Why FSU football's Mike Norvell still believes: 'Great sense of purpose for improvement'

Florida State football head coach Mike Norvell said his team is refreshed after a bye week and ready to bounce back against Memphis.

The Seminoles (0-2) host the Tigers (2-0) on Saturday, Sep. 14 at noon at Doak Campbell Stadium, with Norvell hoping to beat his previous school and record FSU's first win of the year.

Coming off two disappointing performances against Georgia Tech and Boston College, Norvell said the Seminoles reset and refocused during the bye week.

"We gave the guys a couple of days off this weekend to be able to kind of just refresh, clear minds, clear bodies and spirits, and get ready to go be better this week," Norvell said. "I thought our guys came back with really good meetings and practice last night, a lot of energy, flying around."

"So guys definitely have a great sense of purpose for improvement, and that's our focus."

'Our guys believe in what we do' Norvell sticking with his approach

Outside of Micahi Danzy replacing the injured Jaylin Lucas, Norvell stuck with a relatively unchanged depth chart for the game against Memphis.

Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei remains the starter with Norvell admitting there have been some issues with the offense in the opening two games.

"I'm not going to get into specifics, but there have been issues. When I say issues, it's not pointing to one person or to one group," Norvell said. "I think that we have to be more consistent overall as an offense, and there have been times where obviously he's been on point or maybe we're a couple of yards too deep on route depth or maybe there's protection issue. There are different elements."

The Oregon State transfer has gone 40-for-121 on pass attempts and thrown for 464 yards and one touchdown in the first two games of the season for the Seminoles. There are moments where balls are either under or overthrown, but he has had multiple passes thrown on target drooped by the wide receivers with the offense lacking chemistry.

On the ground, the Seminoles have been inconsistent. Using a run-heavy approach against Georgia Tech, FSU shifted to a pass-first approach against Boston College and limited the running backs to 16 carries for 21 yards.

It certainly hasn't been the explosive start that Uiagalelei and FSU would have wanted, but Norvell did say he has been happy with how Uiagalelei has handled the start of the year.

"It's definitely not been all on him. I've really liked his mindset and his approach," Norvell said. "He's got a lot of experience, and he understands how to play the game. He understands how to respond to good and obviously to responding to some of the challenges that showed up."

"I think he's brought the right attitude and approach to what we need and to what we need to continue to do as this offense is growing together."

The defense has struggled to contain opposing running backs and mobile quarterbacks, allowing 453 yards rushing in two games this year. The secondary has been relatively unchallenged, but the defensive front and linebackers have struggled to contain the run, something Norvell believes will be better against Memphis.

While there has been some call for change from fans, even going as far as chanting "We want Brock" and booing Uiagalalei and the offense against Boston College to try and get FSU's backup Brock Glenn in the game, Norvell said his team is bought in and believes they can compete.

He said he doesn't want to change the approach much and that his team is working to translate that belief of success to the field.

"There's not wholesale changes to what we're doing," Norvell said. "Our guys believe in what and how we do it, but obviously we've got to execute that, and we've got to help that translate there to the course of the game."

Norvell provides injury updates on Hykeem Williams, Jeremiah Byers

While Lucas is out for the year, Norvell provided some positive updates on wide receiver Hykeem Williams and offensive lineman Jeremiah Byers as the duo recovers from injuries.

Williams missed the opening two games of the season and Norvell said he expects the former five-star wide receiver to return against Memphis.

"Fully expect Hykeem to be available this week and to play. He really had a good fall camp. He is on track for what we believe he can be," Norvell said. "He's taken some positive steps and still needs to grow and do that."

Byers started against Georgia Tech before picking up an injury before Boston College and while he's a question mark for Saturday, Norvell doesn't expect to be without the redshirt senior for long.

Redshirt senior Robert Scott started the game in place of Byers, but redshirt sophomore Jaylen Early stepped up in his reps against Boston College and Norvell was happy with what he gave the team.

"Not expecting that to be long-term, but we'll see what that looks like as we go into the rest of this week," Norvell said. "We knew Jaylen was going to play and still expecting Jaylen to be a part of this game and get his opportunities.I thought there were some good things and a few plays where he can be better."

"But all in all, I thought Jaylen had a solid kind of first outing where he got extensive reps."

How to watch FSU vs. Memphis

• Date: Saturday, Sep. 14

• Time: Noon

• Where: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

• TV: ESPN

• Streaming: ESPN+ ($10.99 per month), WatchESPN and the ESPN app (TV provider subscription needed), fuboTV (7-day free trial), YouTube TV (2-week free trial), Hulu + Live TV (7-day free trial)

Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State football's Mike Norvell on why he still believes in team