Monday (4/16/12) practice notes

Post by **PonyPride** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:02 pm

The Mustangs returned to the turf at Gerald J. Ford Stadium Monday morning for their seventh spring practice. Some observations:

• Joining the Mustangs at practice were three future Mustangs: slot WR Colin Lagasse and QBs Neal Burcham and Garrett Gilbert.

• New OL coach Bob Palcic continues to juggle combinations of linemen, including a willingness to try players in new positions. The first-team line Monday had LT Kris Weeks, LG Jordan Free, C Taylor Lasecki, RG Blake McJunkin and RT Bryan Collins. The second team was LT Ben Hughes, LG Christian Miller, C Ashton Duhe, RG Jordan Favreau and RT Taylor Reich.

• When the offense and defense paired up for skeleton drills (with no linemen on either side), the defense had the upper hand in the early going. The quarterbacks and receivers failed to connect on several passes - some were dropped, others were a little off-target - but the defense made several strong plays. Among the nicer defensive plays: CB J.R. Richardson raced forward to strip the ball out of the hands of WR Chayse Joubert on the left sideline after a catch from QB Stephen Kaiser; moments later, CB Chris Parks stripped a pass out of the hands of WR Steve McCormack, and LB Cameron Rogers did the same to WR Ronnell Sims.

• Probably the best defensive plays of the day were a pair of interceptions by two young linebackers. Derek Longoria shot across the middle of the field to step in front of Joubert for a sliding interception, but the clear-cut play of the day was turned in by Randall Joyner, who drifted out into the flat and leaped high in to the air to make a twisting interception, on a play that had defensive coordinator Tom Mason raving after practice.

• The defense didn’t make all of the plays in the passing drills: QB Conner Preston and WR Marcus Holyfield teamed up on several passes, including one 30-yarder over the middle. Also impressive was WR Darius Joseph, who snagged a pass off his shoetops on the right sideline on a beautiful pass by Kaiser between two defenders. Joseph later got deep down the left sideline and out-jumped a defensive back at the goal line for a 45-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Krstich, stepping over the DB in to the end zone.

• While the skill-position players were engaged in passing drills, the linemen got after each other in blocking/pass rushing drills. Some who stood out included:
- RT Taylor Reich is listed at 6-foot-7 and 300 pounds. He looks visibly different (leaner, stronger) than he did when he arrived at SMU last summer, although I don’t know what that has done to his weight. Regardless, he moves well for a player of his size. Many guys that big are plodders who can’t move their feet, especially laterally, but Reich looks really good moving side to side, sometimes shielding pass rushers out of the play without laying a hand on them.
- Backup NT Gareth Riley-Ayers is a lot stronger, as evidenced when he got his pads under RG Jordan Favreau and drove him backward toward the quarterback. Evidence of his improved strength: Riley-Ayers said after practice that last year, he could do three repetitions on the bench press with 225 pounds … and now does 19.
- LT Kris Weeks lost considerable weight when he got to campus last fall, and has rebuilt his frame to somewhere around 300 pounds. Like Reich, he looks mobile and strong in blocking drills, and clearly has earned some trust from Palcic, who is working Weeks with the first-team offensive line.

SMUer · Post by **SMUer** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:41 pm

Looks like our 2012 Offense will be:

Holman.....Weeks Free McJunkin Collins Miller.....Thompson
.....J. Johnson............Gilbert.................D.Johnson
..................................Z. Line

mavsrage311 · Post by **mavsrage311** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:48 pm

SMUer wrote:Looks like our 2012 Offense will be:
Holman.....Weeks Free McJunkin Collins Miller.....Thompson
.....J. Johnson............Gilbert.................D.Johnson
..................................Z. Line

I think Gottschalk claims a tackle spot when he's healthy, probably Miller's spot

Stallion · Post by **Stallion** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:49 pm

I'd like to see Holman do something other than run around as a 4th decoy and catch 1-2 passes a game before we annoit him. He played in 2010 by default. Wasn't near as impressed as so many by his very raw performance in 2010. You basically could tell he really didn't know how to play his position in 2010. Hopefully, he can earn a job as a starter. I'd like to see some more of Joseph, Holleman and even Guinyard before Holman is given the job by default

AusTxPony · Post by **AusTxPony** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:32 pm

Knowing it's difficult to make realistic judgements, have any of you seen enough to compare this team to last year?

westexSMU · Post by **westexSMU** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:38 pm

I'd also like to see Garrett Gilbert in an SMU uniform this fall before we say he is the starter at QB. I'm sure if we asked Garrett, he would say he would like to EARN the job.

SMU89 · Post by **SMU89** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:55 pm

Football. Basketball.

Hilltop getting hot.

Junior · Post by **Junior** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:27 pm

holyfield keeps coming up in these reports.

is he going to be a real contributor next season?