What do the FSU football offense and the Showtime Lakers have in common? Byers explains
At his introductory press conference, UTEP offensive line transfer Jeremiah Byers said he partly came to Florida State because of the offense.
That was before he shared the practice field with his teammates.
Following Thursday's practice, the 11th of the spring, Byers continued to praise the offense he spent the month getting to know through practices.
He made a lofty comparison.
"The Showtime Lakers," Byers said with a smile.
"Jordan Travis, that's Magic (Johnson). Johnny Wilson, that's Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), because he's tall as heck. It's just going to be a show. We're going to be one of the most explosive offenses this year in the country.
"I'm just coming in on the bandwagon and joining the team."
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The Seminoles get the weekend off for Easter to spend time with family. They return Tuesday and Thursday for two more practices.
FSU will play its annual Garnet & Gold Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 15 at 4 p.m. at Doak Campbell before a Monday practice on April 17 to wrap up the spring.
Coach Mike Norvell and his staff had the team wrap up Thursday's shorter practice with special teams drills. That included competition for all players in throwing, returning kicks, punting and kicking.
"We finished up with some fun and giving them a little peak at some of the jobs different specialists have," Norvell said. "We finished up with just a little fun here to end it as we go into this Easter break."
Here are takeaways, observations and what was said following the 11th spring practice for the Seminoles.
The defense gets the better of the offense Thursday
Led by Travis, the FSU offense has shown it can be explosive this year, but Thursday was a day owned by the defense.
Norvell and his staff changed practice up a little, moving inside Doak Campbell Stadium for the first time this spring.
One of the drills performed was a 'first to 10' team drill, offense vs. defense. The defense made more plays and pulled off a 10-5 victory.
"The defense ended up winning the situation (Thursday)," Norvell said. "I thought it was impressive to see some of the fight and see some of the stops they had. There are obviously a lot of things we can build upon from the work we got.”
Linebacker Kalen DeLoach made a big play, hitting tight end Jaheim Bell at the one-yard line and stopping him short of the end zone score during the drill.
The hit excited Norvell, as he ran to DeLoach and celebrated the stop with him.
"It was just 1-on-1 and he got free," Norvell said. "To see him get a stop like that in that situation is very good."
Cornerback Greedy Vance added a pass breakup later in the team drill and defensive lineman Ayobami Tifase stuffed running back CJ Campbell at the 1-yard line.
During the two-point drills, cornerback Christian White recorded a PBU on a tight-window throw from freshman quarterback Brock Glenn to freshman receiver Hykeem Williams.
Freshman cornerback Quindarrius Jones broke up a potential two-point try score on Johnny Wilson by beating Wilson to the ball and knocking it down before it reached his hands.
"He's very, very confident," Norvell said of Jones. "He came to camp in the summer and what we're seeing now is what we saw then. He played mostly receiver in high school. His ball skills, you see his flexibility, you see how he moves."
Other practice observations
Hykeem Williams ran a strong route to get open but also adjusted well for a ball thrown by quarterback Tate Rodemaker for a red zone touchdown.
Rodney Hill enjoyed another strong practice, making some big runs. When the offense was struggling early, he made a good run and followed it with a catch down the sideline for a big gain.
Cornerback Renardo Green tipped a pass from Travis, causing an incompletion to tight end Markeston Douglas.
Quarterback AJ Duffy had a big scramble for a 25-yard TD. Duffy found himself in trouble at the 30 but was able to break free from a defender and scoot his way to the end zone.
Glenn also had a decent practice. He completed a couple of passes into tight windows.
Potential spring game against another opponent?
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze suggested a new idea instead of a spring game Monday. The first-year Tigers' head coach suggested allowing two programs to scrimmage against one another to end spring practices.
"I think everybody would get out of it exactly what they want," Freeze said Monday. "... And let’s adopt a charity to give all the proceeds to. Let’s take foster care in the state of Alabama or orphan care in the state of Alabama and let’s all (play).”
Norvell seemed open to the idea of Florida State doing the same, if the NCAA opened up the rules to allow it.
"I think everyone has given some thought to it," Norvell said. "There is good and bad with it. The good is obviously going up against someone else and minimizing some of the risk of the number of plays some guys might play.
"But I like working as much as we can fundamentally and maximizing as many days we have that it's not as much gameplan. Which you don't always have to do in a scrimmage.
"If they opened it up to allow us to do it, I'd definitely do it."
Remaining spring practice schedule
Tuesday, April 11 – Spring Practice #12
Thursday, April 13 – Spring Practice #13
Saturday, April 15 – Garnet & Gold Spring Showcase (4 p.m.)
Monday, April 17 – Spring Practice #15
Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football: Jeremiah Byers compares Seminoles to Showtime Lakers