Lawayne McCoy has missed a large chunk of preseason camp due to injury as well as Florida State’s first two games. But the sophomore returned to practice recently and could make his 2025 debut for the Seminoles on Satuday.

Coach Mike Norvell said he's "hopeful" McCoy will play against Kent State (3:30 p.m. on ACC Network). McCoy has been sidelined due to an undisclosed injury in preseason camp. Norvell previously called McCoy a “tier 1” receiver, a pass-catching option who can be productive.

“Continuing to push forward. Definitely hopeful,” Norvell said. “I’m expecting Lawayne to be ready to play here on Saturday.”

McCoy had six catches for 52 yards in 10 games in 2024.

Starting receiver Squirrel White, who injured his hand/wrist in FSU’s second game, took part in practice this week but is questionable. White has two catches for 47 yards.

“We’ll see with Squirrel as it continues on throughout this week but it was a good step for him today,” Norvell said.

FSU’s quarterbacks have been able to distribute passes well. Six Seminoles caught passes against Alabama, although only Jaylin Lucas, Duce Robinson and White are receivers. As FSU emptied the bench against East Texas A&M, 11 Seminoles caught passes. That included eight receivers, even when factoring in tight end Chase Loftin (who is on the depth chart as a receiver).

Norvell said defensive lineman Kevin Wynn is “closer” to a return to the field. The freshman won’t play against Kent State, but Norvell said Wynn could make his debut at Virginia.

Quite the stat

The Seminoles have nine rushing touchdowns in 2025, one more than their 12-game total from a year ago.

Scheduling oddity

FSU opened with a top-10 team in Alabama. And the Seminoles could face another top-10 team in Miami on Oct. 4. But the rest of the Seminoles’ schedule includes games against now-unranked rivals (two-loss Clemson and two-loss Florida) as well as a large group of unranked ACC teams.

Another weird scheduling nugget: The Seminoles will face three teams with interim head coaches — Kent State’s Mark Carney, Stanford’s Frank Reich (in October) and Virginia Tech’s Philip Montgomery (in November).

Florida’s Billy Napier is also squarely on the hot seat (Napier is 20-21 in his four seasons at UF). FSU’s schedule will get tougher very soon, beginning with the ACC slate next week at Virginia (on a Friday). But there are some games against teams in transition, too.

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