TUESDAY MORNING PRACTICE notes ... OFFENSE

[PonyPride]

• Stop and go: Coaches often talk about how there's so much more information needed to measure a player's value than merely his height, weight and 40-yard dash time. In addition to top-end speed, coaches are enamored (especially for skill-position guys) with acceleration and the ability to stop and change direction quickly. On consecutive players in the morning workout, a pair of newcomers proved the theory. Winston Gamso threw a quick out route to B.J. Lee, who caught the ball at the sideline, was able to stop a couple of inches in bounds and turn upfield. On the very next play, transfer William Webb did the exact same thing. Both players kept their feet no more than a couple of inches from the sideline, but maintained their balance and shot up the sideline.
Continual-Lee...: During the 11-on-11 pseudo-scrimmage, Lee caught a short crossing route, juked a couple of defenders to a standstill and then bolted for the far sideline. He caught up and passed three defensive backs - Tim Crosby, Rock Dennis and Tyler Jones - on his way to the far sideline before turning upfield.

• New uniforms unveiled! OK, that's a lie - they weren't in the new adidas uniforms. But on the first day on which the Ponies took the field in full pads, it looked like the white jerseys the offense wore - and definitely the white towels hanging from their belts - had been washed with someone's red shorts, as many had a very un-SMU pink hue to them.

• The rotation continues: When the offense and scout team defense broke off into seven-on-seven drills, redshirt freshman Logan Turner was working with the first-team receivers: Aldrick Robinson and Zach Zimmerman outside, and Emmanuel Sanders and Josh Bryant in the slot positions. But when the first-team offense went against the first-team offense (details forthcoming), Justin Willis was running with the first team.

• Stop the presses! Secondary coach Derrick Odum has said the Ponies' defensive backs will be more aggressive and physical than what he saw on game tape from last year, including more press coverage at the line of scrimmage, which means receivers will have to figure out different ways to beat the press coverage. Some run around defenders, some engage in hand-to-hand combat at the line of scrimmage. Sophomore Phillip Burley took another approach: when he lined up across from La'Cori Johnson, who was pressing tight at the line of scrimmage, Burley charged straight forward at the snap of the ball. He got his hands under Johnson's shoulder pads and shoved him straight back before running literally over him to go get Winston Gamso's pass.

• Crossing the lines: The offensive line remains a group that appears fairly well set in the starting five, but the coaches are still trying new combinations with the second group: the first line consisted of left tackle Kelvin Beachum, Jr., left guard Sean Lobo, center Mitch Enright, right guard Bryce Tennison and right tackle Vincent Chase; the second line featured left tackle Kelly Turner, left guard Josh LeRibeus, center Blake McJunkin, right guard Tommy Poynter and right tackle J.T. Brooks.

• Cole breeze: When he was being recruited, the analysis surrounding former Aledo quarterback Cole Loftin suggested that he'd make a smooth transition to his college position at least in part because while might not be the fastest pure sprinter (although he has more than adequate speed), he has an innate ability to make defenders miss when he gets the ball in the open field. Loftin showed off his ability in the Tuesday morning session, catching a crossing route and freezing linebacker Michael Morse with a subtle shoulder fake before heading upfield.

• A little of everything: Everyone knows that receivers in the June Jones offense need to be able to run and need to be able to catch, and they need to be able to read the defense the same way the quarterback does so they make the same route adjustments. But make no mistake, the receivers are expected to block downfield for each other, too. Aldrick Robinson showed he's more than just a speed guy when he saw Quincey Whittington catch a pass in the flat behind him. Robinson turned around and sealed off two defenders with a single block, allowing Whittington to sail by him up the sideline.

• 11-on-11: When the first-team offense and defense squared off, Justin Willis lined up in the backfield with running backs DeMyron Martin and Andrew McKinney, behind the starting line of Beachum, Lobo, Enright, Tennison and Chase. The first-team receivers varied slightly from their alignment in the seven-on-seven skeleton drills earlier in the day: in the 11-on-11 session, Zimmerman was joined outside by Sanders, while Robinson moved into the slot receiver spot across from Bryant.

• Play to your strengths: Robinson's two-fer block (above) was impressive, but he hasn't forgotten what makes him effective. Early in the 11-on-11 drill, he caught a pass on a post pattern, split Tyler Jones and Tim Crosby and pulled away from the back for what would have been an easy touchdown.

• Not to split hairs: Braden Smith threw a short dump-off pass to Chris Butler that the starting defense wrapped up immediately ... apparently unaware that Adrian Dizer jumped offside by an hour and a half and would have been flagged by every official in the country.

• Catch of the day: There were several, but one particularly impressive grab was turned in by redshirt freshman Bradley Haynes. Braden Smith fired a deep pass about 40 yards down the right side of the field toward Haynes, who rose up and reached over Deyon McElroy to pull the pass in. Without his size and leaping ability and long arms, there's no way Haynes makes that catch.

[GeorgiaMustang]

I haven't heard much mention of Andrew Robiskie. Is he performing well, or have I missed more mention of him in previous posts?

Thanks for the posts! The more I hear the more I get anxious for 7:00 on August 29th to roll around!

On another note, I just got my addidas polo in the mail yesterday. It looks great! The one I ordered is in Royal blue with the red pony on the left chest and silver addidas logo on the right.

[One Trick Pony]

Quiet observations of Tuesday mornings practice.
Beautiful fall like weather this morning.

I have been watching the quarterbacks. I have a feeling about #11 he is accurate.

From the first practice I attended my first impression has always been this is a small football team. But we do have some Lightning speed with B.J. Lee , Q and others.


It’s so hard to evaluate these kids and project what they will do this year. Time will tell.
It’s going to be interesting the next few weeks…

[KnuckleStang]

Again...all hail the Hardest Workin Man in Web Business! thank you PP

[ThadFilms]

Glad to hear that Willis is doing what it takes to "win back" the starting job... not that we can read too much into what is happening, but I feel like he gives us the best chance to win, and I am glad that he is proving it in open competition.

Obviously, we won't know who the starter is for a little while, but I am glad to hear about him being out there in the 11 on 11 drills.

[ThadFilms]

Again...all hail the Hardest Workin Man in Web Business! thank you PP

Agreed! Here here!

[rooster]

I haven't heard much mention of Andrew Robiskie. Is he performing well, or have I missed more mention of him in previous posts?

Thanks for the posts! The more I hear the more I get anxious for 7:00 on August 29th to roll around!

On another note, I just got my addidas polo in the mail yesterday. It looks great! The one I ordered is in Royal blue with the red pony on the left chest and silver addidas logo on the right.

GM, where did you order your shirt? Do the sizes run big?

[GeorgiaMustang]

I haven't heard much mention of Andrew Robiskie. Is he performing well, or have I missed more mention of him in previous posts?

Thanks for the posts! The more I hear the more I get anxious for 7:00 on August 29th to roll around!

On another note, I just got my addidas polo in the mail yesterday. It looks great! The one I ordered is in Royal blue with the red pony on the left chest and silver addidas logo on the right.

GM, where did you order your shirt? Do the sizes run big?

I ordered it from the SMU bookstore. I ordered it over the phone, because they have not updated their website yet with the new stuff. If you are in the Dallas area, you can go by and pick one up. The sizes do run somewhat big. I normally wear a large in a Polo shirt and that is what I ordered. It fits pretty well. I got my shirt in 3 days with standard shiping. Their phone number is (214)768-2435 in case you wanted to order it via the telephone.

www.southofthered.net also has smu polos just like the ones in the bookstore. The only problem is that they don't have the royal blue. they only have navy blue and white. I hope this helps.

[ponyboy]

With reports like this, the actual games will be anticlimactic.

[Webmaster]

• New uniforms unveiled! OK, that's a lie - they weren't in the new adidas uniforms. But on the first day on which the Ponies took the field in full pads, it looked like the white jerseys the offense wore - and definitely the white towels hanging from their belts - had been washed with someone's red shorts, as many had a very un-SMU pink hue to them.

I guess it'd blocked it out, because at a recent high school reunion, I was reminded of the time my mother washed a red shag carpet rug (hey, it was the '80s) with my white FB practice pants.

So fellas, I feel your pain. At least your teammates won't be able to harass you about it 20 years later, because they were all sporting the same look.

[kull]

Gamso is in many ways freaky similar to JJ at same age. In terms of height, build, throwing mechanics, completion %, and journey (walking on) to a program.

The best man will win the QB job, but he may not keep it very long into the season.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Thanks PonyPride!