THURSDAY PRACTICE notes

[PonyPride]

Intensity definitely is picking up as the players get more comfortable with their assignments. They're still not in full pads (still in helmets and shoulder pads with shorts), so they're not in full contact yet, but there was a lot more hitting today.

• On target: The quarterbacks appear to be getting more comfortable by the day with the new system. One way this was evident Thursday was in the fact that they are throwing passes now before the receivers cut out of their breaks. Quarterbacks do this in all offenses, of course, but at the beginning of the week, there seemed to be more uncertainty about when receivers would get to a certain spot, so the quarterbacks held the ball a little longer (and occasionally threw to a spot other than where the receiver ran). Today, the passes got out more quickly and often were right on target. One of the best examples came early in Thursday's session, when Winston Gamso fired a deep out route to the right side. Not only had wide receiver Zach Zimmerman not turned to look back for the ball, he hadn't even changed direction toward the sideline, but when he did, he turned, sprinted to the sideline, looked back ... and caught a fastball right in the gut.

• If at first, you don't succeed: Errant passes look worse - and sometimes bring about worse results - the longer they are. On a five-yard slant, a missed pass often is going to whistle by its intended target and skid across the grass, or maybe hit a player and bounce off. But a deep pass, if the accuracy is off by the same amount, will end up much further from the target because of the power needed to throw the deep ball. Justin Willis put the theory on display Thursday when he fired a ball toward Cole Beasley, who was 35 or 40 yards downfield. Beasley had veered off slightly on his route, and Willis missed him by 10 yards. On the next play, however, Willis looked down the other side and found Zimmerman streaking downfield at about the same distance and hit him in stride.

• All or nothing: While the quarterbacks sort out their race for the starting job - and head coach June Jones said he doesn't even grade quarterbacks "until they know what they're doing," so consider it wide-open for the time being - it looks like the most accurate of the bunch might be freshman Braden Smith. There are many factors that will go into Jones' decision, but he has said several times that accuracy is vital to the success of a quarterback in his system. Smith, the son of Rockwall head coach Scott Smith, isn't the biggest guy out there (that's Winston Gamso) and might not be the fastest (although that's hard to say, since the quarterbacks haven't exactly engaged in a series of footraces), but he has great throwing mechanics, snapping his passes off very quickly from right beside his ear, and he throws a tight, accurate spiral. Especially on out routes, he throws the ball low and away, where either his receiver catches it or nobody catches it. Might not give him the highest completion percentage in the world, but it also wouldn't allow a lot of interceptions, either.

• Keep your head on a swivel: Overall, the quarterbacks had an average day in terms of accuracy - sometimes they missed their targets, and there were some catchable passes dropped. On one play, B.J. Lee dropped a pass from Bo Levi Mitchell on a crossing route. Maybe it was because he had a brief lapse of concentration, and maybe Mitchell's pass was slightly off target ... or maybe Lee heard the footsteps of the two headhunters "playing safety" for the mock defense: Logan Turner and Justin Willis.

• Sneak peek? The defensive line and linebackers got together for some drills, and some players had to flip over and simulate the offense so the defense could work against specific formations. The defensive version of the "offensive line" included linebacker Chase Kennemer, Kevin Grenier, Andrew Ellison, Evan Huahulu and Chris Parham ... and at times, those guys were able to move a lot of defenders. That's not to suggest those guys are future scout-team offensive linemen, but it was interesting what those powerful guys could do, even at a position they don't normally play.

• Catch of the day: No question about this one. Winston Gamso fired a pass of about 20 yards down the middle of the field to Cole Loftin, who was running a post route. Loftin got up in the air high enough to tip the pass, and when he came down, he lunged forward and hauled it in ... using only his left hand.

• Breakup of the day: "Receiver" Rock Dennis sprinted hard off the line of scrimmage, forcing cornerback Bennie Thomas to retreat in a fast backpedal, before Dennis hit the breaks and turned to catch a pass from Odum. Thomas regrouped, raced forward, ducked around Dennis' right shoulder and then dove across in front of Dennis to tip the ball out of bounds. Very nice recovery and excellent body control to get around Dennis to the ball.

• Turning the corner(s): Bryan McCann and Derrius Bell have been presumed by many to be the team's starting cornerbacks, but in a league that features so many teams running some version of a spread offense, it's widely accepted that many teams will play a lot of the time with five defensive backs ... or sometimes more. The coaches are toying with different combinations, but in Thursday's drills, Bell and Tim Crosby were playing on the outside when the nickel packages were in, with McCann in the slot.

• Defensive speed: One thing defensive coordinator Tom Mason has said since his arrival has been that the Mustangs will play more aggressively - and faster - on defense. Even if they get burned and give up a big play, Mason said that that is the philosophy with this year's Mustangs, as the coaches and players alike have the confidence the offense will be potent enough to score the points needed to overcome the occasional mistake. Two players who stood out Thursday in terms of their speed:
° Linebacker Julian Herron: remember, this is the guy who was timed at 4.33 in the 40-yard dash at the Tulsa camp when he was being recruited, so his raw speed really hasn't been in question. But Thursday, he showed the ability to put that speed to good use. In one drill, when the linebackers teamed up with the secondary for some passing drills, secondary coach Derrick Odum was the mock quarterback and threw a screen pass to "receiver" Deyon McElroy. Herron, working at the WILL linebacker spot, recognized the play and shot forward, wrapping up McElroy almost as the ball arrived and steering him out of bounds after a sprint of about 12 yards.
° Safety Chris Banjo: one thing that stood out during the team's voluntary conditioning workouts was his burst of acceleration when he read a play and then rushed forward in hopes of either getting to the ball or at least making the tackle. But things are always different in pads - speed can be different, the threat of hitting makes receivers react differently, some players struggle to make the catch in pads, etc. In the same linebackers/secondary drill, Banjo was playing in a deep safety position when he recognized "receiver" Tim Crosby coming across the middle and shot forward, bursting forward extremely quickly and picking off Odum's pass several steps before Crosby even got to where the ball was intended.

• Smart thinking: There are a multitude of different ways to defend the pass: jump a route like Banjo did, rush the passer so hard he's forced to throw before the receiver is ready (or at least throw inaccurately) or have a defender shadow a receiver so closely there's simply no room to squeeze the ball in to its intended target. Then there's the Justin Smart approach: when "receiver" Pete Fleps tried to elude Smart with something that resembled a head fake before cutting across the middle of the field, Smart chased him ... and then grabbed Fleps' jersey, yanked him to the ground and basically ran him over. There are very few referees who would have let it slide, but it was still pretty funny.

• Hit of the day: They're not really supposed to be hitting each other, since they're not in full pads and the opener at Rice is just 22 days away. But when Derrick Odum unleased that center fielder arm of his in one of the later drills - firing a really nice 45-yard strike into the back of the end zone toward "receiver" Rock Dennis - Tim Crosby made sure Dennis wasn't going to make the catch. He leveled Dennis with a couple of hands to the chest, hitting him so hard (granted, Dennis probably went down faster than he otherwise might have because he was running so fast) that he came all the way out of one shoe before hitting the ground.

[SmooBoy]

Hit of the day: They're not really supposed to be hitting each other, since they're not in full pads and the opener at Rice is just 22 days away. But when Derrick Odum unleased that center fielder arm of his in one of the later drills - firing a really nice 45-yard strike into the back of the end zone toward "receiver" Rock Dennis - Tim Crosby made sure Dennis wasn't going to make the catch. He leveled Dennis with a couple of hands to the chest, hitting him so hard (granted, Dennis probably went down faster than he otherwise might have because he was running so fast) that he came all the way out of one shoe before hitting the ground.

So the shoe fell between a Rock and a hard place.

[Dooby]

Question regarding the passing game: Since there are no audibles, the WR's have to make decisions based upon what they see.

Are you able to guage how the wide receivers are picking up the offense?

Are you able to identify if the "throwing error" is the QB throwing to the wrong spot or the WR making a bad decision?

[One Trick Pony]

*****

[mrydel]

Question regarding the passing game: Since there are no audibles, the WR's have to make decisions based upon what they see.

Are you able to guage how the wide receivers are picking up the offense?

Are you able to identify if the "throwing error" is the QB throwing to the wrong spot or the WR making a bad decision?

In this regard also, does our new offense huddle? We have not huddled for the past 4 years (TWSS), and I do not know if Hawaii used a huddle or not.

[ponyboy]

Yes, we'll huddle.

[PonyPride]

Question regarding the passing game: Since there are no audibles, the WR's have to make decisions based upon what they see.

Good question. At the moment, it looks like they're just fine-tuning where routes are supposed to be run, etc., since any defense is nothing more than token defense. The more active defensive work is being done against other defensive players simulating the offense.

Are you able to guage how the wide receivers are picking up the offense?

Not really -- too early. They're basically on the same page with the quarterbacks. Seems like almost everyone out there is new (not really, but there are a bunch of new faces), so they're running routes and getting used to the way each QB throws the ball, just like the QBs are getting used to the way the WRs run their routes.

Are you able to identify if the "throwing error" is the QB throwing to the wrong spot or the WR making a bad decision?

Absolutely no idea. Without being able to hear which play is called - and let's be honest, if any of us heard the play, would we really know where each guy is supposed to be? - it's impossible to tell who had the braincramp, the QB or the WR.

[Stallion]

June Jones said in an interview the other day that SMU will huddle but that because of the new :40 second whistle rule for marking the ball ready to play they will run the line of scrimmage after long plays to get more time to get the play off.

[rooster]

PP...thanks for keeping us out of staters in the loop...if it wasn't for your reports, I would actually get work done. But I would rather check pf.com to see how things are going with my ponies than work anyday. Thanks for the hard work!

[mathman]

I agree with rooster. Thanks so much.

[kent dorfman]

Go with Gamso.

[ozfan]

I agree with rooster. Thanks so much.

Pony Pride my many thanks, you are my coherent link to the mustangs

[MrMustang1965]

I've been in a mandatory real estate class yesterday and today. It ends tomorrow. Thank god. I'm ready to get back to pf.com!

Keep up the great work, guys! Ya'll rock!

[SMUFan]

I really don't know where we'd be without you and your reports.

Thanks for doing all that you do.

Any insight on the defensive line?

[Stallion]

June Jones said in a Rivals interview that Terrance Wilkerson is making a move at Receiver which would be a nice and needed surprise