Open Scrimmage: 8/17/2013

OFFENSE:

Johnny made some plays today but was up and down with his throws. He was only allowed to tuck the ball and run once, but I was still hoping to see a little more from an accuracy stand point. As expected, his comfort level with Mike Evans and Malcome Kennedy is significantly more than the rest of the receiving corp, and both of those guys had big days yesterday.

Ricky Seals-Jones and LaQuivionte Gonzalez were also very active on the day and it's obvious they will see significant time early this season.

The first team offensive line played as to be expected on the day. After that, we struggled with our protection up front. There were some solid individual performances, but as a unit, the backups made it tough for the quarterbacks.

What that did allow was us to see the backup QBs get first team reps. Kenny Hill was the surprise of the day. He was composed, pretty accurate, and even flashed that arm strength a couple of times en route to a couple of scoring drives. I will admit that I came in to the day thinking Matt Davis would be QB2 for 2013 and Hill was locked for a redshirt season. Needless to say, my opinion was completely changed yesterday. It's going to be interesting to watch this one play out.

Tra Carson got the most reps from the scholarship running backs and ran down hill with power. I haven't heard a lot about him in camp so that was good to see. His change of pace is going to be needed this year.

DEFENSE:

As a whole, the defense exceeded my expectations yesterday. They tackled well, didn't give up too many big plays, and even caused a couple of turnovers.

On one such instance, Trey Williams fumbled a pitch from Johnny  that was recovered and housed by Tommy Sanders. The good news: Sanders showed great speed in outrunning Manziel to the endzone. The bad news: Sanders is built like a safety.

I cannot explain the excitement of seeing Hardreck, Isaiah Golden, Justin Manning, and Daeshon Hall on the field together. I'll admit it; I peed a little. While these guys won't be mainstays on the D-line this year, the next few years are going to be very exciting to watch.

Brandon Alexander just doesn't seem interested. In fact, he made Jeremiah Stuckey look like Luke Joeckel. No offense Jeremiah.

Victor Davis also had a rough day. Travis Labhart (had to look him up on the roster) strung several catches together against him towards the end of practice. I'm not sure that free safety isn't his best option.

SPECIAL TEAMS:

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY our field goal problems aren't going away. I'm not sure who it was (or if it was even the same guy) but we missed three consecutive field goals yesterday. Good news: to my knowledge we didn't miss any PATs. Granted, Taylor Bertolet was out still recovering from injury.

Drew Kaser had a couple of very nice punts on the day that drew (pun intended) applause from the crowd.

INJURIES:

Shaan Washington was in street clothes (not sure why). Gavin Stansbury was in a knee brace. Deshazor Everett's got a broken thumb. Brandon Williams and his signature floppy hat were still in a boot. Isaiah Golden did get banged up towards the end of the day but after some treatment, was able to walk off on his own power.

Kenneth Marshall and Joas Aguilar were still nowhere to be seen.

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