Poll Results

Results for poll question: What part of Spring Practice are you most interested in this year? was very close. The highest response was QB competition @ 40.5% with second highest Offensive line @ 37.8%.

New Poll Question

There is a new poll question: Will you be attending the Spring Game this Saturday?

FSU Defeats Wolf Pack To Take Series

Florida State (31-4, 10-2) rallied from a 4-0 deficit to capture its fourth consecutive ACC series of the season downing NC State (24-10, 9-6) 6-5 on Sunday afternoon. The Seminoles trailed by four after five innings but took the lead with a five-run sixth thanks in large part to a two-run homer by Dennis Guinn and a bases clearing double by Brandon Reichert. Reichert's hit with one out in the sixth gave the Seminoles the lead for good.

"That was a good series," said head coach Mike Martin. "It took everything that we could muster to win those two ball games. A credit to them because we have an experience ball club."

Easter Wishes With An FSU Twist

Noles Lose To Wolf Pack

For the second time in as many weeks, a six-run inning proved too costly for Florida State (30-4, 9-2). This time it was NC State (24-9, 9-5) that capitalized on a Seminole fielding error in the bottom of the third opening the flood gates for six runs including five unearned runs all on two outs. The Seminoles would chip away at the Wolfpack lead but would get no closer than two as the Garnet and Gold dropped just their second league game of the season 8-6 Saturday evening. Tony Thomas, Jr. was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle as the junior second baseman went 3-for-4 with three RBI's and two runs scored.

Buster Posey and Brandon Reichert each registered two hits a piece for the Seminoles in the loss.

"I was very impressed with the way our club fought back tonight; we showed a lot of fight," stated head coach Mike Martin. "We fell behind 6-2, got two back in the fourth and had the bases loaded in the fifth. We just couldn't get that hit when we needed it, but you have to credit Brackman because he made the pitch to get out of the inning (fifth)."

Gano Perfect In Field Goals In Scrimmage

Tony Carter did not participate in yesterday's scrimmage nor dress out. With a bruised kidney and ribs, he is very sore.
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Scrimmage Stats:

Drew Weatherford 11-19 for 150 yards, a TD and INT.
Xavier Lee 8-21 for 108 yards, a TD and INT.

Antone Smith 10 rushes for 118 yards and 2 TD (56 and 31 yards).
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On field goals, Graham Gano was 4-4 while Gary Cismesia was 2-5.

Noles Take Wolf Pack

Florida State (30-3, 9-1) used a late inning rally including a six-run seventh to register a 10-4 game one victory over NC State (23-9, 8-5) Friday evening at Doak Field. The Seminoles outscored the Wolfpack 8-1 over the last three innings to post their third conference victory on the road this season. Brandon Reichert led the offensive attack for the Garnet and Gold as he posted a career-high four RBI's including his first home run in the ninth. Buster Posey registered three hits to lead all players.

Bryan Henry (8-0) remained perfect on the season as he pitched seven solid innings on a season-high 124 pitches. He would strike out seven batters, while allowing three runs on six hits. Henry set down 11 of the last 13 batters that he faced as he registered five on his seven strikeouts over the last three innings of work. The senior right hander has now posted at least seven or more strikeouts in six of his 10 starts this season.

Spring Practice: Day Twelve

Florida State completed its last full scrimmage before next Saturday's Garnet & Gold Spring Football Game, presented by University Financial Services. The scrimmage was held in Doak Campbell Stadium and lasted more than two hours. Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee each threw for a TD and 100+ yards. Antone Smith went over 100 yards on the ground again and both Smith and Jamaal Edwards broke TD runs of over 50 yards.

SPRING GAME NOTE:
• The Garnet & Gold Spring Football Game, presented by University Financial Services will pit the offense versus the defense. There will be a point system utilized to keep score in the game.

SCRIMMAGE HIGHLIGHTS:
• Drew Weatherford went 11-19 for 150 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The pick came on a ball dropped by a receiver near the goal line and snatched out of the air by Jamie Robinson. Xavier Lee was 8-21 for 108 yards with a TD and a pick as well. Lee was hampered by numerous drops including a would-be TD where Greg Carr lost his footing in the endzone as the ball was coming down.
• Antone Smith continued his big spring. The tailback rushed 10 times for 118 yards and two TD's including a 55-yard TD run.
• Everette Brown was the defensive star of the day recording three sacks and two tackles for loss on back-to-back plays.
• J.R. Bryant wore number 15 in the scrimmage as a tribute to fellow cornerback Tony Carter who was injured Monday but back out on the sidelines.
• The scrimmage didn't get off to the best start for Smith who fumbled and the ball was recovered by Roger Williams. The next time Smith touched the ball though was on third and one. He came around to the right side but saw the defense penetrating and cut it back to the opposite sideline and went 55 yards for a TD.
• The next series Edwards one upped Smith when he took his first carry of the scrimmage 65 yards for a TD.
• Lee and Damon McDaniel started their next drive off with a short pass that McDaniel turned into a 26-yard gain with some nifty moves. Lee then went up top to Carr who had beaten his man but the receiver got turned around on the play and lost his balance before he could haul in the sure TD. Lee's unit then left the field when De'Cody Fagg dropped a ball that would have resulted in a first down.
• Fagg came back and made up for the drop when he and Weatherford hooked up on a pass that Fagg turned into a 15-yard gain by breaking tackles in the middle of the field.
• Marcus Sims then turned in a nice run as he gained 14 yards. • Weatherford showed off his running ability later on as he ran for 20 yards and was one tackle away from taking it to the endzone.
• That set up Weatherford's 38-yard TD pass to Joslin Shaw.
• Defensively Everette Brown recorded two sacks, Eli Charles had a sack as did Neefy Moffett and Rodney Gallon. Moffett also corralled Smith one-on-one behind the line of scrimmage. Ochucko Jenije made a great pick on a deep ball thrown by Lee.
• Both kickers had a chance to try field goals in the first part of the scrimmage. Gary Cismesia missed from 48 yards and Graham Gano connected from 42.
• When the scrimmage moved into 2:00 offense from the 20, the defense dominated. The offense did not gain a yard as the defense went three-and-out both times. Andre Fluellen had a big tackle for loss on third down on the first series.
• The team then practiced the 1:00 offense from the 50. The offense seemed to get off to a better start. Weatherford hit Smith underneath for a 16 yard gain. He then connected with Fagg for 21 more. Back-to-back false start penalties pushed the offense back and then on third down Toddrick Verdell broke up Weatherford's pass. Cismesia came in and missed a 36 yard field goal. In the second series Lee hit Todd St. Louis for 20 yards. He then went back to St. Louis in the end zone but just missed connecting for a TD. Lee got 11 more yards on a dump pass to Sims and finished the drive hooking up with Carr for a 16-yard touchdown.
• The scrimmage then moved to 35 yard line starts. Smith scored his second TD of the day on a 31-yard scamper. Gano then hit back-to-back field goals from each hash of 34 and 37 yards. Cismesia connected on both of his tries as well from 47 yards. His third try was not successful though as Moffett streaked in to block the kick. The last points came from Gano who improved to 5-for-5 on the day with kicks from 43 and 32 yards. The field goals were set up by Weatherford's 25 yard connection with Shaw.
• Defensively, Brown had consecutive tackles in the backfield on Edwards to go along with his third sack. Alex Boston recorded a tackle for loss, Moffett got another sack and Budd Thacker recorded two big stops on third and fourth down with less than a yard to go.
• In red zone, Jamie Robinson picked off Weatherford on a ball that got through Shaw's hands and bounced off his pads and into the air. Thacker also had a big tackle on a Christian Ponder run. Ponder got in to the scrimmage and went 2-3 for seven yards.
• The scrimmage finished up with goal line. The defense stopped the offense on five of the eight snaps. Joe Surratt and Lee each ran in a TD and Weatherford threw a TD pass to fullback Antonio White in the corner of the endzone. The biggest hit of the day was turned in by Anthony Kelly who dropped jaw with his jarring tackle in the middle of the field.

QUOTES

Head Coach Bobby Bowden
"It was a good scrimmage. We had some big runs for a change. Had some nice long runs out there. They are coming along"

(on Antone Smith)
"Antone broke a big one today and had another one for a touchdown. Antone ran real good. He sure did. In fact all the backs ran pretty good. (Jamaal Edwards) broke a long one too. That is encouraging. We haven't had that in a while."

(on whether the running game is working because the offensive line is improving)
"You can't do anything without blocking. It starts there. Then of course you have to have a runner."

(on the kickers)
"We working them both equal. I think Gano got all of his today. (Cismesia) got a couple of long ones, he missed some too.

"We'll let them compete and see what happens."

(on where the team stands with a week left in spring)
"Probably as far as we could be at this time. I haven't seen us backing off of anything. I think we are about as far as we could be at this time. Naturally it is not as far as you'd like to be. We have come a ways."

Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher
(on the quarterback play in the scrimmage)
"Saw some good things. We were careless with the ball one time. Lee made a poor decision down there. We had one turnover that they were accountable for. For the most part seemed to manage things pretty well. We didn't make all the plays and there are a couple things I got to wait until I see on the film to see what happened but made some big plays, converted a couple third downs, hit a couple verticals, made a couple touchdown throws. Could have had one more, I think we had a drop down there. Had a lot of dropped balls today. We weren't catching the football well early in the game. They had a lot of unforced errors as you would say - balls we should catch and we can't catch. We got to do that."

(on if he is happy where the team is at with a week left)
"Heck no. You are never where you want to be. I mean we are making progress but we have to do now - we are making too many silly things on the field from penalties to things that come back to discipline that we have to quit. Too many dropped balls, too many silly penalties, too many little things that as an offense really you are always playing behind the eight ball down and distance wise. That will cause you to make mistakes cause you are trying to make up for a bonehead penalty or mistake. Those are the things I am started to get a little irritated by. It is time to quit those."

Defensive Lineman Everette Brown
(on his scrimmage performance)
"It felt pretty good to get out actually - had good weather - a little rusty, a little rustier than what I thought I would be coming back out after missing a week. It is good to get around, make a couple plays and did some good things out there with my hands and feet."

(on if he wants to be the `big play' guy on this defense)
"Most definitely. That's what I dream about. That's what I came here to do, pass rush, get sacks, make big plays so that's what I input in my work ethic every day to come out, get better and make plays."

FSU Takes On Wolf Pack On The Road

In this the 64th meeting between Florida State and NC State, the Seminoles travel to Raleigh for a three-game set against the Wolfpack beginning Friday, April 6. FSU leads the all-time series 43-20, while maintaining a record of 11-8 in games played at NC State. Both teams met five times last season, including twice in the ACC Tournament, with the Seminoles winning three of five. The Wolfpack took two of three from the Seminoles the last time these two clubs met in Raleigh back in 2005. Over the last 20 games, the series has been closely contested with a lot of runs being scored. FSU is 12-8 during that span, while both teams have combined to average just under 13 runs a game. The last series victory for Florida State against NC State in North Carolina came in 2001 when the Seminoles took the final two games of the three-game series.
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Friday, April 6, 2007
Florida State: Bryan Henry, rhp vs. NC State: Eric Surkamp, lhp
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NC State enters the weekend series right behind the Seminoles in second place in the Atlantic Division with an ACC record of 8-4 and 22-8 overall. The Wolfpack have won three straight conference series including last weekend's three-game sweep of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, where NC State outscored the Eagles 40-7. NC State is 3-3 in league games at home this season. Entering a mid-week game against East Carolina, NC State has posted a mark of 1-2 against ranked opponents. The Wolfpack are batting .302 as a team, while posting a team ERA of 2.97. Joe Florio leads the way for NC State with a .337 batting average among players with at least 25 starts. This weekend's rotation of Jimmy Gillheeney, Eric Surkamp and Andrew Brackman all have an ERA below four. Brackman leads the team in victories with five.

Enough Hart

The recent success by the Gators in basketball illustrates in stark contrast the dire state of the basketball program at FSU. Yet Dave Hart, the FSU athletic director, had the audacity to state that he is pleased with Leonard Hamilton and the direction of the basketball program.Does he take us all for morons?

The FSU basketball team has not been to the NCAA tournament in nine years. In addition, incredibly Florida State's entire 2006 recruiting class is already a complete bust. Not one player recruited is still at FSU. Hardly a great milestone. Why didn't Hart assert some leadership and go after Tubby Smith? Is there any doubt where Tubby Smith would have wanted to go if he had been give a choice between Minnesota or FSU? Next year, we will hear that we have to give the program some time because we lost Thornton and have new players. This while at other schools like Florida they just reload.

This brings me to the leadership of Hart. Dave Hart exerted absolutely no leadership in the last five years to make the needed changes that we all see now were necessary with the football program. He had his head in the sand and the FSU Boosters were left as the change agents for coaching changes. Due to his lack of leadership, the Gators gained competitive advantage over the Noles that was very evident in recruiting.

As much as it hurts me to say it, Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley has done an extraordinary job at elevating the Gators to national prominence. This while Hart is pleased with mediocrity. I shudder to envision who Hart might hire after Bobby Bowden leaves. It is obvious that he is not a good judge of talent in coaches.

I believe that it is time for FSU to secure a vibrant and assertive leader. It is obvious to me that Hart is not that man. We as FSU fans and alumni deserve much better. In my opinion, I have had enough Hart. It is time for someone new.

Rest In Peace

"Eddie Robinson and Jake Gaither did more for the integration of the southern schools of the African-American player - those two did more than anybody else in helping that thing move smoothly."
Bobby Bowden on the death of legendary coach Eddie Robinson

Spring Practice: Day Eleven

The FSU football team returned to full pads on the practice field Wednesday and went for 26 periods. The practice began with an offense walk through and then moved into special teams work focusing on punt block and protections. The squad worked in position groups, went to pass skel, 1-on-1, 3-on-3, running backs worked versus linebackers on pass protection and then ended with a situational scrimmage focusing on down and distance, red zone and goal line.

PRACTICE NOTES & HIGHLIGHTS:
• In pass skel Anthony Kelly had a pass break up for the defense but it was the offense that had most of the highlights. Xavier Lee, who later sat out the rest of practice with a bruised knee suffered last week, connected with Greg Carr and Damon McDaniel on a nice out pattern. Drew Weatherford hit De'Cody Fagg twice on plays that went for touchdowns and Weatherford also had a nice completion to Richard Goodman. Weatherford finished the drills with a short pass that Rod Owens turned into a long gain following a nice run.
• In the down and distance portion of the scrimmage Antone Smith turned in the highlight of the day. The tailback broke a run that went for close to 50 yards on a third down play. Alex Boston recorded a sack. Christian Ponder had three completions to Carr for 25 yards, a dump off to Jamaal Edwards for 10 yards and a nice throw and catch by McDaniel on the sideline.
• In the red zone portion of the scrimmage Neefy Moffett and Letroy Guion combined to get Smith just behind the line of scrimmage. Roger Williams had the best play of this portion of the scrimmage as he came down with a one-handed interception near the endzone. Jamaal Edwards broke a nice run of almost 20 yards but the rest of the highlights belonged to the defense. Anthony Kelly recovered a fumble, Guion recorded a sack on a busted play and Darius McClure made a nice 1-on-1 tackle on Edwards.
• In goal line Marcus Sims continued to rule the day. The running back had two TD's and a powerful run stopped just shy of the endzone. Edwards also scored two touchdowns. The defense made stops on four of the eight attempts from the 3-yard line and in.

QUOTES

Head Coach Bobby Bowden

"We had a pretty good practice today. We had about 30-35 minutes of scrimmaging. It was pretty tough - that's what we want. It was pretty dad-gum tough. There was some pretty good hitting on both sides; it was a very physical scrimmage. I thought the kids responded pretty dog-gone good. Tony Carter got hurt today. I don't know how bad but he got hut and had to go in. I think that was the only one that had an injury.

(on Xavier Lee)
"He got hit the other day but he still worked today. He didn't go in. They might have held him out for some reason."

(on the progress of the offensive line)
"They are making some progress - that's the big thing. Coach Trickett is beginning to settle in on who ought to be where and who out to be up there on the first unit or second and getting it lined up like that. I know we are making some progress. The question always is are you making enough?"

(on Neefy Moffett)
"Neefy is doing better. I am glad you asked that. He's doing better and for him to do better it requires effort and he is giving a little bit better effort. Neefy has held himself back by not giving quite enough effort. But he is beginning to get the massage, I believe. He has perked up lately. I hope he keeps it up."

(on where the quarterbacks are while installing a new offense)
"They are making progress. They still have got a way to go. When you throw a whole new offense at them and then every day you come out here and put tin two or three more plays, confusion reigns. I believe if it wasn't for the confusion and it wasn't for the missed assignments which comes with new stuff, I think we would really be moving along. We will get it."

(On Eddie Robinson)
"I'll always remember that when you go to the National Coaches Convention, and there will be 2,500 to 3,000 coaches there, and I remember when I spoke you look out there and see all those guys and sitting down there on the very front row is old Eddie Robinson. Must have been 74 or 75 years of age - you wonder where are the young guys? And he's out there taking notes - he's knows more then anybody already and he's out there taking notes like an 18-year old guy. I was amazed at that. Eddie Robinson and Jake Gaither did more for the integration of the southern schools of the African-American player - those two did more than anybody else in helping that thing move smoothly. There were people that were cautious, you had people that were scared, you had people who didn't know how it was going to work - those two guys steadied everybody down and supported what was supposed to be supported and Eddie Robinson played a tremendous role in that. Jake Gaither who used to be over at Florida A&M - those two were the two men who probably contributed more than anybody else to make integration a smooth thing in football in the south. Up to that time you only had white athletes playing for those schools."

Running Back Jamaal Edwards
"This is a great system and my teammates are helping me to do well. This is a team effort. It's a battle (between me and Marcus Sims) but we are also helping each other. He needs help with something and I can tell him. If I need help with something, I know he'll tell me. It is a battle but we are also teammates. We just want to make sure each other works hard and we push each other. Everything is pretty much the same (for me). I just getting a chance to get out there and really show what I can do. That's the main thing - I'm just out there showing what I can do. Nobody said this was going to be easy to come in here and just play. I learned a lot from Leon (Washington) - he taught me a lot. He was a good mentor while he was here. It's hard. You just have to keep on plugging and know that your break will come. With this zone running we have it's easy. You read your two reads and you just hit it up in there. The main thing is you want to run North and South and get positive yards."

Defensive Lineman Neefy Moffett
"Spring drills have been gong pretty good for me. The whole d-line has been trying to work hard and work on little things and get better for next year. I believe last year I was still young and I used to take plays off. This year I'm trying to gear it so I don't take any plays off. I know personally I have a far way to go and I have to continue to work to get to where I want to be."