Florida State coach Mike Norvell has named his starting quarterback for this season, Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels. But the decision to name a backup to Daniels will take a little longer as the competition is intense between Malachi Marshall and Kevin Sperry.
Florida State coach Mike Norvell named his starting quarterback for this season, Ashton Daniels, after 15 sessions of spring practice.
It appears that it will come down to the end of fall camp before Norvell names a backup to Daniels. Two candidates are in the running for that backup spot: Kevin Sperry and Malachi Marshall. Both have shown what they can do with the football.
In a post-practice interview on Monday, Norvell spoke about the battle of the backups, which he described as an “absolute competition.”
Malachi Marshall
The talented Marshall missed all of the spring practice, not arriving to campus until the summer. Valuable reps were lost, and with them an opportunity to separate himself from the other signal-callers and stand out in the eyes of the coaching staff. Which is why he has had to play catch up in fall camp.
“I've been really pleased with the way that he's transitioned,” Novell said. “When you miss the spring it's all those reps, and you know you have a quarterback that you want to anticipate, you want to you trust what you see, but then it's got to actually happen, and I think that that's one area that he's grown in these last couple weeks.”
He comes to the Seminoles from Iowa Western of the junior college ranks. Last season, Marshall led his team to a 12-1 record and the National Junior College national championship. Marshall threw for 2,750 yards and 33 touchdowns, and only eight interceptions (in 313 pass attempts). He was named the NJCAA Division 1 Offensive Player of the Year, the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Offensive Player of the Year, and first-team All-American.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 168 pounds, his size may be a concern. However, his athleticism and production cannot be ignored.
- Led an offense that scored 40+ points six times.
- Posted four games of over 70 percent completion rate.
- Seven games with three or more touchdown passes, including five touchdowns, 385 yards and 81.5 percent completion percentage in a 64-13 win over Highland Community College.
Kevin Sperry
Sperry is the more experienced in Norvell’s offensive system. Last season as a true freshman, Sperry played in three games and passed for 194 yards and two touchdowns.
“We actually came back and gave Kevin a couple series there on Saturday, during that tackle portion where he was live,” said Norvell. “I thought that both guys have shown really good skill sets, ability, they're definitely competing.”
With Daniels as the starter, Norvell will start his third consecutive transfer quarterback. Daniels played at Auburn last season as a backup, limiting his growth and improvement at the position. However, he has shown promise in fall camp and a renewed confidence in his quarterback skills.
Marshall and Sperry will have to be ready regardless when their number is called to go in and make something happen. Norvell will call the plays this season, a departure from Gus Malzahn’s run-heavy spread option scheme. Malzahn retired at the conclusion of last season.
Norvell has called plays before. He will have to get creative and squeeze every ounce of production and big-play ability out of his talented team to reverse the misfortunes of the last 17 losses over two seasons. It is eight+ wins or bust for Norvell this season. If he busts, maybe Norvell can join Malzahn fishing or on the golf course.
