Jordan Silversmith Talks FSU Vs Memphis
As the preview of the upcoming Memphis and Florida State matchup continues, we spoke with Tomahawk Nation’s Jordan Silversmith for a conversation on the Seminoles. Silversmith would sit down with Jonathan Sturdivant on a special edition of, ‘Inside The Line’, his weekly show on the 4 Star Sports Media Network. In this discussion, we would learn many things about the Noles in Tallahassee. We will look at three things that stood out in today’s interview.
Practice Update
The conversation started with an update from Tallahassee on how the Noles have looked thus far. While the media is not allowed at practice on Sunday, per Silversmith, he elaborated on what he had seen this week{today} in practice. Silversmith eluded to a tough start to the day saying “Originally, I felt that they were really sluggish, and they were sluggish last week in their one bi-week press conference that was open in the media. And again today, it was a little different. team, to be honest with you” when describing the energy in the Seminoles.
Going further into his observations, the practice would become lethargic while watching Seminoles head coach, Mike Norvell, race the defensive lineman in their annual practice run and flow to the offense. “I don’t know if you’ve seen the videos when Coach Norvell races the defensive linemen down the field. It was the worst defensive lineman race that Florida State’s ever had since they covered the team. The guys were just jogging down the field. Again, it was kind of low on energy. The offense looked kind of lethargic early on.” However, this would change as practice continued.
When DJ Uiagalelei zipped a pass to sophomore tight end Kyle Morlock for what Silversmith described as “probably the best reception that they’ve had in a practice in about a month,” practice would pick up on the offense and defensive side. On defense, coordinator, Adam Fuller, has taken much criticism for the performance over the first two games.
Silversmith provided some updates on this defense as it looks for redemption when saying “Defensively, they look better against the run, and that’s, you know, the biggest priority that they’ll have going into Memphis. We know that Memphis is a pass-happy offense, but when you give up over four hundred and fifty yards on the ground in the last two games, that’s going to be, you know, step one to have a defensive adjustment.” followed by painting the picture for the rest of the practice from Tuesday as he closed this topic with “Again, I think they’re still working through a lot of things. I don’t think that when you’re owing to and have all the problems that Florida State has had, they can just have one by week to fix all of it. But it did look kind of as practice went on, they started to get their groove and figure it out a little bit more.”
The Seminoles writer went into further detail on what is perhaps the million-dollar question for the Seminoles. What is happening with Uiagalelei and how long is the leash from Norvell? Silversmith, in addition, analyzed the position as a room with the conversation on backup sophomore Brock Glen.
Glen, a graduate of Lausanne Collegiate Academy in Memphis, led the Seminoles following the injury to Jordan Travis. The, at the time true freshman, competed in the ACC Championship Game and Peach Bowl against Georgia.
Leash For DJ U
Perhaps the largest acquisition through the transfer portal this offseason was the news that Oregon State starter, Uiagalelei, was headed to Tallahassee and the Seminoles. We have previously spoken about his performances in 2024 and Silversmith elaborated even deeper.
When asked about this, there were no minced words with “….I’ve been in practice and there’s been no show from Norvell in the press comments or practice, like I mentioned, of making a quarterback change at all. And the truth is, though, while DJ has been bad, it’s been an entire offensive abomination with drop balls, poor pass protection, not getting the run game going.”
A factor we have also spoken of is the missing offensive coordinator, Alex Atkins, who is serving the final game of his 3-game suspension. When speaking on the effect of the offense Silversmith opened an intriguing thought.
Most would immediately look at the playcalling impact yet in this case it is more cerebral. “, Atkins is the offensive coordinator and gets a role in the playcalling. But at the end of the day, the final guy with the red pen will be Norvell, and he calls the plays. But to your credit and to your point, I think a lot of the offensive kind of the offensive struggles is because Atkins on the field, specifically with the run game.” followed by “And I think they need a guy on the side of them that kind of wakes the offense up a little bit. It’s not necessarily that they need a player to kind of slap everyone in the face and get going, but they’re certainly missing a coach to do that. And I think a big example of that is this. When the defense is on the field and the offense is on the sideline, obviously the offense meets together as a group. And it’s position coaches meeting as the group because Norvell is still standing on the sideline and watching the game. And I think that not having Atkins on the sideline to kind of run those meetings when the defense is on the field It’s affecting some of the adjustments on the field, but also affecting the mood within the team.” which speaks volumes to the different ways assistant coaches impact programs more than only in title.
With this factor in place, the quarterback room is a hot topic. We mentioned Glen and the struggles of Uiagalelei and asked about the possibility of an emergency plan. Silversmith divulged his feelings based on his last two seasons sovereign the Seminoles. In reality, this topic has become a moot point with his response.
“So if you look at it, A, if you put in Brock, you’re kind of already breaking glass in case of emergency play two games in the season. And I think while as fans, we kind of, everyone’s panic, everyone’s up in arms. I don’t think that’s kind of what the coaching staff wants to give off to recruits or their team that we’re already punting on the season. I think the other thing as well is you can’t put a young guy into an offense that looks this bad and then try to stunt his growth. “
“Like what’s the point of putting Brock, Glenn, in front of this offensive line? If you know, who’s going to bliss every play and there’s going to be a defender in his lap. I think personally, the way that it looks is Florida State has another buy in the middle of the season after six games. So they had two games by that four straight games. And then they have another buy. I think that if it continues to go poorly, then, that Norvell would make the quarterback change after the second buy at the halfway point of the season.”
“But I don’t think that he’s interested at all in making a change like a quarterback specifically because it’s a whole offensive issue right now. It’s not just one guy that you can point to because DJ made a couple of throws in that game I mean guys are flat-out put on the turf. So to answer your question, I do think Brock probably is the quarterback of the future. But I don’t think that Norvell is going to turn that page just yet and show the country that he’s already punting on the season and needing to break last-case emergency. “
Silversmith Gives Key Factors
Can FSU Stop The Run and Establish Their Ground Attack?
Sturdivant closed by asking the Tomahawk Nation writer for some key factors in the game for FSU. When spelling bluntly, Silversmith stated the first factor was simple and that is to contain the run defensively. Acknowledging the talent in Memphis by saying “ The biggest thing is the running game. We know Seth Hennigan loves to air it out. They’ve got two great receivers. You know, Mario Anderson catches the ball to the backfield. But teams are going to test for a state up front stop in the run after the two games against Georgia Tech and Boston College. If they can’t get off the field and again, like you mentioned before, only have twenty-one minutes of time of possession, they’re going to lose again.”
On the flip side of the run coin is can the Seminoles run the ball effectively. Silversmith didnt delay in saying “Conversely, if they can’t run the ball offensively and turn it to another one-dimensional game where the contest relies on DJ’s right arm. They also can win. So the run game is most important to me.” when finishing his first factor.
Third Downs? Were Talking About Third Downs?
Earlier in the interview, Silversmith eluded to the stat when opening his third key. The defense, led by Fuller, struggled as Silversmith stated “Secondly, third downs. And this was a really interesting stat. In the final ten minutes of the Georgia Tech game and the first quarter of the Boston College game, Florida State defensively gave up eight straight third downs. They legitimately couldn’t get off the field to save their life.”
To go even further he said the team would “send out a gassed defense” when alluding to the offensive struggles. Speaking on this Silversmith would say “Offensively like I mentioned, the first two drives were three and out. They couldn’t sustain anything.” followed by speaking on this being an issue for the staff with “Those are kind of the two biggest issues that the coaching staff highlighted two biggest issues for me”.
Find The Playmaker/ Intangibles
A staple of any Mike Norvell-coached program has been playmakers. This is something the Seminoles have struggled to find as Silversmith eluded to in his final key. Saying “How does the team respond if they get down early our guy’s going to roll over you know who’s going to be the vocal leader to step up and make a play I think that’s been the biggest problem for Florida state right now is they don’t have a guy on either side of the ball to Like, go make a big third down catcher. Go make a big third-down sack. Like, who’s going to be that guy that’s going to say enough is enough? We’re at home. We’re going to come win this game.”
When speaking on the factor of the intangibles of the team Silversmith was transparent in stating the Seminoles needed to respond on Saturday. “Third is going to be about the response and kind of the intangibles Memphis like coach Novell mentioned probably should be a top twenty-five team they certainly have a top twenty-five roster and have experience and they’re going to make plays I think a seven-point spread is kind of ridiculous I think the numbers should be a lot lower you know when Memphis you know they’re going to make a big play you know.” when describing the challenges the Tigers present.
In closing, Sturdivamt and Silversmith would deliver an incredibly insightful and informative conversation which was closed with “that’s kind of the three biggest things that they’ve lacked in the two games before and what they’re going to need to make the biggest change, you know, heading into week three.” to close out the discussion. We would learn much about the Seminoles from a young man who is on the grounds and inundated in the program.
Please follow Jordan and his work on X{formerly Twitter} by searching @ Jsilversmith24 and his beat, Tomahawk Nation, at @ TomohawkNation for more on the Seminoles.
