How self-inflicted wounds doomed FSU's offense in second spring scrimmage
Florida State's defense deserves credit for playing much better in Saturday's second scrimmage than it did one week earlier.
Adam Fuller's group tackled better in space, the defensive front did a better job of clogging running lanes, the pass coverage was sharp, and the pass rush looked improved.
But that doesn't entirely explain how the Seminoles' first- and second-string offenses scored zero touchdowns after the opening drive. (The only touchdown the rest of the day came when mostly third-teamers were on the field, and walk-on QB Gino English hit walk-on receiver Adarius Dent in the corner of the end zone for a 15-yard score.)
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*ALSO SEE: Unofficial stats from the scrimmage
Jordan Travis got six more drives after he led the offense on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to start the scrimmage.
McKenzie Milton got seven drives, and Tate Rodemaker got six.
And in those 19 combined drives by the Seminoles' top three quarterbacks, they didn't cross the goal line one time. Even with a few of the late drives starting on the plus-side of the field.
While the defense definitely played better in this scrimmage, the offense also was a victim of many self-inflicted wounds.
Several drives were doomed by penalties, others were hurt by errant shotgun snaps from a freshman center, who was forced into duty with the second unit, and others came up empty because of mistakes by the quarterbacks and wide receivers.
"Some of our young receivers looked like young receivers," head coach Mike Norvell said.
That hasn't been the case for the first few weeks of the spring; freshmen Malik McClain and Joshua Burrell and redshirt freshman Kentron Poitier have all had a lot of really nice moments. However, Saturday wasn't their day.
Offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham said part of that was due to the coaches intentionally placing them in some tough situations. The offensive staff didn't do as much from a scheme standpoint to give them easy routes, and the defense appeared to show them some new coverages.
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