Saturdays blog from Gophersports.com

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The University of Minnesota had a competitive practice in its third spring workout Saturday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers practiced in full pads and the session saw plenty of contact.

Gopher head coach Tim Brewster stated before spring workouts began that he wanted to see players competing for spots.

"There's going to be daily competition," Brewster said earlier this week. "Each and every day every guy on our team (should) come to practice knowing that if he isn't at his best somebody else can step in there and win the job. Basically what I've told our team is, 'If you want to be a starter on our football team, go win the job. Go win the job.'"


It was fairly evident Saturday that the message has been received loud and clear by the Gopher players.

Minnesota went through a spirited Oklahoma drill early in the workout. At the end of the session, Coach Brewster scheduled a short scrimmage.

"(Competition) brings the best out in everybody," junior running back Duane Bennett said after practice. "We're really taking it as a challenge for this spring. If you're not coming out every day to work, you should just stay home. Right now, we've got a great message going ... we've got a lot of chemistry. The competition is really helping us right now."

The defensive side of the ball isn't immune to the pressure of competition, either.

"With nine new people on the defense and just two returning, it's a lot of great competition out there," senior safety Kim Royston said. "If you don't bring your 'A' game every day, you're going to get your spot taken."

Saturday's practice was held in front of numerous Minnesota high school coaches, who took part in a Minnesota Football Coaches Association clinic, hosted by the University of Minnesota coaching staff over the course of the weekend. Coach Brewster was glad to have his high school colleagues on the TCF Bank Stadium Field with the Gophers.

"It was really fun today to have the Minnesota high school coaches as part of our practice," Brewster said. "The clinic this weekend was outstanding. Those guys come out here and really enjoy seeing some of the players they coached in high school play for the Gophers. That makes it special."

The Gophers will be back to work again Tuesday, with an afternoon practice at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex.
-Andy Seeley
 

I'd like to hear some reports from coaches, parents and those attending practices. Obviously nothing compromising or regarding schemes, etc. Just general reports of how it's going, the competition at certain positions & how the players are looking.
 

We have confirmation that they had the pads on

We have witnesses, it happened. Some enterprising reporter could interview a high school coach about what he saw, something, please.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
I'd like to hear some reports from coaches, parents and those attending practices. Obviously nothing compromising or regarding schemes, etc. Just general reports of how it's going, the competition at certain positions & how the players are looking.
Click to expand...

During the scrimmage part of practice (Defense wrapped up Offense, no tackling) Dajon Mcknight made a sick left one handed catch (from Gray) while running a go route. He made a double move on M.Carter, Carter recovered nicely and looked to be in perfect position to break up or prevent the completion.

McKnight was running up the sideline with the sideline to his left and Carter on his right hip. Gray dropped the ball over Carter from 40 yards away. Carter had McKnights right arm pinned to his side. No problem, on a dead run without breaking stride McKnight reaches up with his left hand and plucks the ball out of the air. Carter pushes him to the ground out of bounds. Both the pass and the catch were big time.

Also of note, Carter changed his jersey number from 1 to 9.

Christyn Lewis looks really good. He moves like someone much smaller than 6'2. Because of his rail thin frame, I'm interested to see how he does once the hitting starts. Coverage wise he looks great.
 

Sportsfan24 said:
During the scrimmage part of practice (Defense wrapped up Offense, no tackling) Dajon Mcknight made a sick left one handed catch (from Gray) while running a go route. He made a double move on M.Carter, Carter recovered nicely and looked to be in perfect position to break up or prevent the completion.

McKnight was running up the sideline with the sideline to his left and Carter on his right hip. Gray dropped the ball over Carter from 40 yards away. Carter had McKnights right arm pinned to his side. No problem, on a dead run without breaking stride McKnight reaches up with his left hand and plucks the ball out of the air. Carter pushes him to the ground out of bounds. Both the pass and the catch were big time.

Also of note, Carter changed his jersey number from 1 to 9.

Christyn Lewis looks really good. He moves like someone much smaller than 6'2. Because of his rail thin frame, I'm interested to see how he does once the hitting starts. Coverage wise he looks great.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Anyone else?
 


Sportsfan24 said:
During the scrimmage part of practice (Defense wrapped up Offense, no tackling) Dajon Mcknight made a sick left one handed catch (from Gray) while running a go route. He made a double move on M.Carter, Carter recovered nicely and looked to be in perfect position to break up or prevent the completion.

McKnight was running up the sideline with the sideline to his left and Carter on his right hip. Gray dropped the ball over Carter from 40 yards away. Carter had McKnights right arm pinned to his side. No problem, on a dead run without breaking stride McKnight reaches up with his left hand and plucks the ball out of the air. Carter pushes him to the ground out of bounds. Both the pass and the catch were big time.

Also of note, Carter changed his jersey number from 1 to 9.

Christyn Lewis looks really good. He moves like someone much smaller than 6'2. Because of his rail thin frame, I'm interested to see how he does once the hitting starts. Coverage wise he looks great.
Click to expand...

I pray Gray is our starter this year. I need that hope for Gopher football, I can not take another year of Weber
 

Linebackers are flying around, look great, both qb's look to be solid, moses also coming along well it looks with his cannon arm. D-line looks great as well, Ferguson is an absolute beast of a kid who cant be moved. Linebackers could be just as good if not better than last year surprisingly. D-backs look to be a work in progress, but i noticed Collado was very impressive. Oline still shaky but its hard to tell who they'll pair up together and they obviously take longer to gel as a unit. AJ Barker at WR looked very impressive as well, think he might turn some heads very strong solid receiver. The team is young, but they've got some talent for sure. The season could go either way, but it will definitely be fun to watch.
 

Thanks for the reports. More are always welcome. It helps off set the negative nellies.
 

Very grateful for these reports - especially given the disinterest of the local media.
 



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