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Florida State football was back to the practice fields for their first practice of Jacksonville State game week this morning. After practice, Mike Norvell met with the media for a press conference. Here’s some of what the head coach had to say:
On the short practice week after Sunday game: “Taking care of their bodies physically, it’s going to be a big focus here this week. Making sure that we bounce back physically as well as mentally for the job that’s ahead.”
On what he saw from film: “Going back and watching the film late Sunday night, Monday morning, it was a lot of self-inflicted things that cost us in critical moments. You could take every phase, you can take probably anywhere between 15 and 20 plays that would’ve went different, would have changed the outcome of the game.”
“We’re still a youthful team, but also a team that has to improve. They have to continue to grow. They have to get better. That’s the challenge. But it was evident even on film: the physicality, the toughness, the response that we showed throughout. Something I’m proud of and we’ve got to continue to show that response every day in practice, every meeting that we have so we can achieve at the level that this team is capable.”
On Kalen Deloach: “I thought Kalen Deloach, who had a really good camp, showed up and played pretty dang good.”
On the fourth down decisions: “I coach games to win games. We’re going to be smart. As we go into it, I have a feel for how I want to attack what we want to do. I reevaluate every decision that’s made throughout the course of the game to make sure that I’m putting our guys in the best position to win but I’ve got a lot of faith in how our guys are going to play and how we’re going to execute.”
“There’s going to be sometimes where it’s going to be a 50-50 call. The one on Sunday was not. I felt confident in the decision and where we were and what we needed.”
“We were in a go situation and trying to continue a drive and a possession, but at the end of the day, I’ve got the utmost faith in our defense if it doesn’t work out that they’re going to be able to get the stop.”
On the running game: “I thought we had three different backs that ran the ball really well. We were able to kind of hit in every place on the O-line. The tight ends, receivers, those guys did a nice job blocking. I’m pleased in the mentality our guys are bringing, we got to continue to clean up the details.”
On Malik McClain: “Malik, the sky’s the limit. A guy that comes every single day and continues to push. He’s working to elevate his game and just that consistency play in and play out. You saw that the moment wasn’t too big for him.”
On the defensive intensity: “We need to play with that edge. We need to play with that effort. It’s got to carry over and make sure that it is a passionate focus so we’re still executing the jobs that we have. I thought our defense played with the mentality. I thought our guys took a real purpose that we were stopping the run and that was something that showed up well. I think our guys are definitely heading in the right direction.”
On Treshaun Ward: “Treshaun is a guy that I think has a huge upside. He’s had a great spring, a great fall camp. he’s going to be a go-to guy for us... I like what I’m seeing from Treshaun.”
On Jordan Travis: “I thought Jordan was maintaining poise, maintaining composure. The thing that we saw later in the game, the 60-yard touchdown to Ja’Khi, it was ideal. Made the call, made the check, was able to throw in rhythm on time. There was one of the three picks that he knew immediately that he wanted to have back. I thought Jordan, he’s really coming and developing as a quarterback. The negative times where maybe he wasn’t as accurate as he wanted to be it still went back to some of the fundamental things that he’s really worked on. He’s excited to get back out here and continue to improve.”
On McKenzie Milton getting into the game: “McKenzie, I thought did a wonderful job being prepared, being ready, staying engaged. That’s one of the things I loved, every time Jordan’s come off the field, he had McKenzie in his ear. Talking about what he sees, talking about the things that they can do to help each other. Fast forward to the fourth quarter, you saw the same thing (from Jordan). The relationship in that room, it’s awesome. Jordan’s encouragement and McKenzie being ready to operate in that moment was pretty remarkable.”
For Norvell’s whole presser (via Noles247), see below: