Seminole offense ignites practice with renewed energy, driven by a fierce quarterback battle and emerging playmakers ready for the next challenge.
The Florida State Seminoles' defense dominated the second scrimmage three days ago, but the offense bounced back in Tuesday's spring practice, energized from start to finish.
Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Tim Harris Jr. said the energy was the best the unit has had throughout this spring. Spearheaded by the quarterback battle between Ashton Daniels and Kevin Sperry, the offense feeds off their leadership.
"The quarterback should be the guy bringing the energy and the juice every day," Sperry told the media. "There's never a day where we're out there, and we're flat because if we're flat as a group, then the whole team is just going to dial down on their energy and their effort."
Sperry is improving as a vocal leader heading into his second season with the Seminoles as a redshirt freshman. The 6-foot-1 Denton, Texas, native showcased his potential in three games last season, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 194 yards and two touchdowns.
Although he is battling for the starting position, he said Daniels is easy to work with because of the experience he brings to the quarterback room.
Daniels said it's an "iron-sharpens-iron" mentality competing against Sperry. Besides the competition, the Auburn transfer complimented the young receivers for stepping up, and he's putting the ball in his playmakers' hands.
"I think our guys have stepped up in that sense, knowing it's a next-man-up mentality," Daniels said. "We've got a lot of young guys that want to be great, and you can tell that every single day when you go out there and see the way that they practice."
Barring Duce Robinson, Florida State's receiving corps is comprised of underclassmen. Harris spotlighted Micahi Danzy, Jayvan Boggs and Tae'Shaun Gelsey during his media availability, praising them and the entire unit for their consistency.
"Every day you can tell with a lot of those guys, a couple of them that they're showing up to make plays every day," Harris said. "You've been there before, where you see young guys, they'll make a play one day, and you won't see it again for two or three days. Like these guys, they're consistent every day."
Danzy and Boggs are poised to become significant weapons whether the offense is quarterbacked by Daniels or Sperry. Boggs started the first session of spring practice catching a deep pass from Daniels, a play coach Mike Norvell called "explosive."
Last season, Danzy became the second Seminole receiver to have three receiving and rushing touchdowns in a season. For Gelsey, who redshirted last year, Harris said he is proud of him for pushing himself through a lot of reps and taking advantage of the opportunities he receives in practice.
As spring football inches closer to its end, both the offense and defense have had their fair share of shine. Iron sharpens iron, and the offense responded with its best energy in the spring after the defense got the best of them last Saturday.
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