Florida State football ran its second scrimmage of the spring on Saturday, a day that head coach Mike Norvell said was won by the defense.
“I thought the defense built off of what they showed there on Thursday — [they] had a really good practice Thursday, and carried that over in the scrimmage, started fast, were able to create havoc there, starting on the defensive front. I thought the D-line played was probably as impactful as what they’ve been throughout spring. You really felt their presence,
defense came out, was playing fast, was able to create some takeaways.”
Edge rusher Rylan Kenned was one of the standouts, , recording a sack and an interception after dropping into coverage in a pressure scheme. Norvell said Kennedy had taken significant strides over the previous week and that his athleticism and versatility were part of what made the staff excited when he arrived.
“He was actually the one that had the interception,” Norvell said. “You saw his athleticism, his range, the versatility of things that he can do in this defense.”
The linebackers also drew praise. Norvell cited freshman Karon Maycock and Noah LaVallee as players who had shown well early in spring, and said veterans Omar Graham Jr. and Blake Nichelson were flying around. Linebacker Chris Jones was limited Saturday but had done strong work throughout camp, he said. Norvell also said Mikai Gbayor would miss the remainder of spring, though he did not anticipate the injury affecting Gbayor’s availability heading into fall camp.
Norvell said the offense struggled early, with alignment errors, penalties and turnovers putting the unit behind the chains and negating several would-be explosive plays.
“When we hit a couple explosive plays that were called back, those opportunities to kind of flip the momentum early, we didn’t take advantage of that,” he said. “You can’t beat yourself.”
Things improved later in the session, Norvell said, including a sustained drive from a backed-up position and a successful two-minute drill — the first of the spring with a full officiating crew.
The quarterback competition between transfer Ashton Daniels and redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry continued with both players taking reps. Norvell said each had decisions to learn from but declined to set a timeline for naming a starter. He said he was evaluating both on how effectively they put points on the board regardless of which personnel groupings they worked with.
“I think when you see Kevin, he’s continuing to grow in the things that he’s being asked to do, driving the ball with more and more confidence of where it needs to go, what it needs to look like. Ashton, I think, has come in and done a great job in learning the offense, and there’s still some of the finer details of things that we can, and that he can grow from, but he’s done really well for the bulk of this spring ball, and I’m pleased with his progression and where that’s at.”
“I think both those guys understand the importance of each play, and not every play’s gonna go exactly how you want, but what you do — we’re grading every part of it, and I’m looking at situations, I’m looking at responses after a bad play, how guys are, how productive are they in putting points on the board, regardless of what group they’re working with. Because they’re both getting work with different units, different personnel, and so when they step on the field, who is making everybody better and putting us in a position to score points? Because that’s still every bit of it the name of the game. It’s not about who has the most yards. You can have a 70-yard drive, but if we make poor decisions and don’t put points on the board, it’s not going to matter. And so for us, it’s about who is owning the offense.“
Norvell’s full availability can be seen below:
