Today was the most intense practice that we've seen to date. A lot of yelling, both by the players and the coaches, and it seemed like the pace overall had picked up.
We finally saw some 11-on-11, and the defense "won" with both the 1s and the 2s, even if Kevin Sumlin hit the brakes on the O and forced field goal tries. Kyle Allen was running the show with the 1s, with Tra Carson and James White with him in the backfield -- well, sort of. White got split out into the slot several times during the drive. Speedy, Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds were the other three receivers. The line consisted of (from left to right) Avery Gennesy, Keaton Sutherland, Mike Matthews, Joe Cheek and Germain Ifedi.
On defense, the starters up front were Jarrett Johnson, Alonzo Williams, Julien Obioha and Daeshon Hall. Since they were in a 4-2-5, the linebackers were Josh Walker and Shaan Washington. The secondary consisted of Devante Harris, Brandon Williams, Armani Watts, Justin Evans and Noel Ellis at the nickel.
Allen was 2-3 throwing, hitting Tra Carson on a dumpoff on the first play and Christian Kirk on a quick slant a little later. He also overthrew Reynolds badly on a medium slant. He also ran read option a couple of times, getting stuffed for no gain when he held on to the ball (I believe Johnson and Williams got him) and tossing it to Carson for a nice gain and a first down the other time. Carson had a couple of nice runs, with the other a possible TD but they blew the whistle because it was basically 2-hand touch. The offense got down to about the 35 and Sumlin hit the breaks, bringing out Daniel LaCamera for a field goal attempt. He missed short and to the right.
The 2s on offense were an eye-opening group, which kind of makes me think they're still mixing and matching with the reserves. Kyler Murray and Bryce Dolezal were in the backfield, with Damion Ratley, Jeremy Tabuyo, Boone Neiderhofer and Jordan Davis the receivers. The line consisted of (again, left to right), J.J. Gustafson, Koda Martin, Erik McCoy, Jermaine Eluemunor and Ryan Lindblade.
On defense, the front consisted of Qualen Cunningham, Hardreck Walker, Deshawn Washington and James Lockhart. The linebackers (again, 4-2-5) were Claude George and, to my surprise, Landis Durham. Ellis stayed in at nickel with Alex Sezer, Nick Harvey, Justin Dunning and Devonta Burns in the secondary.
Dolezal had a nice run and Kyler would have potentially scored on an option run, but his lone pass was slapped back in his face by Lockhart. The 2s got a little bit closer than the ones, but again, Sumlin pulled the rip cord and brought out LaCamera. He missed again, badly, this time pulling it left.
Other observations:
We finally saw some 11-on-11, and the defense "won" with both the 1s and the 2s, even if Kevin Sumlin hit the brakes on the O and forced field goal tries. Kyle Allen was running the show with the 1s, with Tra Carson and James White with him in the backfield -- well, sort of. White got split out into the slot several times during the drive. Speedy, Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds were the other three receivers. The line consisted of (from left to right) Avery Gennesy, Keaton Sutherland, Mike Matthews, Joe Cheek and Germain Ifedi.
On defense, the starters up front were Jarrett Johnson, Alonzo Williams, Julien Obioha and Daeshon Hall. Since they were in a 4-2-5, the linebackers were Josh Walker and Shaan Washington. The secondary consisted of Devante Harris, Brandon Williams, Armani Watts, Justin Evans and Noel Ellis at the nickel.
Allen was 2-3 throwing, hitting Tra Carson on a dumpoff on the first play and Christian Kirk on a quick slant a little later. He also overthrew Reynolds badly on a medium slant. He also ran read option a couple of times, getting stuffed for no gain when he held on to the ball (I believe Johnson and Williams got him) and tossing it to Carson for a nice gain and a first down the other time. Carson had a couple of nice runs, with the other a possible TD but they blew the whistle because it was basically 2-hand touch. The offense got down to about the 35 and Sumlin hit the breaks, bringing out Daniel LaCamera for a field goal attempt. He missed short and to the right.
The 2s on offense were an eye-opening group, which kind of makes me think they're still mixing and matching with the reserves. Kyler Murray and Bryce Dolezal were in the backfield, with Damion Ratley, Jeremy Tabuyo, Boone Neiderhofer and Jordan Davis the receivers. The line consisted of (again, left to right), J.J. Gustafson, Koda Martin, Erik McCoy, Jermaine Eluemunor and Ryan Lindblade.
On defense, the front consisted of Qualen Cunningham, Hardreck Walker, Deshawn Washington and James Lockhart. The linebackers (again, 4-2-5) were Claude George and, to my surprise, Landis Durham. Ellis stayed in at nickel with Alex Sezer, Nick Harvey, Justin Dunning and Devonta Burns in the secondary.
Dolezal had a nice run and Kyler would have potentially scored on an option run, but his lone pass was slapped back in his face by Lockhart. The 2s got a little bit closer than the ones, but again, Sumlin pulled the rip cord and brought out LaCamera. He missed again, badly, this time pulling it left.
Other observations:
- The pace of the offense is way up. It's back to Manziel levels (at least in practice).
- There's enough speed on the defense. Brandon Williams kept up with Speedy and didn't seem intimidated. Did a pretty nice job of coverage.
- Germain Ifedi buried Daeshon Hall on one block. Put him on the ground and made sure he stayed there.
- I have my first "I want that back" on the 30 in 30. I think Jermiane Eluemunor may have played himself out of the running for left guard. If all things are equal, I think they're going to say screw it and start the true freshman, Sutherland. They may have already decided that.
- Taylor Bertolet appeared to be healthy. LaCamera didn't help himself with what we saw. Those were bad misses.
- Durham's a lot bigger than I had anticipated, and in a good way.
- I know some people thought Shaan Washington wouldn't start this year, but chuck that out the window. They like him in this scheme.
- Alonzo Williams did a real nice job working against Sutherland several times, getting into the backfield. He helped stuff Allen, as I mentioned, but another time they just ran Carson farther outside and Gennesy had eliminated Johnson.
- Don't piss off Dave Christensen. He got angry at one of the tackles in the 2 deep (I won't say who) and didn't yell -- but he did look at him and say, "Do what you're coached. If you can't do it here, what makes you think you can do it when someone's coming at you?"
- Williams and Mike Matthews were two of the more vocal guys today. I can't repeat what they said, but you get the idea.
- Terry Price was also very vocal and lit up his charges after about 2 minutes of practice for not showing the proper effort. Again, can't repeat what he said.
- Kirk was the punt returner today.
- Several players were, ahem, indisposed today. You may be able to figure out some of them. We'll find out more after 8.
