Notes from SATURDAY's SMU football practice
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 2:53 pmWhen the SMU Mustangs convened Saturday morning on the Pettus practice field, I spent most of my time watching the passing game — in one-on-one drills and the full-team 11-on-11 drills. Some thoughts:
• Freshman wide receiver Jeremy Johnson continues to impress. He's not a speedster in the Aldrick Robinson mode (who is?), but he is extraordinarily smooth, losing almost no speed when he changes directions and showing great balance and the ability to adjust to the ball while it's in the air. He still has a lot to learn, obviously, but his progress is very visible.
• Wide receivers coach Jeff Reinebold said Saturday (here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46827) that Brad Haynes gives the Mustangs a more versatile offense because of his size and strength that he can use to shield the ball from would-be defenders or create separation. That strength was on full display Saturday: at one point, he ran a simple route on the right side. He headed straight up the hash marks, leaned like he was going to cut outside, and then suddenly planted and turned inside. At the same time, he got his left hand on cornerback Bennie Thomas ... and shoved him about 10 yards before catching a pass he could have walked into the end zone.
• Aldrick Robinson is more than a sprinter masquerading as a football player. Everyone knows what he can do when he has the ball and takes off upfield, but over the last year, his route-running has improved significantly, and that progress has continued during this preseason. Going head-to-head with cornerback Richard Crawford, who also has pretty good wheels, Robinson raced up the left side of the field, cut sharply toward the outside, and then as Crawford scrambled to get outside with him, cut again to come straight back toward the pass for an easy reception, while Crawford was still out of bounds.
• Strength clearly isn't the only way for big receivers to get open: listed at 6-4, 242, Patrick Fleming is the biggest receiver on the roster. When he lined up against safety Randall Joyner in one-on-one drills, he found himself facing a player who is listed at six inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter. Time to use brute strength and veteran experience to beat up on the freshman DB, right? Wrong. Fleming raced upfield, made a subtle dip of the shoulder to suggest he might be heading in on a post route before veering back outside. Joyner spun all the way around toward the center of the field, while Fleming cruised toward the sideline for an easy reception.
• Redshirt freshman cornerback Jeremy Gray missed part of the Ponies' spring workouts because of a foot injury that troubled him some throughout the summer. But he looked fast out there today, at one point closing the gap enough on wide receiver Chayse Joubert enough to knock away a slightly underthrown pass.
• Reinebold also has said that redshirt freshman Marcus Holyfield looks like a new player this year, and he's right. Last year, Holyfield was skinny and hadn't played football in years, and it showed — he was inconsistent catching the ball and unsure about his routes some of the time. He's still lanky, but he clearly is a lot stronger, often bumping defensive backs, not getting knocked off his route and still making a catch.
• The catch of the day came in a one-on-one drill when junior Cole Beasley, who has had a very strong camp and was excellent again Saturday, spun safety Chris Banjo around with a slick double-move route ... and calmly reached up behind his head to make an effortless, one-handed reception.
• Saturday's practice was by far the most physical since camp opened, as the players really hit for the first time. Couple that with the ridiculous heat, and some people got a little frustrated — guard Kelly Turner and nose tackle Mike O'Guin enjoyed a little shoving and a stare-down after one play, although Turner said he didn't think they had come near fighting. Moments later, Jeremy Johnson planted safety Robert Mojica with a stiff block (to be fair, Mojica was looking the other way and might have had his fall magnified by the way he was leaning when Johnson surprised him).
• The best pass of the day might have been one that wasn't caught. J.J. McDermott saw Brad Haynes headed toward the sideline and fired, unfazed by the triple coverage surrounding Haynes. The pass fell incomplete, and the argument could be made that it never should have been thrown, but the accuracy with which McDermott threaded the pass between the defenders was impressive.
• If McDermott's pass to Haynes was the best of the day, the second-best might have been a bomb Kyle Padron threw late in the morning session, when he fired a 45-yard strike down the middle to Keenan Holman, who had beaten two defenders to get deep.
• Didn't see Cole Loftin out there. Word is he strained or sprained a knee. Hope to get more details Monday. Cornerback Sterling Moore (turf toe) was held out again.
• Freshman wide receiver Jeremy Johnson continues to impress. He's not a speedster in the Aldrick Robinson mode (who is?), but he is extraordinarily smooth, losing almost no speed when he changes directions and showing great balance and the ability to adjust to the ball while it's in the air. He still has a lot to learn, obviously, but his progress is very visible.
• Wide receivers coach Jeff Reinebold said Saturday (here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46827) that Brad Haynes gives the Mustangs a more versatile offense because of his size and strength that he can use to shield the ball from would-be defenders or create separation. That strength was on full display Saturday: at one point, he ran a simple route on the right side. He headed straight up the hash marks, leaned like he was going to cut outside, and then suddenly planted and turned inside. At the same time, he got his left hand on cornerback Bennie Thomas ... and shoved him about 10 yards before catching a pass he could have walked into the end zone.
• Aldrick Robinson is more than a sprinter masquerading as a football player. Everyone knows what he can do when he has the ball and takes off upfield, but over the last year, his route-running has improved significantly, and that progress has continued during this preseason. Going head-to-head with cornerback Richard Crawford, who also has pretty good wheels, Robinson raced up the left side of the field, cut sharply toward the outside, and then as Crawford scrambled to get outside with him, cut again to come straight back toward the pass for an easy reception, while Crawford was still out of bounds.
• Strength clearly isn't the only way for big receivers to get open: listed at 6-4, 242, Patrick Fleming is the biggest receiver on the roster. When he lined up against safety Randall Joyner in one-on-one drills, he found himself facing a player who is listed at six inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter. Time to use brute strength and veteran experience to beat up on the freshman DB, right? Wrong. Fleming raced upfield, made a subtle dip of the shoulder to suggest he might be heading in on a post route before veering back outside. Joyner spun all the way around toward the center of the field, while Fleming cruised toward the sideline for an easy reception.
• Redshirt freshman cornerback Jeremy Gray missed part of the Ponies' spring workouts because of a foot injury that troubled him some throughout the summer. But he looked fast out there today, at one point closing the gap enough on wide receiver Chayse Joubert enough to knock away a slightly underthrown pass.
• Reinebold also has said that redshirt freshman Marcus Holyfield looks like a new player this year, and he's right. Last year, Holyfield was skinny and hadn't played football in years, and it showed — he was inconsistent catching the ball and unsure about his routes some of the time. He's still lanky, but he clearly is a lot stronger, often bumping defensive backs, not getting knocked off his route and still making a catch.
• The catch of the day came in a one-on-one drill when junior Cole Beasley, who has had a very strong camp and was excellent again Saturday, spun safety Chris Banjo around with a slick double-move route ... and calmly reached up behind his head to make an effortless, one-handed reception.
• Saturday's practice was by far the most physical since camp opened, as the players really hit for the first time. Couple that with the ridiculous heat, and some people got a little frustrated — guard Kelly Turner and nose tackle Mike O'Guin enjoyed a little shoving and a stare-down after one play, although Turner said he didn't think they had come near fighting. Moments later, Jeremy Johnson planted safety Robert Mojica with a stiff block (to be fair, Mojica was looking the other way and might have had his fall magnified by the way he was leaning when Johnson surprised him).
• The best pass of the day might have been one that wasn't caught. J.J. McDermott saw Brad Haynes headed toward the sideline and fired, unfazed by the triple coverage surrounding Haynes. The pass fell incomplete, and the argument could be made that it never should have been thrown, but the accuracy with which McDermott threaded the pass between the defenders was impressive.
• If McDermott's pass to Haynes was the best of the day, the second-best might have been a bomb Kyle Padron threw late in the morning session, when he fired a 45-yard strike down the middle to Keenan Holman, who had beaten two defenders to get deep.
• Didn't see Cole Loftin out there. Word is he strained or sprained a knee. Hope to get more details Monday. Cornerback Sterling Moore (turf toe) was held out again.