Saturday (12/15/12) practice notes

[PonyPride]

• The early portion of pre-bowl practice - during which the starters rest and heal up their bumps and bruises acquired throughout the season while watching the younger players and backups get a majority of the practice reps - is over. With the Mustangs' flight to Hawaii coming up Wednesday, the first and second teams took the majority of snaps at all positions.

• Senior WR Darius Johnson was the Mustangs' MVP in the 2010 Armed Forces Bowl, and last year was named the MVP of the Mustangs' victory over Pitt in the BBVA Compass Bowl. Whether he can collect more hardware for another standout performance in a bowl game won't be determined until Dec. 24, but Johnson has had several strong practices this week, especially Friday and Saturday, with several excellent catches - including a few of the one-handed variety.

• Head coach June Jones announced Friday that senior OG Blake McJunkin had left Friday's practice session early when he rolled an ankle. McJunkin sat out of Saturday's practice (Jones said McJunkin will be ready to return to action in time for the Hawaii Bowl matchup against Fresno State), and was replaced on the first-team offensive line by Ashton Duhe.

• Jones has said several times that one of the benefits of going to bowl games is the extra practice sessions allowed for bowl teams, both for the starters and even the young players who don't get on the field during the game. Two reserve players who made multiple plays for the scout team defense were redshirt freshman CB Rodney Hubert, whose best offering of the day might have come when he dove to knock a deep pass away from WR Ryan Walker along the sideline, and true freshman DB Ajee Montes, whose best play came in seven-on-seven drills when he closed on WR Daijuan Stewart, made the open-field tackle and stripped the ball before Stewart hit the ground.

• One of the best sights of the latter part of the season has been the return of RB Jared Williams to the practice field. Williams, who endured a broken femur in the BBVA Compass Bowl in January, still isn't the same runner as he was before the injury. But seeing him run with the scout team is encouraging.

• Saturday’s practice was more physical than many of the Mustangs’ practice sessions. During the "team" (11-on-11) drills, players didn’t tackle opponents all the way to the ground, but the play at the line of scrimmage was far more physical. One skill position player who took on the physical side of the drill was backup RB Billy Dugal, who took a handoff on an inside run and ran over two linebackers at the same time before the play was blown dead.

• Some players have pure speed, while others have a non-stop motor that prevents them from ever giving up on a play. Those players who have both are coveted by coaches everywhere. Consider one play in the 11-on-11 drills, a simple screen pass a couple of yards behind the line of scrimmage to the left (east) side of the field. LB Lincoln Richard was lined up on the opposite side of the field, and as he ran toward the QB, he was knocked off balance by a blocker and fell to the ground. But he bounced up and raced across the field, looping out in front of the pulling guard and made the stop for a six-yard gain. Yes, it was one play during a drill in practice, but the hustle and pure speed Richard showed racing past players on both teams was indicative of the athleticism that has teammates and coaches excited about Richard’s future.

• The practice included a short "rookie bowl" - a scrimmage of mostly freshmen. The offense was led by QB Neal Burcham, who operated behind an imposing line of true freshmen: LT Chauncey Briggs, LG Chewy Chamagua, C Chase Walling, RG Sam Rice and RT Seaver Myers. Burcham was very accurate with his passes, and he looks visibly stronger than when he arrived on the Hilltop over the summer, both in terms of his physique and his arm strength. The top receiver was freshman walk-on A.J. Buffini.

[PK]

Good to hear that Jared Williams is back on the field after that injury last January. Hope he has healed well and will be able to play hard again soon.