TALLAHASSEE – Running back Trey Benson and left tackle Darius Washington were named the ACC Running Back and Offensive Lineman of the Week, respectively, for their performances in Florida State’s 39-17 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. The honor is the fifth of Benson’s career, and the first for Washington.
Benson, a redshirt junior from Greenville, Mississippi, ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries, setting a school record with 18.2 yards per carry (min. 10 rushes). It was a career-high for Benson, and the most rushing yards for a Seminole since Dalvin Cook in 2016.
In the second half, Benson broke a 62-yard touchdown on the Noles second play after halftime. He added an 85-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, the longest for a Nole since 2021. Benson’s two long touchdown runs were the longest rushes of his career, and the longest plays for FSU this season. The last Seminole with multiple 60-yard rushing touchdowns in a game was Chris Thompson against Wake Forest in 2012. Benson’s 85-yard run is the longest in the ACC this season and third longest nationally.
Benson’s 200-yard game was just the fifth in Doak Campbell Stadium’s 74-season history. He ranks sixth nationally, averaging 7.63 yards per carry this season.
Washington, a redshirt junior from Pensacola, Florida, made his 30th career start, 16 of which have come at left tackle. On top of Benson’s record-setting performance, the Seminole offense averaged 7.8 yards per carry, rushing for 282 yards on 36 rushes. Benson and running back Lawrance Toafili combined for 250 rushing yards and were not tackled for loss. Toafili added a 28-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, his first of the year.
Washington also blocked for quarterback Jordan Travis, who completed 75 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
No. 4 Florida State improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC in the win over Virginia Tech, the Seminoles best start since 2015. FSU hosts Syracuse Saturday at 12:00 pm on ABC.
Florida State University
Football Media Conference
Monday, October 9, 2023
Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Mike Norvell
Press Conference
MIKE NORVELL: Appreciate you being here. Kind of
wrapping up Saturday’s game, was really pleased with the
overall outcome of how we finished. We talked to the guys
throughout last week as really wanting to come out and get
off to a fast start. I mentioned that in my postgame, and I
thought, you know, couldn’t have played much better
during the first quarter.
Loved the energy. Loved the intensity, the execution. I
think their first offensive drive was 14 plays. Did a great
job mixing run and pass, being able to jump out to that
lead.
Second quarter, had some adversity, some mishaps that
happened, really, on both sides. Wasn’t as clean as it
needed to be. As we were going through that, you look at
the last two minutes of the first half, obviously gave up a
touchdown. Weren’t able to get things in our two-minute
drive. Took a negative on the first play.
You know, decided to go to the half and then the opening
kickoff, the second half, was about as bad of a start as we
could have but you know it was, like I said Saturday, I was
really pleased with the response. And the defense not to
give up a point in the second half, ultimately it wasn’t the
cleanest play that we had. There are still some details and
some things that we’ve got to clean up that we were able to
address yesterday.
But to not give up a point offensively, to really be able to
finish the game. Doing a great job in the run game. Guys
were really battling up front. We saw a great physicality.
Up front, tight ends, running backs and the way that they
ran, and then receivers, I thought showed up really big.
Keon Coleman, I pointed him out to the team yesterday, I
thought he had two huge blocks on the long touchdown
runs by Trey Benson. Those are the things that you really
celebrate just that type of play with what guys are doing
without the ball in their hands.
But I was pleased with our team. I thought they responded
well. I thought we were very efficient with what we did
offensively throughout the course of the game. I did a
good job, over 50 percent, when you looked at the third
and fourth down conversions, how we — you look at that,
being able to extend drives, defensively, great response in
our third downs, did have a couple fourth down
conversions that you’ve got to be able to clean up and
keep them in those longer yardage situations. But.
Thought our guys played hard and I thought they played
tough throughout. We definitely are happy to get the
victory. Sets up for another conference home game.
It’s going to be an early start there Saturday. But we’re
excited about it. I know we’re going to have an incredible
crowd. Encourage everybody to get here early and get
ready to roll. Our fan base is incredible and makes such a
wonderful impact to the game. We’re going to need
another great atmosphere. It was special there Saturday.
We know that we’ve got to have a big impact here this
weekend, and definitely excited to compete against a
talented Syracuse team that’s coming off of a couple
losses. But as they showed throughout the beginning part
of the season, this is a very explosive team and they are
going to attack in all that they do. They have a very
experienced quarterback and definitely present challenges
with how he plays with his arm and his legs. Definitely
we’ve seen him the last few years and he’s a really, really
good player and he’s got good skill around him.
Defensively, Coach Long is the new defensive coordinator.
He’s a legend in this business. You know, he’s as good as
they come when it comes to the aggressive approach and
how to attack. They are going to show you every front.
Every blitz, you’ve got to do a wonderful job playing
disciplined, playing with your eyes and being able to
respond to whatever he’s going to throw at you we have
our hands full for the week of preparation but definitely
excited to see our guys continue to grow and go compete.
Q. Johnny Wilson, any update with regards to him
leaving the game?
MIKE NORVELL: You know, this is going to be something
that we see as we go throughout the course of the week.
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Johnny was feeling better yesterday and so we’re excited
about where we think it can go but ultimately, you take it
day-by-day this week.
You know, I thought he did a wonderful job there in the first
half on Saturday, and really has taken his game to another
level just in how he played and what he’s been able to do.
So hopeful to be able to get him back rolling here earlier in
the week.
Q. Was Keon an effective blocker when he came here
or is that something he’s worked on since he’s been
here?
MIKE NORVELL: I think he embraces being a complete
player. You know, he’s shown moments of the willingness,
but taking that ownership is something that I’m proud of
him for. You know, as a receiver, you guys have seen our
teams. It’s something that we really harp on, and I think
Coach Dugans does a great job of building that mentality
into the room.
You know, guys embrace that and Keon was a great
example of that there on Saturday. Those were huge plays
and it’s a huge difference between a 10- or 20-yard run to
a, whatever, 65-, 85-yard run. Just being able to get out
there and take care of guys on that next level.
So I’m proud of all our guys at receiver. I mean, just how
them brace that work and that mentality, and then you
know, obviously it shows great unselfishness just being
able to go and physically do your job when it comes to
those times.
Q. Syracuse has recorded a lot of sacks as a defense.
Seems like they bring pressure from a lot of different
areas. You guys had a couple pass protection issues
last week. What challenges do they present?
MIKE NORVELL: It’s going to be a great challenge.
You’re not going to see a team that brings more variations
of pressures. Just the different looks from three down to
four down to — they can blitz everybody on the field at
some point. It really does — you have to be great with your
eyes. You have to be great with your technique. We had a
couple slow reactions where we gave up pressures there
the other day.
All in all, I think our offensive line has done a great job
throughout the course of the season in being able to
protect Jordan and to work to get him time. But the other
day, we had a few times that we had pressure on him, and
you know, it’s opportunities for us to see, to learn and one
of them was just a pure bust in communication of
assignment. We can’t have those in those situations.
But there’s very correctible things that we can improve
upon and our guys know the sense of urgency because
this week you’re going to see it all.
Q. Watching that game back, did you see anything you
liked from the offensive line in terms of blocking,
especially for the run game to open up holes?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, I thought they did a great job at
the point of contact of being physical, of being able to
create space, is one of the things we knew.
You know, last week’s opponent, their defensive front, I
mean, they were athletic and they were going to try to
penetrate with different movements. You saw the week
prior of how effective they were in that, and we knew that
we had to try to do a great job of creating the space when
we had it and make sure that we are playing with our eyes
and not behind on blocks. I thought our guys did a really
nice job with that. They embraced that challenge and gave
Trey some great running room to be able to get to the next
level.
That’s what allowed receivers to have those impactful
moments. Obviously Trey took care of the rest. I thought
LT did a wonderful job. He had a couple big runs. His
touchdown run was as good as you’ll see, just a way to
finish. But I thought he ran tough, physical throughout the
day. I really liked what the O-line did in being able to
present some of those holes.
Q. I have two quick ones. Conrad, what has he shown
you as a freshman and what can Saturday do for him
as he’s continuing to build? And Syracuse offensively,
Shrader is obviously well-known but their personnel
seems different than what you guys have faced the last
couple years.
MIKE NORVELL: Conrad, being able to come in, we
talked about him last week. He was coming off of really
two weeks, the bye week and last week’s practice, where
he took some really positive steps.
We knew we were going to get him in. We wanted to make
sure that we got to see him in that space, and I thought he
played confident in it. You know, there was obviously
some things as a true freshman, you get out there, starts
moving fast and there was a few things that he’s going to
have improve upon.
But what I loved is there was no hesitation when it came to
when he saw the ball, when he got a chance to go and
attack, he definitely did that. Threw his body around. Had
the big hit on the swing play and obviously being able to
137794-1-1003 2023-10-09 16:29:00 GMT Page 2 of 6
create the take way there late was big, and I think that’s
just going to continue to build his confidence and it’s just
finding the details. Making sure he’s on point in all areas of
what he can do to continue to get better.
We feel really good about where he’s going to be going just
as a player and as he continues to mature in the defense
and all the things we’re asking him to do.
When you look at Syracuse, they have had an injury,
Gadsden, the tight end, obviously he’s out for the year. He
was a great player, but you look at them and they have got
great size. When you look outside at the receiver position,
wonderful body control, ball skills. They can definitely
present challenges. Guys with great long speed. If you let
them out and let them get going, they can really stretch the
field vertical. They are going to be very balanced in what
they can do in the run game. They can attack you in a lot
of different ways. Their running backs catch the ball well
out of the back field.
And then Shrader is such a challenge. I mean, two years
ago when he came here, I think it was one of his first starts
there at Syracuse. I mean, he’s running just a bootleg, and
I mean, he’s got 250-pound guys bouncing off him and had
some really explosive runs in that game.
Obviously you look at the course of work that he’s done
over the last couple years, he’s a very talented player and
can do a lot of great things with his arm. If you account for
everybody in the passing game and don’t have eyes and a
body on him, definitely make you pay as a runner.
Q. An emphasis going into the week was third down,
you were 5-of-5 and scored three touchdowns on third
downs. Was that the response you wanted to see on
third downs?
MIKE NORVELL: Absolutely. We want to make sure that
every opportunity we get to convert, we want to convert
and some of those times it might be a third down that gets
us to a fourth and short and puts us in position.
I know the fourth down conversion with Jordan, it’s about
continuing to move the chains, and we talked about trying
to have — to keep possession of the ball, to be able to
control the ball a little bit. You saw that in the first quarter.
Defensively we got three straight three-and-outs and
offense was able to put together some drives.
In the second half, didn’t really show up as much on that
because we had explosive plays, a two-play drive, a
one-play drive, so you’re not going to get — I like those, too.
But I thought our guys did a good job of preparing for the
third-down situations and being able to execute in those
moments.
Q. Can you talk about the two-point play? Was that a
call you were planning on doing throughout the week
or you saw a look and were executing from there?
MIKE NORVELL: It’s obviously something we practice and
prepare for. We had a look that we thought could put us in
a decent number count and they defended it pretty well.
They had secondary late pressure. We had a lot of space
with Brian. I thought Brian, that was a really tough run.
We knew we had to try and gain leverage. He did have a
pass option off it if it presented itself.
But as he got leverage, he did a great job of being able to
lower his shoulder and finishing in the zone. Brian is a
high school quarterback, so pretty heavy in the quarterback
run game coming out.
So I felt pretty confident when I saw him getting his legs
moving that he would find it in the end zone and he did.
Q. Jaheim didn’t play a ton in that game Saturday.
What went into that and how did you see Kyle and
Markeston take advantage of that and the benefit of
having three guys that you trust to go out there?
MIKE NORVELL: Jaheim, first off, he was banged up last
week, very limited in practice. I appreciate him and just
how he was able to prepare to make himself available. We
knew he was going to be a very limited snap count. I think
he made maybe seven plays in the game.
Being able to get himself to where he can go out there and
play, I respected just the work that he put in, and getting
rehab, doing all they could in practice. But we knew it was
going to be limited.
Kyle, I think Kyle is just continue to go get better. I’m so
excited about the growth I’ve seen from him. To get four
catches and was able to do a lot of good things to the
blocker. You saw he had a couple blocks with great
finishes. Being able to create that space we were talking
about earlier.
Markeston did some good things. I think he’s continuing to
grow as a player in his consistency. Being able to have
that core of guys that can attack at the tight end position, it
really opens up so many doors for us in what we can do,
not only in the passing game but also in the running game,
creating gaps, creating leverage, different angles to be
able to attack with.
It was definitely a good thing to see those guys continue to
137794-1-1003 2023-10-09 16:29:00 GMT Page 3 of 6
grow.
Q. Was the plan going in to maybe have Jordan run a
little more than he had? And then also on his run,
something I was just curious about, there’s been a
couple times where he’s ducked down really quickly
and he’s been hit in the head including the game where
the kid got kicked out of the game. Is that what y’all
want him to do, or is that something spur of the
moment? You don’t see a lot of quarterbacks duck
down quite as quickly in traffic like he does.
MIKE NORVELL: For Jordan, we had options in that game
just like we have in most games for the potential of him to
be able to run. Those things presented themselves a few
times. Jordan is definitely a dynamic runner as he gets in
space, you can make people miss. You saw that show up
even a few times yesterday.
But as things are converging down on him, I’m not trying to
see how many times he can go try to maybe run over
people, so you get what you can get, get down, go to the
next play. It’s still forcing the defense having to account for
him and when you get that, then you see that possibility,
because if they don’t have somebody on him, you know, I
think we have all seen over the years just what he can do
in open field and open space.
But when you have teams that have to now account for
him, it takes one less hat away from Trey or the running
backs or different things that we’re doing there. So I’m
really pleased with how he’s managed the game. I thought
he was extremely efficient there the other day, as in the run
game and passing game; he playing at such a high level.
Just excited about what he’s doing.
But yeah, I tell him, if he gets going and he’s got multiple
guys converging down on him, go ahead and get to the
next play. You’ve already gained positive yards. Let’s get
to the next one, and let’s not take any unnecessary shots.
Q. Wanted to check on a couple other guys that we
didn’t see much of Saturday. Obviously Bless didn’t
play and Tatum wasn’t available much and how Robert
Scott came out of that game?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, Robert came out, you know, it
was his first extensive action. I think he played maybe ten
plays in the LSU game. He came out of the game even
better than what we thought he would. That’s going to be
really good for him moving forward, and I expect — I liked
what we saw. We were able to use a three-man rotation
there. I thought Darius played at a high level there on
Saturday. Jeremiah Byers is continuing to grow,
continuing to build confidence.
But I like being able to play all three of those guys. Bus
was unavailable for the game and we’ll see how he
progresses throughout the course of this week to see his
availability for Saturday.
Tatum, he was close, and he kind of got banged up a little
bit the week prior and he was available but we were, you
know, it was one of those situations where it could have
had a small number count but if we could avoid from
having to play him, I mean, then you know, I thought we
were going to be in good shape and we were able to do
that. I thought Omar Graham, obviously D.J. and Kalen did
a great job. But Omar Graham, Blake Nichelson got in, got
some good work in Tatum’s absence. We’re very confident
he’ll be back and rolling this week.
Q. I was going to ask the same question but I have a
follow-up instead. Can you talk about what that means
to a person like Nichelson, or Graham who is really
young, to get in and play when the game is
consequential?
MIKE NORVELL: I think it’s huge. I think it was Saturday I
was asked the question about those guys, you know, the
plan to get them in. I’m not going to put anybody on the
field that we don’t believe can go out there and execute
and play at a very high level. There’s just too much work
and too much investment that’s gone in over the years.
And so when guys get on that field, there’s a responsibility
they have, and there needs to be a sense of urgency for
everything that they are doing and how they prepare and
how they communicate and the overall execution when the
ball is snapped. To see those guys get the earn those
opportunities, I’m really proud of.
Have had, I think it was three or four true freshmen the
other day that made impactful plays in impactful moments,
and you like seeing that. You like seeing those guys get
the experience it. Wasn’t all right in what they do, their
technique and their fundamentals, but you see and you get
to address, all right, well, why; how do you get this better,
and their ownership of applying those lessons and to be
able to continue to grow through the process.
But that experience, it’s invaluable for what it’s going to
mean for their future but also when they are out there,
you’ve got the same responsibility of a fifth-year senior
that’s been here. You’ve got to go play at an elite level and
it’s what makes it challenging but it also forces the maturity
for how they need to prepare and what they need to do.
Q. I guess, I don’t know if either of them recorded a
catch they both seemed to play a decent amount,
137794-1-1003 2023-10-09 16:29:00 GMT Page 4 of 6
Ja’Khi and Kentron, getting back. The timing that have
seems pretty good with building the depth in that room
with the questions in the week coming with Johnny
and Jaheim and obviously the Winston Wright news
last night.
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, I was really pleased. Kentron
probably had as good of spring as anybody that we had.
Just so much confidence-building and it was unfortunate
he had the injury in fall camp that he was unavailable in the
early part of the season.
But seeing him, when he got in there he played fast —
when Johnny went down, like I said, didn’t record a catch
but he showed the burst and the route running that it was
good to see. He blocked really well.
Ja’Khi had a couple missed opportunities there in the
game. But what I loved, getting him back out in practice
last week, you saw the explosiveness, you saw the
play-making ability. Now getting — building back that
confidence there on game day is great, Hill made a huge
play, great catch there on a wheel route there. He’s
continuing to get better in all things that we’re asking him to
do, and seeing that depth in that room, a lot of guys that
have played meaningful snaps that are there, you’re able to
contribute.
And also seeing — being able to spread the ball around. I
can’t remember the exact numbers, eight, nine guys that
recorded a catch in the game. I think Jordan is doing a
good job when it comes to that and just continuing to build
that timing, the confidence and all those guys. Definitely
great things for this offense.
Q. Are you able to characterize Winston’s decision to
leave the program? Did it catch you by surprise? Was
it something you guys had been talking about?
MIKE NORVELL: Everybody’s got one chance going
through this journey. Winston, I love him. He’s a great
young man. Wish all the best in his future. He’s been
through challenging situations.
Obviously what he went through last year. It was hard and
it was hard for everybody. Having to see him, just the ebb
and flow of rehabbing to get back, and it doesn’t go
necessarily how you want. But ultimately he was back and
he was working and continuing to build to increase a role
and as we move forward, as I tell all of our players, right,
this is very competitive. I mean, you’re here at Florida
State. Every day is going to be a challenge. You’re going
to get pushed.
All I ask is whatever your situation, whatever the
circumstance, you pour it all into it. Winston is going to
have a great future in front of him. Whatever decision I
makes, whether it’s to continue on another engineer of
eligibility he can utilize; I’m going to cheer for that kid
forever. You support him as he makes decisions but no
matter where you are, if you can’t put all into it or there’s
other things that are going on, then I support them in
whatever they choose to do.
I’ll forever love that young man for the journey he’s been on
and just who he is.
Q. I don’t know how many control head coaches have
in their schedules, their non-conference schedules. In
football, seems like some other sports may be more
so. Would you prefer to not have the first month of the
season you guys had this year? In terms of like you
see some other schools that get basically a month or
two or three weeks to work into their tougher games,
what challenges does that present when you have a
first month like you guys did this year?
MIKE NORVELL: Well, I mean, yes and no. To come out
of the gate and play on a national stage, that spotlight,
there’s a lot of benefits that come to it and just the way that
you have to prepare through the off-season, we’ve already
played three conference games.
We’ve got a stretch here, just really the dynamic of two
non-conference games to start, two non-conference to end.
When you get in the mix of it is — I mean, you’ve got to roll,
and especially this year not having divisions, there’s no
week that — you can’t slip. You’ve got to bring it every
week. Every week you still find out things about your team
throughout that journey.
But there’s no question, the schedule we had, it challenged
us early, which I do think builds confidence. And especially
starting off 4-0 or how it was there in the month of
September, I mean, it built some confidence of some of the
things that we could overcome.
But on the flip side of it, you’re still a work-in-progress and
we’re still on that journey right now of working to get better
and you know I think every team is different. Every team
has their own dynamics and to start off with the schedule
that we did,.
I mean, it’s definitely hardened our football team, and we
know that we’ve got great talent, we’ve got great ability, but
the growth that’s from us can really take us to another level
because we’ve had to do it against good people. You
know, I’m excited about where this team and how this team
works.
137794-1-1003 2023-10-09 16:29:00 GMT Page 5 of 6
Last night’s practice, coming off the win on Saturday, I
mean, there was a definite sense of urgency, and we want
to fight for our improvement every day and what we’re
doing. You look at the conference slate, you have a 4-2
Syracuse team that’s coming in here that’s going to give us
everything we have.
Ultimately we have all the respect for them, but it’s not
about them. It’s about us. It’s about what we do. It’s about
how we execute and it’s about how we play. I think our
guys are buying into that process of just getting better.
And it’s been the same message regardless of who shows
up as our opponent. I think our guys are handling that well
but continuing to improve.
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