TALLAHASSEE - On the final day of Florida State's spring practice season, the end of four weeks that included two full-length scrimmages and several mini scrimmages, the first-team defense gave up its only touchdown.
In the first series of the Garnet and Gold scrimmage at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday, tailback Lorenzo Booker scored from 6 yards. That was all the excitement the offense mustered as the defense won 20-10 in the controlled scrimmage, which followed an augmented scoring format that rewarded points for turnovers, three-and-outs and first downs.
"We came back out, sucked it up and stopped them from scoring again," said defensive end Kamerion Wimbley, who had two sacks and received the Hinesman as most dominant player of spring practice.
A 50-yard pass from Wyatt Sexton to Chris Davis, an unscripted play called by coach Bobby Bowden out of the opening huddle, set up the touchdown and was the longest pass of the day.
"Coach said, "Let's get it done on the first play;' he wanted to set the tempo with a big play," said Davis, a former St. Petersburg Catholic star who was one of the few bright spots for the offense. He led the offense with four catches and 95 yards and was named most dependable receiver of the spring.
Otherwise, the defense outmuscled a patchwork offensive line that was without three expected starters, and the quarterbacks often were hurried in the face of the pass rush. Sexton and redshirt freshman Xavier Lee each were sacked three times. As defenders were bearing down at the snap, Land O'Lakes graduate Drew Weatherford missed receivers. He finished 5-of-9 for 24 yards, and his longest completion was 9 yards.
"The offense started out real good, then the defense just swarmed them to death," Bowden said. "You can't hardly protect those guys once they (the defense) start blitzing."
Sexton was the most accurate, completing 4-of-6 for 73 yards, but had a pass intercepted by first-team linebacker Sam McGrew.
Lee went 3-of-7 for 33 yards, but drew the loudest ovation from the announced 16,000 at the start of his first series, a not-so-subtle hint at the fan favorite.
"You can bet your life I won't make a decision because of the fans," Bowden said.
FSU strayed from the running game, which had been effective all spring, sitting top tailback Leon Washington and Booker early. The offense amassed only 34 rushing yards, 32 coming from sophomore reserves Lamar Lewis and Jamaal Edwards.
"We run the ball right now better than we throw it," said Bowden, whose 'Noles open against Miami on Sept. 5. "If we had run the ball more today and just run it with Leon and Booker we probably would have done a little bit better. There were things we wanted to see today and things we didn't want to show today."
