PonyFans.com practice report (8/9/14)

[PonyPride]

• One of the most entertaining parts of any practice is the one-on-one drill in which two players meet in the middle of a ring of their teammates, line up across from each other and lunge into each other, either to pin the other player on his back or drive him backward out of the ring. Two of the more impressive performances:
1) DLs Spencer Hollie and Zelt Minor squared off. On paper, Hollie is an inch taller than Minor (6-4 to 6-3, respectively). More importantly for a drill like this one, he is listed 35 pounds heavier than Minor, so theoretically, he should be able to beat his smaller teammate. But Minor didn't go away without a fight, and the two battled to something of a stalemate …. until DL coach Bert Hill reminded everyone that "the low man wins." Hollie then got much lower — under Minor — and essentially flipped Minor onto his back.
2) Moments later, in perhaps the best bout of the day, DBs Jordan Wyatt and Trey Washington entered the ring, engaging in a very even battle that was perhaps the longest of the day. They alternated driving each other back and forth, prompting their teammates to close in around the, shouting encouragement … and making it impossible to see who won the match.

• Head coach June Jones has raved about freshman RBs Daniel Gresham and Darius Durall. Since they signed with SMU in February, PonyFans have envisioned a thunder-and-lightning tandem in the burly Gresham and the quick, shifty Durall. But based on the first few practices, their skills sets might overlap more than many realize. Yes, Gresham is a big, powerful runner, and Durall is an electric runner in the open field. But Gresham also has made a few defenders miss tackles with subtle fakes and direction changes, and Durall looks stronger than many realized: he is listed at 183 pounds, which is just five pounds more than the 178 he reported when he signed with SMU in February, but he has shown the ability to run through some arm tackles and bounce off some hits, maintaining his balance and continuing his forward progress.

• One player who has been impressive this week is NT Nick Reed. His listed weight of 296 pounds gives him an edge of 16 pounds over starter Darrian Wright, a margin that is especially useful when tying up blockers. When stepping in for Wright, Reed regularly has tied up two blockers, holding his ground when leaning in against somewhere close to 600 pounds of blockers. In the Mustangs' system, the nose tackle often doesn't make a lot of statistical plays (tackles, sacks, etc.), but his ability to chew up blockers is vital to the success of the defensive ends and the linebackers who run to the ball to make tackles.

• The Mustangs, like many college and pro teams, do little full tackling in practice, instead "practicing to 'thud'" — meaning the defensive players race to the ball, and then essentially lean in with their shoulder pads and wrap up the ball carrier before the play is called dead. Two players whose "thud" collisions regularly make people look, simply because of the volume of the impact, are LBs Inoke Ngalo and Cam Nwosu. What that means as far as getting into the game is yet to be determined, but both sound … er, "look" … like players who know how to deliver a powerful hit.

• Method to the madness? SMU has recruited larger DBs in recent years, and at least Saturday morning, the reasoning was evident as S Myles Crosby (6-4), CB Jesse Montgomery (6-3) and S Shakiel Randolph (6-5) all used their length to break up passes in defensive seven-on-seven drills.

• Two candidates for the Catch of the Day:
1) Freshman WR Shelby Walker made a great play on a fade pass in the corner of the end zone during team (11 on 11) drills, a play that was made more impressive by the fact that he held on to the ball while falling to the ground, despite absorbing an inadvertent hit to the head/throat by CB Trey Washington.
2) QB Neal Burcham completed an otherwise uninteresting pass on an out pattern to WR Darius Joseph, who reached up and snatched the pass. Before getting a chance to pull the ball in and tuck it away, he was blasted in the ribs by S Shakiel Randolph, but showed enough hand strength to hang on to the ball as he tumbled out of bounds.

• If those were the Catch of the Day candidates, there also were a pair of nominations for the Defensive Play of the Day:
1) One was turned in by CB Jesse Montgomery, who ran straight through a receiver to pick off a short pass in the left flat and head downfield for what would have been an easy touchdown.
2) Moments later, S A.J. Justice lined up in coverage against WR Nate Halverson, slipped in front of him and dove to make a full-extension interception on a short pass over the middle.

• Sometimes freshmen have to learn which plays not to make, as much as which plays to make. One player who sees the bigger picture is CB Will Jeanlys. During the team (11 on 11) drills, WR Cedric Lancaster dove for a pass (which fell incomplete), heading directly toward Jeanlys, who was in a position to crush his teammate but instead pulled up at the last second and launched himself over Lancaster. Neither player was hurt.

• The Mustangs find themselves in the unusual position of having several talented running backs. Freshmen Darius Durall and Daniel Gresham are turning heads, senior Kevin Pope impressed during his short stint on offense at the end of the 2013 season, and head coach June Jones has said Prescott Line might be the best blocker of any running back Jones has ever coached. But junior K.C. Nlemchi also looks better than he did at this time last year, specifically in how physically he is running. On several plays in team (11 on 11) drills, he ran through tacklers, sometimes more than one on a single play.

• One of the pleasant surprises in 2013 was the discovery of Jordan Tobolka, the undersized freshman walk-on who emerged as a stellar long snapper. But Tobolka isn't back this year (a couple of players said he transferred), meaning the Mustangs must find another long snapper.

Two players vying for the job are DE Zach Wood and former walk-on QB Austin Kent. Wood said Saturday he wants the job, but doesn't know if he'll get it, in part because of the risk of injury.

"Coach (June) Jones said he didn't want me getting hurt doing that and then being unable to play defense, or getting hurt playing defense and then I couldn't (long-)snap," Wood said. "I hope I get a chance, either this year or next year, because I want to get some film doing it. If I have a chance at the NFL, that might be one way to get there."

Wood said that in addition to his regimen of running and lifting, he tried to deep-snap just about every day over the summer. Accuracy and velocity are important, he said, but consistency is the most critical criteria when evaluating snaps.

"You want to put it in the same place every time, so (the punter) doesn't have to reach for it," Wood said. "I want to put it on his right hip every time. One thing I work on with it is making sure my hands finish at the same time, the same speed. If they're uneven, that will make the ball sail to one side or the other. But it's got to be consistent."

As for his "regular" job as the Mustangs' starting right defensive end, Wood said he thought that the 2013 line — Wood, DE Beau Barnes and NT Darrian Wright — did a decent job taking over for graduated Margus Hunt, Kevin Grenier and Torlan Pittman, but said the line can be more productive in 2014.

"We took a little while, but we got better as the year went along," Wood said. "Last year, there were times that we tried to make too many moves to get to the quarterback, instead of just going after him. Sometimes we moved around too much, and it slowed us down, instead of just going forward.

"I should have had more sacks than I did. As a line, we should have had more sacks. We would watch film, and I would get pissed off. I'm not the fastest guy out there, but I'm strong enough that I can use my strength to put someone on his back and go get the quarterback. You'll see more of that this year."

Wood admitted it will be a little strange to see Barnes lining up at linebacker instead of at the opposite defensive end spot, but said he is encouraged by what he has seen sophomore Zelt Minor, the heir apparent to Barnes' old defensive end job.

"He's pretty talented, and he's learning all the time," Wood said of Minor. "He's going to make a bunch of plays this year. If he sticks with his technique, he's going to be really good."

• The likely heir apparent to take over as the Mustangs' kicker is senior Cody Rademacher, who squirmed a little when asked to compare himself to his predecessor, Chase Hover. The two are good friends and employ similar technique, which makes sense since they spent so much time critiquing each other in practice.

"I guess I'm more of a weight room guy," Rademacher said, "and I have seen a real difference, from two years ago to last year, from last year to this year. As I have gotten stronger, it shows in my kicks — the ball goes up more quickly, which is important (to prevent kicks from being blocked). I'm hitting it higher and farther than I did before."

In addition to his time in the weight room, Rademacher made the trek to Whitewater, Wis., to work with noted kicking guru Jamie Kohl, who tweaked Rademacher's technique a little.

"I tried to shorten my approach to the ball," Rademacher said, "and changed the way I make contact with the ball."

Kickers generally use one of three ways of striking the ball: "soccer style," in which the kicking foot points down, so the ball is struck with the top of the foot; "club style," in which the foot is turned outward so the kicker strikes the ball with the inside of the foot; and "three-quarters club," which is halfway in between.

"It's the best of both worlds," Rademacher said.

Kicking a football is like swinging a golf club — the goal is to create enough muscle memory that the swing can be repeated time after time. The creation of that muscle memory, Rademacher said, is progressing well.

"It was really awkward when I was (in Wisconsin), but it's getting a lot better," he said. "I hit 100 percent today, and I think I only missed one yesterday. So I'm getting used to it."

Kohl also encouraged Rademacher to increase his speed when running up to the ball on kickoffs. The faster approach, Rademacher said, has generated more power, and has raised his expectations for more touchbacks. During preseason camp, he said he often has reached the back of the end zone.

One factor worth watching, Rademacher said, is the new football with which the Mustangs will play this year. The Nike model used in 2013 has been replaced by a new ball that Rademacher said is harder to kick.

"The new ball is skinnier, and has a smaller sweet spot," he said. "But the other team has to kick with it, too, and I'm getting used to it."

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Nice report! I am looking forward to seeing (and hearing) these LBs hit some people on the field!

Good info on the kickers, too.

[fifty]

Ditto. Great report.

[mrydel]

Now I will not be able to sleep tonight worrying abut the deep snapper position.

[lwjr]

I hate it when the football is "skinner"lol

[JoeKidd]

Now I will not be able to sleep tonight worrying abut the deep snapper position.

Haha, yes, although I feel a bit better about the kicker.

Great report as always PP, thanks.

[ponyscott]

Thanks for the thread PP.

[mrydel]

I am legitimately worried about the deep snapper. I have seen too many games lost in my life time due to bad snaps. I truly hope they are seriously working on the solution to this and not just throwing someone out there in hopes it will be ok.

[PonyPride]

I hate it when the football is "skinner"lol

Arg …. you got me.

Fixed it — thanks for the heads-up.

[Harry0569]

PP - can't thank you enough for the work you put into these recaps. Fantastic as usual.

[NY Pony]

PP - can't thank you enough for the work you put into these recaps. Fantastic as usual.

+1. Love reading these every late summer. Gets me pumped up for the season no matter how pessimistic I'm feeling. (Full disclosure, I'm a glass all the way empty guy, before baseball season I'd tell you the yankees are going to go 0-162).

[Junior]

i'm more of a "why is the glass twice as large as it needs to be" kind of guy.

(no way, it's completely empty this year. if you can't have hope when everyone is 0-0, you never will.)