FSU Holds Scrimmage At Doak

Excerpts From FSU Sports Information:

For the last time this preseason the Florida State football team held a full scrimmage in Doak Campbell Stadium. The two hour scrimmage completed the second-to-last two-a-day of the preseason. The team held a kicking scrimmage in the morning before the full pad scrimmage this evening. The squad will reconvene Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. for a 20 period practice.

The scrimmage started at the one-yard line with the second-team offense facing the first team D. J.R. Bryant broke up a pass, Myron Rolle took down Pat Davis and Alex Boston had a stop on third down for a three-and-out. The first team offense suffered a similar fate. Letroy Guion, who had a huge practice, recorded a tackle at the line, Drew Weatherford and Richard Goodman failed to connect and then Jamaal Edwards caught a pass underneath but was short of the first.

The ball moved out to the 35 for the next segment. The second team offense looked pretty good versus the ones. Davis had a short run and then followed that with a nice gain up the middle. Xavier Lee hit Greg Carr for a first down and then fired incomplete on a deep route. Lee then connected with Damon McDaniel on a short screen bringing up third down. The twos kept the drive alive thanks to Joslin Shaw. Shaw made a catch right at the sticks and was drilled by Rolle but held on for the first. After a short gain by Davis and a Guion sack the second team offense faced third down once again, which the offense was unable to convert. That brought Gary Cismesia onto the field to attempt a 50-yard field goal but Dekoda Watson blocked the kick and Korey Mangum returned it for a TD.

The scrimmage moved to the 50-yard line next and the first team defense continued to look stellar. After Davis was stopped for no gain, Lee found Shaw underneath for a first. That was all the offense could get though thanks to Guion. On the next play the tackle got into the backfield and got his hand on the ball as it was being flipped between offensive players on a reverse. He jumped on the fumble he created to end the drive. The two got three more tries from the 50 but two short runs by Davis and a screen pass to Davis did not produce points.

The first team offense got its chance from the 50 next. The series started with Weatherford finding Goodman deep on a 38-yard completion. Neefy Moffett made a nice play almost getting Weatherford in the backfield. Just as Weatherford was throwing Moffett got there to knock the ball loose but it was ruled an incompletion. That kept the drive alive and the ones took advantage. Edwards had a nice run around the end bringing up a third down and manageable play but Weatherford's pass to McDaniel was just short. With the ball at the five, the offense went for it on fourth and Marcus Sims not only got the first but also scored. With one play left, the ones moved back to the 50 looking for more points. Weatherford aired one out to Parker but the wideout couldn't hold on to the deep ball.

The scrimmage moved into the two-minute drill next. The first team defense had a great series versus the twos forcing a three and out. The first team offense had a little more success though. Weatherford hit Fagg for a short gain and then Parker on an out. After an incompletion, Weatherford took off and scrambled for a first. The next pass was blocked in the backfield by a leaping Justin Mincey, who also had a great scrimmage. Weatherford completed another short pass before Cismesia was brought on. The senior kicker nailed a 53-yard field goal as time ran down.

In goal line the second team offense went 1-for-4. Edwards scored a TD on the first play but Rodney Gallon had a big time stop on Sims at the line on the next attempt. From the three yard line Edwards turned in a highlight film run. He was trapped six yards in the backfield but reversed his direction and went across the field and made it around the corner. As he was ready to finish off the spectacular TD run Dekoda Watson came out of no where to save the TD. On the last play Moffett once again made a play tackling the ball carrier behind the line.

The first team offense started slow missing on its first two attempts. Edwards was stopped from the three and Erik Stapleton was stopped from the one. The ones did convert the next two chances though. Weatherford avoided a sack, scrambled and hit Charlie Graham for six and Sims finished the scrimmage off with a one-yard TD.

Head Coach Bobby Bowden
"The offense moved up and down the field pretty good but the defense did a pretty good job of keeping them out of that end zone except several times. The first drive was a beautiful thing - had about a 55-yard drive down to about the 10 of 15. Force a field goal. Defense blocks it and scores a touchdown. Catching the ball was pretty good.

"I'd like to think we've improved out there but it's going to get down to see where you see you are making mistakes that are costing you drives and stuff like that. I thought it was pretty spirited. I don't think we had any serious injuries out there; that's what we have got to keep our fingers crossed there.

"We made all of our kicks today. We had one from 53 yards and had another from 40-something. That's encouraging. I think Cismesia hit one about 53 and the other guy from one from over 40. I couldn't tell you the exact distance."