Oct. 31, 2007

Coach Bowden Football Practice Report Podcast Powered By Schick® Xtreme3®

Tallahassee, Fla. – History is not on the Seminoles side when they travel to Chestnut Hill, MA this weekend. FSU is just 1-8-0 all-time versus teams ranked second in the AP poll and has never defeated a team ranked No. 2 in their own stadium. On the other hand, the Seminoles have won two straight games at Boston College‘s Alumni Stadium and on Wednesday they worked 20 periods in hopes of extending that streak to three and picking up one of the biggest wins for the program since beating No. 4 Virginia Tech in 2000 Sugar Bowl that sealed the school’s second National Championship.

PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS

• After working on special teams, the Seminoles broke up into units and began working versus the scout teams.


• Skel covered two periods. In the first period the team worked on down and distance situations and the defense had a good drill. Jamie Robinson picked off a dropped pass and Anthony Houllis also grabbed an INT. Christian Ponder had a couple nice completions to Rod Owens and Bert Reed. When the ball moved inside the 20 Drew Weatherford hit Preston Parker for a TD and then the period ended with Bert Reed making a leaping one-handed grab for a TD.


• While skel was taking place on field three, the lines matched up in pass rush on field two and the offensive guys had a good day. Rodney Hudson looked dominant winning three battles while Ryan McMahon won a couple as well. Daron Rose, Shannon Boatman, Jacky Claude and Brandon Davis also held up their men. On defense, Paul Griffin had the best day getting three QB sacks while Budd Thacker was close behind with two. Neefy Moffett and Kendrick Stewart also beat their men.


• The first part of 11-on-11 was down and distance and it was dominated by the defense. While the offense made some plays, the biggest ones were turned in by the D. Justin Mincey recorded a tackle for loss, Tony Carter and Patrick Robinson broke up passes and Michael Ray Garvin recorded a sack. The offense was unable to score in the 1:00 drill. Weatherford and De’Cody Fagg connected a few times to move the ball down the field but an early sack by Everette Brown put the offense in a hole. The practice ended with Weatherford’s pass to Greg Carr in the endzone falling incomplete.

QUOTES

Coach Bowden Quotes

Injury Update:

“Antone Smith looked a little better today and Andre Fluellen got in a little bit of work.  But they still need to improve a little more before game time.  Greg Carr has practiced well and whatever he’s wearing in practice is what he’ll wear on Saturday.”

On D’Vontrey Richardson and Christian Ponder working on second team today:

“We worked them both; Ponder probably got a little more work.”

On whether he discusses the back-up quarterbacks with Jimbo Fisher:

“No because I know what’s out there and he knows what’s out there.  We just have to work them and I’ll ask Jimbo tomorrow about the offense.”

On how much Richardson and Ponder have improved over practice this week:

“They have improved since they’ve been here.  In a couple of days you’d hope they’d make some improvement.”

On whether he is able to tell if either Richardson or Ponder will be the number two quarterback:

“I would think so.  They’re more attentive; when you’re involved you’re more attentive.  I see Ponder spent a lot of time with the scout squad.  He worked with Drew and Xavier and then with Richardson for his running ability.”

On what he’s seen from Richardson and Ponder over the last few days:

“You can see they’ve got a lot to learn, you can see that.  Throwing mechanics are good and all of that is good.  Now it’s just knowing what to do with the football.  You’d have to say that Ponder is better in the pocket, while Richardson is better out of it because he can run.  But they’re both getting it. They can both throw the ball.”

His thoughts on Billy Vizzini:

“I sure hate that.  Old Bill has been our film man for so long.  I’m sad for his family.  He was very good at what he did and we always felt that we were in good hands with him.”

DL Budd Thacker

On how the team’s attitude changes when they become the underdog going into Boston College:

“When you’re not favored it gives you more reason to go out there and prove something to everyone else.  The whole thing this week with going against the number two team in the nation is we can go out and actually prove something.  We’ve been slacking a little bit, but now we have the chance to prove what we’re really made of.”

On how ready the team is right now:

“I think we’re right there. I think we get a couple of walk-throughs tomorrow and we’ll be rocking and rolling.  I think we could give them a run for their money.”

On what worries him about Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan:

“He’s really smart; we’ve got to get pressure on him.  That’s the key.  We can’t let him have time to scramble around and make a play; we’ve got to get him on the ground.”

OL Rodney Hudson:

On his knee and whether he will start on Saturday:

“It’s feeling alright.  I don’t know about that (starting on Saturday).  For me it doesn’t matter, but I’ll be ready.”

On his return to practice and how he spent his off time:

“I did everything today, just trying to improve one step at a time. I’m trying to get better. I watched a lot of film, doing a lot of lifting, but mostly just watching film.”

On what he expects out of Boston College:

“They are a tough team but we have to be tough too. We have to be ready for everything they are going to throw our way.”