PonyFans.com practice report: (8/13/14)

[PonyPride]

• CB Horace Richardson, who missed a couple of days of practice (knee), was back on the field Wednesday, taking part in all drills and in seven-on-seven sessions, wearing what looked like a compression sleeve on his leg.

• For someone carrying just over 300 pounds (303) and playing a new position, LG Seaver Myers looks really quick. When he was recruited as a tackle, the report on him was that he is very athletic for a big man, and that's true. During blocking drills, he is able to hit one defender and shift over quickly to hit another, and when he pulls on a sweep to open a lane for a running back, he covers a lot of ground in a hurry.

• LB Nick Horton, projected to start in the BUCK linebacker spot occupied last year by Randall Joyner, sat out again with a protective boot on his right leg. The reason, he said, is a sprained foot that he suffered when he was stepped on by RB Prescott Line.

"It hurt — (Line) is a pretty big, strong guy," Horton said. "But I'm fine. I should be back next week."

Listed at 6-2, 240, Horton makes up for what he lacks in experience by making the Mustangs' defense bigger up the middle.

"I bring a lot of energy and intensity," he said, "and I hope I add a lot of power to the front seven."

By taking over the BUCK position Joyner occupied, Horton has stepped into a key role on the defense, one in which he will be expected to make plays and to make defensive calls for his teammates, many of whom are older than he is.

"The BUCK is the leader of the defense in some ways," Horton said. "You're expected to make plays, and you're expected to help everyone else, make sure they're lined up in the right spot. I like (the position). I feel like it's where I'll play the rest of my career."

The position offers a new perspective to Horton, who played mostly defensive end at Garland High School.

"I played different positions, but I was mostly at d-end," he said. "It's a little strange making calls for guys who have played in it before, like Stephon (Sanders) and Jonathan (Yenga) and (Robert) Seals, but it's working. (Defensive coordinator) Coach (Tom) Mason said we have a chance to be one of the best groups of linebackers to ever come through SMU. That's our goal. That's what we want to be."

Horton said he has gotten ample advice from Joyner, who now is a volunteer assistant coach.

"He's great — he has taught me so much," Horton said of Joyner. "Even last year, when he was playing, he taught me a lot of things, how to read offenses. Now, I go to him as much as I do Coach Mason or (linebackers) Coach (Eric) Daniels, because he has done it before, played the position. He knows exactly what I'm seeing, and how to handle each play."

Horton doesn't shy away from the fact that the Mustangs will open the season against one of the most prolific offenses in the country when they head to Waco to face a Baylor team that averaged 52.4 points per game last year.

"It's a challenge and a blessing to play a team like Baylor," Horton said. "They're one of the nation's best, and I want to play the best. We like the challenge."

• When the Mustangs broke into seven-on-seven drills Wednesday, the results were lopsided in the favor of the Mustang defense, which recorded a slew of interceptions, several of which would have been returned for touchdowns in a live game situation. Asked if the performance was simply "one of those rough days at the office" for the offense or a day when the defense could do no wrong, QB Neal Burcham declined to choose one answer over the other.

"Both," he said. "We didn't have a great day — there's no question about that. We're not discouraged, though. Everyone has a bad day. But the defense also was great today. They played with a lot of emotion and intensity, they were flying around, and it seemed like every time they had a chance to make a play, they did. You have to give them some credit, too, and as their teammate, that was really encouraging."

Part of the cause, he said, was because the learning curve is not yet complete, especially for some of the young players.

"There were a couple of miscommunications, where we didn't make the same reads, but that will come," Burcham said. "That happens in this offense, because so much of it is based on us (quarterbacks) and the receivers making the same reads. Today, we didn't always do that, and it showed. And there were a few that were deflections, too, and again, you have to credit our defense. The ball got knocked up in the air, and they had a chance to make a play and they did. They were loud and passion and intense over there, and they made some great plays."

Despite the performance, Burcham said he and the other members of the offense didn't leave the field discouraged.

"You never want to throw picks — any picks — but if you're going to, it's better to do it now," he said. "Today was a practice where we'll go look at the film and clean up a few things, and the results will be more like they should be."

Burcham lauded the improvement of redshirt freshman Kolney Cassel from a year ago, and said transfer Matt Davis has done a great job of learning the basics of the offense in a short time.

"They're doing really well," Burcham said. "Kolney looks so much better — just more comfortable in the offense, because he really understands it now, and Matt has picked things up in a hurry."

Last week, Davis praised Burcham for his willingness to help teach the offense, but Burcham said it isn't awkward to help train other players who are competing for his job.

"I can see how it would seem like that, but it's not," Burcham said. "Matt is a great guy. He's so observant about everything around him. Even when he doesn't know a lot (about a specific play), he wants to be thrown in there, because he'll learn it that way. I enjoy helping him learn, because by teaching him, I'm learning it even better, too, and at the end of the day, we're all teammates. If you're not playing, you want the next guy to play as well as possible, so we're all helping each other."

[Junior]

keep it coming!

these reports have been great. really getting ready for the season to start.

thanks for all the work, PP!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Thanks for the update. Hopefully, the QBs are getting all of their bad throws out of their system.

[dirtysouthpony]

Hopefully we will run the ball more to take some pressure off of the qb's.

[JoeKidd]

Another great report thanks. Our 4 Backers as listed are big and athletic, it might take a few games for Horton and Seals to get their legs under them so to speak, but I'm excited about this group. Glad we got Richardson back as well.

Second practice in a row where our passing game has been out of synch, I sure hope we make strides here over the next week.

[jwnear]

Great report, thanks.

I'm curious what the practice schedule is like? Is there a scrimmage coming soon and are practices open to the public? I'd love to go watch over the weekend.

[JoeKidd]

Great report, thanks.

I'm curious what the practice schedule is like? Is there a scrimmage coming soon and are practices open to the public? I'd love to go watch over the weekend.

Fall practice is rarely open to the public and there are never any scrimmages.

[jwnear]

Great report, thanks.

I'm curious what the practice schedule is like? Is there a scrimmage coming soon and are practices open to the public? I'd love to go watch over the weekend.

Fall practice is rarely open to the public and there are never any scrimmages.

Well that sucks. Thanks for the info. Wonder why they don't run scrimmages.

[mrydel]

They might break a nail

[jimhagle]

As usual this team can ill afford key injuries especially in practice situations so I am ok with no scrimmages. There was a prolific coach in Minnesota[albeit small college] who never tackled in practice and he won a ton of games.

[mrydel]

My flag football team was undefeated.

[lwjr]

My flag football team was undefeated.

A+

[malonish]

I was QB on the Engineering frat team that got to the semifinals in the tourney

[JoeKidd]

Great report, thanks.

I'm curious what the practice schedule is like? Is there a scrimmage coming soon and are practices open to the public? I'd love to go watch over the weekend.

Fall practice is rarely open to the public and there are never any scrimmages.

Well that sucks. Thanks for the info. Wonder why they don't run scrimmages.

No teams scrimmage in the fall, this time is used to hone plays and skills and start prepping for game 1

[mrydel]

Arkansas is scrimmaging a lot. Most good teams do up until about 2 weeks before the first game.