Monday 4/12 practice report.....

A pretty slow day on the Flats with few visitors & spectators. The energy level wasn't at its usual level which led to what was at times a sluggish practice. Roddy Jones & Tyler Melton did their best to get the team pumped up as practice began which brought a little more energy to the table. Overall it was a day dominated by the offense as the defense worked on installing more of our new 3-4 package. Some observations:

• Brad Jefferson in red with a "lower body" issue. Moving around well & doesn't look like anything serious. I wouldn't be surprised to see him back on Wednesday.
• A-back Robbie Godhigh off crutches & running which made me do a double take. After being carted off on Friday I definitely expected him to be done for spring. Not the case as he was running & making light cuts on the side. Surprised me & someone said he wants to come back on Wednesday. Great to see.
• Corey Earls in red, no clue the issue. He was making some headway on the depth chart IMHO & this doesn't help him at all. Got to play through the nagging stuff.
• Sean Poole has been punting the ball really well of late. Maybe a battle in the Fall at punter. During live drills Poole absolutely nailed one about 65 yards on the fly which got coach Kelly fired up. (Thanks to Hector of the North Avenue Bulletin for pointing this out).
• No depth chart changes excepting people filling in for injuries. Brandon Watts subbed for Jefferson today at Mike LB & Isaiah Johnson & Rod Sweeting got what is becoming their normal reps with the 1's today at safety & CB, respectively.
• True freshman Charles Perkins has moved from B-back & is now running with the A-backs. The move is designed to give Perkins a chance to play sooner rather than later as we are exceptionally deep at B-back. While he will remain there for the time being, I eventually see his future at B-back. I expect we may use him like we used Allen last year. Nice to have that big, bruising runner on the edge. He also has good hands. I think CPJ is looking to see if he can contribute this year at A-back due to the depth at B-back.
• Groh really added to the defense today as they tried new things including some new packages & some blitzes. Groh varied the calls from the sideline today & wasn't all that happy with the response. A lot of thinking & missed assignments out there today. No reason to worry as the transition will take time & include days like these. As I said earlier, the defense was slow to react today which caused for a long afternoon for them. We're certainly not at the point where things come naturally to them. We'll hopefully get there.....
• We again used a couple interesting offensive formations & plays. Some fun new wrinkles in store for the Fall if spring is any indication.
• Tevin had his first tough day of the spring today. During 11 vs. 11 he threw an errant pitch (his first of the spring) which was recovered by the defense & then followed that up with a wounded duck that was picked by Mario Butler. What impressed me was that instead of hanging his head Tevin worked his way out of the funk, ending practice with a couple nice plays including two TD passes & a TD run. It's a sign of his growing maturity that instead of getting down he fought through the funk to have a better day. He's becoming more polished and IMHO is our clear cut #2 right now. While many speculated before spring practice that Tevin would lose the number two job, if anything he's created distance between himself & the other two competitors, in my opinion.
• Jason Peters continues to play well at DE.
• Anthony Egbuniwe is coming on of late. After his best practice of the spring Saturday he ramped it up in 11 vs. 11 with 2 tackles behind the line & another disruptive play where he scraped down the line to make a nice tackle. He was the defensive standout today.
• Other than Tevin's errant pitch & pick it was pretty much all offense in 11 vs. 11 today. Watson ran very well today, with a long run in this portion & two more in goal line.
• Embry Peeples had a great open field cut block to spring Marcus for a long TD run, one of two for Wright on the day.
• David Sims up the middle on the option keeper for what would have been a long TD. Sims is deadly in the open field with both speed & moves. He also threw a perfect strike to Daniel Mckayhan later for a long TD. Sims showed good arm strength & touch on that ball as it travelled a good 45 yards in the air.
• Daniel McKayhan stood out today. In 11vs. 11 he snagged a high screen throw from Luallen then spun, beating the corner (Reid) for a long gain. With the offense backed up against their goal line in live scrimmage, Mckayhan beat his defender & caught a tremendous throw from Sims for a 90 yd TD. We need some WR's to step up....
• Omoregie Uzzi can be a force on the offensive line. He needs to get in a bit better condition but he can just maul people in the run game. Coach Sewak is generally quiet but got fired up today when Uzzi scooped the three technique then fired downfield & pancaked Sylvester. If he refines his techniques he can be GREAT in this offense. There won't be a lot of drop off from Cord Howard's All-ACC performance with Uzzi.
• Passing skeleton was interesting today as the defense implemented more of their package including mixing up the coverages & a couple of blitzes. Just so you get an idea skeleton as I refer to it is the offensive skill guys versus the 4 LB's & 4 DB's. Tevin had nice TD throws to Quentin Sims & Stephen Hill in this drill today. Skeleton also brought the first real displays of displeasure from coach Groh who was not pleased by the mental errors on the defense and let them know about it. If today was any indication, we're in for some great lines from Groh. A couple from today: "what the hell are you doing back there, eating a ham sandwich? Sure as hell looked like it." Followed closely by : "you're sinking like a rock in the ocean" to a certain defender. Glad I'm not in the next set of defensive meetings.....
• A live scrimmage followed with the offense beginning backed up on their own goal line. It was all offense in this one as they moved the ball well. Highlights were the previously mentioned Sims-McKayhan bomb, a couple bruising Watson runs, & a Tevin option keeper for a huge gain. It's rare you hear CPJ get fiery but at one point during this drill he yelled at the defense; "somebody needs to bow their damn neck". Izaan Cross obliged, blowing up an option play in the backfield for a loss. That was about the only defensive highlight.
• Tongo took a cheap shot on Bostic which drew the coaches ire as they were away for the play & there was little need for the hit.
• Isaiah Johnson can really bring the lumber. He's not overly big but he clearly likes to hit people. He's also a solid tackler.

A ragged day for the defense & my guess is the coaches wanted better tempo all around. They huddled around CPJ for a long time after practice & my guess is he had a few thoughts about today. There's no reason to be concerned with the poor showing by the defense today. We knew there would be days like this during the change over to the 3-4. How we respond on Wednesday will be a key question.....