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“Stay low, play low.” Mike Norvell told his offensive line unit at the beginning of practice number four.
It started out with warmups and then each quarterback running a two-minute drill. The first play of the drive running back Treshaun Ward takes a handoff from quarterback Mckenzie Milton, gets a nice block by pulling offensive guard Dillan Gibbons, and takes it to the house. Second play Ward runs up the middle for a short gain. Milton pulls and runs it for about ten. Back to Ward up the middle and he gets stuffed. In the following play, the offensive line held their blocks but got spread out and it looked like linebacker Amari Gainer was spying Milton because the second a hole opened up, he blitzed and got a sack. The field goal was good.
Jordan Travis on his first play, makes an adjustment at the line it looked like defensive back Travis Jay was faking a blitz, Treshaun Ward cuts up the middle for a good gain. On the next play Ward gets stopped in the backfield. Last play goes nowhere, the defense won that one.
Outside in drills defensive back, Akeem Dent gets a nice stop on wide receiver Anthony Weeden in special teams. The next rep, Weeden hits a nice juke move and takes off. Other players that received loud praise from head coach Mike Norvell were tight end Carter Boatright, defensive back Travis Jay, tight end Jackson West, Tight end Camren McDonald and wide receiver Malik McClain.
The quarterbacks were hard to see given the distance from where we were and they were. But same as the first three practices wide receiver Andrew Parchment stood out, along with wide receiver Keyshawn Helton. What I like about Parchment is he is always winning his blocks. From a distance it looked like the defense was constantly pressuring both quarterbacks, defensive lineman Jarett Jackson broke through on one play and almost got to Milton but Milton’s mobility shined and he was able to get away for a good ten yards or more. I’d say Milton’s leg has healed nicely. Linebacker Amari Gainer was able to record another sack in this portion of practice.
Defensive back Jarques McClellion breaks up a beautiful throw by Milton into a tight space but McClellion was able to get his hand in there at the last second.
Watching some of the offensive line going against the defensive line from above, defensive tackle Malcolm Ray got planted by offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons. Gibbons shook his hand afterward (such a nice guy.)
Defensive end Kier Thomas had a nice rep against offensive lineman Lloyd Willis slinging him to the ground.
Indoors, both quarterbacks participated in 11 on 11 and the defense stood out again.
A few notes from there, quarterback Jordan Travis hits wide receiver Keyshawn Helton for about 20 yards and would’ve been a touchdown but they blew the whistle and re-set.
Linebacker Amari Gainer got another sack spying on quarterback Tate Rodemaker. I’ve said this before but Rodemaker can move. This was only a touch sack and he probably would’ve gotten away.
I couldn’t get a clear view of who did this but either defensive back Caleb Blake or defensive back Shyheim Brown had a nice pass break up by coming through the wide receiver’s hands and deflecting the ball.
Just a few days into practice, Mike Norvell has been pleased so far with his team’s consistency and approach.
“I thought it was a good day. First day in uppers, being able to get the shoulder pads on. Guys had good intensity. Just trying to teach some of the new guys in the second practice of the expectation of how we practice.”
“I think the two young quarterbacks, Chubba and Tate, are throwing the ball extremely well. I’m really excited about what I’m seeing from them. McKenzie and Jordan, their confidence and their understanding of what we’re asking them to do is really high. I’m excited about the group.”
The Seminoles are expected to rely on many new faces in 2021, with one of the biggest ones being wide receiver Andrew Parchment. Norvell, a former college wide receiver, was excited about the potential of the Kansas-transfer. “I’ve actually been really pleased with him… we’re trying to help him on the finer details of his game that are going to allow him to play to the capability that I believe he has. He’s shown up in three days and we’re definitely excited to have him,” said Norvell.
Last practice recap
Day three of fall camp started post-Warchant with wails and whistles blaring from the Florida State practice fields
Defensive back Kevin Knowles II received praise from defensive line coach John Papuchis for his effort getting to the running back in block destruction and wide receiver stalk blocking drills
Linebackers DeCalon Brooks, DJ Lundy, and Amari Gainer showed good penetration when sacking the quarterback in one on one pass protection drills
In that same drill, running backs Lawrance Toafilli and Treshaun Ward held their own on a couple of reps as well.
On the defensive line, defensive tackle Robert Cooper showed his improvement by slinging a couple of offensive linemen around along with Keir Thomas and Quashon Fuller.
Jordan Travis hit wide receiver Ontaria Wilson in the flats for a big catch and run for about 18 yards.
The defensive line stood out the most today, sacking quarterback McKenzie Milton twice. They were an all-around menace, closing the pocket to contain him although, on one play he was able to take off and show his speed which would have been a touchdown had the play not been called dead at the 30-yard line. Keep in mind it was no contact for the quarterbacks so that can make the defense statistics look better. Both quarterbacks are extremely mobile and Jordan Travis’ accuracy seems to improve when he’s on the move.
Andrew Parchment shined again not only with a touchdown catch from Milton, but it seemed he was consistently open throughout practice.
Freshman tight end Jackson West had another good practice. At one point, defensive ends and special teams coach John Papuchis yelled his name three times after a good result in special team drills.
Here is video of the two-minute drills run by quarterbacks Chubba Purdy and Tate Rodemaker:
Alabama A&M transfer Marcus Cushnie showcased his speed on bag drills, and then in 11 on 11 disrupting the passer, causing him to make the quarterback get the ball out too soon.
Running back DJ Williams made a few errors in pass blocking drills but when it came to inside zone he shined, pushing through the line on multiple occasions.