Saturday (8/6/11) practice report

[PonyPride]

The SMU Mustangs officially opened preparation for the 2011 season — in helmets and jerseys, but no pads — with the first practice of the season Saturday at the Pettus practice fields.

• New special teams coach Frank Gansz, Jr. opened practice by running special teams drills with all players, from the linemen to the quarterbacks. Players paired off and went through a series of drills designed to hone tackling technique and create more turnovers by stripping and punching the ball free. (RB K.C. Nlemchi seemed to be having fun and embracing the spirit of the drill, once reaching under the elbow of partner QB Kyle Padron and punching the ball a good 8-10 feet in the air.) The drills were similar to those run by Gansz's father, although Gansz, Jr., had no need for the headset microphone his father wore. Rest assured, however, there was not a player on the field who could not hear his instructions.

• After a summer of speculation and questions and rumors, WRs Terrance Wilkerson and Darius Johnson are eligible. Both suited up and took part in all drills.

• The team ran a series of 220-yard sprints as a conditioning tests, and most players did well, impressing head coach June Jones, who said he thought everyone passed.

• When the team broke up into position drills, there was a lot of time spent standing and listening as the coaches began to teach the new players all of the schemes, plays and techniques. QBs threw to WRs running simple routes, and DBs did some drills working on ball skills, while the OL, DL, LBs and RBs spent much of the day going through walk-through-like drills, getting a feel for where they are supposed to be in different situations.

• CB Keith Robinson, who had abdominal surgery in June, was back on the field on a limited basis. He took part in several drills with the rest of the DBs, but said he is not yet fully cleared.

• The passing drills were pretty elementary, but one player who made several nice catches was walk-on WR Jordan Airhart of Plano, Texas. Among Airhart's grabs were a twisting snag of a ball thrown high and slightly behind him, and another on which he lunged for a pass that appeared to be thrown out of his reach, gabbing it just before he fell to the ground.

• It was only one day, but the receivers seemed to be more sure-handed Saturday than at the start of practice last year. It isn't uncommon for receivers — especially young players — to have slippery fingers as they get used to running routes at full speed and get their timing down with the quarterbacks. But the WRs dropped very few passes Saturday.

• Although the offensive line did little more than drills at a walk-through pace while listening to OL coach Adrian Klemm, one thing that jumped out was the freshman backups. The first-team offensive line did not contain any surprises: left tackle Kelvin Beachum, Jr.; left guard Josh LeRibeus, Blake McJunkin and Bryce Tennison each getting time at center, right guard Kelly Turner and right tackle J.T. Brooks; what jumped out was the end of the practice, when sophomore Ben Gottschalk lined up at LT with four freshmen: LG Dontae Levingston, C Taylor Lasecki, RG Kris Weeks and RT Taylor Reich. Remember the days of signing 230-pound and hoping they'll grow into legitimate Div. I-sized blockers? Those days appear to be officially in the rear-view mirror. This quintet passes the eyeball test better than any group of freshmen in at least 25 years.

• Speaking of Gottschalk, it's possible that no player has bulked up for this season like he has. He lost some weight during the offseason when he got sick, dropping as low as 270 pounds in February. Saturday morning, he reported that his weight is up to a solid 295.

• It is not unusual for some freshmen to struggle a little to catch up to the fitness level expected of them at the college level. One of the more encouraging sights Saturday came during the team's conditioning test, which consisted of a bunch of 220-yard sprints. Veteran players shouted encouragement to some of their young teammates, and senior SS Ryan Smith — after doing his own running — joined another group to run alongside teammates, offering encouragement.

• Among those watching the team's first practice: legendary former SMU QB Lance McIlhenny.

• Running with the first-team defensive line: LDE Taylor Thompson, NT Torlan Pittman, RDE Marquis Frazier. On the second team: LDE Margus Hunt, NT Aaron "Spike" Davis, RDE Szymon Czerniak.

[SMU 86]

Glad to see those O Lineman looking good.

[Alaric]

Thanks for the report. VERY glad to see Torlan back at ng and marquise at de

[SMU 86]

Thanks for the report. VERY glad to see Torlan back at ng and marquise at de

I totally agree.

[PonyPride]

• Almost forgot to include the clear-cut Catch of the Day:

After practice, the receivers usually go by the JUGS machine for a little extra work, and Saturday was no different. The next-to-last player to take his turn fielding "passes" that were fired — fast — at him from short range was WR Terrance Wilkerson. He started out snatching passes from about 10 yards away, and gradually moved closer and closer to the machine, until they really were coming at him almost from point blank range. When he got to about five yards away from the machine, he bobbled one, which fell to the ground. Without moving his feet, Wilkerson reached down with his left hand to pick up the ball to return it into the rotation. While doing so, another missile whistled over his head ... and he instinctively reached up and speared it with his right hand, almost as if he stabbed it with a sharp object.

He was so close to the machine, and the ball was flying so quickly, it's hard to believe he had time to see it and react, much less actually make a one-handed catch.

[Blvd_Stang]

Great Job

[cutter]

exciting update.
great to see and hear of the solid depth throughout the team.
thanks.

[ponyscott]

The size of all the OL still blows me away.....there are ALL huge and not just big, but the guns are big and defined! Very impressive.
The WR's talent also was extremely impressive..big, fast and I don't believe I saw but 1 or 2 drops.

[PonyKai]

We aren't where we want to be, but we sure aren't where we were. I remember a couple of PB's recruiting classes, the team was so bereft of size, strength, and speed, he shaped whole classes in trying to get those attributes on to the roster and publicly acknowledged it. So glad we aren't there anymore.