(FLORIDA SPORTS WIRE) --
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 2 Florida State began preparation for Oregon on Sunday at the Albert J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility, holding its first practice since winning its third straight ACC Championship last weekend.
The Seminoles face the Ducks on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. in a National Semifinal matchup as part of the inaugural College Football Playoff.
FSU will practice in Tallahassee until Dec. 22 and will have a three days off before departing for California on Dec. 26.
Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said the team had a great practice after having last week off for final exams.
“Great to be back out here, it was good to give the guys a week off mentally and physically,” Fisher said. “They needed it after a long season. It will take us a couple of days to get back into that groove because that’s too many days off, and we knew that. The guys came out and did a nice job today, ran well, conditioned pretty good and proud of practice, we got a lot done. Big fundamental practice for the first three [days], we’ll just go back to basics and camp-type practices and get fundamentally sound and start on our game plan stuff as we go forward. Good day today, proud of them.”
Fisher said that several players will be held out of practice over the next couple of days as a precaution, but contributors like defensive tackle Eddie Goldman, cornerback Ronald Darby, safety Tyler Hunter and safety Trey Marshall could play if there was a game this week.
Goldman and Darby missed significant time in the 37-35 victory over Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 6.
With the season wrapping to a close and a second straight national championship up for grabs over the next month, Fisher said he sees a sense of urgency from players during practice.
“They understand what’s at stake and where they’re at and what they’ve put themselves in position to do,” Fisher said. “I felt that in the practice for Georgia Tech. I really felt it there, too. Hopefully we’ll continue to have a great practice.”