Post Scrimmage Breakdown, Saturday 4/17

Headed over to Bobby Dodd on a lovely Saturday morning with Frank & Robespierre to watch the final scrimmage before T-day. Overall it was a little sloppy & I'm sure CPJ said something about getting things cleaned up after practice. Some nice individual efforts & some interesting things to note. Once again too many penalties:

Injuries: Watts in red (stinger) along with Richardson (finger) & Burnett (ankle). Jefferson back and Kyle Jackson doing non-contact drills AT SPEED for the first time in a LONG while. Encouraging & I'm cautiously optimistic.

Stephen Hill back after fouling on all 4 of his jumps at ACC's. Ron Cherry & crew giving us the business this morning. Lots of recruits here including one mammoth kid. Denzel McCoy here working some recruits & I thought I saw Ryan Ayers as well.

Some live punting started the morning & both Poole & Anderson looked good. Bostic & Mckayhan returning punts (Tarrant with the defense so I don't know if we should read anything into this).

Depth Chart: No changes on offense other than rotating B-backs. On defense Rocker split snaps with AT Barnes at Sam LB. Both Isaiah Johnson & Cooper Taylor getting reps at safety with the 1's. J.C. Lanier seeing some NT reps with the 2's. Sweeting had one series with the 1's.

Offense: some interesting plays & formations that are new or rarely seen were used today. Have to value the ball but I thought the offensive tempo was pretty good today. It's just so mesmerizing to watch this offense when it's on, which they were at times today.

Defense: the package is mostly in if today was any indication. Some different fronts including short yardage/goal line today. Multiple blitzes. We showed 4 separate coverages (0, 1, 2, & 3). Still a work in progress & it's hard to evaluate the defense as a whole right now, particularly against our offense. If I only had some film......

Possession 1 (all possession begin on the 20), only the highlights:1's vs. 1's. Tevin at QB
- Sylvester sacks Tevin on a pass play. Blitz
- Edwards gets a piece of Tevin's facemask for an obvious 15
-Allen for 15 on the dive
- Peters gets Allen for no gain on 2nd down
- 3rd down is a long incomplete pass down the sideline to Melton
-4th & 5: CPJ dials up the same play & this time catches the defense in a blitz. Butler has good coverage & knocks the ball in the air only to see Melton come down with a circus grab. Nice concentration.
- Allen dive TD from the 5

Possession 2 (Luallen, 2's vs 2's):
- Luallen nice triple for 12
- Cox continues to be stupid & drag people around for 9
- 3 consecutive midline's chew up 35 yds & Luallen goes in for the TD
- TJ Barnes getting creamed. Standing straight up on all 3. I'm losing my faith.....

Possession 3 (Tevin, 1's vs 1's):
- 1st play FUMBLE on the pitch as Wright can't handle a low ball. Walls recovers.

Possession 4 (Tevin, 1's vs 1's) various offensive formations here:
- 3 dives to Watson for 20 yds
- freeze option w/ counter tail motion is just wicked; Marcus against the flow for 25 yds
- Swing pass to Embry for 5 yds. Nice coverage & tackle by Sweeting.
- Peters gets Watson on the dive for no gain
- 3rd & 6: Watson again on the dive & is stuffed by several defenders led by Logan & Cross.
- 37 yd FG: high snap gets away from Chandler = CPJ expletives & a "do it again" - 2nd FG is made

Possession 5 (Sims, 2's vs. 2's):
-huge 40 yd reverse to Hill called back on a motion call. I can even hate Ron Cherry in the off-season. Who knew?
- Allen stufffed twice on dive.
3rd & 8: Sims finds Quentin Sims on a 12 yd completion
-Sims keeper for 20 yds up the middle. He can really motor & is dangerous when he get loose.
- Sims keeps for 15 on the triple
- 3 consecutive Allen dives take the ball to the 2.
- Sims in the B gap = TD

Possession 6 (Tevin, 1's vs 1's):
-2 incompletions & a triple for 3 yards
- 4th & 7: FUMBLE after the hit & Peters ends up with the rock rumbling for the endzone

Possession 7 (Luallen, 2's vs 2's):
- Lanier stuffs Watson on the dive. Nice play by JC on the nose
- 2 incompletions
- 4th & 6: Luallen back to pass. Munroe blitzing doesn't wrap up & bounces off Jordan who is then swarmed under. That's on the line & it was pretty athletic for Luallen to keep his feet.

Possession 8 (Tevin, 1's vs 1's):
-another reverse to Hill but this time Peters is home & makes a GREAT open field tackle for only a 4 yard gain. That's a 275 pound guy making a tackle in space. Peters is ballin'.
- Lucas rumbles for a 1st down on consecutive carries.
-Nice play by Egbuniwe to get Tevin from the backside on a triple
- Tevin keeps on the triple for 15: called back on a Melton hold
- Cox is simply stupid at this point taking Reese & Sylvester for 9 yds AFTER CONTACT. Reese was around his waist & Sylvester on his back. It's almost funny watching people try & tackle him at this point.
- Marcus sees a huge lane on the pitch &.......drops it as he was looking into the crease. FUMBLE. Would have been a huge play.

Possession 9 (Sims, 2's vs. 2's):
- 3 consecutive Allen dives for 20 yds
- Sims with a tough keep on the option for 8 yds
- Godhigh on the speed pitch for 6. Isaiah Johnson closes in a hurry & lays a lick on Godhigh. Johnson continues to be around the ball & a very sure tackler
- Sims jukes a LB on the midline for 10
- after a Watson dive Sims over the B-gap for a TD

Possession 10 (Tevin, 1's vs 1's):
- triple to Embry for 10 yds. Nice read by Tevin & great block by Roddy on the edge. Roddy continues to block very well on the perimeter, probably why he isn't seeing so much of the ball.
- Speed pitch to Embry for 30 yds called back on a Hill hold.
- Perfect triple to Orwin for 30 yds. Tevin once again holds the ball until the defender commits & at the last second makes the pitch. Really nice play by Washington to get across the defender's face & force him to commit while opening the lane up. Just like it's drawn up.
- Allen gets popped by Jefferson on a dive & his helmet flies off. Gladiator is in the middle of everything & is a real force out there. It would take too much time to write about all the dives he's stuffed....
- while Allen is getting the helmet fixed Cox powers for 15
- freeze option to Orwin for TD
- very well executed drive by Tevin. Nice tempo & great reads. Well done

Possession 11 (Luallen, 2's vs. 2's):
-Paige for 8 on sweep
- Luallen midline for 8
- on the triple Perkins goes for 18 yds after Bostic cuts Isaiah in the open field. Great block
- swing pass catches the safety blitzing & Paige jukes Sweeting in the flat then goes for 20
- Cox 10 yds on the dive for the TD

Possession 12 (Tevin, 1's vs. 1's):
-3rd & 1: we pass & Egbuniwe crushed Tevin on a blitz forcing a fumble which Tarrant recovers. If we pass on 3rd & 1 this year I will stand on North Ave. in drag. No worries, not gonna happen.

Possession 13 (Tevin, 1's vs. 1's)
- O-line beginning to exert its will 7 dominate
- Tevin gets 6 on a option keeper & another 15 for a horse collar.
- an Orwin freeze option for 10 yds is sandwiched between 5 Watson dives & then #32 finishes the drive with a TD.

Possession 14 (Conant, 3's vs 3's):
- Bostic takes a triple to the house for 80 yds. Great cut back in spave & he can motor. Goes in pulling away from the defense

Possession 15 (Conant, 3's vs. 3's):
- errant option pitch from Conant is scooped up by Lockhart & taken for a TD

Some good, some bad today. On defense Jefferson & Peters really stood out as they have all spring. Johnson continues to impress but can't get too enamored of hitting people. On offense Allen & Cox looked good as did Bedford. Tevin had some nice reads & plays with his feet. Seems like Rocker is gaing on AT Barnes. Here's hoping the weather stays good for T-day.....