Back home from what was billed as a “light and controlled scrimmage that may look more like a practice.” When in fact it was 30 minutes of special teams and 60 minutes of live-hitting 11 on 11 drills. It was a perfect night to watch football. I’ll spare the more play by play talks, you can find that in my twitter feed; http://www.twitter.com/bwahlberg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Here’s my main takeaways from the scrimmage:
1. Kicking is improved. Both Greenberg and Sullivan only missed 1 kick. I believe both were 5-6 kicking, while Lider was 3-5 and 1-1 on the sole PAT of the night. Sullivan’s one miss was a bad wobbler of a kick that went wide left, Greenbergs was a high and strong kick but it stayed left (he was off the left hash) and never straightened out. IMO if this is an indicator it would seem the kicking battle might soon narrow to Sullivan vs Greenberg. However for all three kickers it was great to see strong kicks, end over end for the most part, and many dead-center kicks, with attempts from both sides of the field. Didn’t see an attempt deeper than 42 however all three could’ve easily made 45 to 47 yarders. Sullivan’s kicks look a lot like Worst’s did, very high on impact. I like what I’m seeing here, improvement across the board.
2. The O-line got better when Jon Schmaing started playing with the 1st string. Schmaing and McCauley Todd came out with the “1-B” O-line and immediately Jordan Canada follows Schmaing around the corner to score a TD. Also I only counted I think 2 sacks the whole night. Now that’s not saying the O-line was great… or even good. The QBs had a few batted passes and there were a handful of TFLs on run plays too. JJ was under pressure a bunch – but again that started to clear up once Schmaing started running 1st string. Also Devon Dietrich at RT looked serviceable, he looked pretty bad at it earlier in the week, he seems to be adapting quickly On the inside the Hines brothers opened up a few good lanes but showed some big errors especially when the D-line would stunt or if a middle blitz came. Once Weyer moved to Center and Todd came in the interior protection improved, although once again it wasn’t nearly good enough. The 2nd and 3rd string Olines were mostly bad news. I think we’re starting to see the field get narrower to who could get a look at being a starter. Schmaing is obviously going to be the guy at LT, Dietrich or Thiebes at RT depending on Poole’s health. Weyer looks like a “for sure” guy on the inside but if it’s at guard or center that’s yet to be determined. Hines brothers and Todd as well are there to fill in the interior gaps.
3. Tackling from the defense wasn’t too bad. One glaringly bad display where Nate Harris let Jamaal Jones slip through his arms in a 1-on-1 situation and then the 25 yard Canada run didn’t look to well covered either. Gamboa and Kose made a bunch of plays with the 1st string. Dellaserra got rocked early but came back with some nice tackles. Schye did his thing that he’s building a good reputation for. Zach Peevey might’ve lead the defense in tackles and had 2 TFLs that I counted as well as 1 or 2 that went for no gain or 1 yard.
4. Hopefully Van Ackeren being removed after a tackle and then getting looked at was a precaution. Maybe an ankle or something.
5. Rogers and Van were suited up but didn’t play – hence the no mentions in the twitter feed.
6. One nice run from Lorenzo Logwood, he didn’t have a lot of opportunities to find open lanes but the one he did he had a nice upfield run. I like his power and strong drive when carrying the ball. I’ve said it before but he could be a guy that finds himself getting some power opportunities. Of the freshman he’s one of the few that are making a case to not red shirt.
7. In what would’ve been the play of the night a play-fake by Gustafson froze cornerback McKinley and the safety Anderson which sent a wide open Josh Janssen past the defense. Gustafson properly saw it and heaved the ball deep but I wonder if he had a bad grip on it or something, it turned into a wobbly and under-thrown pass. However it had enough under it to get to Janssen who had to slow down to make the catch. Janssen makes the catch and darts down the field but McKinley and Anderson catch up to him at about the 10 yard line and push him out of bounds.
As I see it, the areas of best needed improvement coming out of this scrimmage:
- Consistent O-line blocking. While showing small signs of improvement this group is a long ways away from being ready for Wyoming.
- Pass defense. While Nate Harris had two nice breakups against Jones he also got flagged twice for PI. There was another holding call on a corner back as well. Safeties got fooled a few times on play-fakes.
- Interior rushing game. Almost non-existent save a few runs. Comes back to the O-line getting on the same page.
- TE’s in the passing game. 0 catches and I think 0 targets tonight.
- D-end pressure. Holmes and Wags were oddly quiet. Richards had a few knockdowns as did Swartz. Crittenden and Johnson were also quiet. Were the D-ends told to let up tonight? I’d doubt it.
Of some of the newest guys on the team, here’s who I thought make some nice impressions:
Tyrel Garner, a few good tackles and the sole turnover of the night, a great interception blanketing the WR in coverage.
Josh Janssen, as mentioned before, the longest play of the night.
Manu Rasmussen, I believe was credited on a few tackles including one for a loss.
Josh Buss, heard his name at least 3 times being credited for tackles.
Lorenzo Logwood, as mentioned before.
Tucker Schye, dude just keeps getting better. It’s going to become hard to keep him off the field.
Here’s my main takeaways from the scrimmage:
1. Kicking is improved. Both Greenberg and Sullivan only missed 1 kick. I believe both were 5-6 kicking, while Lider was 3-5 and 1-1 on the sole PAT of the night. Sullivan’s one miss was a bad wobbler of a kick that went wide left, Greenbergs was a high and strong kick but it stayed left (he was off the left hash) and never straightened out. IMO if this is an indicator it would seem the kicking battle might soon narrow to Sullivan vs Greenberg. However for all three kickers it was great to see strong kicks, end over end for the most part, and many dead-center kicks, with attempts from both sides of the field. Didn’t see an attempt deeper than 42 however all three could’ve easily made 45 to 47 yarders. Sullivan’s kicks look a lot like Worst’s did, very high on impact. I like what I’m seeing here, improvement across the board.
2. The O-line got better when Jon Schmaing started playing with the 1st string. Schmaing and McCauley Todd came out with the “1-B” O-line and immediately Jordan Canada follows Schmaing around the corner to score a TD. Also I only counted I think 2 sacks the whole night. Now that’s not saying the O-line was great… or even good. The QBs had a few batted passes and there were a handful of TFLs on run plays too. JJ was under pressure a bunch – but again that started to clear up once Schmaing started running 1st string. Also Devon Dietrich at RT looked serviceable, he looked pretty bad at it earlier in the week, he seems to be adapting quickly On the inside the Hines brothers opened up a few good lanes but showed some big errors especially when the D-line would stunt or if a middle blitz came. Once Weyer moved to Center and Todd came in the interior protection improved, although once again it wasn’t nearly good enough. The 2nd and 3rd string Olines were mostly bad news. I think we’re starting to see the field get narrower to who could get a look at being a starter. Schmaing is obviously going to be the guy at LT, Dietrich or Thiebes at RT depending on Poole’s health. Weyer looks like a “for sure” guy on the inside but if it’s at guard or center that’s yet to be determined. Hines brothers and Todd as well are there to fill in the interior gaps.
3. Tackling from the defense wasn’t too bad. One glaringly bad display where Nate Harris let Jamaal Jones slip through his arms in a 1-on-1 situation and then the 25 yard Canada run didn’t look to well covered either. Gamboa and Kose made a bunch of plays with the 1st string. Dellaserra got rocked early but came back with some nice tackles. Schye did his thing that he’s building a good reputation for. Zach Peevey might’ve lead the defense in tackles and had 2 TFLs that I counted as well as 1 or 2 that went for no gain or 1 yard.
4. Hopefully Van Ackeren being removed after a tackle and then getting looked at was a precaution. Maybe an ankle or something.
5. Rogers and Van were suited up but didn’t play – hence the no mentions in the twitter feed.
6. One nice run from Lorenzo Logwood, he didn’t have a lot of opportunities to find open lanes but the one he did he had a nice upfield run. I like his power and strong drive when carrying the ball. I’ve said it before but he could be a guy that finds himself getting some power opportunities. Of the freshman he’s one of the few that are making a case to not red shirt.
7. In what would’ve been the play of the night a play-fake by Gustafson froze cornerback McKinley and the safety Anderson which sent a wide open Josh Janssen past the defense. Gustafson properly saw it and heaved the ball deep but I wonder if he had a bad grip on it or something, it turned into a wobbly and under-thrown pass. However it had enough under it to get to Janssen who had to slow down to make the catch. Janssen makes the catch and darts down the field but McKinley and Anderson catch up to him at about the 10 yard line and push him out of bounds.
As I see it, the areas of best needed improvement coming out of this scrimmage:
- Consistent O-line blocking. While showing small signs of improvement this group is a long ways away from being ready for Wyoming.
- Pass defense. While Nate Harris had two nice breakups against Jones he also got flagged twice for PI. There was another holding call on a corner back as well. Safeties got fooled a few times on play-fakes.
- Interior rushing game. Almost non-existent save a few runs. Comes back to the O-line getting on the same page.
- TE’s in the passing game. 0 catches and I think 0 targets tonight.
- D-end pressure. Holmes and Wags were oddly quiet. Richards had a few knockdowns as did Swartz. Crittenden and Johnson were also quiet. Were the D-ends told to let up tonight? I’d doubt it.
Of some of the newest guys on the team, here’s who I thought make some nice impressions:
Tyrel Garner, a few good tackles and the sole turnover of the night, a great interception blanketing the WR in coverage.
Josh Janssen, as mentioned before, the longest play of the night.
Manu Rasmussen, I believe was credited on a few tackles including one for a loss.
Josh Buss, heard his name at least 3 times being credited for tackles.
Lorenzo Logwood, as mentioned before.
Tucker Schye, dude just keeps getting better. It’s going to become hard to keep him off the field.
