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Cibastian Broughton wore #11. He played a bit early-on, but the bulk of the QB time was allotted to Johnson and Finley. Expect to see Broughton on the field somewhere in 2025. If not QB, then WR...returns...he's too athletic to redshirt. Mike Johnson Jr. had a nondescript day. He played a lot. But didn't show much. He's a big kid. But looked either rusty, or unpolished. We'll see how he improves, and how Joe decides to utilize him, as the weeks progress. As Ben Finley goes in 2025, so do the Zips. He exhibited his typical deft touch on deep balls over the middle, hitting Alex Adams and Myles Walker for long TD's. He also tossed a couple of picks. Based on what I saw yesterday, Owen Wiley seems to have a leg up on the competition with Matt Schramm for the kicker position. Wiley was perfect on the day. Schramm would have been too, but missed from 43 yards out. Matt Schramm hits a 32 yarder. Justin Anderson, a Washington State transfer, pulled in an INT on an overthrown ball by Mike Johnson. Too bad it happened a stride or two out of by camera's view. 🤬 Isreal Polk has a quiet day. Here, he pulled one in from Mike Johnson. Marcel Williams, a Marshall transfer, couldn't get credit for this nice catch, as his foot landed on the sideline. Williams did have a legit 30 yard TD catch from Finley earlier in the day. First time I'd ever seen Johnny Brookhart on the playing field? No sign of Brayden Ruggow today. Not sure if he was injured? Cam Macon (Walsh transfer) took the next handoff into the endzone. It was his only carry of the game. The bulk of today's running game was handled by Jordan Gant, the Tennessee State transfer. Gant looks like a strong, serviceable back. #13 Sean Patrick also saw a fair amount of action. The scrimmage ended with Myles Walker snaring a 15 yard TD courtesy of a Ben Finley toss. #99 Owen Wiley puts pressure on Cibastian Broughton. Just kidding...that's something the Beacon Journal would do. 😁 THIS #99 is Jaiden Brown-Demery, a 6' 4", 310 pound true freshman from West Mifflin Pa. Big kid. Played with the 2nd unit. #4 Justin Anderson snagged an errant Finley pass and made a nifty return. A few photos above, he also picked Johnson. #21 Catrell White (DB) also had a nice day in the secondary. He had a couple break ups in addition to a Finley pick. General observations - Good energy today. For an 8 am start, all the guys were whooping it up and having a good time. After the scrimmage Joe gathered the team as midfield, and immediately stressed the importance of the guys getting their schoolwork done. One odd occurrence - #34 Braydon Johnson is a Grad transfer punter from Indiana State. He absolutely skyed a 42-ish yard punt, which hit the turf and jumped another 20 yards down field. I have to assume the 2025 punter job is Castle's, but he does appear to have some strong-legged competition. Wyoming is 2 1/2 weeks away!

It seems odd that they lost their tallest player (Okonkwo) and got bigger, but it works out that way.

If Connor is moving on to play somewhere else, we owe him big time for opening this roster spot. John: "Son, you know I love you right?" Connor: "Yes dad. I love you, too." John: "Awesome. Now get the hell out of here. I have a 6'8" Serbian sniper - basically the next Nikola Jokic - ready to commit and need the roster spot." (how that conversation went - probably)

They lost the MAC POY and improved, at least on paper.

Starting DL was- Dall Hull Laventure Durham

Ognjen Stankovic, 6'8" wing. Represented Serbia in 16u, 17u and 20u FIBA games. Has played 50 games on the Adriatic League over the last 2 seasons I haven't been this excited since Taylor Currie.

What an absolutely sensational debut for Malik Henry so very happy for the young man what a great pass

I’m curious as well. My guess is it’ll be Hull and Laventure—Hull being the best DT in the spring and Laventure subsequently earning the #1 jersey on defense.

Thank you for this. Any idea who the first string DT’s seemed to be? I assume Durham, Dall, and Cheatom will be primary rotation at DE..unless one of the JUCO guys are surprising, but we’re very unproven at DT.

I only hold second-hand information, but I understand Nathan Ferguson scored a first-half brace with an assist to Ashton Kamden. Lineup was Budler, Kamden and Pedro at wing backs. Daragh and Kossehasse center backs. Dreas, Borneo, Roman, Morck, Filsinger and Ferguson. I'll await the release of further secrets from our usual correspondents!

They generally don't publish the score or a game summary for exhibition games, probably at the coaches' request. It's strange considering the games are open to the public, but it's been that way the last few years at least. Anyways, the Zips won 2-0. Two goals from Ferguson in the first 22 minutes. The starters mostly came out at halftime and the 2nd half was a little disjointed as you may expect.

Watching the highlight videos I see a pretty versatile defender too. On occasion we come across a team with a very big point guard. It’s hard for Tavari and Young to hold off 6-5, 6-6 players from getting a head of steam. Marvin and this guy look to have the lateral quickness and size to make life difficult for them. Edit: Even though we haven’t seen Eric Mahaffey, I imagine he will be able to help guard these big point guards as well.

We'll be quite a bit bigger while maintaining a high level of athleticism. I expect our defense to be the same if not improved. Quite frankly, I think we're even more athletic this year. If everything comes to fruition with this Serb get, Akron will be scary.

Don't count your chicken's just yet. Still a bunch of paperwork to be approved.

Sounds like John's trip to Europe was fruitful. Anybody have more details?

Holy...

What in the world?