Practice Notes

[JasonB]

I was able to make it out to the open practice today and took some notes...

First and foremost, I didn't keep track of who was in and out for injury. I didn't see Delano or Moore playing, although I did see 14 warm up. Kerley warmed up, but I didn't see him actually play.

Starting OL: Thomas, Ali, Howerton, Osborne, Morris. I didn't pay attention to the lines as much this practice, but I did notice Howerton played center, and I think Osborne spent time at RT.

2nd OL: Perdue, , Sparks, HIckman, Ike, Bryant. So, I think Bryant was held out.

3rd OL: Bailey, Jordan, Mossberg, Ervin, E Smith. I think it says a lot that Ervin, who started some last year, is now running 3rd team. Massive depth on the line.

Defense is running a 3-4. Offense mostly 3 WR with 1 TE, but they will split the TE out a lot.

The 3-4 defense, they have a DE/LB hybrid as one outside backer, and always line that player on the short side of the field. Still kind of the stang end concept, but more drops in coverage and playing in space. For the other LB they have them run. A lot. Very similar to the Fox, but mobility is going to be key and prioritized.

The defense is much more multiple, complex. It is going to really help the offense prepare, but it looks a lot more dynamic, a lot better. There weren't blown coverages or anything like that. A couple of misreads led to long plays where players bit on fakes, but players weren't out of position, they tackled physically. It looked better. I think the coaches have upgraded.

Starting LBs were actually Denbow and Hailey at MLB. Ndukwe started as the big OLB, and Burns started as the mobile OLB. Second string MLB was Palmer (52) and Phillips with Paul at the big end and link (25). Clearly a lot of LBs held out, but it gives an idea of how things will run.

CB: Crossley and McMorris started. Massey and Johnson both played a bit with the first team. Then Cam Jones and Westfall. They would rotate to a nickel quite a bit, with a down 4, two MLB, and when they went nickel, Crossley played the slot corner, with McMorris and Massey outside.

S: Calloway and Cromartie started, Clay and Roberson second team.

Third team I didn't track the players, but they did run three deep on both sides. I'll say that when they got to that level, the 3rd team OL still looked big, but the DL was really, really small at that point.

QB, Green was starter, Mordecai second and Stone third. Mordecai played with the 1s on the 3rd and 4th series, and Green went back to the twos. You get the impression that that is the area you expect to see some change and Stone is further back in 3rd. Stone has a really nice arm, and really good mobility. The talent is absolutely there. Green has less arm talent than the others, can't get he ball quickly o the outside, but throws a really nice deep ball, and just has a better feel for the offense, which you would expect. Mordecai has a nice blend of a good arm and good mobility.

Honestly, Green is exactly what you want in a backup QB. The question is how far Mordecai can come before the Fall. None of the QBs were clicking the way that we have come to expect from SB over the past two seasons.

The 1st, second and third teams all failed to move the ball on their first drive and then scored on the second.

Massey and Jones had back to back nice breakups on the first drive of the second team.

Crossley versus Gray was jus awesome to watch. We haven't had elite speed like that on both sides of the ball since the depth penalty.

The nickel with Crossley, Massey, and McMorris is really, really fast. It is going to be a great look.

Oh, and McMorris with the 1's. Super legit. Wow factor. He has it - speed, athleticism, fluid. We heard last year about Massey impressing as a frosh corner in practice with his speed. McMorris is Massey++. He had a phenomenal pick on Mordecai.


Gray by the way - buy the hype. Last year, you could see the speed and get glimpses. He is elite now. He shows up. If Gray and Reggie are both healthy, that is impossible for other teams. Wow.

Wiggins, Rice, and Gray were the starting WR. Rice looks good. Wiggins has taken a big, big step forward. He showed up in a scrimmage for once. His accelleration off the line is way improved over what it was. There is a good burst there. He had a long catch and run for a TD, and once he gets going, it doesn't look like he is running fast, but nobody can catch him. He has stepped up.

Perdue is going to be a beast at LT. Mark it down.

Goffney had a nice catch and run from Stone. He looks the part, but is running with the twos and threes right now.

JOnes is a bowling ball RB. He ran over a guy for a long TD run. But keep in mind he only plays with the 3s against the 3s. He also had an awesome layout block. SOmeone to keep your eye on, good physical runner who might provide depth for that role.

Mike Williams at nose looks MUCH better. The player we expected from Standford. Big improvement, dominated HOwerton at times.

Mordeci threw his pick to McMorris when he switched to play with the ones the first time. Great play by McMorris more than a bad throw.

Crossley bit on a pump fake the next time Mordeci was with the ones for a pass that went for a TD.

Way more physical overall.

Jones didn't look out of place at corener.

90 bit on a pump fake and gave a TD to Parker Stone.

Massey had a great read and almost picked preston stone when Stone tried to throw across the field and didn't step into the ball. Rookie mistake.

[PonyPride]

Good stuff, JasonB!

Looks like we saw a lot of the same things. I'll add a few, either late tonight or at least tomorrow...

[ALEX LIFESON]

Good stuff, JasonB!

Looks like we saw a lot of the same things. I'll add a few, either late tonight or at least tomorrow...

Or....you could post these things .....before going out on the town?

[PNW_Stang]

Everything sounds great except LB! I know Moore and Coxe will Be back by fall, but just not a lot of depth. Is Halloway playing?

[DC-Pony]

Thanks JB, great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share!

So impressive where our talent and depth seems to be compared to so much of our history over the past 35 years.

I also think our second level of defense seems to be our soft point. BUT, having Coach Leavitt focused on the LBs could definitely give us a bump there.

[PNW_Stang]

Thanks JB, great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share!

So impressive where our talent and depth seems to be compared to so much of our history over the past 35 years.

I also think our second level of defense seems to be our soft point. BUT, having Coach Leavitt focused on the LBs could definitely give us a bump there.

Yeah first team D is great.

Who are starting DEs in the 3-4?

[Arkpony]

Thanks for the update!

[JasonB]

Thanks JB, great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share!

So impressive where our talent and depth seems to be compared to so much of our history over the past 35 years.

I also think our second level of defense seems to be our soft point. BUT, having Coach Leavitt focused on the LBs could definitely give us a bump there.

Yeah first team D is great.

Who are starting DEs in the 3-4?

I didn't take note of the rotation in the upper 3 that much, because I was focusing on watching the defense as a whole. But with the 1s it looked like Williams in the middle with Levelston on one side and Darran Brown on the other. Loveless, Bell, and Jones on the second team. I don't think Chatman or Newman played all that much, but it might just be that I missed them.

[JasonB]

Thanks JB, great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share!

So impressive where our talent and depth seems to be compared to so much of our history over the past 35 years.

I also think our second level of defense seems to be our soft point. BUT, having Coach Leavitt focused on the LBs could definitely give us a bump there.

Yeah, LB is the big gap, clearly. Burns adds a lot of athleticism to the wide side. Denbow inside was interesting. Not sure if that is permanent or an experiment. But he doesn't really have the athleticism for the Fox position.

I will note that the first team and second team offence weren't churning up yards on the ground. Part of that was the focus on getting the QB competition going, but when they did try and run, there wasn't a lot of room. In the 3-4, if your LBs don't close gaps in the running game, you are in trouble, so it is a good sign that we weren't getting run on extensively.

[PonyPride]

In addition to thoughts already posted:

• Coaches did not open up the playbook much, partly because the new guys, i.e. QBs Tanner Mordecai and Preston Stone are still learning, and partly because it clearly was viewed as a chance to get backups and newcomers some reps. The newcomers, coupled with the Mustangs learning what is expected of them by a defensive coaching staff that now includes new defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt and assistants Chidera Uzo-Diribe and Stef McClure, contributed to a sometimes-sloppy afternoon, which included a couple of dropped should-be interceptions, a dropped punt and a couple more that were bobbled, and a lot of penalty flags.
• QB Derek Green looks physically stronger than last year, and his arm strength looked good. Hard to compare to years past, because Shane Buechele always got the vast majority of snaps. But Green threw several accurate darts on intermediate throws, and he, Mordecai and Stone all showed they can throw on the run.
• As JasonB said, WR Danny Gray looked good. Everybody knows he can run, but one thing that jumped out Saturday was his adjustment to the ball in flight. At one point early in the "scrimmage" he got a couple of steps behind CB Bryan Massey along the sideline, and with a deeper pass, he would have cruised into the end zone. But Gray saw the ball was under thrown, hit the brakes and came back to get in front of Massey and climbed the ladder to snatch a high pass for a completion of about 20 yards.
• T.Q. Jackson, who transferred from Arkansas as a wide receiver, is now listed at safety.
• It's easy to watch a practice and focus on the offense, but one defensive player who stood out was S Chace Cromartie, who had a couple of nice breakups on deep passes and was able to trip up WR Calvin Wiggins with one hand while nearly prone on the turf after Wiggns had caught a screen pass and split two defenders. Without Cromartie's grab, Wiggins would have walked into the end zone.
• RB Tyler Lavine established himself last year as a powerful runner who became a reliable part of the rotation after T.J. McDaniel's injury. At one point Saturday, he got through the line only to have a linebacker jump on his back, but Lavine kept his feet moving while leaning forward and ran over a safety while wearing the linebacker like a backpack.
• One of the freshmen who enrolled early, WR Dylan Goffney, had several receptions, including a screen pass on which he took a step toward the middle of the field before spinning to the outside and racing up the sideline. He might have scored had he not been shoved out of bounds by S Ra-Sun Kazadi. He later scored on a nice fade pass from Stone.
• Defensive highlight of the day: Freshman DB Bryce McMorris jumped a route and dove to his left, stretching out to full extension to snag a really nice interception on a pass by Mordecai.
• A long touchdown pass from Mordecai to WR Rashee Rice was a nice throw and catch, but but it came as a result of some kind of miscommunication in the secondary. Rice got behind the CB, who thought he had help from a safety behind him, but somebody got signals crossed, because when Rice caught Mordecai's pass, there wasn't a defender within 10 yards. Cromartie gave chase, but had no chance to catch up to Rice.
• The offense got a couple of long touchdowns late in the "scrimmage" — one when Wiggins caught a screen pass, split a pair of defenders and outraced the secondary for about 60 yards, and the one JasonB mentioned above when RB Orlando Jones disappeared into a crowd of players, somehow popped out the other side and went about 65 yards up the sideline. When Jones scored, the entire offense left the sideline to meet him in the end zone.
• One transfer TE, Nolan Matthews, didn't participate, but another did. He didn't get a lot of reps, but at one point Alex Quirk, the 6-5, 215-pound transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson, went over the middle and snatched a pass between four defenders.

[PNW_Stang]

Thanks! Can’t tell if this is a conference champ year or a 7-5 Type of year

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Thanks! Can’t tell if this is a conference champ year or a 7-5 Type of year

Starting to sound at least a bit more like conference champion.

[JasonB]

Thanks! Can’t tell if this is a conference champ year or a 7-5 Type of year

The defense looks so much faster. I feel like last year, there were a lot of misreads, missed tackles. People not in the right spot. I didn't feel that way on Saturday. I think the defense is going to be quicker, and they are going to be set up to turn the ball over a bit more.

Everything is going to come down to QB. I don't see anyone on the o-line who will dominate their man in the run game. This needs to be a pass first offense. If QB1 plays well, the weapons are there and the defense is going to be good enough in the secondary to make a run at the conference.

To me, I think Green is a really nice backup QB, and a servicable starter. But not a conference championship starter. Mordeci or Stone are going to have to really step up and clearly win the job in Fall for the team to have a chance against a really difficult schedule.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Thanks! Can’t tell if this is a conference champ year or a 7-5 Type of year

If this team goes 7-5, numerous things have gone terribly wrong.

[ponyboy]

If we have a deep OL, a solid RB, WR core -- and the pick of the litter in terms of QB -- I have a hard time imagining that we'll see a huge drop off post-Shane. I also imagine we'll see an improved defense. But there are unknowns. There are scenarios in which I'd be very happy with 7 wins this years. My guess is we'll win 8 or 9.