The story of how Alex Mastromanno arrived at Florida State has already been documented. But if you need a refresher, here's a story we wrote from when he was interviewed during spring practices.

Now, after spending months back home in Australia during the coronavirus pandemic, he's back in the United States. He's back in Tallahassee, and he's back to trying to win the starting punter job for the FSU football team.

From the sounds of it, he's got a leg up on the competition after an impressive showing in the Seminoles' first preseason scrimmage on Saturday night. Both head coach Mike Norvell and special teams coordinator John Papuchis praised Mastromanno's effort afterward.

And Mastromanno could tell they were pleased.

"It was a great experience," he said. "It's been a goal of mine to kick on Doak Campbell Stadium for quite a while now. To go out there and have a positive experience was really nice for me. I guess a lot of credit has to go to the whole punt unit for helping me execute my job to the best of my ability.

"It was really nice to execute those punts and make the coaches happy."

Don't miss our great FSU sports coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial.

The freshman punter did say, "on Doak Campbell Stadium," so the Australia native might still be getting accustomed to some of the vernacular here in the United States. But the point remains: The guy has never played in a college football game. He had never kicked inside Doak Campbell Stadium before. And he still went out there and, by all accounts, had a terrific showing under the lights on Saturday.

That's a positive start for someone who is brand new to the sport.

"We all know it's fairly new to me -- this sport," said Mastromanno, who previously starred in Australian Rules football. "I think all together it's the 12th practice I've ever had of American football. Like I said from Day 1 when I got here, my goal is to get the respect and trust of my teammates and coaches. And that's not changing.

"And I think I'm starting to get more confident in kicking in front of my coaches and teammates."

*ALSO SEE: Complete rundown from Mike Norvell, Odell Haggins and players after Wednesday practice

When the pandemic hit in March and Florida State's students were all sent home, Mastromanno returned to Australia. He said he was there for "four or five months" before returning back to Tallahassee.

During that time, he caught up on his "university studies" and also went back to the coaches who taught him how to punt in the first place. So he was able to hone his craft while waiting for the go-ahead to return to campus.

Now that he's back, Mastromanno says he's getting more and more used to the sport he's playing now, and the role that he has. Unlike in his former sport, he's not on the field all the time. He's only out there for one play at a time -- maybe a total of 10 seconds.

That takes a different mindset.

"You just really need to stay positive and mentally sharp and ready to perform your role and not overthink it too much," Mastromanno said. "So, that's probably the biggest difference for me so far. ... Obviously, the rush is something that I need to get used to. I'm feeling more and more comfortable every time being in those high-pressure situations.

"For me, it's just about trying to dial in on my process and staying cool and calm and just taking some deep breaths before I go out there and do my thing."

If he keeps doing it like he has been in the first part of camp, there's a good chance he'll have a starting job during his first college football game on Sept. 12 in Doak Campbell Stadium.

"The thing about Alex is he's learning every time he goes on the field," Papuchis said. "He's a young guy that's obviously new to American football. He's super talented. He's got a great attitude. He's got a learning mentality to him -- every time he goes out there, he wants to know how he can improve. So I think we're going to continue to see him progress."

Mastromanno knows there's still a whole lot of time between now and the season opener vs. Georgia Tech. But that scrimmage was certainly a good start.

"The fact that I was able to execute my role to a decent level on Saturday, with the help of my whole punt unit," Mastromanno said, "was really special to me."

----------------------------------------------------

Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council