Noles Continue Prep For Clemson

Excerpts From FSU Sports Information:

With college football kicking off in just over 24 hours, the 19th-ranked Seminoles, the last team to play on opening weekend, returned to the practice fields Wednesday. FSU practiced for 21 periods in pads. It was the last time the team will put on full pads until they step on the field Monday night versus Clemson. Florida State will return to practice Thursday.

There were a few nice plays during inside drills. Antone Smith and Jamaal Edwards both broke tackles and turned in nice runs. Xavier Lee had a great run on a scramble. Everette Brown and Neefy Moffett combined on a tackle for loss, Andre Fluellen disrupted a play with great penetration into the backfield as did Emmanuel Dunbar. Toddrick Verdell had a fumble recovery.

In 1-on-1 Tony Carter had two pass break-ups for the defense. D'Vontrey Richardson connected with Bert Reed but it was Drew Weatherford that made the biggest plays. The junior hit Damon McDaniel and then two big hook-ups with Richard Goodman. The first was a deep ball and the second was a highlight reel catch as Goodman leapt over the DB to make the catch.

In skeleton versus the scout team Weatherford completed two passes to Fagg, one to Rod Owens and a deep ball to Parker. For the defense Patrick Robinson had an interception and Dekoda Watson and Geno Hayes combined on a pass break-up.

The defensive line had the better of pass rush on Wednesday. Emmanuel Dunbar, Everette Brown and Letroy Guion all had multiple wins. Budd Thacker, Moffett, Fluellen and Paul Griffin also beat their blockers. On the other side Daron Rose won a couple battles as did Rodney Hudson and David Overmyer also got a win.

Weatherford continued to practice well in pass skel. He hit Fagg twice and Goodman twice. One to Goodman was a deep TD. The only big defensive highlight was Carter's pick.

11-on-11 was situational. In the first period it was pretty wide open and Weatherford was able to connect with Fagg and Charlie Graham. Xavier Lee completed a TD to Greg Carr. When the chains moved into the red zone, most of the plays were on the ground. Smith had two nice runs as did Edwards. Edwards converted two 3rd-and-shorts. One he broke a tackle and took into the endzone. For the defense Brown had a QB pressure, Alex Boston and Fluellen had a tackle for loss on a 3rd-and-short, Kendrick Stewart had a sack and Benjamin Lampkin and Paul Griffin stuffed a play right at the line stopping the offense from moving the chains.

Head Coach Bobby Bowden:
On being in pads
"It's the last day in full pads, tomorrow we'll come out in shells. We've had two days in a row of full pads, working pretty hard. The heat hasn't let up, so they'll be in pretty good shape for that ballgame."