Tuesday (8/16/11) practice report

[PonyPride]

• Same guys sat out: CB Keith Robinson (leg), DE Kevin Grenier (shoulder), LB Cameron Rogers (knee), C Blake McJunkin (sick). Plus a couple of new ones: WR Kyle Guinyard, LB Robert Parker (not sure why).

• Forecasting the future? When the Mustangs open the season at Texas A&M, SMU's secondary will face one of the most impressive wide receivers in the country in Aggie senior Jeff Fuller, who (at 6-4, 220 ... at least) looks more like a small forward than a wide receiver. Not only is Fuller big, but he also is fast and can jump. The company line about defending a guy like that with smaller cornerbacks is "playing proper technique," and CB Richard Crawford gave a glimpse of that Tuesday. QB J.J. McDermott fired a pass to freshman WR Arrius Holleman, only to watch Crawford back up in front of Holleman like a basketball player boxing out against an opponent in the lane before going up in front and stripping the ball out of Holleman's hands. Yes, Fuller is a little bigger and is a senior, but Crawford's positioning and technique (there's that word again) were perfect. Later in practice, Crawford did it again, intercepting a pass from Steve Kaiser that was intended for Holleman.

• Remember when SMU recruited little guys and "hoped they would grow"? It's only two guys, but seeing 6-1 CB Chris Parks line up against 6-3 WR Arrius Holleman is impressive. True — being tall does not mean automatic success, but these guys are good athletes with excellent size.

• Early in practice, the two big players engaged in a big-player moment when they lined up in a passing drill that included only the quarterback, receiver and cornerback. Parks did a good job staying right on Holleman, both when racing downfield and when Holleman turned and headed back toward the pass from QB Steve Kaiser. Holleman raced back to meet the ball, reaching out to snatch the pass cleanly. Parks was nearly close enough to share Holleman's jersey and has long arms, but Holleman's size allowed him to shield the pass from Parks and his long arms meant that only he would have a chance to make the play ... which he did.

• Speaking of Parks, he was back in full drills after suffering a bruised sternum when he was blasted in the chest (while standing in as a WR) by LB Taylor Reed. Parks took part in everything asked of him, but admitted that his chest still hurt and that regaining his breath can take a little work, but he said he doesn't anticipate missing any practice additional time.

• A few plays later, Holleman made another one of the nicest catches of the day, running toward the corner of the "end zone" to snag a pass from McDermott on a fade route, and then jumping and twisting his body to make the catch right on the side boundary, despite blanket coverage from CB Kenneth Acker.

• Yes, it's early, and yes, things will change between now and the season opener against Texas A&M, but the WRs running with the first-team offense Tuesday in 11-on-11 drills were Cole Beasley, Darius Johnson, Keenan Holman and Terrance Wilkerson.

• It wasn't just the projected starters making plays in passing drills. In the one-on-one drills, WR Steve McCormack looked like he had a clear shot at a reception, until walk-on CB Blake Poston did his best Crawford impression, climbing the ladder in front of McCormack to rip the ball away.

• The defense didn't always get the upper hand: on one play, QB Kyle Padron fired a short pass to WR Ryan Walker over the middle. Walker was shoved and hit in the head by CB Jeremy Gray ... and still made the catch.

• Experience is a huge help on the field, but being an elder statesman doesn't always ensure perfect performance. When lined up against Crawford, freshman WR Nyle Johnson pulled off a double move effective enough that he had time to wait for an underthrown pass and make the catch before Crawford got back to knock the ball away.

• Play of the day: QB Kyle Padron took aim at WR Cole Beasley, who had run a quick up-and-out route toward the sideline ... only to watch S Justin Sorrell race forward and dive, stretching out completely horizontal, to make a sensational interception.

• K Mike Loftus had a good day kicking field goals, hitting eight of 10 attempts, including a 57-yarder that might have been good from 65. He hit the right goal post on one field goal from about 45 yards, and pushed a 47-yarder wide to the right, but converted the rest. He also made both extra point attempts.

• New special teams coach Frank Gansz, Jr., not surprisingly, is a stickler for detail. At one point, he had the team go through the transition from having the defense on the field to the field goal unit, and they did it several times because a player started to remove his helmet when leaving the field. Gansz pointed out that some officials might interpret the undoing of a chin strap as removal of a helmet, which would result in a 15-yard penalty.

• DE Margus Hunt is taking advantage of his height again. His blocked kicks dropped from seven in his freshman year to two in 2010, but in the last two days, he has blocked a Loftus field goal (Monday) and got high enough in the air Tuesday while rushing the quarterback from his right defensive end position that he looked like he could have knocked down Kyle Padron's pass with his armpit (although he reached out and swatted it with his hand).

• Playing safety requires players to fill a number of roles against the run and the pass, but few are as important as the ability to read a quarterback and break on the ball. SS Jay Scott did that late in Tuesday's 11-on-11 drills, hanging back until QB J.J. McDermott fired a deep pass down the middle toward WR Cole Loftin and then racing forward for the interception.

[Alaric]

Thanks for the report as always. Hopefully the improved athleticism in the secondary will make for more contested balls in practice and will make our qb's sharper in games and result in fewer int's. I love the experience of those four wr's.

[Mustangsabu]

Is it sad that I was cursing your name when no report had appeared by 4 today? I need a life! Great stuff as always.

[PonyPride]

Yeah, it's a little sad, but also gratifying, I suppose ... and yes, you need a life.

[westexSMU]

How is Terrance Wilkerson doing ? I read where he is working with the 1st team WRs, but haven't heard much about catches he has made in practice....He has speed. I remember he caught some deep ball TDs in 2009....Also, haven't heard much about redshirt FR.WR Der'rick Thompson since the first day of fall practice when he was mentioned by Coach Jones. I was hoping he would step up and play a lot this year because of his 4.3 speed.

[cutter]

all great news of how the offense and the defense is coming along.
even more excited about the season.
thanks.

[stobor]

How has Darius Johnson looked so far in these practices? Heard a lot about Beasley, but I think many of us assumed DJ would be taking over that top receiver spot as Padron's favorite.

I'm sure we'll hear more as the first team solidifies and get more reps, but it sounds like he's been kind of quiet so far...

[One Trick Pony]

We have serious new weapons at WR