Huge thanks to Ratboy18 for letting me go in his place (crazybuckfan40 - joe... went as well; he contributed a lot to this writeup).
The jersey scrimmage is typically closed to the public, but subscribers of coachtressel.com got in for free. Ratboy is one of those, but could not be there.
Please rep ratboy18.
crazybuckfan40 too :p
-----
The first guy we watched was #8, who caught 1 out of 30 balls. Hoewver, #8 was white, 2'6" tall and 40 lbs
Conclusions:
-----------
Defense reloading: we are light years ahead of where I expected. Our coverage was excellent all day long, despite utilizing "nobodies" like former walkon Smith and journeyman Roberts. Our starting LBs (Free, Laur, Kerr) are ready to go. We will not replace the 05 D, at least not right away, but the rumors of a green D are greatly overstated.
Run D okay, Pass D strong: this was the opposite of what many, including myself, expected.
QB's all rusty: none looked comfortable, tho most had one series and then sat for 3, which is tough to do. Once Robbie got some back-to-back drives, he became much more consistent.
OL ???: Hard to judge. Barton/Datish did not play, and Boone was practicing with the second team (tho his pass protection was suspect). So the only starters on the 1st team were TJ Downing and John Skinner, both of whom seemed solid (tho I spent more time watching the tackles).
Recruiting rankings mean nothing: Russell, Robiskie, Washington, Jenkins, etc.
Impressive:
-----------
Robbie Schoenhoft: Absolute cannon, came on strong once he got into a rhythm... but his elusiveness is incredible! His presence and scrambling is like a stronger Krenzel. He must have eluded a dozen sacks if not more. He did force two ugly INTs, but he is not our starter... so I am extremely high on the potential he showed today.
CWells: (19 carries for 90) Superstar in the making. Very fast and strong, but his vision is what is truly special. They ran from the shadow of their own goalline a few times. Once, he paused, waited for a hole, and exploded through it (very reminiscent of Edge). Another time he hit the hole, stiffarmed a tackler to teh ground and exploded for 25+ yards (nullified by a hold which occurred after he picked up 15). Bounced another carry outside for 20 yards. He did fumble too often, but that can be fixed.
MWells: (13 carries for 50) Playing a LOT stronger and following blocking well. Outstanding play where he lowered the boom to two excellent tacklers and then proceeded to drive a 3 man pile upfield.
EHaw: (14 carries for 90) Solid most of the day, then broke open a gigantic zone read TD. Made his cutback at first, then continued it all the way across the field and then exploded to the corner with outstanding speed.
Brian Robiskie: Robo (nickname per Rob Sims) is going to push Hall very hard for the #3 spot. Great separation, moves, hands... very good WR.
Brian Hartline: #5 due to depth, not lack of talent. Very good separation, and held onto the ball 4 times during huge hits. Those who questioned his durability might want to reconsider.
DL: Gholston was dominant, JRich, Barrow were disruptive, Patterson/Penton were in the backfield often, and Abdallah, Denlinger were disruptive. There really wasn't a single DL that did not have a few excellent plays.
Starting LBs: Free is an animal, and Laur looked better than last fall. Kerr is not great in coverage but fills at the mike position quite nicely.
Homan: great reads, always around the ball, needs a little more weight tho.
Terry: impressive, especially at the leo position gaining penetration often.
A Smith: possibly our best corner, looks like another good OSU db... you wouldn't imagine he was a walkon until this year. Did a very good job covering Ginn all day long, never being out of position and keeping Ginn from picking up YAC on quick hitters.
Anderson Russell: Second team FS, was all over the field, deflecting passes, stopping the run, recovering a fumble and sacking the QB. This kid was a huge pickup.
DBs: Jenkins solid, but great stuff from Smith, Roberts, Russell, good play from JamO, Patterson and Washington
Pretorious: he is gonna be very good, very accurate and has a huge leg
Struggled:
---------
Boone: great run blocking, beaten often in pass protection
Lyons: Looked like a WR playing safety
Zwick: held onto the ball too long in the pocket, behind his WRs too often, #4 QB on the field today (tho all of the qbs seemed out of rhythm)
Passing Game: the OL blocking was shaky, and the first half of the scrimmage saw 4 average QBs at best. Barton sat out and Datish has a non-serious injury, IIRC.
Ginn at QB: there's a reason we don't run this pass. Awful throw by teddy on a wr reverse, but it sure was an exciting duck
Good but overhyped:
--------------------
Dukes: He lands in this spot due to his hype. He's a solid WR and held his own, but hartline and especially robiskie are ahead of him IMO. Showed good separation, but he is far from being a holmes clone at this point.
Grant: Not ready to live up to the hype yet. Very fast, physical player who can lay the wood. He needs a lot of work to crack the starting lineup, but he did just start practicing with OSU for the first time. I think he has the potential to someday move Laur to the Mike, however.
Others:
-------
Smith: somewhat good is a good definition. He thrives on athleticism, and today he could be sacked with one finger (zwick/him wore the black jerseys). He had a great touch pass to Gonzo for a TD. He had a poor bomb to Ginn that should have been a td. He sailed a few passes, made a few decent passes. He also sat on the sidelines for 3-4 series at a time before returning, which I think hurt his Rhythm.
Boeckman: good, not great. Pretty decent athleticism in escaping the pocket, but was sacked a few times. Had some nice passes, nothing outstanding, and no picks IIRC.
Ginn: better separation, still not a super WR. He does seem to run crisper routes however. Not enough action to judge properly.
Gonzo: looked like his usual solid self, but suffered a concussion on his short TD catch.
Hall: pretty quiet, one catch where he showed some great hands.
Frost: had one nice play, was the 2nd team TE and only saw the ball twice.
Nicol: not used much at all... did not watch his blocking.
Wilson: in pads, but did not play. Was warming up along the sidelines for most of the game... seemed okay but no need to risk it. Our DE's didn't miss a beat without him.
Skeete: imo, he will never kick the ball at OSU.
-----
Some interesting position battles:
2nd string QB: wash
#3 WR: Hall will have to bring it to keep Robiskie at #4
DE: Gholston may have surpassed JRich, as I have penciled Wilson in as well
SAM: Grant is not there yet, but once it clicks he may have to be on the field (SAM probably, sliding Laur to the Mike).
Mike: Kerr is excellent against the run in between the tackles, D'Andrea has to earn this spot. As seen above, both might be replaced by Laur down the road.
FS: Patterson is solid, but Russell was an absolute stud today.
Nickelback: Mitchell is the safe pick, but Russell, Roberts and Washington will all be in the mix here.
---------------------
Jersey Scrimmage Log
---------------------
Series 1 - One's
---------------
D starters: FC Smith BC Jenkins FS Patterson SS O'Neal
SAM Laur MIKE Kerr WILL Free
DE Gholston, Barrow, DT Patterson and Penton (? not positive on him)
- Patterson blowing up the inside
- Gholston-Patterson disruptive, collapsing on Smith
Series 2 - Two's
----------------
CB Amos, Washington FS Mitch SS Russell
LBs: Terry, Hoobler, Homan
- Amos wraps up Roy Hall in space
- Washington sticks CWells, Russell recovers fumble
Series 3 - Three's
-----------------
CB Roberts, Coleman SS Lukens FS Lyons
SAM Grant, MLB Spitler
Hartline, Dukes appear in 3rd team
- Abdallah & Denlinger also blowing up the middle
- Lyons breaks on deep pass, drops the pick, Hartline makes a heads up play to snag the deflection. Ran a good route, the pass was late.
- 2nd straight to hartline, Grant lays the wood, Hartline held on
- Great fill by grant, huge hit on teh ball carrier
- Coleman great weak side blitz, flies past haw and takes Boeckman down quickly
- Pettry misses 43 yd FG, holder's fault
Series 4 - One's
---------------
typical 1's lineup: rehring, skinner, cordle, downing, schafer
SAM Free MIKE Laur WILL Terry
- MoWells bounces outside for 15 yds, JamO saves a TD.
- Washington in w/ 1st team CB (he has very good size, I was surprised)
- Teddy broke wide open deep drifting left, Troy's throw was poor... off to the right, teddy couldn't quite adjust.
- JamO sticks CWells in open field, he's been a ballhawk thus far
- Running a lot of Shotgun split backs... even with both backs going out for a pass.
- Pretorious 47 yd FG, going up when it hit the net, monstrous line drive kick.
Series Five - One/Two's
-----------------------
- Wells lowers the boom to Homan, helmet to helmet, Homan holds on but yields an extra 2 yards.
- Gholston forced fumble on Zwick, the rush was from Zwick's right so should have seen him... ball held too long.
- Kerr fills well on Wells and wraps up his ankles, Grant finishes the stood up beanie and helps him investigate the turf with his face
- A Smith sticks Stan White in the open field.
Series Six
---------
- Haw exploding through the hole, spins off of two big hits inside
- Hartline underneath, nice move but wrapped up and thrown down by coleman (a fundamental, very strong tackler)
- Dukes wide open on corner route, Robbie opted for the flats (too much of that today from all QBs, good coverage also tho)
- Russell has been all over the field at safety
- More excellent mobility from Robbie, and a great throw on the run
Series Seven - One's
--------------------
- Hall with a great grab with an off-target throw
- A Smith, good contain of Ginn in the flats... he's covered him well all day
- Penton flew off the line, blew up the line in the backfield
- Mo Wells! outstanding play. He squeezes thru a tiny hole, lowers his shoulder and bowls over Freeman, then does the same to patterson, and then is met by 3 other defenders who stand him up... yet he drives them an extra yard or two upfield.
- Troy nice touch pass TD to gonzo over the middle, just over JamO's fingers in the zone. Gonzo gets popped, has a concussion and does not return to action.
- Pretorious misses XP, terrible hold
Series Eight - Two's
-------------------
- Russell with a great diving breakup
- Kerr stands up Beanie, Homan also in position nicely
- Hartline breaks open deep, ball a little too long from Boeckman
- Denlinger in backfield quickly, blows up run
- great ball to dukes from Todd on a corner route
- J Rich destroys boone around end
Series Nine - Three's
--------------------
- Frozen rope from Robbie to Harden, that grab had to sting a little
- Juan Garnie in a little tussle after the play, coaches not happy (it is so fun to hear them light into players)
- Robbie with excellent mobility, broke free from Abdallah's arm tackle...
- ... then Hoobler tags him 4 yards out of bounds, that seems to be a staple of #46 (ie Smith hit in 05)
- Grant with excellent backside pressure around the end
- 32 yd FG good by Andrew Good
Series Ten - One's
------------------
Zwick, Hartline and Robiskie line up with the first team O
- A Smith wraps up Wells, Free lays the wood but Wells deflects the blow with a spin, almost got going again.
- Great catch by "Robo" (nickname mentioned by Rob Sims, behind us in the stands)
> Sprinting across the middle and the ball was thrown way behind him
- Laurinaitis blows up run in the backfield
- nice open field tackle by Jenkins on Dukes (ripped him down like he weighed 100 lbs).
- JRich jumps offside and the flag flies, but still Zwick sets up camp inside the pocket for 4-5 seconds and is sacked (why not toss up a deep ball since the play is free)
- Barrow swims moves right by Rehring, so Steve latches on and earns some laundry
- Robo sits down nicely in a zone
- Dukes is in the shot-ginn position (very interesting)
- Rehring holding again as he was beat inside by Patterson (lined up at DE that play)
- Terry playing a lot of LEO, and doing well there
Series Eleven - One/Two Mix
----------------------------
- Wells busts a 20 yd carry off tackle to the left... Boone caved in the line over there.
- Homan picks off Robbie, a forced pass
- QBs today = not very consistent
- Wells takes a draw 9 yards... runs right through hoobler (who was waiting for him) like it's nothing.
- Robbie steps up past 3 outside blitzers, then bounces outside and picks up 5-7 yds
> He's a faster, stronger Krenzel in terms of mobility and presence.
- Robo another catch, clearly our #4 WR if not higher
- CWells is a flat stud; great outside blocking by teddy, CWells picks up 12 yds. He is picking up 5 yards on basically every carry recently.
- Fly route, mitchell stays with Ginn enough to slow him down (probably a little bit of extra contact)
- More good mobility from 16 somehow eluding the pressure
- LEO terry flies thru the middle and hits Robbie during the delivery
Series Twelve
-------------
- CWells simply does not go down.
- Laurinaitis gets thru 2 blockers and pressures QB...
> Hall drops high pass, turns and gets LIT UP by JamO
- WR reverse to Teddy, who PASSES! Way too low tho, very ugly pass.
- FG 40 yd FG, the hold is very delayed, good distance but off of the crossbar (Pretorious I believe, not written in my notes)
- Frost w/ a nice run and catch on the sidelines for 8+
- Homan always around the ball, he just needs a little more size. His ability and recognition is excellent, especially for a frosh.
- Cordle has looked goood today
- Boone very good in run blocking, kind of the opposite in pass protection
- Patterson and Gholston are animals and getting tons of pressure
- 36 yd FG crushed by Pettrey
- The balls really sounded flat today, not sure if the cold weather was part of that
Series Thirteen
---------------
A lot more emotion on the gray sideline (defense) among the players; and the coaches are also a lot more vocal
- PK Mattimoe misses the practice net while warming up on the sidelines, the kickers have a good chuckle about it
- Robbie has an absolute gun for an arm
- RT Doug Ebner makes a huge block, he destroys the rush end so hard that it also takes out the blitzing LB.
> Robbie steps up past this block, bounces outside, and tosses a nice pass over the top to the sidelines (hartline? hard to see)
- Russell with a huge hit on Robbie (tho Robbie is so strong that he was merely sacked, but not moved very much... he absorbed the hit nicely)
- Abdallah knockdown on Robbie
- Harden crossing route on goalline... Robbie throws an absolute bullet to split the zone for a TD.
- XP good from Mattimoe, tho low
Series Fourteen
---------------
- Zwick holding the ball in the pocket way too long
- Poor throw into a mess of defenders, and about 7 yards behind the WR
- Terry pops Haw and forces a fumble
- Zwick well behind an open Robo again
- Robbie scrambling forces a pass, Amos breaks and picks it off
- HUGE decleater!
> Robbie hung hartline out to dry in the flats, roberts absolutely destroys him, tho Brian held onto the ball
- Boone destroyed by Barrow, crushes Robbie
- Wells gets 5+ again even when the defense is gearing to stop the run... this kid is special.
- RT Schafer is not getting it done
Series Fifteen
-------------
- Haw bounces outside, Haslem shows great closing speed to stop the play
- WOW. Great zone read by Haw, he cuts back, then turns on the jets and torches everyone to the corner for 71 yds and 6 pts.
- Skeete finally sees the field and kicks an XP
Series Sixteen - mostly ones
----------------------------
Frost and Whaley seen on the line, Whaley aw a decent amount of time at C with the 1's and 2's
- From his own 2 (clear running play), MWells follows his blockers nicely, gets from teh 2 to the 6
> Besides having better vision, he is playing a lot stronger. I don't know what his measurables are now, but he is a much stronger back.
- A Smith is a very solid FC (field corner)
> not sure he's been out of position once (I think Ginn burned someone else), but the corners have not been exploited much at all
Series Seventeen
-----------------
Starts from their own goalline, the 2 yd line again
- STUD
> Slight stutter step on the goalline, pauses, then explodes through the hole, nearly broke a clear running play for huge yardage.
- BEST RUN OF THE DAY.
> A defender meets him in the hole, he runs right at them with a devastating stiffarm, and flies outside for 25 yards (called back on a holding, but that took place after Wells had already gained 15 yards... the outside WR kept the CB from stopping the last 10 yards).
Series Eighteen
---------------
- Grant makes a nice play, sheds block, forces Hawk inside; otherwise Hawk is running for a while
- ANOTHER huge stick by roberts: flies in from CB and plants haw
...more coming...
- BMitchell comes off the field with what looks like a stinger
- Robbie is so elusive despite tons of pressure
> finds Hartline over the middle, who gets popped by stands his ground, he's definitely not frail as some have worried
- 41 yd FG from Pettrey (right down the middle)
Series Nineteen
---------------
- wildest formation yet with the backups; they went 5 wide with 33 (gantz), 91, 83, 93, 24
- Nice run from Gantz; hit the hole very hard
- 41 yd FG by Pettrey, bad snap, but he still crushed it straight down the middle
Series Twenty
--------------
- Nice playaction pass to Ginn, but Smith was late in his delivery
- JamO runs in from the left, Smith bounces outside, JamO changes directions and catches up to Smith very quickly (forces a throwaway)
Last Play
68-68, 58 yd FG by Pretorious, blocked... Gray Team wins!
The jersey scrimmage is typically closed to the public, but subscribers of coachtressel.com got in for free. Ratboy is one of those, but could not be there.
Please rep ratboy18.
crazybuckfan40 too :p
-----
The first guy we watched was #8, who caught 1 out of 30 balls. Hoewver, #8 was white, 2'6" tall and 40 lbs
Conclusions:
-----------
Defense reloading: we are light years ahead of where I expected. Our coverage was excellent all day long, despite utilizing "nobodies" like former walkon Smith and journeyman Roberts. Our starting LBs (Free, Laur, Kerr) are ready to go. We will not replace the 05 D, at least not right away, but the rumors of a green D are greatly overstated.
Run D okay, Pass D strong: this was the opposite of what many, including myself, expected.
QB's all rusty: none looked comfortable, tho most had one series and then sat for 3, which is tough to do. Once Robbie got some back-to-back drives, he became much more consistent.
OL ???: Hard to judge. Barton/Datish did not play, and Boone was practicing with the second team (tho his pass protection was suspect). So the only starters on the 1st team were TJ Downing and John Skinner, both of whom seemed solid (tho I spent more time watching the tackles).
Recruiting rankings mean nothing: Russell, Robiskie, Washington, Jenkins, etc.
Impressive:
-----------
Robbie Schoenhoft: Absolute cannon, came on strong once he got into a rhythm... but his elusiveness is incredible! His presence and scrambling is like a stronger Krenzel. He must have eluded a dozen sacks if not more. He did force two ugly INTs, but he is not our starter... so I am extremely high on the potential he showed today.
CWells: (19 carries for 90) Superstar in the making. Very fast and strong, but his vision is what is truly special. They ran from the shadow of their own goalline a few times. Once, he paused, waited for a hole, and exploded through it (very reminiscent of Edge). Another time he hit the hole, stiffarmed a tackler to teh ground and exploded for 25+ yards (nullified by a hold which occurred after he picked up 15). Bounced another carry outside for 20 yards. He did fumble too often, but that can be fixed.
MWells: (13 carries for 50) Playing a LOT stronger and following blocking well. Outstanding play where he lowered the boom to two excellent tacklers and then proceeded to drive a 3 man pile upfield.
EHaw: (14 carries for 90) Solid most of the day, then broke open a gigantic zone read TD. Made his cutback at first, then continued it all the way across the field and then exploded to the corner with outstanding speed.
Brian Robiskie: Robo (nickname per Rob Sims) is going to push Hall very hard for the #3 spot. Great separation, moves, hands... very good WR.
Brian Hartline: #5 due to depth, not lack of talent. Very good separation, and held onto the ball 4 times during huge hits. Those who questioned his durability might want to reconsider.
DL: Gholston was dominant, JRich, Barrow were disruptive, Patterson/Penton were in the backfield often, and Abdallah, Denlinger were disruptive. There really wasn't a single DL that did not have a few excellent plays.
Starting LBs: Free is an animal, and Laur looked better than last fall. Kerr is not great in coverage but fills at the mike position quite nicely.
Homan: great reads, always around the ball, needs a little more weight tho.
Terry: impressive, especially at the leo position gaining penetration often.
A Smith: possibly our best corner, looks like another good OSU db... you wouldn't imagine he was a walkon until this year. Did a very good job covering Ginn all day long, never being out of position and keeping Ginn from picking up YAC on quick hitters.
Anderson Russell: Second team FS, was all over the field, deflecting passes, stopping the run, recovering a fumble and sacking the QB. This kid was a huge pickup.
DBs: Jenkins solid, but great stuff from Smith, Roberts, Russell, good play from JamO, Patterson and Washington
Pretorious: he is gonna be very good, very accurate and has a huge leg
Struggled:
---------
Boone: great run blocking, beaten often in pass protection
Lyons: Looked like a WR playing safety
Zwick: held onto the ball too long in the pocket, behind his WRs too often, #4 QB on the field today (tho all of the qbs seemed out of rhythm)
Passing Game: the OL blocking was shaky, and the first half of the scrimmage saw 4 average QBs at best. Barton sat out and Datish has a non-serious injury, IIRC.
Ginn at QB: there's a reason we don't run this pass. Awful throw by teddy on a wr reverse, but it sure was an exciting duck
Good but overhyped:
--------------------
Dukes: He lands in this spot due to his hype. He's a solid WR and held his own, but hartline and especially robiskie are ahead of him IMO. Showed good separation, but he is far from being a holmes clone at this point.
Grant: Not ready to live up to the hype yet. Very fast, physical player who can lay the wood. He needs a lot of work to crack the starting lineup, but he did just start practicing with OSU for the first time. I think he has the potential to someday move Laur to the Mike, however.
Others:
-------
Smith: somewhat good is a good definition. He thrives on athleticism, and today he could be sacked with one finger (zwick/him wore the black jerseys). He had a great touch pass to Gonzo for a TD. He had a poor bomb to Ginn that should have been a td. He sailed a few passes, made a few decent passes. He also sat on the sidelines for 3-4 series at a time before returning, which I think hurt his Rhythm.
Boeckman: good, not great. Pretty decent athleticism in escaping the pocket, but was sacked a few times. Had some nice passes, nothing outstanding, and no picks IIRC.
Ginn: better separation, still not a super WR. He does seem to run crisper routes however. Not enough action to judge properly.
Gonzo: looked like his usual solid self, but suffered a concussion on his short TD catch.
Hall: pretty quiet, one catch where he showed some great hands.
Frost: had one nice play, was the 2nd team TE and only saw the ball twice.
Nicol: not used much at all... did not watch his blocking.
Wilson: in pads, but did not play. Was warming up along the sidelines for most of the game... seemed okay but no need to risk it. Our DE's didn't miss a beat without him.
Skeete: imo, he will never kick the ball at OSU.
-----
Some interesting position battles:
2nd string QB: wash
#3 WR: Hall will have to bring it to keep Robiskie at #4
DE: Gholston may have surpassed JRich, as I have penciled Wilson in as well
SAM: Grant is not there yet, but once it clicks he may have to be on the field (SAM probably, sliding Laur to the Mike).
Mike: Kerr is excellent against the run in between the tackles, D'Andrea has to earn this spot. As seen above, both might be replaced by Laur down the road.
FS: Patterson is solid, but Russell was an absolute stud today.
Nickelback: Mitchell is the safe pick, but Russell, Roberts and Washington will all be in the mix here.
---------------------
Jersey Scrimmage Log
---------------------
Series 1 - One's
---------------
D starters: FC Smith BC Jenkins FS Patterson SS O'Neal
SAM Laur MIKE Kerr WILL Free
DE Gholston, Barrow, DT Patterson and Penton (? not positive on him)
- Patterson blowing up the inside
- Gholston-Patterson disruptive, collapsing on Smith
Series 2 - Two's
----------------
CB Amos, Washington FS Mitch SS Russell
LBs: Terry, Hoobler, Homan
- Amos wraps up Roy Hall in space
- Washington sticks CWells, Russell recovers fumble
Series 3 - Three's
-----------------
CB Roberts, Coleman SS Lukens FS Lyons
SAM Grant, MLB Spitler
Hartline, Dukes appear in 3rd team
- Abdallah & Denlinger also blowing up the middle
- Lyons breaks on deep pass, drops the pick, Hartline makes a heads up play to snag the deflection. Ran a good route, the pass was late.
- 2nd straight to hartline, Grant lays the wood, Hartline held on
- Great fill by grant, huge hit on teh ball carrier
- Coleman great weak side blitz, flies past haw and takes Boeckman down quickly
- Pettry misses 43 yd FG, holder's fault
Series 4 - One's
---------------
typical 1's lineup: rehring, skinner, cordle, downing, schafer
SAM Free MIKE Laur WILL Terry
- MoWells bounces outside for 15 yds, JamO saves a TD.
- Washington in w/ 1st team CB (he has very good size, I was surprised)
- Teddy broke wide open deep drifting left, Troy's throw was poor... off to the right, teddy couldn't quite adjust.
- JamO sticks CWells in open field, he's been a ballhawk thus far
- Running a lot of Shotgun split backs... even with both backs going out for a pass.
- Pretorious 47 yd FG, going up when it hit the net, monstrous line drive kick.
Series Five - One/Two's
-----------------------
- Wells lowers the boom to Homan, helmet to helmet, Homan holds on but yields an extra 2 yards.
- Gholston forced fumble on Zwick, the rush was from Zwick's right so should have seen him... ball held too long.
- Kerr fills well on Wells and wraps up his ankles, Grant finishes the stood up beanie and helps him investigate the turf with his face
- A Smith sticks Stan White in the open field.
Series Six
---------
- Haw exploding through the hole, spins off of two big hits inside
- Hartline underneath, nice move but wrapped up and thrown down by coleman (a fundamental, very strong tackler)
- Dukes wide open on corner route, Robbie opted for the flats (too much of that today from all QBs, good coverage also tho)
- Russell has been all over the field at safety
- More excellent mobility from Robbie, and a great throw on the run
Series Seven - One's
--------------------
- Hall with a great grab with an off-target throw
- A Smith, good contain of Ginn in the flats... he's covered him well all day
- Penton flew off the line, blew up the line in the backfield
- Mo Wells! outstanding play. He squeezes thru a tiny hole, lowers his shoulder and bowls over Freeman, then does the same to patterson, and then is met by 3 other defenders who stand him up... yet he drives them an extra yard or two upfield.
- Troy nice touch pass TD to gonzo over the middle, just over JamO's fingers in the zone. Gonzo gets popped, has a concussion and does not return to action.
- Pretorious misses XP, terrible hold
Series Eight - Two's
-------------------
- Russell with a great diving breakup
- Kerr stands up Beanie, Homan also in position nicely
- Hartline breaks open deep, ball a little too long from Boeckman
- Denlinger in backfield quickly, blows up run
- great ball to dukes from Todd on a corner route
- J Rich destroys boone around end
Series Nine - Three's
--------------------
- Frozen rope from Robbie to Harden, that grab had to sting a little
- Juan Garnie in a little tussle after the play, coaches not happy (it is so fun to hear them light into players)
- Robbie with excellent mobility, broke free from Abdallah's arm tackle...
- ... then Hoobler tags him 4 yards out of bounds, that seems to be a staple of #46 (ie Smith hit in 05)
- Grant with excellent backside pressure around the end
- 32 yd FG good by Andrew Good
Series Ten - One's
------------------
Zwick, Hartline and Robiskie line up with the first team O
- A Smith wraps up Wells, Free lays the wood but Wells deflects the blow with a spin, almost got going again.
- Great catch by "Robo" (nickname mentioned by Rob Sims, behind us in the stands)
> Sprinting across the middle and the ball was thrown way behind him
- Laurinaitis blows up run in the backfield
- nice open field tackle by Jenkins on Dukes (ripped him down like he weighed 100 lbs).
- JRich jumps offside and the flag flies, but still Zwick sets up camp inside the pocket for 4-5 seconds and is sacked (why not toss up a deep ball since the play is free)
- Barrow swims moves right by Rehring, so Steve latches on and earns some laundry
- Robo sits down nicely in a zone
- Dukes is in the shot-ginn position (very interesting)
- Rehring holding again as he was beat inside by Patterson (lined up at DE that play)
- Terry playing a lot of LEO, and doing well there
Series Eleven - One/Two Mix
----------------------------
- Wells busts a 20 yd carry off tackle to the left... Boone caved in the line over there.
- Homan picks off Robbie, a forced pass
- QBs today = not very consistent
- Wells takes a draw 9 yards... runs right through hoobler (who was waiting for him) like it's nothing.
- Robbie steps up past 3 outside blitzers, then bounces outside and picks up 5-7 yds
> He's a faster, stronger Krenzel in terms of mobility and presence.
- Robo another catch, clearly our #4 WR if not higher
- CWells is a flat stud; great outside blocking by teddy, CWells picks up 12 yds. He is picking up 5 yards on basically every carry recently.
- Fly route, mitchell stays with Ginn enough to slow him down (probably a little bit of extra contact)
- More good mobility from 16 somehow eluding the pressure
- LEO terry flies thru the middle and hits Robbie during the delivery
Series Twelve
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- CWells simply does not go down.
- Laurinaitis gets thru 2 blockers and pressures QB...
> Hall drops high pass, turns and gets LIT UP by JamO
- WR reverse to Teddy, who PASSES! Way too low tho, very ugly pass.
- FG 40 yd FG, the hold is very delayed, good distance but off of the crossbar (Pretorious I believe, not written in my notes)
- Frost w/ a nice run and catch on the sidelines for 8+
- Homan always around the ball, he just needs a little more size. His ability and recognition is excellent, especially for a frosh.
- Cordle has looked goood today
- Boone very good in run blocking, kind of the opposite in pass protection
- Patterson and Gholston are animals and getting tons of pressure
- 36 yd FG crushed by Pettrey
- The balls really sounded flat today, not sure if the cold weather was part of that
Series Thirteen
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A lot more emotion on the gray sideline (defense) among the players; and the coaches are also a lot more vocal
- PK Mattimoe misses the practice net while warming up on the sidelines, the kickers have a good chuckle about it
- Robbie has an absolute gun for an arm
- RT Doug Ebner makes a huge block, he destroys the rush end so hard that it also takes out the blitzing LB.
> Robbie steps up past this block, bounces outside, and tosses a nice pass over the top to the sidelines (hartline? hard to see)
- Russell with a huge hit on Robbie (tho Robbie is so strong that he was merely sacked, but not moved very much... he absorbed the hit nicely)
- Abdallah knockdown on Robbie
- Harden crossing route on goalline... Robbie throws an absolute bullet to split the zone for a TD.
- XP good from Mattimoe, tho low
Series Fourteen
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- Zwick holding the ball in the pocket way too long
- Poor throw into a mess of defenders, and about 7 yards behind the WR
- Terry pops Haw and forces a fumble
- Zwick well behind an open Robo again
- Robbie scrambling forces a pass, Amos breaks and picks it off
- HUGE decleater!
> Robbie hung hartline out to dry in the flats, roberts absolutely destroys him, tho Brian held onto the ball
- Boone destroyed by Barrow, crushes Robbie
- Wells gets 5+ again even when the defense is gearing to stop the run... this kid is special.
- RT Schafer is not getting it done
Series Fifteen
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- Haw bounces outside, Haslem shows great closing speed to stop the play
- WOW. Great zone read by Haw, he cuts back, then turns on the jets and torches everyone to the corner for 71 yds and 6 pts.
- Skeete finally sees the field and kicks an XP
Series Sixteen - mostly ones
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Frost and Whaley seen on the line, Whaley aw a decent amount of time at C with the 1's and 2's
- From his own 2 (clear running play), MWells follows his blockers nicely, gets from teh 2 to the 6
> Besides having better vision, he is playing a lot stronger. I don't know what his measurables are now, but he is a much stronger back.
- A Smith is a very solid FC (field corner)
> not sure he's been out of position once (I think Ginn burned someone else), but the corners have not been exploited much at all
Series Seventeen
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Starts from their own goalline, the 2 yd line again
- STUD
> Slight stutter step on the goalline, pauses, then explodes through the hole, nearly broke a clear running play for huge yardage.
- BEST RUN OF THE DAY.
> A defender meets him in the hole, he runs right at them with a devastating stiffarm, and flies outside for 25 yards (called back on a holding, but that took place after Wells had already gained 15 yards... the outside WR kept the CB from stopping the last 10 yards).
Series Eighteen
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- Grant makes a nice play, sheds block, forces Hawk inside; otherwise Hawk is running for a while
- ANOTHER huge stick by roberts: flies in from CB and plants haw
...more coming...
- BMitchell comes off the field with what looks like a stinger
- Robbie is so elusive despite tons of pressure
> finds Hartline over the middle, who gets popped by stands his ground, he's definitely not frail as some have worried
- 41 yd FG from Pettrey (right down the middle)
Series Nineteen
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- wildest formation yet with the backups; they went 5 wide with 33 (gantz), 91, 83, 93, 24
- Nice run from Gantz; hit the hole very hard
- 41 yd FG by Pettrey, bad snap, but he still crushed it straight down the middle
Series Twenty
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- Nice playaction pass to Ginn, but Smith was late in his delivery
- JamO runs in from the left, Smith bounces outside, JamO changes directions and catches up to Smith very quickly (forces a throwaway)
Last Play
68-68, 58 yd FG by Pretorious, blocked... Gray Team wins!
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