Optional 07/10/14 workout notes

[PonyPride]

About 50 SMU players took part in a voluntary seven-on-seven session against some players from Midwestern State Thursday afternoon. Many veteran players (including presumed starting WRs Der'Rikk Thompson and Darius Joseph) watched from the side, offering advice to the young Mustangs who took most of the snaps.

• In some ways on both offense and defense, both teams looked like it was early July: both teams have plenty of problems to solve, and both teams showed positive flashes. QB Neal Burcham said after the workout that the Mustangs "did some things pretty well, but we have a lot of work to do."

• While waiting on the Midwestern State players to show up, the SMU players went through extensive passing drills. Masters of the one-handed catch, when running straight routes against no defender, were CB Jesse Montgomery and S Darrion Richardson.

• WR Cedric Lancaster drew raves during spring workouts from head coach June Jones, and he continues to impress, showing a willingness to make catches in traffic and the elusiveness needed to shake would-be defenders and create open space. Nobody catches every pass, but in the workouts I have seen, he has yet to drop a catchable pass. On one play, he ran a short up-and-in route, curling back toward QB Garrett Krstich, caught the pass before planting his foot and spinning back toward the sideline … but only after the Midwestern State DB bit on the fake so hard that he ended up seated on the turf, while Lancaster spun upfield in front of his cheering teammates.

• Before the "real" seven-on-seven session, the teams split up so the offenses and defenses could get some work against each other on opposite ends of the field. The Midwestern State offense took aim right away at freshman CB Will Jeanlys, who held his own. On the second play from scrimmage, he jumped up and reached around the head of the MSU receiver to knock the pass away. On the next play, he cut in front of a receiver on a crossing route and climbed the ladder to knock away a high pass.

• QBs Darrel Colbert and Jordan Severt looked, at times, like the freshmen they are, clearly thinking about the play before releasing the ball. But both seem to have good arm strength, and when their receivers were open, they delivered the ball on-target.

• The early book on freshman WR Jordan Ingram is that he is, if nothing else, fast, and based on initial appearances, that's accurate. But he might be a better route runner than some realize. When SMU had the ball on the MSU 10-yard line, he sprinted toward the back of the end zone and faked a break toward the back corner of the end zone before curling back to the center of the field, completely wide-open, to catch a touchdown pass from QB Matt Davis.

• At one point, Kevin Pope did a handstand and walked on his hands. It has absolutely nothing to do with football, but it was a good indication that his surgically repaired shoulder must be feeling good.

• Seven-on-seven drills in which the players have no pads do favor the offense, as players know they won't get blasted when coming over the middle of the field, etc. But the Mustangs had their moments on defense, too. Arguably the best was when MSU drove to the SMU 5-yard line; Mustang DBs shadowed the MSU receivers tightly enough that the QB was unable to even attempt a pass. On third down, the MSU passer was able to throw an apparent touchdown, only to have LB Caleb Tuiasosopo reach in and strip the ball away.

• Can't teach size: WR Jeremiah Gaines, who is working at an outside WR spot after playing mostly in the slot last year, had a solid day, making several catches, including one when he raced about 15 yards downfield before spinning back toward the quarterback before rising up over the defense and using his body to shield the DB from the ball before making a first-down catch on the sideline. Likewise, CB Jesse Montgomery has the speed to run on deep routes with WRs, but also used his size (he looks bigger than his listed weight of 175 pounds) to steer would-be receivers out of bounds while running downfield.

[JoeKidd]

PP, another great update on the team, I especially like the handstand report on Kevin Pope.

[PonyPride]

It was really impressive — he must have taken eight or 10 "steps" before his feet hit the ground.