Scrimmage Recap

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LloydChristmas

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I'm waiting patiently at my netbook for any scrimmage news. Couldn't make it due to familial obligations. Does anyone have a recap or anything to share yet?
 

FBT

fringebowlteamblog.com has a chat up
 

Johnny Johnson probably stood out more than anyone...a couple huge hits
 


What was the crowd like?

Because I had to go to a wedding, I couldn't make it. But what was the attendance like?
 


I thought the 1st team offensive line blocked very well. I was not impressed with the defense overall, so hard to determine if our line is that much improved or if the defense still needs work. Olsen looked like he will be a very good lineman as he matures the next few years. Quick feet and good balance in pass blocking. One he gets stronger he might be really special.
 

Gray worked with 1st team WR and ran the 2nd team offense as QB so he was busy. Weber looked to him a few times.

Johnny Johnson had 3 huge hits. That kid knows how to pop!

Kirkwood got the most carries (all with 2nd team offense) and looked to be the best runner. He did great at not going down on first contact. I have a feeling he'll be starting by the end of the season.

Weber connected on 1 nice long TD pass. I don't recall who the receiver was (McKnight or Stoudermire I think) but it was a nice pass and nice catch with Johnny Johnson in tight man/man coverage. Johnson had a nice scrimmage!

Gjere needs to redshirt. He got beat around the end a couple times and would have caused the QB to get murdered in a game situation.

Gray would have had a couple nice runs but was called down due to the QB-touch rule. His throws weren't that crisp though.
 

Additional observations....

Brandon Green was working with the 2nd string. Starting WR's were Stoudermire and McKnight with Gray as the 3rd.

Eric Lair was the starting TE and was looked at with a couple of screens.

Ellestad made a 30 yard FG but missed a 45 yarder wide right.
 

gopherrising said:
I thought the 1st team offensive line blocked very well. I was not impressed with the defense overall, so hard to determine if our line is that much improved or if the defense still needs work. Olsen looked like he will be a very good lineman as he matures the next few years. Quick feet and good balance in pass blocking. One he gets stronger he might be really special.
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Always hard for me to project a team forward based on what they do against each other. Nonetheless, it sounds like some sort out got done. My big question would be, were there any injuries that seemed serious?:cry:
 





Attendance seemed much better than at the Spring Game. Of course, rain had been predicted for the spring game, but even though it didn't rain, people had already made other plans. Today, a pretty good crowd. I didn't get to see all of it, with having to deal with a three year old.
 





D.L. Wilhite is pretty banged up. I talked to Kyle Theret on the field and he said "D.L. has been battling some nagging injuries in practice."
 

I thought this was a great event. I brought my wife and three year old son, and we had a great time. The jumpers, face painting, and on field autograph/photo sessions afterward were awesome. My wife, who helps organize events for clients all of the time, even commented about how well-organized this was. If you have kids and couldn't make it this year, I definitely recommend putting it on the calendar next year.

K, with regards to the actual football. It appears to me that we are just so much deeper now than we have been. The young guys are just more impressive athletically, even the twos. James Manuel, I thought, was as advertised - very physical, particularly on a couple of goal line plays.

Johnson had three huge hits, but also was man-on-man with Dajon and got beat for a deep touchdown (via Weber); JJ on McKnight is slight mis-match, right? I know.

Kirkwood looked good. Wills is noticeably in better shape than last year (still some work to do, but he's obviously worked hard). Carufel looks in good shape, as does Olsen.

I think Marquise's future is at WR. I don't want to overstate based merely on today, but he catches the ball and is just so good after the catch - he can run guys over, cut on a dime, and looks even faster than he probably is because he's so big.

I'm on record as not being a big Weber guy, but I will say this - in terms of throwing the ball, he looked much more poised that MG today. MG was high on nearly every throw, which is probably a technique deal, but nevertheless.

That being said, Weber did see much more calm in the pocket today. I know it's an intrasquad scrimmage, but I also actually saw him look at more than one receiver on a play today - that's a big step! Even though it was a scrimmage, I will say that i feel better about Weber now than I did this morning.

Lastly, I think our D is going to be better this year and is going to be really something next year - Wilhite will be better, Sheed is massive (no joke), Manuel is going to be a player, Carter is a player, and even our backup LBs look good (Ryan Grant actually stood out some for me; he is pretty cut up, and physical).

I'm more optimisitc - I'll leave it at that.
 


Thunderlips said:
yeah, he got the ball on an end around, ran stright into his lead blocker for a 4 yard gain. riveting stuff
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I've never seen anyone like Hayo--he will literally run into his own blocker every time he touches the ball. That should have been reverse TD against Cal still hurts. Literally he must be blind.
 

Kirkwood had 10+ carries and looked great. He is the type of back that can figure a way out to get the extra yard. He did get his bell rung late and seemed a bit shaken but I assume he is fine. I think this whole running thing they have been talking about will actually happen. I expect to see a lot of James Manuel and Chrstyn Lewis based upon the reps they got. Surprised we haven't heard much about Willie Tatum I saw him on the field after and he looks the part of a legit baller.
 

Eskridge also had a fumble with the first unit and didn't get many carries after that. Another reason I expect Kirkwood to pass him on the depth chart shortly.
 

Not much else to add that hasn't already been mentioned.. Weber looked OK.. not impressive. Was a nice deep TD, but JJ (the defender) didn't look back.. all he had to do was look back and he could have knocked the pass away or even pick it. Would have liked to seen better placement of the ball on that throw, and would have liked to see McKnight (think that was the WR) be more aggressive going up for the ball.

Sound like a Negative Nancy, but I couldn't help but imagine that pass during a live game and instead of 6 points for the good guys, it ends up being an INT.

Was hoping to see Moses play good.. but Brew is right in that he still has some work to do.

Johnny Johnson looks like a baller.. Wouldn't be surprised to see him starting by the end of the season.

Can't think of anything else.. I missed the first part (they started early) of the scrimmage, but caught the last half at least. Buckner (RB) looked like he has some fight in him, too.
 

Johnson had a couple of big hits. Rallis looked good. Olson held his own. Hageman is huge, but needs some work at DE. Kirkwood is very good. Wills looks in better shape than last year by far. Manuel is a beast for a safety and a very nice kid. I talked to him after the scrimmage. Cooper, Rallis and Tinsley all looked pretty good on defense. Theret did not play with first team. probably because of incident. Gray is a terrific athlete and needs to be on the field. If I had to say the biggest surprise, I would say Kirkwood. He is a strong runner with some good moves.
 

My thoughts

Kirkwood is good enough to start now. He's the type of back we've been waiting for. Low center of gravity, smooth, etc...

Hageman would be better in a 3-4 scheme but is young and massive. They could play or move him anywhere on the line.

Weber looked good. The simplified offense and better line play will hopefully help him. Moses is huge and doesn't move that well (compared to what we are use to with Gray/Weber). He does have a good arm. Prototypical pocket passer.

The O-line is good and much improved. I like the kids they are bringing in. Add Olson's brother next year along with the brothers from Illinois and we are set.

D-backs were aggressive but did give up several long plays. Our receivers as a whole are a deep unit and I don't think we need to be concerned at all.

This is not even close to a one-win Big Ten team. I think we have a good shot at winning 6-8 games this year.
 

Overall was impressed. The size and length of the D-line personnel is something I've never seen before as a Gopher fan. Unfortunately in the scrimmage the D-ends really couldn't/didn't finish their pass rushes like they will in live games, but it seemed they were getting pretty consistent pressure off the edge. Kirkwood was very good.

Man, Gray is one smooth athlete. I sincerely hope he can work into the offense somehow and actually play regularly. I just like watching him run around. More like gliding around.

Stadium notes: Thought the scrimmage was supposed to start at 10:45. Got there at 10:32 and they were already playing !?

They were still using the cash box/abacus approach to vending. TCF looked great as usual. Upper deck was closed. Big Ten network was camped in one corner.
 

Firejumper said:
Stadium notes: Thought the scrimmage was supposed to start at 10:45. Got there at 10:32 and they were already playing !?
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The scrimmage itself did start at 10:45. The team was doing situational work prior to that. Goal line/red zone situations and starting deep in our own territory work. Horn sounded at 10:45, the rouser played, and the scrimmage started.
 

Not much new to add, I guess, but here's my perspective:

- Kirkwood is the real deal. Good vision, quick feet and is able to fight through initial contact. As others have said, I'd be shocked if he wasn't splitting time with Bennett by week 3.
- I'd give Gray a B- at QB. As has been said, most of his short and intermediate throws were high. Had a nice deep ball to Keise that would have gone for a TD had Vic not been tackled by the DB before the ball arrived. It's always tough to tell, though, since QBs are down by contact and he can't use his feet. As a WR, though, Gray looked fantastic.
- It's too bad Johnny Johnson looks like he's about 5'4", because he can really hit. Not sure you can put him out there, though, since he was absolutely no match for Dajon on the long TD pass from Weber.
- Oreske was money in the live practice prior to the scrimmage. Was consistently dropping high punts within the 15 yard line
 

Formo said:
Was a nice deep TD, but JJ (the defender) didn't look back.. all he had to do was look back and he could have knocked the pass away or even pick it. Would have liked to seen better placement of the ball on that throw, and would have liked to see McKnight (think that was the WR) be more aggressive going up for the ball.

Sound like a Negative Nancy, but I couldn't help but imagine that pass during a live game and instead of 6 points for the good guys, it ends up being an INT.
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I think you really are being a negative nancy. My gosh, that pass and catch on the TD was nice. Weber placed that ball perfectly, caught McKnight right in stride and Johnson was in fairly good coverage. Not sure what the heck you were watching. That play would have been a TD in almost all situations.
 

tjgopher said:
The scrimmage itself did start at 10:45. The team was doing situational work prior to that. Goal line/red zone situations and starting deep in our own territory work. Horn sounded at 10:45, the rouser played, and the scrimmage started.
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I'm sure you're right. But considering the scrimmage didn't include punting or kickoffs (at least I don't remember any), except for the starting field position, it was a pretty fine line between which part was the scrimmage and which part was the 'practice'. I wish I'd have known there was going to be a situational 'practice' prior to the scrimmage - would have been there earlier.
 

AhliBobwa said:
I've never seen anyone like Hayo...Literally he must be blind.
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And who can forget Hayo looking over his outside shoulder for a swing pass in the bowl game last year? I swear I have never seen that in my entire life. I did not think it was even physically possible. Now I know otherwise. I guess that's what happens when you split reps in practice in the slot with Matt Stommes.

:eek:
 

tjgopher said:
I think you really are being a negative nancy. My gosh, that pass and catch on the TD was nice. Weber placed that ball perfectly, caught McKnight right in stride and Johnson was in fairly good coverage. Not sure what the heck you were watching. That play would have been a TD in almost all situations.
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+1 About as good as anyone can throw the ball in my opinion
 

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