prob all fluff internet style below...
08/20/2005
Tracking Mack: August 20 scrimmage
General Comments: I thought we got exactly what we needed this morning. We ended up blocking a field goal, which is great practice. The offense came back after that and protected much better. I thought Richmond McGee took a step forward today; his kickoffs were great. His field goals, even the one that was touched, went through. So I think he made some progress and in kicking as well as punting.
Our kickoff return looks good: Ramonce [Taylor] made a great run. The punt returns were not as long as we wanted, but the kickoff coverage was good, even though it was against the younger guys. There were very few turnovers.
I felt like Matt Nordgren did some really good things. We knew Vince was going to do really well, but Matt has got to do a better job in the option game. His (fumbled) pitch today was poor. He needs to be able to run that play, and we know he can. So that is something he can continue to work on. But you can see that Matt is older, he knows where to go with the ball and does a good job. I thought Matt had great drives when he had time. I think the fans can see that he will be able to win games when he goes in. He can run better than he showed today, but he has to continue to work in all areas. We also thought Colt McCoy did a good job at quarterback today.
Ramonce tightened up a little bit at the end, so we took him out. We obviously need to get the ball into his hands. I thought the young backs looked good.
Overall we thought it was a great scrimmage. Nobody got hurt. I would have liked to see a little bit more passion out of that first team offense when they broke the huddle. This is the most tiring time of the year for these guys, but we thought they did really well. We appreciate the fans coming out here to see the scrimmage. We have the best fans in the world. We had a fan here at 2:30 this morning trying to be the first in line. We got here at 6:45 and there was a family out here looking around. So this is a neat group of fans and a fun day for them. It is fun for us to be able to give back to them.
On the young backfield: Henry Melton is up in the 270s in weight. He is not a heavy kid, he is just a big young man. We feel like he can really contribute on short yardage and on the goal line in the fourth quarter where Cedric [Benson] and Ricky [Williams] were so good. Jamaal Charles gives us some speed out there, as well as Ramonce. Jamaal will be playing tailback. Ramonce did not play tailback today, but he will be playing some. They give us speed, and Henry gives us power.
On the benefits of a scrimmage over regular practice: The way the younger guys respond to the fans is important. This was really the first game for Colt McCoy. It was his first time playing in this stadium with so many people around. The young guys can here the fans responses. You can hear some moans when someone does poorly, and there is so much excitement when they do well. So essentially, this is really the first game for us.
On the wide receivers: I do not remember seeing a dropped ball. I thought they ran really good routes. We did pretty basic things on both sides of the ball today because we did not want to show a lot of things we will use in the opening game. But we felt like they played really well. Billy Pittman made some big plays and Neale Tweedie made a play or two. We really feel like they are going to be better at this time this year than they were last year.
On the defense's play today: The defense really dominated at practice two days ago. Yesterday, the offense came back out and got the upper hand on them. The defense came back out really ready to play today. There are some older guys on that defense that are showing great leadership.
On Vince Young's role: Vince is not the whole show. He is one of some really great players on our offense. It would be wrong to put too much pressure on Vince and say that the games are on his shoulders. He has got a lot of help out there. There are so many other good players around him. Matt Nordgren needs to play some to take pressure off of Vince as well. If for some reason Vince were not in the game, Matt will need to be able to win. We are confident he can do that.
On the defensive backs: We have got five experienced defensive backs and we feel like all of them can start. It is a really good secondary and we have an advantage there. We will continue to look at that position because there may be a sixth or seventh guy that can play there, too. Aaron Ross can play both sides, and Michael Huff can play all of the positions. We played Cedric Griffin at safety today because we are trying to get everybody in a position where they can play all four spots.
On being ranked number two in preseason AP poll: The preseason polls are interesting because they show respect from writers. We were really excited to be ranked second and feel like it shows great respect for our football program, the way we finished last year, and the number of guys we have coming back this year. We also understand that where you finish at the end of the year is important; where you finish at the first of the year is simply respect.
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Scrimmage observations After a nice breakfast with the family the red river cafe I strolled on down to DKR and this is what I got.
Special teams: You won't stop RT without your 1st stringers!
I can only imagine that the kicking game and kickoff coverage will be getting a little more work before the season and during our real scrimmage (LALA).
Offense
QB's: Vince looked good. Colt looked good. Nordy looked OK
As we all know , we're not gonna get to see a lot of the added offense,
but from what I saw I think we have a solid group of passers to compliment this team of weapons.
A few more deep tosses than last years scrimmage, some passes completed some not. About the same as last years. Lotta running.
RB's: Selvin and RT will have fun as the O-line will live up to it's ranking this year. It was nice to see the young guys get reps. JC has good quikness and turns the corner well. I don't mind Melton at RB after seeing him bowl over guys yesterday.
He IS fast. 4th qtr vs. LALA will look painful.
WR's & TE's: DT had a spectacular and awkward diving grab with his fingertips. This guy can catch! Finley has the next best hands and will be the perfect heir to the TE throne.
The WR's will continue to be a source of weakness and without a doubt will receive more work before the tOSU match. They must be a bit better for me to feel comfortable. That being said they are doing enough to compliment the rest of our strategy.
O-line: They will dominate all D-lines they face this year, including USC's.
Does that mean we win em all? Maybe not but these guys are ready! Just watching their feet and unity is enough to see that.
Defense
D-line: They looked impressive all the way down the depth chart. I think our new DE approach (letting them loose) will make up for any deficiencies at said position. Look for Aaron Lewis this year, who has worked his way to 2nd string, to show us that he has what we need for the future.
LB's: Not as attacking as they looked in the last open practice (maybe Chizik not wanting to show his hand yet) but it didn't look like they needed to.
The D was the highlight yesterday and Bobino will be a favorite this year. Kill looks like a friggin mean arse LB and Mack had to yell at him for throwin a ball in a fury. Hope he keeps the penalties down to a minimum and the tackles sound.
Secondary: Like glue, bring on Ginn. :evil
If our Defense can look better this year and Chizik has a few tricks up his sleeve then............hell I don't know what to say!!
Teams will have to scheme to mismatch on our young LB's and they might find an ambush with Chizik pulling the strings. I'm very excited!
All in all it was a good day, reserved but good.
