Tuesday practice notes

[PonyPride]

• Among those in attendance at SMU's Tuesday morning practice: former Dallas Cowboys special teams coach Joe Avezzano and incoming freshman offensive lineman Dontae Levingston.

• Defensive coordinator Tom Mason and linebackers coach Joe Haering must be starting a collection of some kind as three more players have moved to linebacker: former safety Cody Worthen, former running back Travis Carlile and former receiver Jordan Miller. Their arrival brings the total number of linebackers in camp to at least 17, and that's not even including Darryl Fields, who reportedly will get a look at linebacker this spring.

• Speaking of linebackers, the original plan was that 2010 backup running backs Fields and Kevin Pope each would play some linebacker this spring — Pope in the first two weeks, and Fields in the second two weeks. The second two weeks started today, and Fields did not work with the linebackers. Mason said after practice that he doesn't know if or when Fields will get a crack at linebacker, deferring that decision to head coach June Jones. Mason raved about Pope, saying the freshman from Mount Enterprise, Texas "has a chance to be great."

• Missing in action: along with those sitting out the entire spring (Larry Centers, Jr., Taylor Thompson, Margus Hunt, etc.), linebacker John Bordano sat out Tuesday after straining a hamstring last week. He called his status "day by day."

• Quarterbacks looked pretty good Tuesday, especially J.J. McDermott, who showed good accuracy on passes over the middle (threading one through triple coverage to hit Darius Johnson in stride) and downfield (his 35-yard strike to Steve Nelson was a laser thrown to Nelson's back shoulder, where the ball either would reach Nelson or fall incomplete.

• Wide receiver Keenan Holman continues to impress. He is visibly bigger and stronger than he was at the start of the season (he says he has added about 10 pounds, but the difference looks more significant than that. He is running much better routes and snatches the ball effortlessly. He is practicing "faster" than he did in the fall is making difficult catches look routine.

• Tackles of the day: Neither was the way Mason would have drawn it up, but two tackles stood out. (1) Quarterback Steve Kaiser flipped a short pass to Darius Johnson in the flat, where a trio of defensive backs converged on him; unable to stop, cornerback Richard Crawford ran Johnson over, knocking Johnson's helmet off in the process. (2) Wide receiver Terrance Wilkerson evaded cornerback Kenneth Acker to make a catch along the sideline about 20 yards downfield, causing Acker to slip to the ground in the process. But Acker stuck with the play, reaching out and locking his hands around Wilkerson's ankle, refusing to let go and stopping him in his tracks.

• Sometimes it's not how fast you go, but how fast you can stop. Receiver Jeremy Johnson demonstrated as much when he caught a short screen pass and turned upfield. He then stopped quickly, watched cornerback Clay McMillian sail by, and then took off upfield, untouched.

[Fresh]

The more I read about Holman, the more excited about his future I get. That guy's going to be a beast before he's through.

[Chuck Norris]

The more I read about Holman, the more excited about his future I get. That guy's going to be a beast before he's through.

Holman's a player but look out for Der'rikk Thompson this year. I've been to a few practices and he is one of the most fluid payers out there(besides DJ). He knows exactly where to be and doesn't seem to freak out or drop passes. I know everyone keeps talking about Jeremy Johnson, but Thompson looks like he could really be a special player.