Spring Practice Report: Day 1

Excerpts from FSU Sports Information:

One of the biggest storylines of the first practice was the wind. With heavy gusts blowing most of the day, the passing game was erratic but there was plenty to be encouraged about.

Most of the first half of practice was spent working in position groups where new tight ends coach James Coley worked with Jonathan Hannah and Caz Piurowski.

One-on-one drills were plagued by the heavy winds but the QB's and receivers both managed to do some very good things. Taiwan Easterling stole the show despite not hauling in a single pass. The speedy redshirt freshman got open on numerous routes but the wind wreaked havoc on the deep ball. The same happened to fellow redshirt freshman Bert Reed and Richard Goodman who both had deep TD passes sail on them but they both did manage to pull in two other passes including a deep ball each. Rod Owens caught four balls and Greg Carr, sporting a new jersey (18), caught three. Defensively Tony Carter and Ochuko Jenije each broke up a couple passes and Korey Mangum and Patrick Robinson also got a PBU each.

While the offense was working in one-on-on, the rest of the team was working on inside drills up on field three. Kendall Smith and Derek Nicholson both got to runners behind the line of scrimmage. Marcus Sims and Pat Davis had nice gains for the offense. One of Davis' best runs came when he was able to break a play to the outside and turn the corner.

In ½ skel Robinson, Carter and Darius McClure all broke up passes. Drew Weatherford connected a couple times with Reed and once with Owens and Goodman. Christian Ponder hit Owens, Carr and Goodman. D'Vontrey Richardson completed balls to Easterling, Owens and Chase Walker but the biggest jaw-dropper came when Preston Parker adjusted to a ball thrown by Richardson to his back shoulder and hauled in the pass over his defender.

In 7-on-7 Weatherford hit Parker twice, Walker once and Reed three times. One of Reed's catches was a phenomenal leaping grab. Ponder had success with the deep pass connecting with Reed and Goodman on long passes. Easterling got behind the defense once again in this drill but a wind-aided pass was just out of his reach. For the defense, Dionte Allen broke up a play.

In pass rush the defensive line was ahead of their counterparts on day one. New defensive lineman Dumaka Atkins had three sacks as did Emmanuel Dunbar. Kevin McNeil, Jamar Jackson, Neefy Moffett and Everette Brown all had multiple wins. One of Brown's sacks came on a power rush. Budd Thacker, Paul Griffin and Justin Mincey also got to the QB. For the offense, Daron Rose had the best day with three wins. Antwane Greenlee and Rodney Hudson won multiple battles and Brandon Davis and Ryan McMahon picked up wins.

The session ended with 11-on-11. Weatherford and Richardson each completed a pass to Parker and Owens, respectively. Ponder hit Carr and then Easterling turned in the play of the day. The Mississippi native made a leaping grab between two defenders and came down hard but held on to the Ponder pass. Antone Smith and Richardson both had nice runs. For the defense Moffett jumped up to bat down a pass at the line and true freshman Terrance Parks broke up a pass.