Scrimmage observations

[JasonB]

Some observations:
- Obviously, with the season so close Coach Morris was going to take precautions to keep injuries to a minimum and limit scouting attempts. As a result, the scrimmage was really slow paced and two hand touch.
- Side note - June Jones was a guest coach at the event. Just kidding . Can't we all laugh a little bit by now?
- White team was the first and second team offense and defense. Red team was the scout team.
- For those in attendance, the scout team was wearing the jersey of the UNT player at their particular position.
- I believe all plays were scripted in advance to practice different scenarios, including the punt block. None of the players expressed any concern what-so-ever about the punter injury, which kind of makes me wonder if it was just something to give the medical team practice. I would take just about everything that anyone saw, good or bad, with a gigantic grain of salt.
- 6 starters and a backup RB were held out of the practice. Not sure on severity of injuries, or if there really are injuries?
- Davis was the starter, Hicks next, and Colbert third. Notable that Colbert did NOT run the scout team. That could indicate the battle for number 2 is still active. Or it could indicate that the Arky transfer will run the scout team to keep him fresh.
- Freeman seemed to be running ahead of Carmouche in the race to be the "big back".
- It looked like if we played today, the starting WR would be Sutton, Galliard, and Castille with Honey, Thomas, and Walker on the second team.
- Starting OL: Natour, McCarty, Brown, Saenna, Briggs. Second sting LT: Smith, Second string RT: Wilds. Hyder is a swing LG/RG/C, and Fister is behind him as RG/C. Lots of VERY unverified rumors about Pursley (heard from people I don't really know), and they aren't good.
- Webb was your RT on the scout team, and Printz was C on the scout team. It looks like they are going to try VERY hard to redshirt all of the OL Frosh.
- M Scott and Pruitt were both on the scout team. D Scott was running second team DE over his brother, and Gary was playing second team over Pruitt. Not sure how real that is, but it sure is interesting.
- Other players on the scout team, which could mean interest in redshirting: McCormick, McLaurin, P Jones, Lynch, Spears, Duke, Rock
- K Mitchell played, which was nice to see!
- At one point, J Williams and Carlisle were both on the field at the same time at LB which gave us a much quicker look. Lots of athleticism there even if they aren't the size of a traditional linebacker.
- I don't want to give anything away with specifics, but there are a lot of really neat formations being thrown out there by the defense. Better depth on the DL, some new athleticism at linebacker, and a much more athletic and deep secondary is allowing Van Malone to get creative. Definitely refreshing to see after a rough year 1.

[mtrout]

You think that punter injury was scripted? I have a bridge to sell you.

[smupony94]

You think that punter injury was scripted? I have a bridge to sell you.

How much? Seller financing?

[Rebel10]

I had posted that a while back that I had heard good things about Gary. And Kadarius Smith too. Would also like to get a perspective on the scrimmage from others.

[03Mustang]

We were right in front of the punter when they were working on his foot on the sideline. It definitely wasn't fake.

[PonyPlayer4]

Funny that you are still trying to be ambigious about the Pursley injury. There is only one answer.

[CoxMustangFan]

Thanks Jason.

[JasonB]

Funny that you are still trying to be ambigious about the Pursley injury. There is only one answer.

I wanted to let people know what I heard, but wanted everyone to know I didn't hear directly from a real source. I didn't go down to the field after the walkthrough was over, but watching the video, coach obviously confirmed that Pursley is out for the year. Really bummer because Nick was the starting LG before the Injury and looked really good there - Pursley, Natour, Brown, Saenna, Brigs was looking pretty good. Losing our best lineman for the year is a big deal.

[JasonB]

We were right in front of the punter when they were working on his foot on the sideline. It definitely wasn't fake.

Well, I will eat my words then. Full apologies to him and his family if they are reading the site.

There was a delayed reaction of the medical team getting out on the field even though he was writhing around in pain, and the players walking off didn't react to it at all and didn't show concern. And literally no players went to check on how he was doing, not even the kicker on the scout team. That is why I wrote it off as being part of the drill.

[JasonB]

I had posted that a while back that I had heard good things about Gary. And Kadarius Smith too. Would also like to get a perspective on the scrimmage from others.

Gary had some good clips on snapchat, and is really athletic. At the previous scrimmage, it looked as though he was third team and Badejo behind that. It will be really interesting to see if they were just having a look or if he and D Scott have indeed moved past M Scott and Pruitt. Great sign of good competition. At this point, Horton and Lawler are the clear number ones. I don't think the Scott brothers have the frame to pass Horton, but Gary has made enough plays in camp that he might push for that spot by the end of the season (although he was playing on Lawler's side yesterday).

As far as other perspectives go, good luck with that . There just wasn't a lot of physical contact. Any player evaluation would have been like trying to evaluate players at a June practice his last two years . O-line were literally letting d-line past them to simulate sack conditions, and corners were literally peeling off of a receiver to not contest a throw. There wasn't much to see.

Only other things I will add:
- Thomas sat out the scrimmage yesterday, so one big mystery is where he fits in the RB rotation. He is for sure good enough to play.
- Another mystery - Proche. Last spring, the entire offense seemed to be geared around getting him the ball. He didn't play a big part last scrimmage and didn't see much yesterday. Has he slipped in the depth chart or are they hiding something? Who knows!
- H Richardson sat out yesterday. He was a clear starter, so hopefully a precaution. But it is interesting that they moved Jeanlys over to his spot (Jeanlys had been playing 2nd team behind Wyatt). Inference there is that Jeanlys is the number 3 with Davis and Sutton behind him.
- Rolfe started with the 1s while Castille sat out of the scrimmage... that tells me Castille is really the starter and they didn't want to mess up the pairings of the second team WR group.
- Biggers makes mistakes on the field, but he is ready to play physically, much more ready than in the spring. Legit 5 deep at DT with Gentry, Minor, Green, Ayeni, and Biggers, which is why you are seeing McCormick, McLaurin, P Jones, and Lynch with the scout team. We have more legit size on the interior DL than we have had since the DP, IMHO.
- Just another note about the change in the secondary: two years ago, Reyes was playing second string corner. He is nowhere to be seen now. Even in the spring, Burks and Burton saw quite a bit of time with the second team (partially due to injuries), and they are both 3rd string at best now. 5 legit corners and at least 4 legit safeties. The fact that K Williams can be used on KR tells you the confidence in the depth at safety, and the fact that he was moved to corner is evidence of the depth there. They are going to take advantage of all the depth in the secondary in ways we haven't seen in quite a while. Even Bennett and Mason would try to install nickel packages but had to back off of it most years because the third corner/safety spot wasn't any good. Watch for the multiple formations during the UNT game.
- Everyone who has read this site for a while knows I have a penchant for being overly optimistic. I am a homer's homer. But I think the passport run isn't a bluff. The coaches are setting an expectation with the team that they expect a bowl. Significant improvements on the DL and in the secondary would make the defense at least "ok", which would be a huge bump and get us into that bowl.

[Digetydog]

I had posted that a while back that I had heard good things about Gary. And Kadarius Smith too. Would also like to get a perspective on the scrimmage from others.

Gary had some good clips on snapchat, and is really athletic. At the previous scrimmage, it looked as though he was third team and Badejo behind that. It will be really interesting to see if they were just having a look or if he and D Scott have indeed moved past M Scott and Pruitt. Great sign of good competition. At this point, Horton and Lawler are the clear number ones. I don't think the Scott brothers have the frame to pass Horton, but Gary has made enough plays in camp that he might push for that spot by the end of the season (although he was playing on Lawler's side yesterday).

As far as other perspectives go, good luck with that . There just wasn't a lot of physical contact. Any player evaluation would have been like trying to evaluate players at a June practice his last two years . O-line were literally letting d-line past them to simulate sack conditions, and corners were literally peeling off of a receiver to not contest a throw. There wasn't much to see.

Only other things I will add:
- Thomas sat out the scrimmage yesterday, so one big mystery is where he fits in the RB rotation. He is for sure good enough to play.
- Another mystery - Proche. Last spring, the entire offense seemed to be geared around getting him the ball. He didn't play a big part last scrimmage and didn't see much yesterday. Has he slipped in the depth chart or are they hiding something? Who knows!
- H Richardson sat out yesterday. He was a clear starter, so hopefully a precaution. But it is interesting that they moved Jeanlys over to his spot (Jeanlys had been playing 2nd team behind Wyatt). Inference there is that Jeanlys is the number 3 with Davis and Sutton behind him.
- Rolfe started with the 1s while Castille sat out of the scrimmage... that tells me Castille is really the starter and they didn't want to mess up the pairings of the second team WR group.
- Biggers makes mistakes on the field, but he is ready to play physically, much more ready than in the spring. Legit 5 deep at DT with Gentry, Minor, Green, Ayeni, and Biggers, which is why you are seeing McCormick, McLaurin, P Jones, and Lynch with the scout team. We have more legit size on the interior DL than we have had since the DP, IMHO.
- Just another note about the change in the secondary: two years ago, Reyes was playing second string corner. He is nowhere to be seen now. Even in the spring, Burks and Burton saw quite a bit of time with the second team (partially due to injuries), and they are both 3rd string at best now. 5 legit corners and at least 4 legit safeties. The fact that K Williams can be used on KR tells you the confidence in the depth at safety, and the fact that he was moved to corner is evidence of the depth there. They are going to take advantage of all the depth in the secondary in ways we haven't seen in quite a while. Even Bennett and Mason would try to install nickel packages but had to back off of it most years because the third corner/safety spot wasn't any good. Watch for the multiple formations during the UNT game.
- Everyone who has read this site for a while knows I have a penchant for being overly optimistic. I am a homer's homer. But I think the passport run isn't a bluff. The coaches are setting an expectation with the team that they expect a bowl. Significant improvements on the DL and in the secondary would make the defense at least "ok", which would be a huge bump and get us into that bowl.

Unless they absolutely need to do it to get a win, I don't expect to see many new wrinkles on defense against UNT.

Although it will take everything going our way, I think they will throw the kitchen sink at Baylor in an attempt to take advantage of their injury/depth/chaos issues in an attempt to steal a road victory.

[JasonB]

They could do that. That said, I think there are also advantages of throwing a billion things out there and forcing the other team to prepare for all of it. You want your players to get all of the schemes nailed down before conference play starts.

[mrydel]

I totally agree with showing a lot and make the next team prepare. We are not a team that needs to be holding anything back. We are still ranked in the cupcake range along with NTSU.

[Stallion]

kind of like holding things back from James Madison-we are going to have to scratch, crawl for every win this year-in some ways this game is more important than TCU or Baylor where we are likely to get [deleted]

[Charleston Pony]

I agree the UNT game is huge for SMU and is really a must win if this program is going to continue the forward momentum. Wins against TCU or Baylor would be a huge unexpected bonus but in reality those are games you hope we can be competitive in for 60 minutes