The No. 8 Florida State Seminoles are 3-0 to start the season, and they are entering the most important part of the season. They are set to open ACC play on Friday against the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville.
They have been the two most prolific offenses in the conference to start the season, and head coach Mike Norvell knows that FSU’s defense will be tested by Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris.
“I think they’re extremely multiple,” he said on Monday. “He is a challenge to have to go against. He can keep plays alive, even when teams haven’t got a whole lot of pressure on him.
“But even when people have gotten to him, he’s been able to escape and keeps his eyes down the field. He is a threat as a runner. I think they’re doing a good, really good job offensively of being so multiple in the ways that they’re attacking, whether it’s formations, tempo.”
Norvell also talked about Micahi Danzy, provided several injury updates, and more. Read his full comments here.
Opening statement
Excited to be in ACC week, open up our conference schedule here this week against an extremely talented Virginia football team.
You know, this is a team that, offensively, you know, one of the best in the country. You know, defensively, you see the, you know, just the confidence in which they’re playing with, you know, continuing to get guys back. You’ve had some early-season injuries, but, you know, you really felt, you know, great speed and physicality in the game there on Saturday night.
You know, going on the road Friday night, you know, national TV, and it’s an exciting opener for us. You know, our guys, you know, I think have handled the short week and just the adjustment of what we do. You know, they’ve handled that well up to this point.
Today was a highly-spirited, you know, fast practice. You know, I thought we came out with a great intent and purpose and, you know, really feel this team pushing and fighting to go get better. And, you know, like I said, it’s a big challenge in front of us.
You know, everything we’ve done, you know, through off-season, fall camp, and even in these first three weeks with a bye week is to prepare for, you know, the uncomfortable situations. And, you know, when you go on the road, I mean, they’re going to show up, you know, whether it’s, you know, some of the opportunities of distraction, whether it’s a long bus ride to the stadium, whether it’s, you know, just the crowd, you know, being against you, whether it’s, you know, the momentum swings that just show up throughout the course of the game. I mean, you’ve got to control you.
And, you know, that’s what we’ve really had a big focus on, you know, throughout, you know, the competitive aspects of what we do, you know, all the way back to January. And I’m excited to see our guys. You know, we’ll put that on display.
But, you know, we’re proud of where we are. And you’re excited for what’s ahead.
Yeah, and I did want to do, you know, well, I actually want to start with this.
But, you know, definitely, you know, Derek, just giving the news that are your hearts and thoughts and prayers are with Coach Clark, you know, the whole, you know, UCF, family that, you know, just obviously a tragic loss, you know, for him, for his family, you know, just that entire program. He’s been a great coach. You know, I didn’t know him, you know, personally.
But you only heard great things throughout the profession. But, you know, definitely, you know, our thoughts are with his family and, you know, the whole UCF, you know, program.
On how the Virginia offense is built around QB Chandler Morris
I think they’re extremely multiple. You know, he is a challenge to have to go against. You know, he can keep plays alive, you know, even when times haven’t got a whole lot of pressure on him.
But, you know, even when times that people have gotten, you know, gotten to him, I mean, he’s been able to escape, you know, keeps his eyes down the field. You know, he is a threat as a runner. And, you know, I think they’re doing a good, really good job offensively of, you know, being so multiple in the ways that they’re attacking, you know, whether it’s formations, tempo.
You know, him as a run threat, you know, their vertical passing game, you know, I thought that was, you know, they were elite in that the other day. You know, against Stanford, I mean, they’ve got some receivers that can absolutely play. Running backs run hard.
It’s a, like I said, there’s a reason why, you know, they’re averaging well over 500, you know, yards. I mean, they’re an impressive group. And so, I think he’s, you know, he’s definitely a wonderful spark for them.
On the next step for the defense
It takes 11 as one.
And, you know, there can be times where an individual player has a great play that sometimes covers up, you know, maybe a bigger issue. And it’s our challenge to our offense, our defense, special teams, is like, man, what are you putting on film? You know, what are the things that, you know, what are those areas where, man, we might show, you know, it can be a productive result, but in the moment, you know, is that the best we can be? Or can we be in the best position? And, you know, you find that urgency that you don’t just get satisfied with the result. You get satisfied with, man, the push to be excellent.
And that’s the absolute best we can be in all things. You know, I think there were some missed tackles that showed up. There was, you know, obviously a couple of opportunities where our communication needs to be better, you know, where we didn’t have all 11 executing as one.
And that’s really in all phases. We had that show up at some point there, you know, on Saturday, and so, you know, I think our guys, you know, they’re embracing the challenge that’s being presented by our coaches, and, you know, because they see it, and they understand how important it is, you know, as you continue to go through the course of a season, everybody’s going to get better. And, you know, as more film gets out there, you know, you’re going to, if you don’t correct the areas of vulnerability, then you’re going to get exposed.
On testing his players in a road environment on a short week
Obviously the way the schedule is laid out, you know, we’ve been in, you know, obviously we played in a big game. We’ve been in the national spotlight. But, you know, this is unique.
I mean, it’s our first night game. You know, doing it on the road on a Friday night, I know it’s going to be an electric crowd, you know, that is excited about their team. And they’re excited about their team because of what they’ve seen.
And, you know, this is a football team that’s playing with a lot of confidence. I mean, they’re very capable for what I’ve seen throughout the ACC play. I mean, this is a team that we can absolutely contend, you know, because of what they do and the players that they have.
So it’s going to be a great fight. And, you know, I know that the preparation is critical, having a short week, having to travel, you know, a lot of those elements. You know, it’s what you do with it and how you handle yourself, how you respond.
And it’s everything leading up to Friday night. But then it’s, you know, three and a half hours for the course of that game that you’ve got to be on point.
On Tommy Castellanos’ injury
Today he was able to get some work. You know, I think I felt real confident about where that’s going to be. You obviously will continue to see how the week plays out.
On Micahi Danzy switching to wide receiver
There were some flashes, you know, there even a year ago that, you know, throughout the course of practice, I think he had a couple of times in a game, you know, in those four games that he played. But, you know, you saw, I mean, I wouldn’t just hope that it worked in the move.
You know, I believe that it would be a great fit and position for him. You know, his work ethic, you know, his growth. And I think, you know, Coach Harris is doing a great job with him and just developing as a receiver.
And he’s showcasing the playmaking ability that we all believe that he had. And so, I mean, it’s just, it’s one day at a time. And, you know, you have somebody that has got an incredible work ethic and determination to go be it.
So I think it is just all of that coming together that’s allowed it to be a faster transition than what some might have.
On Randy Pittman and Squirrel White’s status
So Randy and Squirrel both participated today. You know, barring a setback, I feel very confident that they’ll both be available. But, you know, we’ll see how it plays out.
On whether it is hard to keep the team grounded with their success
No, it’s not. You know, when you go in and you watch the film, like when you see it, like there’s like, we want best.
We want everything that, you know, what we did. Yes, we scored some points. And, you know, we’re all excited about that, right? That’s what we go out there to do.
But, you know, when you see, you know, it’s not about the opponent you’re playing, whether it’s Alabama, whether it’s, you know, any of the previous opponents, any future opponents we’re playing, are we going out there and are we putting on display, you know, who we are, showcasing our training, showcasing our work and, you know, being able to execute in that moment. And, you know, I’m proud of our guys for what they’ve done, but there’s still areas that it’s not good enough. It’s not, you, there’s, we’re giving, we’re opening doors of opportunity for, you know, small things that can get exposed.
And so that’s like, you know, I want them to be fighting to get that corrected. And I think they have. And it’s, you know, it’s that edge that’s allowed them to get better.
So I do think we’ve gotten better, you know, regardless of who you play. I mean, I think we’ve gotten better through, through these last couple of weeks. But, you know, it’s, we’re going to play a, you know, a challenging opponent Friday night.
And, you know, they’ve got three games to watch on us for getting to understand our personnel, what we do, how we do it. And, you know, we’ve got to be ready to go out there and execute and respond to whatever might show up. And so, you know, that’s the, you know, Gus is, like I said, he’s incredible when it comes to, you know, being able to communicate that, point that out, challenge guys with it.
But well, through the whole part of it, you’re building confidence to what we can be. And that’s, you know, there’s going to be times where defense is going to have good plays against us. And, you know, you might get knocked down on a couple of plays and, you know, ultimately just let’s make sure that they earn it.
Let’s make sure that it’s something that we didn’t, you know, we didn’t open the door for it. But, you know, that’s all part, and then we’ll respond and go get better, you know, through that experience. So, you know, it’s not, and that’s the big picture as a team.
And I mean, you sit there and you win your first three games, great. What are you doing today?
On Kevin Wynn’s status
So he’s another guy that got some work today.
You know, it will be, you know, we’ll see the response just through, you know, coming off, you know, later today, you know, how’s he feeling? Coming in tomorrow, what does that workload look like? You know, I’m hopeful that we can get to have him available for Friday night. I mean, he was somebody that really kind of established himself pre-injury as, you know, being, you know, right there in the mix in that rotation and fully expect him to play when he’s capable and ready to play. And, you know, we’re hopeful that we can get him out there, you know, come Friday if he’s ready.
But, you know, I think there is a path to that, but just going to see how things respond.
On Chase Loftin’s status
Chase will be out for a period of time.
You know, we’ve still got to see just what that looks like throughout the course of this week. You know, ultimately it’s unfortunate, you know, that that occurred, you know, there on Saturday, but he’s really seen some great progression from him, you know, that receiver position and kind of what he’s been able to do. So, you know, we’ll kind of determine.
He’ll be out this week, you know, probably the next couple of weeks. But hopefully, you know, we’ll be able to get him back sooner than later.
On the ACC injury reports
No, I mean, we actually kind of went through our, you know, I guess we rehearsed for all things.
We did our end. You didn’t post all things, but we kind of worked through it of just like what that would look like. You’ll hear it through the non-conference of just our operation.
And, yeah, it’s fine. I mean, for whatever the purpose and reason, I mean, you know, I think there’s a lot of different levels and we’ll see how it all plays out when you see it in effect. But, yeah, it doesn’t matter as much to me.
On if they will trust the reports
Ultimately, I guess it’s going to go down to what, I mean, if you know somebody’s out, then you know somebody’s out. And, you know, questionable, what does that look like? I mean, we’ll probably have a couple of guys that are questionable this week.
And, you know, Kevin will probably be one of them. You know, we’ll see what that looks like of how it goes. But I wouldn’t be shocked if he plays.
But, you know, we’ve got to see where that’s going to go. So you just take each situation that’s unique to itself. And I guess it’s questionable, probably, or out.
On how Gavin Sawchuk finishes his runs, if other backs can learn that
I think it’s a yes. I mean, it’s the end all of that. I mean, that, you know, every bit of that ties into being a really good back.
And I think that, you know, Gavin has worked and developed himself to be in that. You know, he’s somebody we recruited out of high school. And we had a high level of belief of what it could be.
You know, obviously, he’s in Colorado, didn’t really get, you know, that far after he committed to his previous school. But, you know, it’s something I really like. And he does have speed.
He’s got explosiveness. I think he put that a little bit on display the other day. You know, but, you know, he’s also, he is determined.
He’s strong in the lower body. He can run through, you know, run through arm tackles. And, you know, when you watch a lot of backs, sometimes a back, when they get hit, their feet will momentarily, you know, pause.
I mean, he’s an accelerator through contact. And I think that allows that to, you know, push piles forward. And, you know, he’s done a great job of always moving forward, you know, when he’s been, you know, contacted.
And I think we’ve got a couple guys in that room that are very natural at that. But it is all of those characteristics that allow that to be, you know, a reality.
On if BJ Gibson won the punt returner job
I was proud of him for being able to go out there and execute and wanted to put him, you know, when he’s a guy that he was, he was dealing with a little bit of an injury last week. And so, you know, it wasn’t, you know, we didn’t go into it, you know, he was in a questionable status of last week. And, you know, as we got to game day, he felt good, you know, and then, you know, we were able to get him some reps there offensively.
And, you know, then, you know, later in the game, I definitely wanted to give him an opportunity. I thought that was a good, he did a great job fielding the ball, getting vertical, being strong. So he’s definitely, you know, he’s a, he’s an impact player for us, I believe, as he continues to grow.
And whether it’s in return game, you know, he’s done some great things, special teams, he’s still continuing to push himself there and just to clean up some of the smaller things, just at receiver. But, you know, I’m excited about what he can be. And so we’ll see where that goes.
On if they used the bye to scout Virginia, how much this week has changed
Oh, we utilized it, yeah. I mean, there’s, during the bye week, you know, there was a, you know, we had a very specific plan for how we wanted to, you know, use each of those days, you know, just to get a little bit of an advanced look.
I mean, I thought we did a nice job of, you know, kind of being able to execute that with, you know, our opponent last week and having a plan there. And then you’ll be able to come in this week with, you know, a good foundation after seeing, you know, three games. You know, we get to watch the Stanford game there, you know, after ours on Saturday.
But, you know, it’s a, you know, today’s, we’re rocking strong with a wonderful Tuesday. And tomorrow will be a great Wednesday. And, you know, that’s kind of how we’ve adapted.
You know, last night was a little bit different. We did have, you know, yesterday was a work day for us, just minus practice. The guys, you know, they got treatments.
You know, we were able to get a lift, get a little bit of soreness out of the body. And then we had, you know, we had a team meeting last night just to have all of our focus on what’s ahead for this week. And, you know, a quick offensive-defensive meeting just to clean up some of the issues and kind of present that foundation for Virginia.
So I think we’ve done a good job. But, you know, obviously, we’ll see. And we’ll see how good of a job come Friday night.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: Everything Mike Norvell said ahead of FSU game vs. Virginia
Reporting by JD McCarthy, FSU Wire / FSU Wire
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