'Free and Fast' ... FSU defenders embracing Barnett's wide-open philosophy

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The Florida State football team won't conduct its first preseason scrimmage until Saturday. The Seminoles won't play their first real game until Sept. 3 against Virginia Tech.

But if you think FSU's defensive players are going to wait for either of those dates to see what they think about Harlon Barnett's defensive schemes, well ... you need to understand that this group is done waiting for anything.

The defensive linemen are done with waiting to read the offensive line's first step before rushing upfield. And the linebackers and defensive backs are done waiting for opportunities to make the big plays FSU's defense has been lacking in recent years.

"This defense allows us to play free and fast," junior linebacker Dontavious Jackson said. "It allows us to get downhill faster. ... We're triggering way faster now. We're getting downhill quick. We're getting downhill right now."

Several aspects of Florida State's defense will look different under Barnett than it did the last few seasons under Charles Kelly.

There will be fewer three-man defensive fronts and a return to FSU's traditional 4-3. The cornerbacks will be playing much tighter coverage at the line of scrimmage, often daring opposing quarterbacks to take shots downfield.

The front-seven will be focused on affecting the quarterback and stopping the run, as opposed to reading and reacting once the ball is snapped.

"We don't really have to, I guess, sit back and wait to get after the quarterback this year," junior defensive end Brian Burns said.

"We have more freedom," added sophomore defensive end Joshua Kaindoh.

The Seminoles' defense isn't quite ready for game day just yet. Kaindoh has still been limited by an undisclosed injury, and sophomore defensive tackle Marvin Wilson still isn't 100 percent following the knee injury he sustained last spring.

But as a group, the defense has been dominant for much of preseason practice. And from an emotional standpoint, they look far different from the FSU defenses of the last past two or three seasons.

The trash talk seemingly doesn't stop, and they celebrate each big play as if it were in a crucial game in November, as opposed to a morning practice in August.

"I think they're enjoying it," FSU defensive ends coach Mark Snyder said. "The way we play defense, we allow those guys to blow and go. I think it fits their personalities too."

The "blow and go" approach does have its limits.