Through the first few weeks of spring football, we've seen new Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei's remarkable arm talent put consistently on display. We've also seen a quarterback that, while experienced at this level, was learning a new offense and building chemistry with an entirely new set of teammates.
It would seem that the latter is starting to catch up to the former in a very promising way three weeks into the Seminoles' spring camp.
Reflecting on FSU's second spring scrimmage Saturday morning, head coach Mike Norvell mentioned the Oregon State quarterback transfer before anyone else during his opening statement when reflecting on players who stood out.
"I thought today was his best day. He's had some good days in spring practice, but today, he operated at a very, very high level," Norvell said Saturday. "You saw the confidence of the ball getting out, where it's going, even on a couple throwaways. You could tell he was in control of what he was being asked to do today. We've been pretty aggressive with our installation. We're trying to throw a lot on him. I liked how he responded, how he reacted. It's exciting to see that progression."
Norvell shared that Uiagalelei led the offense on a few extended drives in Saturday's scrimmage, which was more game-like than the largely-situational first scrimmage last week. He said Uiagalelei also had a few explosive plays and made the most of his opportunities, even if he wasn't live for contact in the scrimmage.
"Obviously any time in spring scrimmages, we keep the quarterbacks in tag mode so there are some times where maybe they would get out, maybe they wouldn't," Norvell said. "But it's still opportunities to have to react to whatever the situation calls for."
A number of the other players Norvell praised for their impact on the second scrimmage Saturday were mid-year transfer additions. He spoke highly of Marvin Jones Jr. and Sione Lolohea on what he referred to as an "explosive" defensive line and wide receiver Malik Benson, who he says scored a few touchdowns Saturday.
When asked, he admitted this is normally about the period of spring -- Saturday's scrimmage was the eighth of 15 spring practices -- where you see the lights start to come on for these mid-year transfer additions.
"When you go through the winter program, you have meetings but you're not really getting to do a ton. You get a short walkthrough, but you're not really getting to do a ton with speed. It's all mental," Norvell said. "So then you get out there and you're trying to adjust to the things you know, the language you have learned, the techniques and fundamentals that are being asked, but now it's just getting caught up with the speed and the repetitions."
It sounds like the productive quarterback play Saturday went beyond the projected starter, Uiagalelei. Norvell said the quarterback play overall was good Saturday, He shouted out redshirt freshman Brock Glenn and true freshman Luke Kromenhoek for their growing comfort running the offense.
"Brock, you can see the comfort in his operation, knowing what to do. He had some good plays, good moments..." Norvell said. "Luke did some good things today. I've really liked what I've seen from him, especially on third downs. A brand-new freshman in third-down situations, that's usually one of the hardest things for them to get thrown into, the different presentations and pressures. He does a good job of just standing in, trusting his eyes. He had some teachable moments, he probably wasn't as clean as it was a week ago for him with the added install. There are still some things for him to grow, but he is fun to coach. Definitely progresssing extremely fast for a freshman.
"It was a good day for that group."
Full transcript from today's Mike Norvell press conference
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