The Cougars held a rather festive scrimmage this afternoon during the Universities Frontier Fiesta. There were quite a few students on hand and coach Herman did his best to get the students involved and closer to the action. All of the students were invited down on the field during certain warm ups, several students even got to work out and stretch with the players beforehand and a few others were able to attempt field goal kicks following the scrimmage.
It was an interesting atmosphere and a lot different than anything I've seen on campus over the last two or three years.
In regards to the scrimmage.
The defense won the scrimmage 45-40 in what was a close back and forth battle with each side gaining points for completing various tasks, etc..
At QB, Greg Ward appears to have a much better command of the offense at this point than Adam Shulz, at least on this day anyway. Ward was 9-of-12 for 67 yards and three touchdowns. His pocket presence and overall command of the offense seems a lot better than Shulz at this point. But Herman can see that his young QB still needs to grow and is falling short of naming him the top guy heading into the season.
"I think it's too early to tell right now if he is THE guy," Herman said of Ward. "I think he does some things really really well, I think he's certainly a playmaker with his feet and I think he throws the ball a lot better than people give him credit for. I think right now his problem is the passing game has to slow down for him. He has to take some breaths back there, slow down a little bit see the defense a little better. He's progressing. He's a lot better today after six practices at quarterback than he was after one. But to say he's THE guy right now would be a bit premature.
The first team offense did a much better job of moving the football and putting the ball in the endzone.
The offensive line struggled a bit today as the defense won a lot of the one one battles up front. I talked to with Herman following the scrimmage and he noted the same, in terms of the position battles along the line it was the same group we've reported previously getting the first team reps, Herman seems content with the play of both tackles Zach Johnson and Alex Cooper at this point, but did say they've got some good batttles going on inside the offensive line. He said it wouldn't be fair to say one was ahead of another at this point. Josh Thomas got some reps at right guard this afternoon, Ben Dew and Colton Freeman also got first team reps at left guard and center respectively.
Running backs it's still Farrow and Jackson at the top. Farrow had a modest but somewhat successful afternoon only rushing for 46-yards on 12 carries but did put the ball in the endzone three times. Ryan Jackson looks like he's running the ball a lot more physically this season. There was one one moment where he running inside the ten yard yard line with defenders homing in on him, he could have easily ducked out of bounds for a short gain but he lowered his head and barreled into the defenders picking up an extra two to three yards on extra effort. Jackson finished the afternoon with what would have been 25-yards on eleven rushing attempts.
I did see a lot of motion out of the offense today, there were several receivers being brought into motion on running plays, often which resulted into to short tosses to the motion receiver. Ayers looks like he going to be used some in the running game coming in motion from the receiver position. I think Herman's plan for him, might be to use him in a similar fashion to the way Percy Harvin was used at Florida. Just doing what they can to get him the ball in open field and let him make plays with his speed and athletic ability.
Today it was Demarcus Ayers, Chance Allen and Isaiah Johnson that got a lot of the first team reps at receiver. Steven Dunbar still got a lot of reps but he worked mostly with the second team from what I saw.
Romello Booker had a nice play and I think the SID staff may have awarded a nice catch he made to Linnell Bonner, but there was a play where Booker beat one-on-one coverage on the sideline and Ward led him perfectly for what looked like a 45-50 yard touchdown strike coming right at me.
Another thing to note, it looks like they may be using Tyler McCloskey a lot more than orginially thought. He got a lot of reps today and lined up all over the field. He continues to play that versatile h-back/tight end position there were several times where he lined up at tight end and others where he was off the line. I asked Herman about his role on the offense and how he might be used.
"We're hoping he can play the role of a hybrid tightend/fullback," Herman said of McCloskey. "We don't have any true tight ends on the roster. We brought in Rusty Clark but he's still a ways a way and is still developing. Tyler gives us the best opportunity to block people in the schemes that we want to run, but he needs to continue to improve in that area because it's still new to him and that's okay. He's a guy that goes hard, he's physical, he's got some athleticism to him. He's a little undersized right now to be a hand on the ground tight end, but we'll figure out a way if he's one of the best eleven to get him on the field."
Defensively you can tell the defense is still adjusting to the new scheme, but the defense flies around a lot and they really play with a lot of energy, which is something we've grown accustomed to out of them the last couple of years. It doesn't look like that will change based on what I saw today. Take that for what it's worth.
On the defensive line it looks like you're gonna see some sort of combo between Cameron Malveaux, Nick Thurman, Tommee Mark and B.J Singleton who looks like he may be in line to become the best defensive lineman on the team. Tyus Bowser looks like he's going to play one of the outside backer positions and be a 3-4 rush backer while Mathew Adams, Elandon Roberts and Steven Taylor appear to be the main guys for the other three linebacker positions.
The defensive backfield will look a lot like it did last season. William Jackson has one corner spot locked down, while there could be a battle waging on opposite of jackson between Brandon Wilson and Howard Wilson. Lee Hightower should be back in the fall and will be in the mix as well. Tyler White did get a lof reps today in the scrimmage so he may be one worth keeping an eye on as well.
When they go to the nickel package, Trevon Stewart will slide down and play the nickel back and Khalil Williams will come in and play safety. Speaking of Williams, he made some nice plays today including an impressive play in the backfield where he really laid a lick on the ball carrier resulting in what looked like a fumble from where I was positioned. He's a young player that's really coming into his own.
All in all, there were a lot of mistakes but also a some improvement over earlier practices. Herman seemed pleased with where the team is at overall after six practices but is also very thankful they don't have to go out and play a game tomorrow.
It was an interesting atmosphere and a lot different than anything I've seen on campus over the last two or three years.
In regards to the scrimmage.
The defense won the scrimmage 45-40 in what was a close back and forth battle with each side gaining points for completing various tasks, etc..
At QB, Greg Ward appears to have a much better command of the offense at this point than Adam Shulz, at least on this day anyway. Ward was 9-of-12 for 67 yards and three touchdowns. His pocket presence and overall command of the offense seems a lot better than Shulz at this point. But Herman can see that his young QB still needs to grow and is falling short of naming him the top guy heading into the season.
"I think it's too early to tell right now if he is THE guy," Herman said of Ward. "I think he does some things really really well, I think he's certainly a playmaker with his feet and I think he throws the ball a lot better than people give him credit for. I think right now his problem is the passing game has to slow down for him. He has to take some breaths back there, slow down a little bit see the defense a little better. He's progressing. He's a lot better today after six practices at quarterback than he was after one. But to say he's THE guy right now would be a bit premature.
The first team offense did a much better job of moving the football and putting the ball in the endzone.
The offensive line struggled a bit today as the defense won a lot of the one one battles up front. I talked to with Herman following the scrimmage and he noted the same, in terms of the position battles along the line it was the same group we've reported previously getting the first team reps, Herman seems content with the play of both tackles Zach Johnson and Alex Cooper at this point, but did say they've got some good batttles going on inside the offensive line. He said it wouldn't be fair to say one was ahead of another at this point. Josh Thomas got some reps at right guard this afternoon, Ben Dew and Colton Freeman also got first team reps at left guard and center respectively.
Running backs it's still Farrow and Jackson at the top. Farrow had a modest but somewhat successful afternoon only rushing for 46-yards on 12 carries but did put the ball in the endzone three times. Ryan Jackson looks like he's running the ball a lot more physically this season. There was one one moment where he running inside the ten yard yard line with defenders homing in on him, he could have easily ducked out of bounds for a short gain but he lowered his head and barreled into the defenders picking up an extra two to three yards on extra effort. Jackson finished the afternoon with what would have been 25-yards on eleven rushing attempts.
I did see a lot of motion out of the offense today, there were several receivers being brought into motion on running plays, often which resulted into to short tosses to the motion receiver. Ayers looks like he going to be used some in the running game coming in motion from the receiver position. I think Herman's plan for him, might be to use him in a similar fashion to the way Percy Harvin was used at Florida. Just doing what they can to get him the ball in open field and let him make plays with his speed and athletic ability.
Today it was Demarcus Ayers, Chance Allen and Isaiah Johnson that got a lot of the first team reps at receiver. Steven Dunbar still got a lot of reps but he worked mostly with the second team from what I saw.
Romello Booker had a nice play and I think the SID staff may have awarded a nice catch he made to Linnell Bonner, but there was a play where Booker beat one-on-one coverage on the sideline and Ward led him perfectly for what looked like a 45-50 yard touchdown strike coming right at me.
Another thing to note, it looks like they may be using Tyler McCloskey a lot more than orginially thought. He got a lot of reps today and lined up all over the field. He continues to play that versatile h-back/tight end position there were several times where he lined up at tight end and others where he was off the line. I asked Herman about his role on the offense and how he might be used.
"We're hoping he can play the role of a hybrid tightend/fullback," Herman said of McCloskey. "We don't have any true tight ends on the roster. We brought in Rusty Clark but he's still a ways a way and is still developing. Tyler gives us the best opportunity to block people in the schemes that we want to run, but he needs to continue to improve in that area because it's still new to him and that's okay. He's a guy that goes hard, he's physical, he's got some athleticism to him. He's a little undersized right now to be a hand on the ground tight end, but we'll figure out a way if he's one of the best eleven to get him on the field."
Defensively you can tell the defense is still adjusting to the new scheme, but the defense flies around a lot and they really play with a lot of energy, which is something we've grown accustomed to out of them the last couple of years. It doesn't look like that will change based on what I saw today. Take that for what it's worth.
On the defensive line it looks like you're gonna see some sort of combo between Cameron Malveaux, Nick Thurman, Tommee Mark and B.J Singleton who looks like he may be in line to become the best defensive lineman on the team. Tyus Bowser looks like he's going to play one of the outside backer positions and be a 3-4 rush backer while Mathew Adams, Elandon Roberts and Steven Taylor appear to be the main guys for the other three linebacker positions.
The defensive backfield will look a lot like it did last season. William Jackson has one corner spot locked down, while there could be a battle waging on opposite of jackson between Brandon Wilson and Howard Wilson. Lee Hightower should be back in the fall and will be in the mix as well. Tyler White did get a lof reps today in the scrimmage so he may be one worth keeping an eye on as well.
When they go to the nickel package, Trevon Stewart will slide down and play the nickel back and Khalil Williams will come in and play safety. Speaking of Williams, he made some nice plays today including an impressive play in the backfield where he really laid a lick on the ball carrier resulting in what looked like a fumble from where I was positioned. He's a young player that's really coming into his own.
All in all, there were a lot of mistakes but also a some improvement over earlier practices. Herman seemed pleased with where the team is at overall after six practices but is also very thankful they don't have to go out and play a game tomorrow.
