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First Griz scrimmage Sunday night, open to public
http://www.kpax.com/news/first-griz...public/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
MISSOULA - The University of Montana football team will culminate its first week of fall camp practice sessions with a game-type scrimmage Sunday in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with the action starting around 7:45 p.m. The scrimmage is free and open to the public.
The Grizzlies have just six practices under their belts so far, as the first fall camp practice was last Tuesday (Aug. 6), and have had one-a-day sessions since then. On Sunday they will hold the first of six two-a-day practices.
Montana is allowed three scrimmages during fall drills, and the second is scheduled for Saturday, August 17, starting at approximately 10:10 a.m. in WGS.
"I always believe that that first scrimmage is like your first test in school in the first semester of the fall," said UM Head Coach Mick Delaney. "We can see exactly where we are at and be able to evaluate what we've done up to this point. That includes both offense and defense, which we install fairly quickly in the fall because we've already worked on it in the spring.
"We throw an awful lot at the players, and we kind of want to see what they've been able to absorb and how the function," Delaney said. "The older guys usually have most of it down, but the younger guys struggle a bit through the whole fall.
"What you want to find out is, have we gone too fast and do we have to slow down a little bit in terms of just they installation stuff, or do we have to speed things up?" he asked. "I think that first scrimmage gives you a good feel with how to proceed through the next week-and-a-half or so of camp.
"Second, I always like to see where we are at discipline-wise," Delaney continued. "We'll have referees for the first time, so are need to see if we jump off-sides or if we commit foolish penalties - that type of stuff. That's always the key that first week.
"And then, obviously the other thing we are looking for is what kind of emotion are the kids playing with, and just the overall atmosphere and feeling the coaches and players have, and are we getting things done the right way," Delaney said.
"That first day everyone's excited; Wednesday they're still pretty fired up; Thursday's okay; Friday was a little different because we are out on the grass; and then Saturday is a real test because everyone is looking ahead to Sunday night," Delaney said. "It's our job to keep them focused."
Coach Delaney said a lot was made of his decision to have co-offensive coordinators, Scott Gragg for the running game and Kefense Hynson to oversee the passing game, and the transition has been a smooth one and also very common in professional and college football circles these days.
"It's (UM's offensive scheme) really not a lot different from what we've done in the past," Delaney said. "If you went through the NFL and Divisions I and II in college football, I bet you'd find somewhere in the area of 75 percent of those teams have co-coordinators on either offense or defense, or both," Delaney said.
"The only difference is that you've got two people working together to form a game plan, to put the play-book together and to use their expertise, along with our other coaches, which helps us to all be on the same page and be totally prepared for each game during the season," Delaney said. "It's good stuff.
"We've been preparing for all of our opponents, including App. State, since last spring and working on different schemes on offense and defense, but we don't want to spend three weeks on App. State," Delaney said. "We want to spend the first week or so working on fundamentals, and making adjustments on both sides of the football.
"We think that we are so multiple on offense and defense that we need to prepare for everything," he said. "It's not that9 we're just a read-zone team or that we're just a cover-two team. The things that we are doing on offense and defense really test our guys every day, and by the time we start preparing for the App. State game it's amazing how many things you have already covered to prepare you for your opponents."
http://www.kpax.com/news/first-griz...public/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
MISSOULA - The University of Montana football team will culminate its first week of fall camp practice sessions with a game-type scrimmage Sunday in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, with the action starting around 7:45 p.m. The scrimmage is free and open to the public.
The Grizzlies have just six practices under their belts so far, as the first fall camp practice was last Tuesday (Aug. 6), and have had one-a-day sessions since then. On Sunday they will hold the first of six two-a-day practices.
Montana is allowed three scrimmages during fall drills, and the second is scheduled for Saturday, August 17, starting at approximately 10:10 a.m. in WGS.
"I always believe that that first scrimmage is like your first test in school in the first semester of the fall," said UM Head Coach Mick Delaney. "We can see exactly where we are at and be able to evaluate what we've done up to this point. That includes both offense and defense, which we install fairly quickly in the fall because we've already worked on it in the spring.
"We throw an awful lot at the players, and we kind of want to see what they've been able to absorb and how the function," Delaney said. "The older guys usually have most of it down, but the younger guys struggle a bit through the whole fall.
"What you want to find out is, have we gone too fast and do we have to slow down a little bit in terms of just they installation stuff, or do we have to speed things up?" he asked. "I think that first scrimmage gives you a good feel with how to proceed through the next week-and-a-half or so of camp.
"Second, I always like to see where we are at discipline-wise," Delaney continued. "We'll have referees for the first time, so are need to see if we jump off-sides or if we commit foolish penalties - that type of stuff. That's always the key that first week.
"And then, obviously the other thing we are looking for is what kind of emotion are the kids playing with, and just the overall atmosphere and feeling the coaches and players have, and are we getting things done the right way," Delaney said.
"That first day everyone's excited; Wednesday they're still pretty fired up; Thursday's okay; Friday was a little different because we are out on the grass; and then Saturday is a real test because everyone is looking ahead to Sunday night," Delaney said. "It's our job to keep them focused."
Coach Delaney said a lot was made of his decision to have co-offensive coordinators, Scott Gragg for the running game and Kefense Hynson to oversee the passing game, and the transition has been a smooth one and also very common in professional and college football circles these days.
"It's (UM's offensive scheme) really not a lot different from what we've done in the past," Delaney said. "If you went through the NFL and Divisions I and II in college football, I bet you'd find somewhere in the area of 75 percent of those teams have co-coordinators on either offense or defense, or both," Delaney said.
"The only difference is that you've got two people working together to form a game plan, to put the play-book together and to use their expertise, along with our other coaches, which helps us to all be on the same page and be totally prepared for each game during the season," Delaney said. "It's good stuff.
"We've been preparing for all of our opponents, including App. State, since last spring and working on different schemes on offense and defense, but we don't want to spend three weeks on App. State," Delaney said. "We want to spend the first week or so working on fundamentals, and making adjustments on both sides of the football.
"We think that we are so multiple on offense and defense that we need to prepare for everything," he said. "It's not that9 we're just a read-zone team or that we're just a cover-two team. The things that we are doing on offense and defense really test our guys every day, and by the time we start preparing for the App. State game it's amazing how many things you have already covered to prepare you for your opponents."
