Younger players see extended action in FSU’s first scrimmage of preseason

It didn’t sound like Mike Norvell was incredibly pleased with Florida State’s first scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday night.

Then again, he wasn’t incredibly displeased either.

Following a scrimmage that went an estimated 120-130 plays, and featured plenty of reps for the backups, the Florida State head coach said his offense had one marathon drive but failed to finish off some bigger plays inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

“It was a good overall outing for the defensive side of the ball,” Norvell said, adding that the first-team defense probably came out ahead of the offense.

The scrimmage was closed to the media, but Norvell said many of the veteran linemen on both sides of the ball played very limited snaps. He said that was by choice because the Seminoles wanted to give younger guys a chance to make an impression.

“There were a lot of good things,” Norvell said of the defense. “It was a good overall outing for the defensive side of the ball.”

Florida State defensive coordinator Adam Fuller wasn’t quite as bullish on how his side of the ball played, especially when it came to the pass rush, but he liked how hard they played and for the most part how the younger guys communicated.

He just didn’t like that one long drive the offense had.

Norvell estimated it was a 24-play drive. Fuller said it was “19 or 20 plays.” Either way, it was a long, long one and ended when running back Samuel Singleton broke a tackle in the backfield and scored from two yards out, Fuller said.

“It was a long drive,” Fuller said. “It was a really long drive. There were multiple third downs. We’ve got to get off the field. It might have been like a 19- or 20-play drive. … Any time there’s that long of a drive, you like to think you have enough playmakers to get off the field.”

It didn’t sound like veteran defensive backs Shyheim Brown, Fentrell Cypress and Azareye’h Thomas played much at all on Saturday night, which allowed Florida State’s younger DBs to get a slew of reps inside Doak Campbell Stadium. For the most part, it sounded like the secondary played well, but Norvell did say the quarterbacks hit a couple of big-time passes over the top after extending plays with their legs.

Norvell didn’t specify who made those big catches, but at least one freshman receiver had a good night in his first scrimmage as a Seminole.

“There was some good, and young guys that rose up,” Norvell said. “I thought Elijah Moore had some really nice plays tonight. I thought he stood out among that young group.”

Specifically, it sounded like Moore was able to get open and then finish off plays by making the catch. A few other receivers weren’t able to hold onto balls when they got open, however.

“We’ve got to finish the play,” Norvell said.

Afterward, the Florida State head coach said the Seminoles seemed to get out of the scrimmage, which included live tackling for the first time this preseason, relatively healthy. He said he’ll know more in the next couple of days.

And he did think the quarterbacks did a nice job for the most part on Saturday night.

Norvell said starter DJ Uiagalelei did a nice job of taking what the defense gave him and converting those third downs on that aforementioned monster drive that started at the 3-yard line.

“I thought the quarterbacks … did a really nice job,” Norvell said. “I thought they were able to locate the ball well. Had a couple of explosive plays.”

The Seminoles are set to have Sunday off before returning to the practice fields on Monday. But Norvell acknowledged that the schedule could change depending on Tropical Storm Debby’s path.

Running back Sam Singleton showed off some strong running during Florida State’s first preseason scrimmage on Saturday. (Ben Spicer/Warchant)

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

The post Younger players see extended action in FSU’s first scrimmage of preseason appeared first on On3.