Mustangs WR E.J. Drewery
• Fast as advertised? That's hard to say in the case of linebacker Julian Herron, who arrived at SMU last year with one of the fastest reported 40-yard dash times of any SMU recruit in recent years. Nobody had a stopwatch, but when he cut inside a receiver for an interception about 15 yards past the line of scrimmage and took off, nobody got anywhere near him .... at least until he roamed within range of the soccer players at the other end of the field.
• Higher and higher: Gamso is appears to be every inch of the 6-4 he's listed at (or maybe even the 6-5 he gets in some places), and apparently he likes to pass over the top (he repeatedly looked for Drewery with high passes). One effort didn't work so well. B.J. Lee got to the sideline and turned upfield, prompting Gamso to try to throw over the defense. Lee is fast, but he's also listed at 5-5, and Keith Robsinon -- all 5-9 of him -- looked like Dwight Howard as he sailed up to swat the pass out of bounds. Lee is absurdly fast and presumably will be able to create separation, but it will take a sensational pass to drop passes to him over the top of defenders.
• See?: Moments later, Lee got a measure of revenge when he got outside CB Bryan McCann and spun the junior around before sliding about 10 yards behind him. He ended up falling out of bounds by the official in attendance (that's me) and all of his teammates on defense, but he showed how he can create adequate space with his wheels - terrific catch.
Mustangs CB Bryan McCann
• Fire when ready: Head coach June Jones has said two of the keys to being a successful quarterback in his offense are accuracy and quick reads and throws. Bo Levi Mitchell showed why his coach has won a few games with this system, hitting several passes downfield when he got rid of the ball seemingly as the ball got to him on the "snap," but when he waited and waited for a receiver to get open, the defense was allowed to catch up to the receivers, as was shown when he held the ball for several seconds before drilling DB Chris Banjo in the gut with the ball.
• Threading the needle: Perhaps the most accurate throw of the day was turned in by freshman Braden Smith, who fired a 15-yard fastball between the outstretched hands of Rock Dennis and Bennie Thomas into the waiting arms of freshman WR Cole Beasley.
Freshman QB Braden Smith
• Star in training? It's July - nothing has been determined yet. But if Tuesday was any indication, Emmanuel Sanders is up for a big year. He clearly was the star of the day, making numerous catches by getting around, behind and over would-be defenders. On several occasions, he snatched a pass in heavy traffic, and on others he simply out-fought multiple defenders, including on the last "touchdown" of the session, when he went up between McCann and Robinson and came down -- feet in bounds -- with the pass.
Mustangs WR Emmanuel Sanders
