florida State practice

It had been a relatively quiet first few days for Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman this week at Florida State practice.

But Saturday was a vastly different story.

The 6-foot-3 junior had a highlight-reel catch late in the practice, in 11-on-11 drills, that reminded everyone — including his teammates — why he was one of the most coveted wide receivers in the transfer portal.

Jordan Travis lofted a pass about 25 yards down the right sideline and Coleman jumped over cornerback Fentrell Cypress, another highly touted transfer, to haul in the catch. But what he did next, being able to keep his feet in bounds, pivot and then sprint down the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown set off a vocal celebration from his offensive teammates.

The Florida State offense in general performed much better on Saturday, the first day in shoulder pads, but it was Coleman’s leaping catch-and-run that was the highlight.

As for other standout plays in 11-on-11, Trey Benson had a long run thanks to a great seal block by Julian Armella on Byron Turner, Jr., and Rodney Hill showed off his explosiveness taking a swing pass down the left sideline, beating the linebacker to the edge, for what would have been probably a 40- or 50-yard gain (head coach Mike Norvell started blowing his whistle almost as soon as Hill turned the corner).

Running back CJ Campbell came out of the backfield and snared a long pass down the sideline from Travis, and Caziah Holmes might have had a 65-yard touchdown on a wheel route but the throw from Tate Rodemaker was behind him and then skipped off his hands.

Johnny Wilson had a contested 10-yard catch on a terrific throw by Travis, who was being pressured by Jared Verse. And Verse did that a lot on Saturday.

The All-America candidate was a wrecking ball all throughout practice. It got to the point where you wonder if the Florida State coaches might just tell No. 5 to sit out more plays as the month wears on, just so the offense can function. Because on the play in which he pressured Travis on the throw to Wilson, he was actually double-teamed. It didn’t matter. He also had three more pressures on the day.

Fellow defensive end Patrick Payton also had a solid day in 11-on-11, and it was his pressure that forced a Travis interception that was returned for a touchdown by Kevin Knowles. Travis was rolling to his right, and just before Payton got to him, he threw across his body to Coleman, who was standing flat-footed in the middle of the field. Knowles broke in front of the pass and sprinted to the end zone — much to the delight of his defensive teammates.

Those were the highlights of 11-on-11, but in 1-on-1 and 7-on-7, it was a good back and forth between the two sides.

Travis hit Destyn Hill with a terrific pass down the sideline for about 45 yards in 7-on-7. It was against Knowles. Terrific throw. Good catch.

Travis also made a tremendous throw to Winston Wright for a gain of about 25 yards. Wright had, by far, his best day of the early preseason practices. He had multiple impressive catches and showed serious burst, I thought. It looks like he’s getting more and more comfortable each time he’s out there.

Travis also hit Wilson for about a 20-yard gain over the middle, and he hit Coleman for a really smooth, almost-too-easy 18-yard catch down the sideline on a back-shoulder throw.

But the Florida State first-teamers found the end zone hard to find in 7-on-7 red-zone drills as the defense broke up everything. Akeem Dent and Knowles both had pass break-ups during the drill. Travis did find Holmes for a 5-yard score in the right corner.

Joshua Burrell also had a 10-yard touchdown catch, against Quindarrius Jones, on a perfect roll-out throw from Brock Glenn.

Glenn also had a 22-yard pass to Wright earlier in the 7-on-7 drills.

In 1-on 1s, the highlight was Cypress cutting in front of Deuce Spann on a slant and picking off the pass. Azareye’h Thomas, who has had a strong start to camp, had two PBUs during 1-on-1s, Cypress had one, Greedy Vance had one, Shyheim Brown had one — he then was also called for a well-earned pass interference while trying to cover Hill — and Jarrian Jones had one on a really nice recovery while guarding Coleman across the middle.

D.J. Lundy also had a pass break-up covering tight end Preston Daniel.

Wilson beat both Renardo Green and Thomas for catches down the sideline. Jaheim Bell beat Dent for a long catch down the middle, and Wright got the best of freshman Edwin Joseph for a big gain as well.

But let’s get back to Coleman real quick. Not only did he have the long touchdown and a couple of other nice catches — to go along with what would have been a sure touchdown down the left sideline in 7-on-7 but Vance held him as he broke free — he also might have made Norvell happier than anyone else did on Saturday. And it had nothing to do with his receiving skills.

During a special-teams blocking drill, Coleman went up against Quindarrius Jones. On the first rep, the freshman defensive back ran through and over the veteran receiver, delivering what amounted to a pancake hit on the transfer.

The next time the two lined up, though, Coleman was ready for him and made a good block to help spring the ball-carrier. Norvell sprinted over to Coleman, as fast as he could, and jumped on his shoulder pads like he had just won a game with a touchdown. It was maybe the most excited I’ve ever seen Norvell at a practice.

As for the special teams, in the kicks I tracked, Ryan Fitzgerald was good on all his attempts. They all came from inside 43 yards. Tyler Keltner was good from 32 but missed his 42-yard attempt.

The punters were sensational, however. Alex Mastromanno bombed three straight punts over 50 yards, including one that went 58. Walk-on Mac Chiumento also had multiple 50-plus-yard punts as well.

On the only punt I saw from Mastromanno that wasn’t a 50-yarder, it was still hit well and very high, with a sideways rotation that caused Lawrance Toafili to fumble it. During this particular drill, both Coleman and Hill caught all of their attempts.

The Seminoles take Sunday off and return to the practice field on Monday morning.

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

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