FSU coaches talk first scrimmage: Mike Norvell, Gus Malzahn, Tony White interviews

Florida State football, with 24 days remaining until the season opener against the Alabama Crimson Tide, is in the midst of what head coach Mike Norvell called a “critical, critical week” following Tuesday’s scrimmage.

Strapping up in full pads for the first time this fall, the Seminoles are now hoping to build upon the initial foundation established through six days of camp and chip away at the mental mistakes that Norvell says are keeping the team from fully elevating to the standard he’s seeking.

"You felt guys playing emotional, with energy, excitement,” he said on a post-scrimmage video conference with the media. “There were some things we absolutely gotta get cleaned up, had some foolish penalties that showed up tonight that kind of cost the team in moments. We gotta be more disciplined in some aspects of that, but I thought it was a good first scrimmage. You kind of get a sense of exactly where we are.”

Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and defensive coordinator Tony White, both in their first years in Tallahassee, spoke with the media today to offer their own insight into the scrimmage and what they’ve seen from the team so far.

Tuesday’s scrimmage reportedly featured the offense getting to a hot start, taking advantage of second-chances provided by slip-ups on the defensive side. While they managed to regain their footing as the night continued, White said the self-inflicted issues had a lingering impression on his evaluation of their performance.

“First scrimmages, you’re always going to have some good plays and bad plays,” White said. “I think there are some just the thing that stands out are certain performances, some guys that you thought may play a little bit better did not, and some guys who you didn’t know how they were going to play really perform well.

“And so the biggest disturbing thing was the penalties. I think we had a couple unsportsmanlike penalties, lined up offside a couple times, misalignments, things like that that really bug you. They extend drives. Two of those penalties actually ended up where we stop them, we get a penalty and then they go on to score. So those really those are the things that you need to control, which you can.”

Malzahn said the scrimmage featured the first time that “our 11 guys were out there togther,” alluding to the health issues that plagued the team in the spring and potentially hitting that the depth chart is on its way to being solidified, as well as acknowledging that the early hot start was intentional, saying “the first half was pretty basic with what they did defensively so we could really evaluate our guys.”

“The second half, everybody played football,” he continued. “From a big picture standpoint, it was good for us from an evaluation standpoint to see what guys could do, who’s ready, who’s not, who needs work — just really putting the pieces of the puzzle together. I mean, what are we 23 24 days away? The urgency of putting everything together because the way things went in the spring is really high, so these next six practices are going to be very very important before we really start turning the page for Alabama.”

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