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The Florida State Seminoles football program hit the practice field for day two of Jacksonville State game preparations. On Sunday, the Seminoles posted 38 points against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, just the third time the Irish had allowed that many points in the last three years. After practice, offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham spoke to the media to review the Notre Dame game and talk Florida State’s QB situation. Here’s some of what Dillingham had to say:
On the team’s effort and drive: “We’ve got to get a lot better, but our kids are playing hard. To me, that’s the minimum standard of what it should be and we’re finally hitting that minimum standard. Now, we’ve got to play smarter, we’ve got to play faster, and we’ve got to play more efficient. We have now, that week one, have hit that minimum standard of just giving effort... That should never be an issue here, that should be who we are.”
On Malik McClain: “That kid’s not a freshman, technically he is, but he’s not. That’s why you enroll early, you grow up faster. The way he played the football game without the ball is what defines him. That’s why he’s on the field. You’re going to see him make plays all year and the next three to four years. But the reason he’s able to play as a true freshman, watch him when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands because that’s the mentality he has. He has that dog in him and that’s what allows him to be on the field as a true freshman.”
On the offense’s progression through the game: “Anybody can have a good first few drives, a good script. But eventually, defensive coordinators get paid too, they’re going to change, they’re going to adjust. Can we adapt when they adapt? That was something we did this week.”
On Jashaun Corbin: “It’s unreal. The work he’s put to get to this point, that’s just one of those kids that you root for, that everybody roots for.”
On the QB situation going forward, not hung up on naming one starter: “We played who we felt gave us the best chance to win and we’re going to continue to do that and in my mind, I don’t think that’s changed.”
“I think the key is making a team prepare for both. Regardless of how much they’re used, it’s the thought that both can play. That’s the key, because every coach in America is petrified of the unknown. They’re not going into a game not prepared... So just the thought process, can drive people crazy... Our goal is to keep people as paranoid as possible.”
On Jordan Travis and McKenzie Milton’s unselfishness: “I think it’s the culture of the team. We want to win. It’s not a selfish football team. We want to win football games. Whatever that takes. Jordan led us to 28 points, he led us on a drive down to the 50 about to score 35 points vs. a defense that’s only given up 38 points three times in the last three years. Jordan Travis starting at quarterback, he’s been two of the seven times that Notre Dame’s defense has given up 26 points or more in the last three seasons. He’s leading us down that drive, to see McKenzie pick him up right where we left off and we don’t miss a beat, that’s what football’s about and that’s what team’s about.”
For Dillingham’s full presser, see below: