Corey Clark: Banner day for FSU passing game opens eyes to new possibilities

It started strong and it finished very strong.

That was the story of the day for the Florida State passing attack on Wednesday morning as the Seminoles completed their 12th practice of the preseason.

Jordan Travis had what was — by far — his best day of camp. He made some absolutely ridiculous throws, including two on back-to-back touchdown possessions (we’ll get to these in a few moments). And Arizona State receiver transfer Johnny Wilson was dominant on Wednesday, stacking another strong performance on the one he had Tuesday.

It was a welcome sight for an offense that has struggled mightily in recent years to have a consistent passing attack.

“He was very sharp,” FSU head coach Mike Norvell said of Travis. “Very sharp in situations. And Jordan … I don’t know if he’s had a bad day throughout fall camp. It’s been good. And there’s been decisions and things that we grow from, but he’s in a great space. I like what I’m seeing.”

Norvell is right. It’s not like Travis has had any awful practices. Or anything close to it.

There hasn’t been a day where you watched him and thought, “Hoo doctor, he’s just vomiting all over himself out there. He’s a turnover machine!” Travis has been solid all camp. He hasn’t made major mistakes, and he’s hit some big plays here and there.”

But on Wednesday, he looked like a different player.

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It started with a 25-yard pass to tight end Wyatt Rector. It should be noted that on that play, safety Jammie Robinson was in position to deliver an enormous hit, but he pulled up. Thankfully for everyone involved. Still. A really nice throw.

Travis then hit Malik McClain for about a 6-yard pass and another 25-yard strike.

Later on in practice, he hit McClain for two more first-down passes down the sideline. They were both really nice throws, against tight coverage, on time and in rhythm. Really well done.

Then came the two highlight throws.

The first was a 16-yard strike to a very well-covered Mycah Pittman in the left side of the end zone. The ball was thrown perfectly, and Pittman did a great job of catching it, taking two hits, spinning off both and holding on for the touchdown.

It was a great job by a receiver who has a knack for making contested catches.

But what was so encouraging was the fact that Travis threw it with conviction. The one critique I would have of him this camp is that he has been a bit too conservative.

And there’s a fine line of course. You don’t want a quarterback who is throwing the ball to the other team all the time, by constantly throwing it to well-covered receivers, but you also don’t want a quarterback who only throws the ball when a receiver is running wide open.

Because that doesn’t happen a lot, obviously. And it leads to the quarterback inevitably holding onto the ball too long and then scrambling as the play breaks down.

On Wednesday, we saw none of that from Travis. Now, maybe it was just one great day where everything clicked. Or maybe it’s a turning point. We’ll see. But Wednesday was just … different.

And it didn’t stop with the throw to Pittman.

The next time he had the ball, he made what I would argue is the single best pass of his life. Maybe even better than the fourth-and-14 to beat Miami.

Travis stepped up in the pocket to avoid the rush, rolled just a touch to his right, and then threw an absolute dart — over a linebacker and in between three defensive backs — to a diving Keyshawn Helton in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown.

I know he’s not yet on the same planet as Pat Mahomes when it comes to playing quarterback, but it was a Mahomes-ian throw. It was jaw-dropping honestly. And it capped off a day in which I had him throwing for roughly 310 yards (all in 11-on-11 drills) on just 18 attempts.

Pittman alone had a 30-yard grab, a diving 11-yard catch and another 25-yarder to go along with his 16-yard touchdown.

And he wasn’t even the star receiver of the day. That honor went to Wilson, who built off a strong practice on Tuesday with a highlight-reel effort on Wednesday.

Interestingly enough, it didn’t start very well for Wilson. In the first team period of the day, after Travis hit Rector and Pittman for big gains, Wilson dropped a pass over the middle when it looked like he didn’t turn his head in time.

After that, though, he was the best skill player on the field.

He caught a long pass from Travis down the sideline on a play in which he sprinted past the cornerback. When the ball wasn’t thrown exactly on time (actually one of the few not-great throws Travis made), Wilson adjusted his body, stopped and out-leaped the safety for a 50-yard catch. The coaches blew the play dead at the 15 when he was touched, but in all honesty he probably would have scored.

Then Wilson finished the day with three more big-time catches, one on a 25-yard strike from Tate Rodemaker on the final drive of the practice. And then, with the ball inside the 5, Wilson snatched a pass away from freshman cornerback Azareye’h Thomas — who had great coverage, by the way — for a touchdown that set off a pretty wild celebration by the offensive players on the sidelines.

It was a great play. Against what I think is a very good cornerback. And again, it just shows what Wilson can be when Wilson is at his best. He and Pittman both can be game-changing type players.

Whether it happens or not, we’ll see. They have to go prove it on Saturdays (and Sundays and Fridays) in 2022.

After spring drills, we all knew Pittman is good and likely would be a difference-maker for FSU. Johnny Wilson is showing he can be one of those guys, too. If he is, that is going to mean a great, great deal to the Florida State offense and to the football team as a whole.

Again, I’m trying to qualify it as much as possible. It was one great practice. In the middle of camp.

But seeing the Florida State passing game operate like that, knowing what it should be able to do in the running game because of Travis’ legs and that stable of backs, it makes you start wondering if this offense is really about to take a big step forward this season.

Wednesday was certainly a sign of what it can look like when it’s operating at peak efficiency. Now, the goal is to do it again tomorrow. And then the day after that.

As for the defense, well, as you just read, it wasn’t exactly a banner day for the defense.

I think that side of the ball has won the majority of days so far in the preseason, but on Wednesday that was absolutely not the case. The good sign, if there can be one when you’re giving up that many plays through the air, is that it wasn’t like there were guys just running free all over the place.

The coverage, for the most part, was decent to good. It was just a matter of quarterbacks and receivers making plays, and the defensive backs not winning their one-on-ones like they’ve been doing for most of August.

Of the defensive linemen that I watched on Wednesday, backup defensive tackle Jarrett Jackson and defensive end Derrick McLendon had the best days. Jackson had multiple tackles for loss and McLendon had a sack and a couple of other pressures.

Those were silver linings on an otherwise tough day for that unit.

It’s going to be really interesting to see how they respond Thursday for the first of two practices at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at [email protected] and follow @corey_clark on Twitter.

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