When John Papuchis saw Marvin Jones Jr. walking around the Florida State football facility a few days after Saturday's 14-9 win over Cal, he saw something from Jones that had been missing the last few weeks.
A smile.
Jones, a Georgia defensive end transfer, probably felt a bit of a weight on his shoulders when he transferred to join the Seminoles this offseason.
Part of that was certainly due to his status as a former five-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class.
But another part could certainly be attributed to the fact that his dad, Marvin Jones Sr., was a legendary FSU linebacker and has his jersey retired at Doak Campbell Stadium.
That pressure only built through the first 15 quarters of Jones' career, over which he made minimal impact as an edge-rusher with only a half-tackle for loss.
However, Jones finally broke through in a big way in the fourth quarter of Saturday's 14-9 win over Cal. On the Golden Bears' final drive, Jones delivered his first two sacks as a Seminole and a forced fumble to help secure the win for the Seminoles and preserve a game where FSU's defense allowed no touchdowns in five red-zone trips.
During an interview after Tuesday's FSU practice, Jones was smiling throughout. From how he's acted since the Cal game ended, it would appear that weight has been at least somewhat lifted.
"I think Marvin obviously has a high expectation for himself. We have high expectations for him. I think sometimes when that is the case, you can press a little bit and stress about whatever your statistical numbers are and everything else like that," Papuchis, FSU's defensive ends coach, said. "I think him having some success late in the game, creating two critical sacks, getting the ball out on one of them, hopefully that's something we can build off of."
Jones was adamant Tuesday that he's been enjoying himself this season even before he had in-game success or was a part of his long-awaited first win at FSU.
"I've definitely been having fun. We get to play football every day, it's definitely a joy and a blessing to be here every day," Jones said. "Obviously a lot of frustration not being able to come out on top those first three games, but it's always fun playing football no matter what."
However, he also admitted that he has an unfortunate track record of putting a lot of pressure on himself on a daily basis that makes him expect nothing less than the best in himself.
"I've always been like that. I've always wanted to be the best at whatever I've done. I think that's just a part of it," Jones said. "I think I probably put way too much pressure on myself. Coach JP will probably tell you that, too. Every practice, every rep, I'm trying to win. If I don't, I take it very seriously. The focus has been trying to have fun, relax. I think that's when the plays will be made."
The plays certainly were made Saturday night. Early in Cal's final drive, Jones used pressure from other rushers to cut inside and grab QB Fernando Mendoza as he tried to step up to avoid pressure. That put Cal in fourth-and-13, but the Golden Bears converted to keep the drive alive.
Later in the drive, the opportunity again presented itself for Jones. He used his impressive speed at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds to surge past the left tackle and close from behind on Mendoza, knocking the ball loose.
While FSU didn't recover, this again put Cal behind the chains and this time, FSU's defense held up, securing the win.
"I saw the production six months ago on the practice field and knew it was going to be there. It just hasn't been. As a coach, you can't panic, you can't change. You just need to emphasize the things to help them get there ..." FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said of Jones. "It was good to see Marv have success. I know he was as frustrated about the couple sacks that he missed as he was excited about the ones he made. I think he was more relieved, which I hate that for him because I want him to enjoy everything about this wonderful game. He's a very talented player, he does care about this football team and he wants to have success. It was good to see him have some."
Jones' late effort was only a small part of an impressive showing from an FSU defense which racked up seven sacks — its most in a game under Mike Norvell and Fuller — vs. Cal.
"Last week, we came with a lot of energy in practice. More than ever before that I've seen since I've been here. It just translated to the field. We were hoping that it would..." Jones said. "It was a lot of fun. All the hard work that we put into practice finally paid off. It means a lot to go out there and have success."
Jones entered his first season at FSU with quite a bit of expectations opposite Patrick Payton as FSU entered its post-Jared Verse era with the former standout off to the NFL as a first-round draft pick.
While it wasn't the cleanest way to get there, the duo now has six total sacks through four games this season (Payton has four while Jones has two) and FSU's 13 sacks as a defense are tied for seventh-most nationally in the FBS.
With some success at FSU finally under his belt, there's optimism that Jones can build off that going forward. That began for him with an impactful Tuesday practice where he had a "sack" of FSU starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.
"To see him have of that success, to get a couple sacks, to see him move with a different bounce, now he's got to go get better," Norvell said. "Because there were still a couple opportunities in that game where it could have been more than two (sacks). You've got to build on the opportunity that you have and I think he's definitely going to do it."
Follow The Osceola on Facebook
Follow The Osceola on Twitter
Subscribe to the Osceola's YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Osceola's podcasts on Apple
