Noles Have Second Scrimmage Of Week: Spring Practice Report

FSU Sports Information Excerpts:

It may be the final week of spring but there has been no letdown as far as scrimmaging is concerned. For the second time this week the Seminole football team scrimmaged and it won't be the last time either with the Garnet & Gold scrimmage set for this Saturday. Wednesday's practice was slated for 25 periods but finished 45 minutes earlier than expected.

PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS

The first 10 periods of Wednesday's session were spent on the practice fields. After special teams work, the squad broke into position groups and then moved to Doak Campbell after scout team.

During inside drills Antone Smith, Brandon Paul and Marcus Sims all had nice gains.

While inside was going on, the receivers and DB's worked in 1-on-1. D'Vontrey Richardson had two TD passes to Greg Carr and Bert Reed. Carr's touchdown was the result of a devastating stop-and-go move that left him running free down the sideline. Richardson also connected with Taiwan Easterling. Christian Ponder, who participated in the entire practice, hit Easterling for a TD and also connected with Rod Owens and Carr. For the defense, Korey magnum picked off a pass that came off a receiver and Ochuko Jenije had a PBU.

In pass rush Ryan McMahon won three battles while A.J. Ganguzza, Antwane Greenlee and Rodney Hudson also won a tilt. Justin Mincey had the best day for the defense with three wins. Jamar Jackson, Paul Griffin, Neefy Moffett, Josh Rodriguez, Craig Yarborough and Budd Thacker also got to the QB.

Skeleton was run in down and distance. Ponder started off with a big TD pass to Smith but the play was called back due to a pre-snap penalty. The sophomore QB did go deep once again though as he hit Preston Parker. Richardson completed passes to Owens and Richard Goodman, on top of two to Louis Givens. Marcus Ball and Korey Mangum broke up passes.

In blitz the offensive line did a good enough job not to allow a sack but there was plenty of pressure put on the two QB's Ponder did a nice job avoiding the rush and finding Carr, Parker and Goodman twice. One of Goodman's catches was over the top of Tony Carter and Parker's was followed by a long run after the catch. Parker's gain wouldn't have been possible without a key blitz pick-up by Antone Smith on Dekoda Watson. Richardson hit Goodman twice as well and one was the result of a great Marcus Sims block. Sims had a 10 yard rush and Smith had an eight yard run.

The 1:00 drill was run with :45 on the clock and no timeouts. Both the ones and the twos got into field goal range. The ones looked to be in trouble right from the start with an incomplete pass due to a heavy rush from Myron Rolle and Watson. On 3rd and 10 though Ponder connected with Carr for 20 yards and then Bert Reed for 14. Rolle and Derek Nicholson got in to cause an incompletion but Easterling's 16 yard catch set up a Graham Gano field goal from 25 yards out. Richardson got off to a quick start with the twos avoiding a great Kevin McNeil rush and hitting Owens for 16yards. On 3rd and 7 Owens came through again with a 12 yard catch. Terrance Parks almost turned in a jaw-dropping INT when he skied to break up a pass to the sideline but Owens caught the next pass for seven yards to give Zach Hobby a try from 36 yards out but the attempt was wide.

Both the ones and the twos went three-and-out when the drives started from the -45. Everette Brown had a QB pressure on first, Thacker wrapped up Smith at the line on second but on third down the offense had a big play. Easterling came back to catch a tipped ball and broke it into a big play but offsetting penalties negated the play and on third down the offense could not pick up six. The twos started out with a completion from Richardson to Owens but Anthony Leon had a big hit to limit the gain to four yards. Roosevelt Lawson dragged Smith down for a one-yard loss on the next play and the twos threw a short pass on 3rd and 7.

The ones had a one play drive in red zone as Ponder threw a high ball up to Carr on the first play for a 20 yard TD. The twos weren't as lucky. A bad exchange caused Richardson to go down in the backfield and then Paul Griffin stripped Richardson. The QB recovered the fumble but the offense was unable to get on the board.

There was only one TD in goal line and that came on the first play as Ponder found Joe Surratt for a three yard score. After that Smith was tackled for a loss and that brought the twos onto the field. Rolle blew up the first play as he smothered Marcus Sims behind the line for a seven yard loss fighting off two blockers. The practice ended with a fumbled exchange and a defensive fumble recovery.