Florida State's early enrollees quickly made a name of themselves in their college debuts at Doak Campbell Stadium during the Seminoles annual Spring Game.
Within the first few minutes, five-star recruit Derwin James had a 41-yard pick-six off of the Seminoles front-runner to start at quarterback, Sean Maguire. Soon thereafter wide receiver George Campbell had an eye-opening play displaying his explosiveness connecting on a hitch route with backup quarterback, J.J. Cosentino, that resulted in Campbell breaking two tackles and eluding the rest of the defense for a 65-yard touchdown reception. Along with that, newcomer Jacques Patrick showed everyone he will surely be in the mix to be in the running back rotation gaining 81 yards and punching in an 11-yard touchdown. To top off the impressive early enrollee showcase was QB De'Andre Johnson who went 8/11 with 155 yards and two touchdowns.
''Some of the young guys did some good things, making good plays,'' coach Jimbo Fisher said. ''Still got to learn what to do. The early-entry guys took advantage of some situations.''
These comments were most likely aimed at Johnson who was kicked off the field at one point in the 2nd half by head coach Jimbo Fisher for apparently turning the wrong way on a handoff. J.J. Cosentino, who immediately bobbled the next snap, replaced him.
Speaking of quarterback woes, prospective starter Sean Maguire had himself a day he'd likely want to put behind him. Maguire went 22/44 with 289 yards, 2 interceptions, and 0 touchdown passes. Maguire looked very immobile in the scrimmage and seemed to not have as much velocity or accuracy on his passes as some anticipated he would.
''We had some drives where we definitely looked like a real great football team, and then we had some drives where we didn't,'' Maguire said following the game. ''Up and down was the definition of today.''
With the mediocre quarterback play aside, both sides of the football still found a way to get into the end zone multiple times. The Garnet team, which was the first-team offense, was piggybacked by sophomore running back Dalvin Cook. Cook started the game with a green “no-contact" jersey on, but removed it after the end of the 1st quarter when he was aggressively tackled two plays in a row. When asked about it at halftime coach Fisher simply stated, “it wasn't realistic" to try and feed him the ball without contact ensuing. Cook ran for 34 yards on 10 carries and got himself into the end zone twice. In 2014, as a freshman, Cook ran for 1,008 yards and 8 touchdowns while adding 22 receptions for 203 yards.
On the receiving end, FSU veteran Jesus 'Bobo' Wilson showed he's ready to take the next step in his receiver role catching 8 passes for 114 yards including a 32-yard pass from Maguire on a 3rd and 17 that resulted in a first down for the Garnet squad. For the Gold team, which was the 2nd team offense, Mavin Saunders had 6 receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown while Ermon Lane caught 4 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, which was the 42-yard pass from De'Andre Johnson.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Florida State first-team defense was without a vast majority of their returning starters who were plagued with injuries. Defensive linemen Derrick Mitchell and Nile Lawrence-Sample, linebackers Reggie Northrup and Terrance Smith, and safety Tyler Hunter were not dressed for the Garnet vs. Gold scrimmage.
Of the guys who did play, a few names stood out amongst the rest. Trey Marshall, who is expected to take over Jalen Ramsey's duties at the star position, seemed to be all over the field today. Marshall led all defenders with 10 total tackles, 1 sack, and a .5 tackle for loss.
Another guy who stood out at Florida State's spring game was DE Lorenzo Featherston. Featherston played with the 2nd-team defense but still shined, getting himself into the backfield and reeking havoc. Featherston ended the day with 6 tackles, 2 sacks, and 3 tackles for a loss.
The day wouldn't be the same without mentioning star defender Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey, who is converting from the star position in Charles Kelly's defensive scheme to cornerback, was nothing short of spectacular as usual. On the defensive side of the ball, Ramsey is getting back to his natural position at cornerback, which will only make him more productive. However, his role in the team is still expanding. On Saturday's spring game, coach Fisher did a lot of experimenting with Ramsey on kick and punt returns, which appears to be a great fit for such an athletic specimen. Ramsey had ample opportunities to return the ball and almost returned 2 of them for touchdowns. 1 long return was wiped away by a penalty while in the other, Ramsey was tagged on the opponents 40 which stopped the play because Florida State didn't want to practice with tackling on special teams in order to try and prevent injuries. Ramsey received the teams Hinesman Award, which is an annual award given by the coaches for the teams most outstanding player in the spring.
In other award news, running back Dalvin Cook was given the Offensive MVP of the spring award, while Rick Leonard and Demarcus Walker split the defensive MVP honors.
Lastly, another thing we learned from the Seminoles 2015 spring game is something not that new. Place kicker Roberto Aguayo, who won the 2013 Lou Groza award for the best kicker in the nation when he went 21/22 on field goals and 94/94 on extra points along with going 25/27 on field goals and 53/53 on extra points in 2014, showed his leg strength yet again kicking a 56-yard field goal. Aguayo also made a 47-yard field goal attempt and managed not to miss a single extra point.
