Monday (8/22/11) practice report

[PonyPride]

The first day of school means the first day of a "normal" (pre-classes) practice routine. The first thing learned was that 7 AM is still really #*^$-ing early and there isn't enough coffee in the world at that hour of the day.

• In seven-on-seven drills and in 11-on-11 drills, there continues to be a very high emphasis being placed on downfield blocking. On several plays, it was the "other" receivers who drew the criticism or praise after a passing play, rather than the receiver to whom the ball was thrown - the idea being, of course, to spring receivers who catch shorter passes for longer gains.

• Monday marked the beginning of the team's look at its season-opening opponent, Texas A&M, which also meant the formation of scout teams. After working through preseason camp at guard, freshman Dontae Levingston worked with the scout team at left tackle. During two-a-days, he had been at guard with Ben Gottschalk at left tackle, but with Gottschalk at the other end of the field, where the first- and second-team offense were working, Levingston slid over. Whether he ends up playing tackle down the road remains to be seen, but he played it in high school, and if he can handle the strength and quickness required at the position, this move might be a glimpse into the future.

• S Brett Haness (neck) remained out. NT Jordan Favreau (illness) and NT Rishaad Wimbley (back) were back working with their teammates. Wimbley said after practice that his back is still sore, but "it's just a muscle strain, so I'll practice."

JUNE JONES notes:

• Jones said after practice that he has been very pleased with the progress made this offseason and during camp by QBs Kyle Padron and J.J. McDermott, saying each has had a "very good" camp. He also said he has an idea in mind who would be his third/emergency QB, but declined to name him.

• Jones said he and the coaches have studied their first opponent, Texas A&M, and the first thing that jumps out is how fast the Aggies are. "They have got great team speed," Jones said. "They're a year into their system, and they don't even look like the same team that opened up last year against Stephen F. Austin."

• Jones said he was very impressed by the film he has seen of Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tennehill, who earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors last season after taking over the starting QB job during the 2010 season after starting his Aggie career as a receiver, where he caught 112 passes for 1,596 yards and 10 touchdowns over his first two-plus seasons. The difference between Tannehill's ascent to the starting quarterback job at Texas A&M and Kyle Padron's at SMU is that Tannehill did it as a fourth-year junior you redshirted the 2007 season, while Padron took over the SMU offense as a true freshman.

• Jones said Texas A&M RB Cyrus Gray "might be the best running back in the nation," and then said "their receiver (Jeff Fuller) might be the same way - he might be the best in the country. Those guys are scary. We've got to tackle them."

[Clubs]

Thanks for the report...June is crushing my optimism

[indianmustang]

thanks

[mrydel]

JUNE JONES notes:

• Jones said Texas A&M RB Cyrus Gray "might be the best running back in the nation," and then said "their receiver (Jeff Fuller) might be the same way - he might be the best in the country. Those guys are scary. We've got to tackle them."

Pretty much applies to the worst running back and receiver in the nation also.

[PonySnob]

Didn't we also recruit Ryan Swope who is the starting slot receiver for A&M the as a sophomore and now a junior and got significant playing time as a true freshman? JJ wanted him to grey-shirt I think, so he de-committed and decided to walk on at A&M.

[Stallion]

we recruited his younger brother

[Alaric]

Didn't we also recruit Ryan Swope who is the starting slot receiver for A&M the as a sophomore and now a junior and got significant playing time as a true freshman? JJ wanted him to grey-shirt I think, so he de-committed and decided to walk on at A&M.

Younger brother Louie Swope who's a third string rs safety I believe. Also athletic but smaller than his brother

[Pony_Law]

I really hope that Preston Conner gets red shirted this year and some one else is used as the 3rd string QB. I think Preston is the furtur after Padron (gets a shot at least) and I'd like him to ahve 3 years of eligability left when that transition occurs.

[Mustang11er]

In terms of facing off against a fast offense, what is the general consensus of how our defense will hold up?

I'm especially interested to see how our LB's fare, given the change up with Yenga and Fleps gone.

[abezontar]

JUNE JONES notes:

• Jones said Texas A&M RB Cyrus Gray "might be the best running back in the nation," and then said "their receiver (Jeff Fuller) might be the same way - he might be the best in the country. Those guys are scary. We've got to tackle them."

Pretty much applies to the worst running back and receiver in the nation also.

yeah but the worst running back will occassionally break a big run, but fumble it away at the goal line even if he isn't tackled

[cutter]

In terms of facing off against a fast offense, what is the general consensus of how our defense will hold up?

I'm especially interested to see how our LB's fare, given the change up with Yenga and Fleps gone.

see today's preview on LBs.
http://www.ponyfans.com/features/preview11/

[SMU 86]

June declined to name a 3rd string QB. What up with that. Is the competition that close between Steven Kaiser and Conner Preston? Just saying.

[NomAnor]

I got in on yahoo`s monday collage football chat and they actually got to my question in short TOm said he thinks SMU can score on aggie but our defense cant stop aggies this year not enough depth yet.June might br trying to soffin the blow.My prediction SMU 65 AGGIE 14
Pony time
link for the chat http://collegefootball.rivals.com/conte ... ID=1254666
yahoo does one for non AQ teams and SMU is usually talked about alot.It is on thursdays i think

[The PonyGrad]

I really hope that Preston Conner gets red shirted this year and some one else is used as the 3rd string QB. I think Preston is the furtur after Padron (gets a shot at least) and I'd like him to ahve 3 years of eligability left when that transition occurs.

I hope we do not see any 3rd string QBs on the field this season.

[SmooPower]

JUNE JONES notes:

• Jones said Texas A&M RB Cyrus Gray "might be the best running back in the nation," and then said "their receiver (Jeff Fuller) might be the same way - he might be the best in the country. Those guys are scary. We've got to tackle them."

Pretty much applies to the worst running back and receiver in the nation also.

yeah but the worst running back will occassionally break a big run, but fumble it away at the goal line even if he isn't tackled

Maybe those guys will just fall down on their own occasionally?