VIDEO: Mike Norvell speaks after FSU’s first fall scrimmage

Florida State football held its first scrimmage of fall practice on Saturday evening. Mike Norvell sat at the zoom podium to meet with the media after the scrimmage. Norvell mentioned in his opening statement that the scrimmage had to be moved from Doak Campbell Stadium to the indoor practice facility after a lightning strike. He liked the way his team responded and still played hard. Norvell said, “Good work night. We actually held the scrimmage in the IPF. Still got really good work, over 100 plays.”

The head coach said that the defense had the upper hand early, quickly forcing turnovers and dictating the physical play. “I thought the defense started really fast early… forced some fumbles, had a couple interceptions, really physical plays.” Norvell was also pleased with the offense’s response after some early mental mistakes. He said the offense had some explosive plays late, including a couple big plays from Malik McClain and Keyshawn Helton. “Malik McClain had a couple big plays. Keyshawn Helton had a big play. Offensive line held in pass protection.”

Two of the defensive players coming up with big plays were true freshmen Shyheim Brown and Hunter Washington. Norvell said both defensive backs had an interception. He added that Brown had a couple big hits in the run game. Norvell said Brown, Washington, and Kevin Knowles have inserted themselves into the defensive back conversation with the way they’ve showed up this fall. He also said that freshmen wide receivers have helped that position group make significant strides since spring. Overall, Norvell is excited about the 2021 class that they signed, “We feel very confident in the class that we signed. Some guys that are lesser known but we trust our evaluations and those guys are proving us right.”

On quarterback play, Norvell was pleased with his two veteran quarterbacks, McKenzie Milton and Jordan Travis. He said both ‘played to a level we would want to see them play at.’ He added that both helped the offense moved the ball down the field. Chubba Purdy and Tate Rodemaker both had some ‘young guy mistakes.’

Norvell has seen growth in confidence from the offensive line over the first week of practice. Norvell said, “I think those guys are getting confident in what they have to do. We’ve got some competition. Dillon Gibbons has come in and done a nice job. Devontay Love-Taylor is getting close and really looking good.”

For Norvell’s full press conference, see below: