FSU holds RARE practice on Sunday

The Seminoles went through a Tuesday practice on a Sunday as the team readies itself for the ESPN Thursday night showcase game versus NC State. FSU practiced for 22 periods in full pads as the majority of the NC State game plan began to be installed.

PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS

-The highlight of inside drills for the offense was a nice run by Marcus Sims.

-In 1-on-1 Drew Weatherford hit Avis Commack, Louis Givens and Jarmon Fortson. E.J. Manuel found Preston Parker. Korey Mangum recorded a pass break-up. -In 7-on-7 Patrick Robinson, Tony Carter and Roosevelt Lawson all had break-ups. Christian Ponder connected on a TD with Bert Reed, found Parker and had a big play to Taiwan Easterling on a nice run after the catch. Weatherford connected with Rod Owens twice and Reed three times, one of which ended with a long run following the reception.

-The defense had a nice day in pass rush. Kevin McNeil and Markus White got to the QB twice. Kendrick Stewart, Budd Thacker, Neefy Moffett, Kevin McNeil and Everett Dawkins also recorded sacks. Ryan McMahon got a couple wins for the offense as did Rodney Hudson, one of which was a pancake block. Andrew Datko and Zebrie Sanders also recorded wins.

-11-on-11 was fairly uneventful with the lone completion coming from Ponder to Commack. Kendall Smith had a QB pressure and Carter broke up a pass.

-In 11-on-11 inside the 20, sacks were the prominent play of the day. White and Everette Brown combined on one, Thacker and Paul Griffin combined on one, Griffin and Moffett also joined up on a sack and Vince Williams recorded one of his own. Stewart recorded a tackle for loss and White had a pressure. Ponder had a short pass that Parker turned into a long gain. D’Vontrey Richardson hit Seddrick Holloway and Owens for TDs. Weatherford swung a pass out to Carlton Jones who broke a tackle at the line and turned it into a long gain. Bert Reed also had a highlight on a run where hi zig-zagged his way through the defense.



QUOTES

Head Coach Bobby Bowden


Opening statement:

“We had a good practice Saturday and today was like a Tuesday so we had a pretty heavy practice. Got through it okay.”


On the defense being ranked second in the nation

“That’s really good and I hope that they can keep it up. Usually that is the key to success in all of your big games – it just comes down to defense. If they can’t stop people, boy, you’ve got trouble.”



Cornerback Tony Carter

On the NC State series:

“They are pumped, we usually play them (NC State) on a Thursday night, the crowd gets into it and they have athletes just like we do. It’s a big time game on TV, now that we have a former coach of theirs it’s a big deal to them. We just have to play our game. Last time we went up there we didn’t have the best of luck. If we play our game we should be okay. They have talent, you can see that. They turn the ball over in some games.”


On Carter Finely Stadium

“At night, and I have only played there at night, so it’s a little different atmosphere up there at night and they have that Wolfpack howling all night. Like I said, Florida State and NC State is kind of a coaches-type rivalry and we have some history with those guys so it’s definitely a great environment to play in.”


* Courtesy of FSU Sports Info