Ira Schoffel: Uiagalelei, Jackson take center stage with two QBs sidelined

And then there was one. One healthy Florida State scholarship quarterback.

Backup QBs Brock Glenn and Luke Kromenhoek were both sidelined by minor injuries on Tuesday — ailments that will keep them out of the rest of spring practice, including Saturday’s spring showcase — and that left the Seminoles with senior DJ Uiagalelei and three walk-ons to split the reps during Thursday’s practice.

The good news, according to Florida State coach Mike Norvell, is both Glenn and Kromenhoek will be back to full speed very soon.

“It’s not going to affect anything for them, even in the summer,” Norvell said.

One of the three QBs who saw reps behind Uiagalelei on Tuesday is a walk-on in name only.

Winter Garden product Trever Jackson chose to join the Seminoles in January with the hopes of receiving a scholarship down the line, instead of accepting offers from other schools. And he showed again on Tuesday that he’s certainly capable of playing quarterback at this level.

The former three-star recruit connected with senior wideout Deuce Spann on several nice throws, including a beautiful pass of about 25 yards while rolling out, and he spread the ball to other targets as well.

“It’s a good opportunity for Trever Jackson; he’s been getting the ‘two’ reps here the last couple days,” Norvell said. “He’s still learning a lot. There’s definitely a lot being thrown at him … but I think he’s doing some good things.”

With Uiagalelei pulling the trigger, Florida State’s offense got off to a great start during one of the early 11-on-11 periods Tuesday.

After a short run by Jaylin Lucas and an incomplete pass, Uiagalelei connected with Vandrevius Jacobs on a throw of about 20 yards, where he dropped the ball in perfectly between linebacker Omar Graham Jr. and cornerback Fentrell Cypress. Running back Caziah Holmes then broke off a run of about eight yards, and Malik Benson sprinted into the end zone from about 10 yards out.

On Uiagalelei’s next possession, he hit tight end Kyle Morlock for a completion of seven or eight yards. Then Morlock broke free on a well-designed misdirection play, and Uiagalelei found him for a wide-open touchdown.

Uiagalelei could have had another potential big gain — on another creative play that got Lucas free down the sideline — but the running back had an uncharacteristic dropped pass. That followed another beautiful throw from Uiagalelei to Benson, which only went for about 15 yards but was placed perfectly against tight coverage from Cypress.

Uiagalelei and Benson hooked up again a few minutes later on another throw of about 35 yards. That drive started with a run of nearly 20 yards by Lucas, then Benson made an outstanding catch on the long completion. He had gotten behind the cornerback but recognized that Uiagalelei’s pass was slightly underthrown and came back and made a sliding catch.

From that point on, however, the defense held its own for the rest of practice.

“I thought the defense really flew around late,” Norvell said.

During 7-on-7s, Uiagalelei connected with Ja’Khi Douglas on a pass over the middle but was intercepted by linebacker Justin Cryer on his next attempt. Nothing was open on the play, and the former Clemson/Oregon State signal-caller tried to buy time by rolling out. But just as Florida State’s coaches whistled the play dead, Uiagalelei tried to fire a pass underneath, and Cryer made a diving pick.

Uiagalelei later hit freshman tight end Landen Thomas for about 20 yards.

Jackson turned in several nice throws during the 7-on-7 period as well. He hit back-to-back passes to Lucas and Spann for 10 to 15 yards a piece, and then he came back with another 15-yarder to Spann for a touchdown in the red zone.

The defense got the best of it when they moved back into 11-on-11 drills. The offense still had some positive snaps, but several plays ended with Jackson or Uiagalelei either sacked or flushed out of the pocket.

On one series, Uiagalelei was sacked by a group of defenders (Patrick Payton, Marvin Jones Jr. and Blake Nichelson all were in the backfield) on first down, then he was chased out of the pocket by Jones on third down. He hit Douglas for about 10 yards on the play in the middle.

Jackson’s next series also went nowhere. He threw incomplete on first down, Holmes was stopped for a short gain on second, and Jackson was forced out of the pocket and scrambled on third.

Uiagalelei concluded the day with a pair of outstanding throws. First, he dropped a perfectly thrown ball into Benson’s hands for around 40 yards after Benson got just behind Cypress. The ball literally could not have been thrown any better. One of Florida State’s safeties contended that the receiver was out of bounds, but we didn’t get a clear look to know for sure. Either way, it was an excellent throw and catch.

Then Uiagalelei connected with redshirt freshman WR Jalen Brown on another perfectly thrown pass. And Jackson hit Lucas with a completion of about 25 yards.

As mentioned earlier, there were impressive defensive plays throughout the day as well.

Linebacker DJ Lundy had a couple of very nice stops against the run — one in which he came up and hit Lucas in the hole, and another where he looked like he was shot out of a cannon and dropped Holmes for a loss.

One of Jackson’s drives stalled when safety Ashlynd Barker stopped a pass for a short gain and then defensive tackle KJ Sampson pressured Jackson into an incompletion.

Safety Shyheim Brown was very active and delivered several impressive plays throughout the practice. First, he came up and helped drop Lawrance Toafili for no gain on one carry, then cornerback Azareye’h Thomas did the same to Roydell Williams.

Brown later had a pass breakup on a throw from Uiagalelei to Morlock, then he broke up a pass from Uiagalelei to Spann, and Thomas broke up a pass to Benson. Freshman cornerback Cai Bates then did a great job of breaking on a ball in the end zone and picking off a throw by the third-team offense.

At the end of practice, the offense and defense worked on some two-point conversions, and the defense got the nod overall. Landen Thomas hauled in a touchdown pass on one tricky play call, while Azareye’h Thomas broke up another. Defensive tackle Darrell Jackson thwarted another by showing off tremendous athleticism, discipline and hustle, and Shyheim Brown picked off Uagalelei in the end zone.

QBs Trever Jackson (10) and DJ Uiagalelei walk into a Florida State practice earlier this spring. (Gene Williams/Warchant)

TRENCH NOTES by Matt LaSerre

Here were some highlights from one-on-one pass-rushing drills:

TJ Ferguson handled himself well against Darrell Jackson a couple of times, then Darius Washington appeared to get the best of Byron Turner Jr. Washington also had a good rep against Sione Lolohea.

Aaron Hester had a great rep against Jeremiah Byers, then Daniel Lyons got a good surge on Richie Leonard but couldn’t finish the play. Grady Kelly appeared to get the best of Maurice Smith, then Andre’ Otto stopped Lamont Green Jr.

Tomiwa Durojaiye got a win against Jayden Todd, and Green came back and had a better rep against Tye Hylton.

Florida State will hold its final practice before Saturday’s spring showcase on Thursday afternoon.

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

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