Notes from Scrimmage

[Dr Z]

CK has more notes when he gets time, but I'll start.

 

Interviewing coach after the scrimmage he mentioned that "we have a real QB competition going on." I saw the same as he did, both QB's looked good to me. 

 

Grad transfer Walter Brady was in uniform and played some. According to coach he will play defensive end. He is wearing #56 and is in the first photo here. I think our defensive line might surprise some this year. I think we are going to have a nice rotation. Dylan Meeks had two tfls. 

 

The offensive line of Sample, Ritz, Peterson, Council, and Brown were opening some inside holes for some nice runs on first down.

 

Akron track hurdler Brandon Michell has apparently been working hard on catching balls. He came up with some nice catches yesterday, and looks to be a big tall 6'7" target that runs well. He is wearing #81. Others I noticed playing WR yesterday included McGriff, Scippio, Stewart, Dixon, Williams. MTB was in uniform, and warmed up, but didn't play this week.

 

Keyondre White runs hard. Deltron got some carries yesterday. Van looked good. Suggs played well. Abraham Alce didn't play (minor injury).

 

Redshirt freshman TE Maverick Wolfey is going to be active in the offense, he has a talent that can't be ignored. 

 

Denzel Butler was out this week, but was very active helping the younger guys on the sideline. Alvin Davis played CB to fill in. An anonymous coach told me Alvin was just playing there because they wanted to get there best 11 on the field for now. "Alvin is such a good football player, he can play anywhere." Redshirt freshman db, Jordyn Riley is impressive in my opinion. He stood out to me. Freshman DB Rich Hall is a physical player. 

 

The defense caused multiple turnovers yesterday. Not a good day for field goal kicking. 
 

 

[Blue & Gold]

Thank you, Dr. Z.

 

It's nice to have a legit competition at QB. It'll be good for Kato, though I anticipate Ramart being our QB of the future, even if it's not this season.

 

I'm glad to hear you say Jordyn Riley stuck out to you. His highlight film (I know, I know) stuck out to m we as well. He's shifty with smooth hip movement, has long arms and can jump out of the gym.

[Captain Kangaroo]

My belated scrimmage notes -

 

Beautiful day for football. Sunny, but not too hot. The team was in good spirits as they took the field accompanied by a sound system blasting mostly hip-hop tunes. 

 

The scrimmage was offense/defense (not a split squad). 1's vs. 1's, 2's vs. 2's, etc. for the bulk of the day.

 

The first score of the day was a 60+ yard pass from Ramart to Malik Woodridge. It was a blown coverage, but the throw was 40 yards in the air, and on-the-money. Ramart showed great poise and accuracy all day long. Deep balls and short routs were equally sharp. Had a nice hard count that drew the defense offside. He did a lot of good things.

 

Scippio apparently got his required test scores. He is bigger than I anticipated. He made a couple catches, but also dropped what would have been a 20 yard gainer from Ramart. He looks like the real deal. 

 

Jest played with the second D-line. He was in the backfield several times and looks much more svelte than during his first stint with the Zips. 

 

While there was a lot of positives to be taken from the scrimmage, one glaring negative was the 1-4 conversion rate on FG's from O'Leary. Kicks were between 30 and 45 yards.  I mentioned to Dr. Z that "If Gasser never kicks a field goal this season, we'll have a great year." If things don't improve, Gasser could be our opening day kicker. Not ideal. Field goal kicking will definitely be something to watch as the summer camp moves forward.

 

James King is #32, and seemed to be working his way towards some PT. He started with the 3rd group, but played some with the second group as the scrimmage progressed. 

 

Keyondre White is a strong runner. He moves the pile and finishes his runs. 

 

If Deltron Sands can stay healthy, he'll get 1,000 yards this year. Man does he have a burst of speed once he hits the line.  He's a special, "next level" back, but he's got to stay healthy. He had a really nice 12 yard run, but took a good hit at the end and fumbled. 

 

And what would an early camp scrimmage be without a scuffle? Maverick Wolfley turned the corner at the goal line and put a good lick on Jordan George as he scored what looked to be a TD. The collision got the guys a little fired up. The referees marked the ball just short of the goal line, and as the players lined up, a little smack talk broke into a mild wrestling match between Kato Nelson and Justin Sampson. It was quickly diffused, and the coaches let the players know in no uncertain terms that fighting wouldn't be tolerated. Ramart got his reps with the starters as Kato was benched for a short while. Later in the scrimmage Kato jogged over to the defensive side and seemed to apologize to Sampson. Kato did eventually get back on the field and all was forgotten.

 

Kato did some good things on the day. He was especially efficient and smooth in the red zone.  

 

Kwad caught a 30 yard slant from Ramart and showed a few nice juke moves after the catch. While he's relied upon his speed to get open for the bulk of his Zips career, he looks like he's going to be a much more well- rounded receiver this season.

 

Both Suggs and White got a lot of work. Getting the newcomers a chance to show what they can do was a primary focus of this scrimmage. Said Bowden afterwards "We've got eight to ten guys that are new. We want to get those guys to get the ball...to get them on the field...so we can see what we've got. We have to see if they're someone that can help us right away. After this week we're going to be getting into our game preparation (for Nebraska). You want to see Suggs, you want to see MJ (McGriff) you want to see Brimmage at wideout...guys like Scippio and Jonah Morris. On defense it's a little different, with 9 returning starters, but we certainly wanted to see what Walter Brady can do."

 

I'd mentioned Brandon Mitchell previously. 6' 6" 220 lb wide out that got a lot of PT on Saturday. He originally tried out for the football team 4 years ago. He had difficulty catching the ball, so he opted to join Dennis Mitchell's track team. Per NCAA rules, if you play 4 years of a given sport, starting as a true freshman, you can play a different sport in your 5th year. So Brandon decided to give football another try. The staff told him "If you want to play football, come out every day and catch 70 - 100 balls." Brandon put in the work, and here he is. He showed the results of his efforts in a nice 15 yard catch courtesy of walk-on TJ Deshields. He also had a nice climb-the-ladder catch in the corner of the end zone that was ruled incomplete. I'm convinced replay would have overruled it. But how nice will it be for the Zips to have a 6' 6" wide out, with hops, in the red zone?! He'll be a fun one to watch in scrimmage #2.

 

Dylan Meeks spent time with the 3rd and second units. He was frequently in the backfield disrupting plays.  He had a really solid scrimmage. Said Bowden on Meeks - "He's so steady. You know he started for Dr. Phillips, and outstanding high school in Orlando as a 9th grader. He's been a state wrestling champ. He's such a smart kid...I don't think he's had a "B" in his life. He's just got such great smarts and ability. There are guys that look more explosive than him, but when it's all said and done he makes plays."

 

How did Walter Brady get to Akron? He decided somewhat late to leave MTSU and try to hook up with a Power 5 program. Unfortunately the late timing meant there were no scholarships to be had. MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill, a former QB at Florida State under Bobby Bowden,  gave Terry a call to let him know of Brady's situation. Now he's a Zip. Says coach Bowden "Walter's a hands down guy. Having him on one side, and Jamal (Davis) on the other really creates a 'vise.' But I want to mention Reinke's looked really good, Josh Ward has looked really good, Sampson's playing outstanding...we have a lot of nice options at defensive end right now."

 

Bubba Arslanian did not participate. He had a massive bandage on his lower leg. He was walking ok, so I'd guess it is nothing major. Devanier Floyd was also out with a minor injury.

 

Too many turnovers on the day. But it tough to say whether it was due to bad offense, or a good, ball-hawking defense. Hopefully the latter.

[72 Roo]

Dr. Z, did you see if Burkhart is in the mix at WR? I thought he was touted as a local talent that was going to find a way to get on the field, but I have heard nothing of him so far.

[94zipgrad]

9 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

Dr. Z, did you see if Burkhart is in the mix at WR? I thought he was touted as a local talent that was going to find a way to get on the field, but I have heard nothing of him so far.

He is a #1 on depth chart attached, wasn’t at scrimmage so I can’t answer if he participated or not but I think he may be nursing a minor injury, @Dr Z may know more

[LZIp]

Good stuff guys. Thanks for the write ups. Doesn't seem like Morris is doing much huh? Maybe pretty realistic though as he hasn't played WR in 2 years.

[Dr Z]

11 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

Dr. Z, did you see if Burkhart is in the mix at WR?

I'm pretty sure he caught passes in warmups. I might have a photo. I don't remember him in the scrimmage. 

[CDMac]

2 hours ago, 94zipgrad said:

but I think he may be nursing a minor injury

Burkhart was dressed out but didn't play in the scrimmage. He's coming off a small tweak so I guess they're just being cautious with anyone who's a little banged up.

 

I finally got a day without rain yesterday and took advantage by mixing and pouring concrete for the pillars for a deck for our house.

 

Because of that, I have not gotten around to posting my thoughts from scrimmage. I'll try to get that done later today.

[Blue & Gold]

And we're still awaiting @Captain Kangaroo 's summary as well!  I've got to get a life.  Here I am on vacation at the beach & my primary concern is still reading about Zips football. Lol

[Dr Z]

8 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

And we're still awaiting @Captain Kangaroo 's summary as well! 

Refresh, and look up in this thread. 

[CDMac]

My thoughts from the scrimmage on 11 August 2018

 

I don't have much to add on the QB position/competition as it’s been fully covered by others’ comments, the article by George Thomas in the ABJ, and comments by  Coach Bowden himself.

I will say that the QB room has a different energy than last year. They are enjoying the competition and each other, and are pushing each other to get better.

 

They held several guys out of the scrimmage; I’m assuming that’s just precautionary.

(Mykel Traylor-Bennett, Dustin Burkhart, Bubba Arslanian, Nick Johns, and Abraham Alce were some that I noted though I’m sure there were others). Bubba told me he has some turf burn under the gauze bandage that Captain Kangaroo mentioned so I think they’re just wanting that to heal.

 

As has been mentioned, Justin Sampson really popped – He’s put on some good size and he’s got a great first step. I hear he plays the power read very well because he’s so fast/quick.

 

Captain Kangaroo mentioned the kicking woes. I wonder if they are working on mechanics/trying different things. Some kicks had plenty of leg but went wide right or left. Others looked great but didn’t have the length.

 

I was very excited to see Keyondre White run the rock and he did not disappoint. Most notably, they brought him in for several short yardage plays, among others he was in the lineup for, and he was able to move the pile.

The ABJ article suggested that the running game hit a brick wall of a defense but I felt like they were rather productive collectively regardless of the total yards accumulated. Specifically, both 1st team and 2nd teams were gaining good yards on early downs. It wasn’t exclusive and the defense definitely blew up a few plays but generally speaking I was impressed with the running backs and the OLs in front of them.

 

The tight end position appears to be one they are really trying to integrate into the offense. It’s been reported that Darryl Long suffered an injury and losing his dynamic playmaking ability with his height advantage and huge catch radius will be a negative but Junk and Wolfley look prepared to add depth with Newman Williams and Nick Johns rounding out the room. Not sure who will be the day one started but they all have some ability. Personally, I like Maverick’s “nasty” but Newman appears to be a more polished blocker at this point. It’s good to have options.

 

It was great to see them utilize Brandon Mitchell in the red zone on a jump ball fade. Everyone in the stadium, including one of the refs, thought the ball from Ramart was a TD. They somehow ruled it was incomplete but I don’t know if that was a “bobbling the ball”, “not securing it through contact with the ground”, or some other nonsensical NFL application of the pass catch rule. Regardless of the outcome, having that option is nice as it will force defenses to play him differently and we can take advantage of the mismatch on the goal-line. Additionally, I hear he’s a great kid and is working hard.

 

TB mentioned “competition” at various positions and I think there are real battles going on for the following:

 

QB

TE

RB

WR

 

The defense is pretty much locked down but with so many new/young faces on offense, these battles will continue to be a focus for the remainder of camp.

 

In TB’s interview with Joe Dunn the other day, he mentioned that by the end of this week, they’d be getting into game prep.

I assume that Saturday’s scrimmage may reflect the outcome of some of those battles based on who gets the bulk of #1 reps.

[Dr Z]

On 8/12/2018 at 9:31 PM, 72 Roo said:

Dr. Z, did you see if Burkhart is in the mix at WR? I thought he was touted as a local talent that was going to find a way to get on the field, but I have heard nothing of him so far.

I'm guessing this was yesterday's practice.

 

 

[PeachZip]

Newman Williams is a grown man, and if I was going to war or a street fight he is the one. He has and will do fine at TE, Just like the day he started  in Norman, Ok 3 years ago, and so will Brandon Junk. They all have endured at the TE position. It is a shame about Darryl Long, great young man, he will be back hopefully for a 6 year. Wish these guys the best!

[CDMac]

53 minutes ago, PeachZip said:

Newman Williams is a grown man

Indeed, and I think he's the best option right now. It's good to see the younger guys doing well, too, and hopefully the TE position will be more of a focal point in the offense. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

Hope Newman can stay healthy. 

[CDMac]

=== Funny story from the scrimmage ===

 

There was a play in which #12 and #35 were on the field together and #11 was the RB.

 

They run a RPO and #12 sees #35 break open behind the LBs so he tries to pull the ball to fire it over the middle to a wide open Williams.

 

Story goes that Williams tells the QB, "man I was wide open...." and QB replies, "I saw you man, I just couldn't get the ball back from Key" (or something to that effect)