COCKYTALK SPRING PRACTICE REPORT: 3/18/10

[Spurticus]

Spring Practice Report: 3/18/10

Should have quit while we were ahead Tuesday night . . . The team worked out in full pads tonight and I’m not sure if that is what caused the team not to look quite as sharp or not, but we were definitely not on our A game this afternoon. The team had already run though the position drills and Kicking portion of the workout before I got to the field, but I was there in time to catch the last part of a drill that coach Elliott was running with the offensive line. He had half the line up at one time (Right Guard, Tackle and TE . . and alternated) and he
let them go through a set blocking scheme against a Defensive End, A Line backer and an Inside Lineman. There was also a running back behind them taking the handoff and running through whatever hole was opened by them. This was done at full speed and some pretty hard hitting going on there. Both Centers (T.J. Johnson and Ryan Broadhead) were getting some “atta boy” from coach Elliot. TJ seemed to have gotten coach Elliott’s attention through most of the drills because he was getting the love from the coach.

After this drill was over the Offense came over from the far field to run through the 1-on-1s and this was where the team started to look a little off. Garcia’s first pass was thrown on target, but hung up a little to Wes Saunders and Akeem Auguste was able to make the adjustment and both he and Saunders grabbed the ball in the air at the same time, and fell to the ground wrestling for the prize. After a nice pass to Gurley on a deep fade in the End
zone, Garcia threw one ball way off target and another that hit Wes in the hands but was dropped.
Connor Shaw hit his first pass on a post route to Jason Barnes, he started to miss fire badly on his next two or three reps. There was one pass of his were Barnes made a nice fake to the inside and froze the DB, and he broke back toward the sideline wide open. . . problem was that Shaw threw the ball to the inside when Barnes faked and the ball fell to the ground in the open. Both Garcia and Shaw did manage to settle down and hit a few shorter routes and checkdowns, but the two of them were just not quite as sharp as they were Tuesday night.
After a few reps each, Aramis Hillary and Zack Brandise got up for a few reps each and the accuracy wasn’t much better, although Brandise did find Deon LeCorn on a nice out and up along the sideline for a nice 20+ yard pickup. Hillary through his reps found Jarvis Giles on a deep wheel route for his best effort near the end of those drills.

After this the Kickoff and Kick coverage teams got on the field for a few minutes of lane assignment cover drills and then some practice running short distances inside the line, and blocking for the ball carrier. This was basically a light version of the Oklahoma drill with about 8 lanes going at one time. This portion of the practice ended with the Kickoff team lining up on the far end of the near field and ran three or four reps of kickoff and
lane coverage at full speed.

Next came the skels and the offense worked on the short routes and check downs through the majority of the drill. Garcia and Shaw were alternating reps and ran most of these, although Hillary and Brandise did take about 4 or 5 reps each before skels ended. During this part of the practice the defense started to take over the night and even though there were more completions than there was during 1-on-1s, the defense did a good job of reading the slants and short out routes and knocked several of those down. There was one near interception by Antonio Allen who had his third solid practice in a row working in the Spur Position. He stepped in front of a Garcia pass intended for DeMario Bennett and Allen had a pick measured off, but it bounced out of his hands. Antonio had another batted pass from Brandise later on in the drill. AA is making a strong push for most outstanding defensive player of the spring in my opinion! The best pass from any QB during the skels tonight came from Zack Brandise right before the drill was over. He hooked up with Lamar Scruggs on a deep corner route for about 30 yards. Scruggs gave a little hesitation like he was going to do a hook pattern, but he turned and headed upfield and got a step on CC Whitlock. Brandise delivered a very nice spiral that turned over and went nose down right in front of Scruggs who hauled it in a step or two before going out or bounds.

The guys ended the practice running the 11-on-11 and with the pads on, the intensity picked up a little bit. All these reps were done with the down markers being used and moved to set up different situations during the drills. Brian Maddox seemed to be right at home with the harder contact and in the shorter yardage situations. Brian took a 3rd and 4 hand off from Garcia to open the 11-on-11 and after breaking an arm tackle at the line, he was able to pickup 12-15 yards through the inside of the line. For the second straight practice, Jarvis Giles seemed to get the majority of the reps between he and Miles, but Miles did pickup and very nice 20+ yard run on an off tackle run to the right, and a 1st and 15 situation.
Like the skels, there wasn’t a lot of deep passes thrown during the 11 on 11 tonight, but there were a few very nicely thrown short routes on designed plays. Some Slip screens and slants. Most of these went to the slot receivers and running backs. Twice we ran a newer version of the Slip Screen and both times we ran it throwing to Lamar Scruggs who still gives me Kenny McKinley flashbacks. He is not afraid to go over the middle and take a pass, and he knows what to do with the football after he catches the ball. He may be a step faster than K Mac and he continues to push for a starting spot with is outstanding work this spring. Tonight though he had to battle for looks with Deon LeCorn who had his second outstanding practice in a row. Deon was used in a slot back position most of the night tonight sharing reps with Scruggs. Even though the offense had it’s best showing of the practice during this part of the workout tonight, the defense still outplayed the offense through this drill. The bright spot for the offense other than the nice work by Scruggs and LeCorn was from the running of Jarvis Giles who had another outstanding night. I guess the team having an off night was highlighted however when about 4 plays before the end of the 11-on-11, Jarvis broke through the line clean and had picked up about 10 yards but when the secondary started to close on him, he gave a little shake and bake move and went down to the ground untouched. At first it looked like he’d slipped on the wet turf, but he rolled over and started yelling for the trainers to come over and after a few minutes they started checking his left knee. You could tell this didn’t appear to be a cramp and at first when he tried to get up, he couldn’t put any weight on the leg at all. Two trainers helped him walk over to the sidelines and it didn’t look real good at first. However, as the team was ending the 11-on-11 I could see Jarvis walking around on his own slowly and very gingerly over on the far field. Not sure about the nature or severity of the injury just yet, but hoping he is OK. Spurrier will probably elaborate on this tonight in the post practice interview.
Hoping the pads going on was what kind of threw the team’s progress off some tonight, and that they’ll rebound tomorrow night and have another good practice like they had Tuesday. Next Practice is tomorrow afternoon at 4:PM and there is a scrimmage Saturday morning at the Cockpit at 10:am

POST PRACTICE NOTES:

• The starting lineups right now are on offense.

QB – Stephen Garcia
RB – Kenny Miles (Patrick DiMarco when a FB is used
WR- Alshon Jeffery
WR – Tori Gurley
WR – Deon LeCorn
Center – TJ Johnson
Guard – Rockevious Watkins
Guard – Garrett Chisholm
Tackle – Hutch Eckerson
Tackle – Jarriel King
TE – Wes Saunders

• Defense

Tackle – Ladi Ajiboye
Tackle – Melvin Ingram
End – Devon Taylor
End – Chaz Sutton
Linebacker – Josh Dickerson
Linebacker – Shaq Wilson
LB / Spur – Antonio Allen
CB – Stephon Gilmore
CB – CC Whitlock
S – Akeem Auguste
S – Blake Baxley

We ran the Wildcat / WildCock formation tonight during the 11-on-11 with Gilmore under center. Nothing spectacular to report there as the defense seemed to be all over it and kept Gilmore from getting past the line. There was one passing attempt from the formation, but the play was blown dead after the coverage broke down on the line and Gilmore had to scramble.

Our offense is practicing some outside run plays with the O/line pulling which is something we haven’t done a lot of the past few years. Seemed to be effective on the two or three times I saw us attempt that. I’m positive this is something Coach Elliott has installed and I’m anxious to see how it progresses during the rest of the spring. It usually takes a very good line to do this consistently and be effective with it. If this increases during the remainder of the spring and into the fall workouts, that will be a good sign to me personally that our O/Line is making some improvements.

Some very good work tonight from our second unit O/Line. Ryan Broadhead, Kyle Nunn and Steven Singleton did some excellent work springing Bryce Sherman and Jarvis Giles during the 11-on-11. Hope some of these guys can get some major PT this fall. Right now they seem to be making a push for earning more time.

Travian Robertson and Rodney Paulk are still coming to practices and running sprints, agility drills and doing lots of work on the stationary bikes. They look ready to get into the action, but the coaches are holding them out for the spring to make sure they are at full go this fall.
Since the first night, I haven’t seen Chris Culliver on the field anywhere. Didn’t see Ronald Byrd tonight either. Not sure if they’re there and wearing Street cloths or if they’re just not making the trip over with the team. I’ll keep an eye out for them though.

[Garnet&BLK]

Thanks as usual Spurt!

[Luke Skycocker]

Originally Posted by Spurticus

Spring Practice Report: 3/18/10

Should have quit while we were ahead Tuesday night . . . The team worked out in full pads tonight and I’m not sure if that is what caused the team not to look quite as sharp or not, but we were definitely not on our A game this afternoon. The team had already run though the position drills and Kicking portion of the workout before I got to the field, but I was there in time to catch the last part of a drill that coach Elliott was running with the offensive line. He had half the line up at one time (Right Guard, Tackle and TE . . and alternated) and he
let them go through a set blocking scheme against a Defensive End, A Line backer and an Inside Lineman. There was also a running back behind them taking the handoff and running through whatever hole was opened by them. This was done at full speed and some pretty hard hitting going on there. Both Centers (T.J. Johnson and Ryan Broadhead) were getting some “atta boy” from coach Elliot. TJ seemed to have gotten coach Elliott’s attention through most of the drills because he was getting the love from the coach.

After this drill was over the Offense came over from the far field to run through the 1-on-1s and this was where the team started to look a little off. Garcia’s first pass was thrown on target, but hung up a little to Wes Saunders and Akeem Auguste was able to make the adjustment and both he and Saunders grabbed the ball in the air at the same time, and fell to the ground wrestling for the prize. After a nice pass to Gurley on a deep fade in the End
zone, Garcia threw one ball way off target and another that hit Wes in the hands but was dropped.
Connor Shaw hit his first pass on a post route to Jason Barnes, he started to miss fire badly on his next two or three reps. There was one pass of his were Barnes made a nice fake to the inside and froze the DB, and he broke back toward the sideline wide open. . . problem was that Shaw threw the ball to the inside when Barnes faked and the ball fell to the ground in the open. Both Garcia and Shaw did manage to settle down and hit a few shorter routes and checkdowns, but the two of them were just not quite as sharp as they were Tuesday night.
After a few reps each, Aramis Hillary and Zack Brandise got up for a few reps each and the accuracy wasn’t much better, although Brandise did find Deon LeCorn on a nice out and up along the sideline for a nice 20+ yard pickup. Hillary through his reps found Jarvis Giles on a deep wheel route for his best effort near the end of those drills.

After this the Kickoff and Kick coverage teams got on the field for a few minutes of lane assignment cover drills and then some practice running short distances inside the line, and blocking for the ball carrier. This was basically a light version of the Oklahoma drill with about 8 lanes going at one time. This portion of the practice ended with the Kickoff team lining up on the far end of the near field and ran three or four reps of kickoff and
lane coverage at full speed.

Next came the skels and the offense worked on the short routes and check downs through the majority of the drill. Garcia and Shaw were alternating reps and ran most of these, although Hillary and Brandise did take about 4 or 5 reps each before skels ended. During this part of the practice the defense started to take over the night and even though there were more completions than there was during 1-on-1s, the defense did a good job of reading the slants and short out routes and knocked several of those down. There was one near interception by Antonio Allen who had his third solid practice in a row working in the Spur Position. He stepped in front of a Garcia pass intended for DeMario Bennett and Allen had a pick measured off, but it bounced out of his hands. Antonio had another batted pass from Brandise later on in the drill. AA is making a strong push for most outstanding defensive player of the spring in my opinion! The best pass from any QB during the skels tonight came from Zack Brandise right before the drill was over. He hooked up with Lamar Scruggs on a deep corner route for about 30 yards. Scruggs gave a little hesitation like he was going to do a hook pattern, but he turned and headed upfield and got a step on CC Whitlock. Brandise delivered a very nice spiral that turned over and went nose down right in front of Scruggs who hauled it in a step or two before going out or bounds.

The guys ended the practice running the 11-on-11 and with the pads on, the intensity picked up a little bit. All these reps were done with the down markers being used and moved to set up different situations during the drills. Brian Maddox seemed to be right at home with the harder contact and in the shorter yardage situations. Brian took a 3rd and 4 hand off from Garcia to open the 11-on-11 and after breaking an arm tackle at the line, he was able to pickup 12-15 yards through the inside of the line. For the second straight practice, Jarvis Giles seemed to get the majority of the reps between he and Miles, but Miles did pickup and very nice 20+ yard run on an off tackle run to the right, and a 1st and 15 situation.
Like the skels, there wasn’t a lot of deep passes thrown during the 11 on 11 tonight, but there were a few very nicely thrown short routes on designed plays. Some Slip screens and slants. Most of these went to the slot receivers and running backs. Twice we ran a newer version of the Slip Screen and both times we ran it throwing to Lamar Scruggs who still gives me Kenny McKinley flashbacks. He is not afraid to go over the middle and take a pass, and he knows what to do with the football after he catches the ball. He may be a step faster than K Mac and he continues to push for a starting spot with is outstanding work this spring. Tonight though he had to battle for looks with Deon LeCorn who had his second outstanding practice in a row. Deon was used in a slot back position most of the night tonight sharing reps with Scruggs. Even though the offense had it’s best showing of the practice during this part of the workout tonight, the defense still outplayed the offense through this drill. The bright spot for the offense other than the nice work by Scruggs and LeCorn was from the running of Jarvis Giles who had another outstanding night. I guess the team having an off night was highlighted however when about 4 plays before the end of the 11-on-11, Jarvis broke through the line clean and had picked up about 10 yards but when the secondary started to close on him, he gave a little shake and bake move and went down to the ground untouched. At first it looked like he’d slipped on the wet turf, but he rolled over and started yelling for the trainers to come over and after a few minutes they started checking his left knee. You could tell this didn’t appear to be a cramp and at first when he tried to get up, he couldn’t put any weight on the leg at all. Two trainers helped him walk over to the sidelines and it didn’t look real good at first. However, as the team was ending the 11-on-11 I could see Jarvis walking around on his own slowly and very gingerly over on the far field. Not sure about the nature or severity of the injury just yet, but hoping he is OK. Spurrier will probably elaborate on this tonight in the post practice interview.
Hoping the pads going on was what kind of threw the team’s progress off some tonight, and that they’ll rebound tomorrow night and have another good practice like they had Tuesday. Next Practice is tomorrow afternoon at 4:PM and there is a scrimmage Saturday morning at the Cockpit at 10:am

POST PRACTICE NOTES:

• The starting lineups right now are on offense.

QB – Stephen Garcia
RB – Kenny Miles (Patrick DiMarco when a FB is used
WR- Alshon Jeffery
WR – Tori Gurley
WR – Deon LeCorn
Center – TJ Johnson
Guard – Rockevious Watkins
Guard – Garrett Chisholm
Tackle – Hutch Eckerson
Tackle – Jarriel King
TE – Wes Saunders

• Defense

Tackle – Ladi Ajiboye
Tackle – Melvin Ingram
End – Devon Taylor
End – Chaz Sutton
Linebacker – Josh Dickerson
Linebacker – Shaq Wilson
LB / Spur – Antonio Allen
CB – Stephon Gilmore
CB – CC Whitlock
S – Akeem Auguste
S – Blake Baxley

We ran the Wildcat / WildCock formation tonight during the 11-on-11 with Gilmore under center. Nothing spectacular to report there as the defense seemed to be all over it and kept Gilmore from getting past the line. There was one passing attempt from the formation, but the play was blown dead after the coverage broke down on the line and Gilmore had to scramble.

Our offense is practicing some outside run plays with the O/line pulling which is something we haven’t done a lot of the past few years. Seemed to be effective on the two or three times I saw us attempt that. I’m positive this is something Coach Elliott has installed and I’m anxious to see how it progresses during the rest of the spring. It usually takes a very good line to do this consistently and be effective with it. If this increases during the remainder of the spring and into the fall workouts, that will be a good sign to me personally that our O/Line is making some improvements.

Some very good work tonight from our second unit O/Line. Ryan Broadhead, Kyle Nunn and Steven Singleton did some excellent work springing Bryce Sherman and Jarvis Giles during the 11-on-11. Hope some of these guys can get some major PT this fall. Right now they seem to be making a push for earning more time.

Travian Robertson and Rodney Paulk are still coming to practices and running sprints, agility drills and doing lots of work on the stationary bikes. They look ready to get into the action, but the coaches are holding them out for the spring to make sure they are at full go this fall.
Since the first night, I haven’t seen Chris Culliver on the field anywhere. Didn’t see Ronald Byrd tonight either. Not sure if they’re there and wearing Street cloths or if they’re just not making the trip over with the team. I’ll keep an eye out for them though.

DiMarco didnt graduate last year?

[Spurticus]

Originally Posted by Luke Skycocker

DiMarco didnt graduate last year?

He's a senior this year

[uscfan1]

Baxley instead of Holloman?

[talon]

Thanx Spurt

[Spurticus]

Originally Posted by uscfan1

Baxley instead of Holloman?

Shocked me too, but Baxley has been up with the first unit the past
two nights.

[Renegade68]

Thanks once again Spurt. Great to hear the backups are showing up.

[CockOla]

Originally Posted by Spurticus

Shocked me too, but Baxley has been up with the first unit the past
two nights.

Thanks a bundle Spurt! Here is hoping Giles will be fine.

[cockywill09]

what time is the scrimmage at 10 or 11 did spurrier change it to 11 o clock sat

[CarolinaGnB521]

Bryce Sherman probably had the best night of his short career so far tonight at practice. He had so many oppertunities and the given that the holes don't have to be that big for him, he hit them at the right time all night.

Sherman probably had one of the better practices today. Lamar Scruggs had a pretty decent practice from what I saw.

Moe Brown and Chris Payne were there to watch practice tonight, and yes, Moe Brown did talk to Spurrier Jr. So, thanks everyone for overreacting to a "rumored" incident after the bowl.

I think the OL had an up and down night. The OL played well on some plays, and terrible on others. It's really hard to judge an OL however in the Spring. Playing OL is a lot harder than being DL in my opinion. I mean, being rusty and "rushing" the QB is easier than being rusty and blocking big mothereffers from getting to the QB - if you know what I mean.

Overall I thought QB played like crap, but I mostly agree with everything Spurt said. It will be an interesting Saturday morning, that's for sure. Will Garcia come out firing on all cylinders or will he over/under throw. Our defensive front, even without Travian was doing great. Melvin Ingram has been doing VERY well. I repeat from pre-spring practice, that he is a guy to watch out for. He wants a starting job.

As far as your starters Spurt, where'd you get that from. I really don't see Blake Baxley starting, especially when you've got Holloman and possibly Swearinger (according to possible move from CB to SS) on the sideline.

[The Yancey]

Getting interesting. Thanx!

[morgan n' 7]

Great Job as always Spurt! Thanks buddy!

[Renegade68]

Just read Spurrier said Conner Shaw is the #2 QB right now .

[TKE226]

who is Baxley??

[Spurticus]

Originally Posted by Garnet&BLK

Thanks as usual Spurt!

Originally Posted by talon

Thanx Spurt

Originally Posted by Renegade68

Thanks once again Spurt. Great to hear the backups are showing up.

Originally Posted by The Yancey

Getting interesting. Thanx!

Originally Posted by morgan n' 7

Great Job as always Spurt! Thanks buddy!

Your welcome guys.

[Spurticus]

Originally Posted by CockOla

Thanks a bundle Spurt! Here is hoping Giles will be fine.

Spurrier told the press tonight it was just cramps. . .also said he had a
habit of jumping around too much



Giles broke through the line clean and then tried to juke a couple of guys
and make some more yardage, but in the middle of his shimmy, he dropped
and grabbed his leg. . . .Looked bad at first but thankfully it wasn't that
serious

[Spurticus]

Originally Posted by cockywill09

what time is the scrimmage at 10 or 11 did spurrier change it to 11 o clock sat

According to the revised practice schedule that came out today, the
Scrimmage will be at 10:am at The Brice. . .have another one scheduled
for the same time Next Saturday as well.

[Spurticus]

Originally Posted by Renegade68

Just read Spurrier said Conner Shaw is the #2 QB right now .

Yeah, I think it's basically by default. Zack Brandise just isn't consistent
enough and I really think they were hoping Clifford would step up this
spring and take the number two job so they could RS Shaw, but right now
Shaw is a decent number two and the drop off in talent after that is
pretty noticable. . .I'd really like to see Shaw RS and come in next season
a year wiser and a year more developed. This guy is going to be a VERY
GOOD QB. Hopefully we can keep Garcia injury free (like last season) and
not have to throw Shaw in this year. That would be great to have a guy
playing the number two spot in case you have to have a backup go in, but
then not have to use him. If you just want to use another QB in mop up
duty, you could send in Brandise, Clifford or Hillary to run the clock out.

[CarolinaGnB521]

Originally Posted by TKE226

who is Baxley??

He is #49, played a lot of Special teams. Beamer said he works his ass off. He is the strongest DB we have if you go by weight lifting. Beamer also stated a couple times last year he was the first guy getting to the ball on kick offs. He is fast, tries hard, and wants to win. That is Blake Baxley. As far as a DB, I just don't see him starting.

However, he is #49. Everyone calls him "Juice". You can speculate as to why - and you'll probably know when you see him.