Practice (12/8/12) notes

[PonyPride]

The Mustangs gathered Saturday morning in Ford Stadium to begin preparation for the upcoming Hawaii Bowl against Fresno State. Some notes:

• As always, the Mustangs began pre-bowl preparation by giving significant practice reps to the freshmen and other young backups who spent much of the season as members of the scout team.

• Backup QB Garrett Krstich, who missed the 2012 season because of a broken bone in his foot, was back in pads. Krstich acknowledged a little hesitation when he ran the same (option) play he was running when he suffered the injury, but said he felt no major discomfort after the play, or after the practice.

• As always, the Mustangs' practice included a special teams segment, during a return specialist tried to work his way through four coverage players who had to beat four blockers to get to the ball carrier. One player who drew notice Saturday was walk-on CB Andrew Griffin, who split the coverage several times en route to long returns.

• One of the defensive stars of the day was CB Keith Robinson, who climbed the ladder in front of a receiver to intercept a high pass from QB Garrett Gilbert during "team" (11-on-11) drills. Shortly thereafter, WR Stephen Nelson reached back to snag a pass from QB Conner Preston, but before he fell to the ground, Robinson reached in and ripped the ball away.

• It's impossible to watch the young linebackers - Robert Seals, Lincoln Richard, Jonathan Yenga, etc. - and not be impressed by the speed the Mustangs have returning next year at the position.

• Speaking of linebackers ... the defense will lose a lot of experience with the graduation of seniors Taylor Reed, Ja'Gared Davis and Cameron Rogers, but some playmakers will remain. ILB Randall Joyner, who leads the team with 89 tackles and is tied for the team lead with three interceptions, regularly shot through the line during team drills to wrap up RBs and pressure the QB.

• When the offensive and defensive linemen got together for blocking/pass rushing drills, one player who stood out was transfer OT Stavion Lowe, who will take part in spring drills and be eligible in 2013. Lowe barely resembles the player who arrived in Dallas over the summer, having lost more than 60 pounds since he arrived at SMU. The lighter, leaner Lowe is far quicker than the player who was overweight and battled a nagging hamstring throughout the team's preseason workouts in August.

• Among the players who sat out of practice was DE Margus Hunt, who is getting past a sprained left ankle he suffered against Tulsa. Hunt said after practice that he didn't know if he could play if the Hawaii Bowl was today, but said he expects to return to practice this week and fully expects to play in Honolulu.

[dirtysouthpony]

Great article. Good news on Lowe too. Sounds like this kid has really been working to earn a spot.

[westexSMU]

Sounds like we have some good LB depth/speed to help replace a solid group of Sr. LBs., but I'm not sure at DE. Sure wish we could get a fast DE JUCO player who could come in this spring. That should be a recruiting priority now.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

I do like how the bowl practice report starts with "as always..."