It was perhaps the most spirited day of the first two weeks of preseason camp for the Florida State football team. And maybe the most competitive.

But as much as he loved that enthusiasm and fire -- and there was a lot to like -- second-year head coach Mike Norvell repeatedly took opportunities Thursday to express to his players the need to be smart about their intensity.

On more than one occasion, Norvell and his staff felt players might have come close to drawing penalties if it had been a game situation.

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"These guys, they want to compete," Norvell said. "Competing in control is something we've got to continue to emphasize. Had a situation in two-minute drill early that we've got to get corrected. Highly emotional, guys kind of getting themselves into it. But in reality, we've got to treat it just like it's a game.

"I love the spirit the guys are bringing. Today, we were just in helmets, but they were flying around. I thought we got better today."

*** More updates from Thursday practice ***

As Norvell said, the juices started flowing when the Seminoles worked on that two-minute drill in one of the opening periods. After a couple of players got into a little post-play scrape, Norvell made the entire team do up-downs as punishment.

While much of Thursday's practice was devoted to special teams, the offense and defense closed the day by returning to the Indoor Practice Facility for some spirited 11-on-11 drills.

After every big play by the defense, the defensive players on the sideline started hooting and hollering to celebrate. Then when the offense responded with a play of their own, the offensive players would return the favor.

"We're passionate. We care about winning," returning freshman linebacker Stephen Dix said of the heightened emotions. "We probably didn't have that before maybe. But now it's like we come together and we're just like, 'Hey man, we want to win. We want to get Florida State back to where it needs to be. We'll do whatever it takes.' Yeah, it might get a little intense out there, but that just shows hard we're working, how hard we're coming."

Freshman defensive back Shyheim Brown was one of the stars of the day, intercepting a pair of passes during 11-on-11 competition. But even he drew Norvell's ire after his second pick.

Shortly after intercepting a pass near the goal line, Brown immediately celebrated his big play by running toward the offensive sideline and letting them know about it.

Norvell quickly chased him down, told him to return the ball to the officials and then spent a few moments explaining that he needs to handle those situations better.

Florida State has been one of the most penalized teams in the country for three straight years. The Seminoles ranked 123rd out of 127 teams in penalties last season, No. 127 out of 130 the year before, and No. 118 out of 130 the year before that.

"We've just got to continue to learn that all the competitiveness in the world ... [have] composure in the moment," Norvell said.

Florida State practices again on Friday in preparation for Sunday's scrimmage, the Seminoles' second of preseason camp.

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