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Redshirt frosh McKinney leads Griz QB scramble
Montana Grizzlies’ football coach Mick Delaney may not be ready to name a starting quarterback – he has until the season opener after all – but he can’t deny Trent McKinney is playing like one.
McKinney, a redshirt freshman out of Hawaii, again took most of the snaps with the No. 1 offense at the Grizzlies’ Wednesday practice. He impressed while the Griz ran around in full pads for the fourth time this summer.
“Trent has obviously earned the spot he’s got right now – which is taking snaps with the ones,” Delaney said. “We’re still mixing Adam (Brzeczek) and Shay (Smithwick-Hann) with the ones occasionally and with the twos, but Trent has really stepped up in the first 11 practices.
“Like any position on the team, you compete every day. But he’s put himself in position where right now, where he’s working with the ones and he is No. 1.”
McKinney has gotten ahead with his combination of mobility and the ability to find the open man. In Tuesday’s late practice he led a couple sharp red zone drives, finding Sam Gratton with a TD pass to end one.
Delaney said a starter will be named ahead of the Sept. 1 opener against visiting South Dakota.
“There’s no doubt,” he said, adding that the decision is mostly offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach’s. “We will unless something unusual happens between now and then.”
Delaney still left the door open for a QB tag team along the lines of Andrew Selle and Justin Roper, who shared duties for parts of 2009 and 2010.
“Our goal starting out was to find who is No. 1 and initially we didn’t know if we’d maybe be playing with two guys,” Delaney said. “That could still happen because game situations are way different than what happens out here in the afternoons.
“Trent is where he is because he’s earned it, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to stay there forever. He’s going to have to come under fire and prove he can move this football team once we get into the football season – and we’ll go from there.”
* * *
Wednesday’s drills concluded with a “Rookie Bowl,” where mostly first- and second-year Griz go full contact. Brady Gustafson, a true freshman out of Billings West, took every snap – about 20 in all.
“It was good having Shay and Trent calling in plays,” said Gustafson, who stands 6-foot-6. “It was fun to be out there.
“It’s obviously different than high school football and a lot bigger time commitment. But it’s a challenge and fun to be here everyday with the mindset to improve.”
Gustafson’s best play was a pass into the flat that tight end Hayden Craig took for a long gain. It ended with a noisy collision with linebacker Brian Maus.
“I really liked the way he dropped his pads,” said Delaney of Craig. “That was good stuff.”
Gustafson, it should be noted, had the QB’s football sack after practice, complete with cloths to rub the shine off the new balls. That’s a sign he’s the low man in the hierarchy.
“Brady’s doing some really good things,” Delaney noted. “It’s one of those things that if Brady looks like he’s the second-best obviously he would move up and start taking those reps.
“But you have Shay who does not have a redshirt year left and you have Adam who does not have a redshirt year left, so you force feed both of them to continue to compete and they will do that. I thought Adam did some real good things today and Shay always does good things.”
* * *
Running back Jordan Canada, who wasn’t in pads for Tuesday’s late practice, returned to drills Wednesday.
A few other players, most notably offensive tackle Trevor Poole, receiver Bryce Carver and running back Brett Kirschner, did not.
Delaney didn’t offer much as far as timetables for their return.
“Well, you know, those are all day-to-day,” he said. “I don’t like to talk about injuries. We’ve got some guys that are out, and how long they’ll be out and what’s wrong with them – let’s keep that in-house. If they’re not ready, they’ll be in grey.”
QUICK KICKS: LB John Kanongata’a made a great interception of a McKinney pass in Wednesday’s drills, closing on a wind-blown ball and wresting it away from WR Cam Warren. … RB Joey Counts had a couple nice gains in the Rookie Bowl. … The Griz go twice again Thursday, at 8:30 a.m. and 7:45 p.m. … Their second scrimmage is still set for Saturday morning at roughly 10 a.m.
Redshirt frosh McKinney leads Griz QB scramble
Montana Grizzlies’ football coach Mick Delaney may not be ready to name a starting quarterback – he has until the season opener after all – but he can’t deny Trent McKinney is playing like one.
McKinney, a redshirt freshman out of Hawaii, again took most of the snaps with the No. 1 offense at the Grizzlies’ Wednesday practice. He impressed while the Griz ran around in full pads for the fourth time this summer.
“Trent has obviously earned the spot he’s got right now – which is taking snaps with the ones,” Delaney said. “We’re still mixing Adam (Brzeczek) and Shay (Smithwick-Hann) with the ones occasionally and with the twos, but Trent has really stepped up in the first 11 practices.
“Like any position on the team, you compete every day. But he’s put himself in position where right now, where he’s working with the ones and he is No. 1.”
McKinney has gotten ahead with his combination of mobility and the ability to find the open man. In Tuesday’s late practice he led a couple sharp red zone drives, finding Sam Gratton with a TD pass to end one.
Delaney said a starter will be named ahead of the Sept. 1 opener against visiting South Dakota.
“There’s no doubt,” he said, adding that the decision is mostly offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach’s. “We will unless something unusual happens between now and then.”
Delaney still left the door open for a QB tag team along the lines of Andrew Selle and Justin Roper, who shared duties for parts of 2009 and 2010.
“Our goal starting out was to find who is No. 1 and initially we didn’t know if we’d maybe be playing with two guys,” Delaney said. “That could still happen because game situations are way different than what happens out here in the afternoons.
“Trent is where he is because he’s earned it, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to stay there forever. He’s going to have to come under fire and prove he can move this football team once we get into the football season – and we’ll go from there.”
* * *
Wednesday’s drills concluded with a “Rookie Bowl,” where mostly first- and second-year Griz go full contact. Brady Gustafson, a true freshman out of Billings West, took every snap – about 20 in all.
“It was good having Shay and Trent calling in plays,” said Gustafson, who stands 6-foot-6. “It was fun to be out there.
“It’s obviously different than high school football and a lot bigger time commitment. But it’s a challenge and fun to be here everyday with the mindset to improve.”
Gustafson’s best play was a pass into the flat that tight end Hayden Craig took for a long gain. It ended with a noisy collision with linebacker Brian Maus.
“I really liked the way he dropped his pads,” said Delaney of Craig. “That was good stuff.”
Gustafson, it should be noted, had the QB’s football sack after practice, complete with cloths to rub the shine off the new balls. That’s a sign he’s the low man in the hierarchy.
“Brady’s doing some really good things,” Delaney noted. “It’s one of those things that if Brady looks like he’s the second-best obviously he would move up and start taking those reps.
“But you have Shay who does not have a redshirt year left and you have Adam who does not have a redshirt year left, so you force feed both of them to continue to compete and they will do that. I thought Adam did some real good things today and Shay always does good things.”
* * *
Running back Jordan Canada, who wasn’t in pads for Tuesday’s late practice, returned to drills Wednesday.
A few other players, most notably offensive tackle Trevor Poole, receiver Bryce Carver and running back Brett Kirschner, did not.
Delaney didn’t offer much as far as timetables for their return.
“Well, you know, those are all day-to-day,” he said. “I don’t like to talk about injuries. We’ve got some guys that are out, and how long they’ll be out and what’s wrong with them – let’s keep that in-house. If they’re not ready, they’ll be in grey.”
QUICK KICKS: LB John Kanongata’a made a great interception of a McKinney pass in Wednesday’s drills, closing on a wind-blown ball and wresting it away from WR Cam Warren. … RB Joey Counts had a couple nice gains in the Rookie Bowl. … The Griz go twice again Thursday, at 8:30 a.m. and 7:45 p.m. … Their second scrimmage is still set for Saturday morning at roughly 10 a.m.
