If nothing else, Xavier Lee earned a chance to spend some time running Florida State's first-team offense.

Lee, a redshirt freshman and former Florida Mr. Football award winner, completed 7 of 13 passes and threw for three touchdowns during a scrimmage on Saturday afternoon.

Junior Wyatt Sexton was 6 of 12 for 26 yards and redshirt freshman Drew Weatherford was 4 of 11 for 53 yards. All three quarterbacks threw interceptions.

And though Lee's work came primarily against the second-team defense, he certainly put a little buzz on the practice field with his three scoring passes.

"A couple of them were scrambles," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "But that's like a golf ball hitting a tree and going in the hole -- it's still a 4. He's moving them. I want to see more of him with the (first team) the next time we scrimmage to see what he looks like with them."

Lee was the third quarterback to see playing time on Saturday, but was the first to lead his group on a scoring drive. Walk-on tailback Pat Davis' 13-yard touchdown run was set up by a 46-yard pass from Lee to cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who lined up at receiver for two plays on Saturday.

Lee also connected with freshman receiver Greg Carr for a 35-yard touchdown and walk-on Evyn Stewart for a 30-yard score.

Carr, a 6-foot-6 receiver who enrolled at the semester break, had his best outing of the spring. He also caught a touchdown pass from Weatherford during goal-line drills and finished the day with three receptions for 58 yards.

"I'd like to see (Lee) a little bit more with the (first team)," FSU offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden said. "I'd like to see Greg Carr a little bit more with the (first team). I'm going to make that happen. They're both making plays. We just need to see them against that first team defense."

While Lee was making big plays, Sexton struggled running the first-team offense.

He threw one interception early in the scrimmage when it appeared he and walk-on receiver Robert Hallback had their signals crossed on a route. Hallback went deep while Sexton threw a sideline pass -- right to cornerback Gerard Ross.

But Bobby Bowden said many of Sexton's problems came because of problems on the offensive line. Fifth-team center Philip Browning, a freshman walk-on, spent most of the day working with the first-team offense.

Noseguard Clifton Dickson (two sacks, three tackles for losses) and linebacker Sam McGrew (two sacks, two tackles for losses) each had big days for the defense.

Bowden said he would take the play of the line into consideration as he continues to evaluate the quarterbacks in the final week of spring drills.

"All you can go by is what they're doing and what they're producing," Bowden said. "Today Lee was much more productive. Now, who did he have blocking? Who was he going against? All those things have to be factored in, so that's why I need to see more of (Lee) with the first line to see what's happening there."

97 puts on a show

Jeff Bowden has a pretty good idea of what ails his first-string offense. And its name is Clifton Dickson.

The junior defensive tackle from Miami entered this spring with the intention of becoming the leader of the Seminoles' defensive line. What that means is the offense picked a bad time to lose all three of its scholarship centers to injury.

During the Seminoles' scrimmage Saturday, Dickson seemed to be in the offensive backfield as often as tailback Leon Washington. Working at different times against a pair of walk-on centers, Dickson was credited with two sacks. He disrupted several other plays.

"You can see what we're missing at center right now," Jeff Bowden said. "He's killing our center right now. That's a one-man breakdown and it destroys the whole play. So you do what you can do.

"All you can do is throw quick game. Any dropbacks, they'd get sacked every time."

Don't expect any apologies from Dickson, however. Though he said he understood that the offensive line was "missing a couple of guys," he added that those injuries aren't the defense's problem.

"We ain't taking no pity," Dickson said. "Whoever we line up against, whether it's our offense or somebody else, they've got to get it. They've got to get it."

Fresh meat

After making Sexton's life miserable for the past three weeks, Dickson was excited to learn that Bobby Bowden plans to let Lee get some more work with the first-team offense this week. Though he admitted that Lee will be tougher to sack than Sexton, Dickson clearly was looking forward to the challenge.

"I won't take anything away from him," Dickson said. "But we're eager to get after him. We're tired of hitting Wyatt."

Not all bad on the offensive line

While pass protection for the first-team offensive line was an issue on Saturday, position coach Mark McHale said he was happy with recent progress shown by several players.

Sophomore David Overmyer started the spring at right tackle, was moved to left tackle after the first mini-scrimmage and has spent time working both spots in recent practices. He might have found a permanent home on Saturday.

"Overmyer did better today," McHale said. "He had one boo-boo and he made a mental error, not a physical error. I was pleased with that. He made one bad decision. That end position (Kamerion Wimbley) might be our best position on defense. He did so much better today."

McHale said Overmyer has shown steady progress this spring.

"In my judgment, he's probably our best left tackle right now," McHale said. "His is more of a mental game. They get those speed rushers out there and then there are different sets that they take -- sometimes they'll choose the wrong one and it gets them in trouble.

"But that's part of the learning. As long as he can come over to that sideline and talk to me and tell me 'I should have taken a vertical set there and here's why I did this' -- that's where we're going. When you get him in the fall, hopefully it's done."

Both McHale and Bobby Bowden said young guards Cornelius Lewis and Jacky Claude have made strides this spring.

Claude seems to have locked down the starting spot at left guard. Lewis will be battling senior Matt Meinrod for playing time at right guard in the fall.

"I think Jacky Claude has made the biggest progress in the spring up front," McHale said. "As far as starting at this level and getting to whatever level it is that he's at.

"The last two practices, a guy who has made a big jump is Cornelius Lewis. The last two scrimmages, Cornelius has made it to the next level -- wherever that is. He just needs to learn to finish with a bite. He's going to be a good football player. He can help us next year."

Though the entire first-team offense seems to be clogged up right now, McHale does see improvement in the overall running game.

It didn't necessarily show in all the stats on Saturday, but FSU backs turned in four running plays of more than 10 yards. Sophomore Jamaal Edwards had the longest run of the day with a nifty 39-yard that was helped out by a nice downfield block from an unidentified interior lineman.

Redshirt freshman Pat Davis scored the only rushing touchdown of the day when he made a nice cutback to break through for a 13-yard run. Senior Leon Washington also had two 10-plus yard rushes.

McHale said he has made it a priority this spring to see his linemen making blocks downfield -- especially getting to the linebackers to help give the running backs more room to work.

"It's a big point of emphasis," McHale said. "We're not anywhere near where we want. We're getting concepts and I've said that since the beginning of spring. If they can learn concepts, I really think in two-a-days all that stuff will speed up.

New addition to receivers

Cromartie surprised a lot of people when he lined up at receiver early in the scrimmage. In fact, he said he decided on his own to join the offense on Saturday.

"I didn't have permission to go, but they told me I could play offense so I just went over there and started playing offense," Cromartie said. "If they tell me I can play on both sides of the ball, then I'm going to go over there and go play."

Conveniently enough, there just happened to be a red "13" jersey waiting on him. (The defense wore white jerseys on Saturday.)

The junior cornerback, who earned All-ACC honors last fall, said defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews did not know he would play receiver on Saturday.

"He had a few choice words," Cromartie said with a laugh. "I've talked to Coach Andrews before and he said it was OK. He said I had to ask Coach Bowden."

Playing Cromartie at receiver is not a new idea. Before the North Carolina State game last fall, FSU coaches debated whether to let Cromartie take part in some offensve snaps.

Bowden said on Saturday that he is not against the idea -- but said it would have to meet with approval from Andrews first.

"Depends on what kind of mood he's in," Bowden said with a laugh. "Of course if you were playing in the season and were as beat up as you are today with all these wide receivers, he would probably say, 'Yes, use him.'"

Cromartie made the most of his limited work on Saturday. He took part in two plays and was thrown the ball on both snaps.

He caught a 46-yard pass from Lee on his first play, beating freshman cornerback Joe Manning in the process. He bobbled a throw from Weatherford in the end zone on his second play, allowing sophomore cornerback J.R. Bryant to break up the pass.

Nice day for walk-ons

Walk-on tailback Pat Davis and walk-on receiver Evyn Stewart each scored touchdowns on Saturday. Stewart caught a 30-yard pass from Lee on the final play before goal-line drills.

Walk-on defensive back Jarrel Simpson also recorded an interception when he was matched up with Carr in one-on-one coverage. Weatherford threw a long pass leading Carr to the outside of the field, but Simpson had good position on the play and sealed Carr off and was able to come up with the pick in the end zone.

But the biggest impact by walk-ons came on the offensive line, where it seemed like the walk-ons outnumbered the scholarship players.

McHale couldn't resist the chance to poke a little fun at his patchwork line.

"I'm coaching the best walk-on team you've ever seen," McHale said. "Rivals.com has got me as walk-on coach of the year. I've got two walk-on centers starting. My first-team walk-on center got hurt today as you noticed. My second-team walk-on center went with the first-team linemen today."

Browning, it should be noted, started the spring as a tackle and was moved over to center after the injuries to David Castillo and John Frady. He did play center at Hargrave Military Academy last fall.

Injury updates

Junior receiver Lorne Sam said preliminary tests showed no fracture in his injured left foot, but he expects to undergo a more extensive examination Monday.

Sam, who had surgery in December to repair a fracture in the same foot, said he thinks he aggravated the original injury during practice on Friday.

Center/guard John Frady will undergo an MRI on his right shoulder this week to determine the severity of his latest ailment.

Strongside linebacker Marcello Church said he anticpates returning to contact work on Monday. Church said he sustained a concussion at the tail end of Wednesday's scrimmage when he delivered a big hit on sophomore tailback Jamaal Edwards.

Official scrimmage stats

Here are the official stats released by FSU's Sports Information Department.

Passing Leaders

Xavier Lee: 7-13-140 yards, 3 TD, INT

Drew Weatherford: 4-11-53 yards, INT

Wyatt Sexton: 6-12-26 yards, INT

Rushing Leaders

Jamaal Edwards: 8-63 yards

Leon Washington: 7-17 yards

Pat Davis: 9-8 yards, 1 TD

Receiving Leaders

Greg Carr: 3-58 yards, TD

Antonio Cromartie: 1-46 yards

Evyn Stewart: 1-30 yards, TD

Jamaal Edwards 1-5 yards, TD

Defensive Leaders

Kamerion Wimbley (4 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack)

Sam McGrew (4 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 PBU, ½ sack)

Clifton Dickson (4 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks)

Gerard Ross (3 tackles, 1 INT)

Pat Watkins (2 tackles, 1 INT)