Another Saturday, another lengthy scrimmage on The Hill. Here are some of the things that we noticed.
On a day when the defense didn’t show the intensity of last Saturday’s scrimmage, they actually were responsible for the first score. Defensive tackle Lavunce Askew (6-3, 290) rumbled 59 yards for a TD after catching the ball in mid-air when it slipped out of the hand of Ryan Mallett.
Overall, Mallett really didn’t have one of his better days. (Although his scrimmage stats were still huge…31 of 51 for 380 yards.)
It’s obvious that the coaches are doing a balancing act right now with Mallett: pushing him to improve his “total package,” while also determining what he does best so they can adjust their game planning appropriately.
Tyler Wilson showed again today that, in the shotgun, he can pick a defense apart. But unfortunately, he seems to have gotten worse under center (if that’s possible) since camp started. Today it wasn’t necessarily fumbled snaps, but a slowness in receiving the snap.
It’s like Wilson is telling himself at the snap: “Okay…I’ve got the ball…now I can run the play.” And while we suppose that’s progress over fumbling, that slight hesitation can throw off the timing of a play and make for sloppy execution.
Freshman running back Ronnie Wingo, Jr. continues to look more comfortable running the football. He is fast, elusive and starting to learn when to pick his holes and when to turn on the jets. Based on what we’ve seen out of Wingo so far, we’re moving him up on our depth chart.
Of all the plays ran today, we did note an interesting one. On a third down and short yardage, tailback De’Anthony Curtis was inserted at fullback and, after a play-action fake, dropped into the flat for a 32-yard TD catch. Nice.
Overall, the offensive line is looking solid. But the block of the day was made by…Ryan Mallett? On a sweep play to the left, running back Dennis Johnson reversed his field back to the right. Mallett was just standing there and then, well, he sort of…uh…JACKED UP unsuspecting defensive end Chris Berezansky. Kind of unfair when the defense isn’t allowed to sack the quarterback, huh?
Receiver Carlton Salters had a great day today, catching nearly everything thrown his way. Salters appears to be the early season possession receiver the Hogs will need while Lucas Miller heals from surgery on a broken collarbone.
The secondary didn’t have their best day as a group today. But one thing is for sure…the defensive backs should be getting enough pressure from this offense to be ready for the passing teams the Hogs will face this year.
As for special teams, there was more emphasis today on ‘game situations’ with kickoffs and punts executed full speed. Joe Adams sparkled for an 85-yard punt return TD after a poor line drive punt by Briton Forester. It also appeared that several backup players were given a chance to step up and earn a spot on both the kicking and return teams.
After today’s 170+ play, 3+ hour scrimmage, Bobby Petrino joked (well…we think it was a joke) that he still wanted to go “a few more series.” The man is downright relentless.
But we love the organization and attention to detail this staff displays. There is no doubt they will have this team ready to play in two weeks.
HogBaller and TipsterHog also contributed to this post.
ugh. I'm VERY nervous about our defense. The SEC isn't a league where you can get by on outscoring your opponents. I don't want to start hating on the d-coordinator, but is it that we don't have players or do we not have the correct play calling? There were so many times last year where the defensive play calling was ridiculous…I hope we can get better fast. Casey Dick was able to light up this defense like this last year and Mallet should be a huge upgrade…I've said that before but I think it's worth noting.
In last summer's scrimmages, Casey Dick completed around 57% of his passes (in line with his season average) for about 7 yards an attempt and 12-13 yards per completion (above his season averages). No matter the situation, Dick wasn't able to be that accurate. When in doubt, throw it up for grabs, seemed to be Dick's conditioned response.
If you look to see who's on the field for defense, they are familiar faces. If the defense can't get better athletes on the field because it takes so long to learn the system, then the system is overly complex, and the defense isn't benefiting from complexity in the least, is it.
Randy, my point regarding dick was that he would throw for 300 yards in scrimmages, similar to what mallett is doing now. And our defense last year was at the bottom of the sec. So either the defense is improved and mallet is great, or the d can't play the pass regardless if who the qb is. I hope it's the former rather than the latter.
I’d say the defense is still much improved over last years defense.
Last year, everyone was just trying to survive, as Petrino would put it, but this fall camp, everyone seems to be on the same page.
There’s more to the offense this year than just Mallet being a major upgrade at the QB position. The O-line, being in their 2nd year in the system, are better at protecting the QB, combined with the fact that Mallett has a quiker release. Both he an Wilson are more comfortable in the pocket making decisions than Casey Dick ever was at any time last season.
Also, you have a great stable of WRs coming back this year who are bigger, stronger, deeper and more experienced than any group I can ever remember at the UofA.
The defenses run-stopping ability was terrible last season. They’ve already shown in last Saturday’s scrimmage they’re much better in that catagory than last season. They also achieved that status against very talented RBs.
Who in the SEC, other than Florida, has more talent at the RB position? Can anyone name just 1 more team?
Our defense won’t be great this season, but I think we’ll grade out pretty well against most of the competition.
One of the reasons for the 2nd team offense success against the 1st team defense lies in the offensive line. When you have guys like Matt Hall (6-9,328), Zhamal Thomas (6-5,343), Anthony Oden (6-8,328) and Alvin Bailey (6-5,323) manning your second O-line, those guys aren’t going to be pushed around. I don’t care how young they are, they’re good…going to be great.
The defense just needs their share of guys like the four listed above…and right now they don’t have enough. D.D. Jones is the only freshman/newcommer D-lineman that looks ready to help.
I hope Gonzo is right and the D is “much improved”. Right now I would describe it as “marginally improved”. When they play with great energy and emotion like they did in the first scrimmage, they’re good. When they don’t…it looks like it did yesterday.
I think a lot of these scrimmages are scripted by the coaches with their designed scheems. Both sides of the ball have to gain a certain amount of confidence in themselves, so with that being said, it's really no suprise to me at all that both the offense and the defense have had their fair share of moments in the limelight, along with their share of bad momments as well.
I believe if the defense stays healthy for the most part, especially on the D-line, they'll peak as the season plays out.
Like I said, I don't believe the D will be great, but I do believe they'll hold their own. Just an opinion.
Sunshine,
I agree with your asessment on the O-line, compared to the D-line.
We simply don’t have enough studs on the D-line. That’s why I was so disappointed when Calvin Barnett recently commited to OSU. I really wanted to sign that kid.
Even though he still could very well change his mind as the season goes on, he’s been evaluating his list of schools pretty thourghly for some time now, so that makes me believe it’ll be hard for any school to change his mind about joining the Cowboys.
Maybe if we’re lucky, he’ll see that bigtime defenses don’t exist in the Big 12, unless you play for OU or Texas.
The SEC is the place to be, baby!
A lot of "flashy" new facilities over at Oklahoma State now. They are a legit player now because of the $$$.
Let's give the defense and Robinson a chance. We have not recruited well for defense for many years. As we get better players in here, we will start to see a difference. i don't think dumbing down the scheme is the answer. That was Reggie's answer: play the same scheme on every play and that reluctance to adjust hurt us at times. Let's give this some time. Luckily, Bobby P. is not likely to respond to the whims of the fans. I like the fact that he doesn't cater to us. He just does his job and the man is such a perfectionist you can be sure he isn't keeping Robinson around to keep from hurting his feelings. Its going to be a fun year. Go Hogs.
I agree with Gonzo and Carolina on the D (I also have to wonder how much of the ‘dis-satisfaction’ with this unit could be a motivational ploy). Let’s wait and see whet the defense looks like live before we set out to crucify anyone.
I don’t think any team in the SEC has more talent at the RB position, not even Florida. Georgia might have, had Moreno stayed (but then their lack of comparable depth would still be an issue). However, if Michael Smith doesn’t get injured last year, I think he takes the rushing crown in the SEC so…we have the best RB corps in the SEC.
We're getting some pretty good love from some of the football anlysts around the SEC.
I was listening to the Bo Mattingly show earlier today, and I heard where some guy was saying that Ryan Mallett and Micheal Smith were possibly the best QB/RB combo in the SEC. Those are some pretty lofty statements if you ask me, but I like it.
Also, getting back to the defense, I also listened in on their conversation about how the defense looked in the scrimmage on Saturday.
According to Trey Biddy, the defensive play-calling was basic. There wasn't any stunts or blitzes, and the QBs were off-limits to taking hits.
Add those 3 things to the list, like you would have against a real opponent, and I believe the D looks completely different. It also gives them more to play for. We've already seen the improvement in the run-defense from last Saturday's scrimmage, and we already know the pass-defense will have to be developed as the season progresses, so I believe we'll rely on a defensive package more diverse early in the season, with lots of different looks, blitzes, stunts and pass coverages with a nickle-back.
We're going to have to keep the offenses guessing early in the season as we bring along our young DBs like Darius Winston and David Gordon.
The way Rudell Crim has been scrimmaging, i'd be suprised if he isn't starting in the Missouri St. game, especially with Issac Madison out for the season. What sux about Madison is that he was probably the most improved player on our team and most likely our best CB so far.
Our young DBs will have to develope much faster now.