GEHRIG DIETER: Announcing his arrival?

[PonyPride]

Conner Preston called his shot … and delivered.

"He came in to the huddle, he said, ‘we’re about to score a touchdown,’" freshman wide receiver Gehrig Dieter said. "Whenever we call a ‘nine route’ (straight down the sideline), I always feel like I’m going to score. Conner made a great throw, and I was able to catch it."

The play was the highlight for Dieter, the former Parade All-America who was playing in his first college game, but not his only contribution; he finished the evening with three catches for 64 receiving yards. When he first entered the game, he put his 6-foot-3, 215-frame to use as a blocker, clearing the way for teammates who caught quick screen passes from new starting quarterback Garrett Gilbert.

"I like to block," Dieter said. "I take pride in it, and we took pride in it at my high school. If I didn’t block then, I didn’t get the ball thrown my way much. (SMU wide receivers) Coach (Jason) Phillips takes a lot of pride in it, too - we all have to block. I’m a bigger receiver, so I guess my body type helps, but that’s something we all work on every day in practice."

Those first plays as a blocker helped Dieter shake off any first-game jitters, he said.

"I’m somewhat nervous before games," he said, "but once the game starts, those go away. You think about the game beforehand, but once it starts, you just go out and play football. It’s what I have been doing my whole life, what I’ve been training to do. So the nerves went away pretty quick, but I think going in as a blocker first helped me get my feet wet."

But without his touchdown catch, nobody would be talking to Dieter about his blocking prowess.

"It’s a play we practice 20 times or more every week with the X’s and Z’s," Dieter said. "It’s usually 37 to 39 yards (Sunday’s catch was from the 40). The guy they had on me (Baylor cornerback Tuswani Copeland) wasn’t huge, but he wasn’t small, either (Copeland is listed at 5-10, 170 on the Baylor roster). I was able to go get it, but only because Conner made a great throw."

Preston acknowledged that he made a good throw, but deflected the praise for the result of the play back to Dieter.

"There’s a difference between a big receiver and a big guy who can go up and get the ball at its highest point," Preston said. "(Dieter) does that really well. He could have run under the ball and stretched his arms out, waiting for the ball to come to him. But if you look at the tape, he went up as high as he could and turned his body between the ball and the DB. When he did that and pulled the ball away, to the outside of the end zone, the DB had no chance. (Dieter) made a great play."

[PonyTales]

I watched a couple of practices during camp, and had no idea Dieter was as athletic as he looked Saturday. That was a really impressive start.

[bubba pony]

How can you not be impressed with his attitude? Ala Zack Line.

[ojaipony]

I think a problem we saw on Saturday is we have these little, lightweight receivers who can't seem to catch a hard thrown ball (GG needs to take some off I agree) and don't block well downfield. Big BCS programs have 4-5 guys like Dieter in their rotation. Dieter needs to start now and get about 10 balls thrown his way/game - Holman has had many chances. Jeremy Johnson is a good athlete with good hands. He starts. DJ is a stud, he starts. Thompson has wheels, he starts. Rotate in Austin Fuller, Holman, Holleman (for blocking/decoy), and let's see what Stewart can do. There's really no reason this offense doesn't march down the field consistently and puts up 40+ on most CUSA defenses. Give Zach his 20 touches with 5 or so going to others and let's roll.

[Junior]

I think a problem we saw on Saturday is we have these little, lightweight receivers who can't seem to catch a hard thrown ball (GG needs to take some off I agree) and don't block well downfield. Big BCS programs have 4-5 guys like Dieter in their rotation. Dieter needs to start now and get about 10 balls thrown his way/game - Holman has had many chances. Jeremy Johnson is a good athlete with good hands. He starts. DJ is a stud, he starts. Thompson has wheels, he starts. Rotate in Austin Fuller, Holman, Holleman (for blocking/decoy), and let's see what Stewart can do. There's really no reason this offense doesn't march down the field consistently and puts up 40+ on most CUSA defenses. Give Zach his 20 touches with 5 or so going to others and let's roll.

holleman can't catch very well.

[ojaipony]

I think a problem we saw on Saturday is we have these little, lightweight receivers who can't seem to catch a hard thrown ball (GG needs to take some off I agree) and don't block well downfield. Big BCS programs have 4-5 guys like Dieter in their rotation. Dieter needs to start now and get about 10 balls thrown his way/game - Holman has had many chances. Jeremy Johnson is a good athlete with good hands. He starts. DJ is a stud, he starts. Thompson has wheels, he starts. Rotate in Austin Fuller, Holman, Holleman (for blocking/decoy), and let's see what Stewart can do. There's really no reason this offense doesn't march down the field consistently and puts up 40+ on most CUSA defenses. Give Zach his 20 touches with 5 or so going to others and let's roll.

holleman can't catch very well.

Exactly. Which is why I said use him as a blocker/decoy. Damn shame, though, he can't catch.

[kull]

Holleman has potential... maybe he should get a shot as a DB

[ojaipony]

Holleman has potential... maybe he should get a shot as a DB

Safety.

[Treadway21]

Great article. Love this attitude from both Preston and Dieter:

Conner Preston called his shot … and delivered.

"He came in to the huddle, he said, ‘we’re about to score a touchdown,’" freshman wide receiver Gehrig Dieter said. "Whenever we call a ‘nine route’ (straight down the sideline), I always feel like I’m going to score. Conner made a great throw, and I was able to catch it."

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

he's gonna be a good one.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOmPCThyU_A

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

I guess we now have some PonyFans in South Bend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGpJBISZ-iY

[Ikus]

Get those fans to Ford Stadium. Pronto.

[IndianaRules]

Here is FOX 28 Sports in South Bend, also we will be at game Saturday

http://www.fox28.com/global/video/flash ... d=78807549

[The PonyGrad]

Here is FOX 28 Sports in South Bend, also we will be at game Saturday

http://www.fox28.com/global/video/flash ... d=78807549

Cool, thanks for sharing.

[sbsmith]

Here is FOX 28 Sports in South Bend, also we will be at game Saturday

http://www.fox28.com/global/video/flash ... d=78807549

Hope you got good seats for Dieter's breakout game, it's nice to have a big outside receiver that fights for the ball.