-Drew Suppes
Day 2 of spring practices in the bubble. Shorts and helmets.
Here are a few observations from today’s practice:
- I’ve only seen Denver Johnson (the new offensive line coach) twice in action, but I already love the guy. I don’t know what fires me up more about him–his high white socks, or the fact that he stands on the blocking sled during drills. He seems like a very good hands on, technique kind of coach.
- It’s a great sight to see the 14 healthy offensive linemen participating in drills this spring. It’s hard to believe that two springs ago, we only had 6 offensive line to work with.
- I think it is safe to say that Rodney Stewart and Brian Lockridge are healthy. They both are making good cuts and show no signs of setbacks. I remember last season, Coach Hagan saying that Speedy is the type of guy that could make you miss in a phone booth. It’s good to see B-Lock going at full speed…in fact, I’ve determined that the guy has 2 speeds: stop, and really fast.
- Freshman linebacker Jon Major has been participating in position drills, but is being kept out of any 7-on-7′s or 11-on-11 drills as he recovers from a torn ACL last Fall.
- I keep hearing about how redshirt freshman LB Doug Rippy passes the “eye test”, and I couldn’t agree more. At 6’1″, 230lbs, he does not look like he is one year removed from high school. With his size and mobility, it will be hard to keep him off the field this year.
- The QB cams were in full effect for all of practice today. All three quarterbacks are getting plenty of reps and opportunities at this point. No one has separated themselves from the others. One thing that I’ve noticed is that Coach Helfrich is putting the QB’s through a lot of drills to get their throws up and avoid passes batted down at the line. This will also help in trying to get the ball over your 6’8″ guard, Ryan Miller.
- Despite being in just shorts and helmets, the team participated in a few good minutes of 11-on-11 drills. From what I saw, the first unit consisted of Eugene Goree, Will Pericak, Marquez Herrod, B.J. Beatty, Marcus Burton, Jeff Smart, Travis Sandersfeld, Jimmy Smith, Ben Burney, Anthony Perkins, and Patrick Mahnke. Rippy, Mike Sipili and Shaun Mohler rotated in as well. Keep in mind, no depth chart has been released and the CSU game is 156 days away, so by no means does this indicate who is going to be on the field come this Fall.
- There was a little scare midway through practice, when Josh Smith collided with Lockridge coming from opposite directions (both going at full speed) in one on one drills. It didn’t appear to be anything serious as both players returned to practice.
- In punting drills, Josh Smith, Stewart, Scotty McKnight, Ryan Maxwell, Jason Espinoza, and Kyle Cefalo all took turns fielding kicks.
- Taking care of the ball was a theme in today’s practice, as the defense was encouraged to strip the ball, instead of tackling the offensive player. The Buffs committed 24 turnovers, and had 17 takeaways in 2008.
- To end practice, the offense owed four gassers for committing four turnovers. Coach Hawkins offered the offense a chance to redeem themselves by pairing one offensive lineman against one defensive lineman. If the o-lineman kept the d-lineman away from the quarterback it was one less gasser. Visa versa, and the offense would have one more gasser.
- The first matchup: Bryce Givens vs. Pericak–Givens won.
- The second matchup: Ryan Miller vs. Taj Kaynor–Miller won.
- The third matchup: Matt Bahr vs. Goree–Bahr won.
- The final matchup: Nate Solder vs. Herrod–Solder won.
- Senior nickleback Cha’pelle Brown was suited up but did not participate in any drills, along with freshman safety Paul Vigo, and sophomore cornerback Jonathan Hawkins. It’s uncertain if it was for health or disciplinary reasons.
Next practice is tomorrow (4/3) at 4:00pm.
Previous Practice(s):
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