Final Scrimmage update

[mat1992 2,231]

So, a few hundred showed up tonight, maybe more to see about a 1.5 hour scrimmage. I think it may have been cut short due to injuries. From what I saw, RT Roman Warheit, WR/KR D'Ago Hunter and WR Jabari Allen all suffered ankle injuries. Allen suffered his in the first drive where he caught the ball and struggled to get up. He was on crutches with a boot after that. I assume ankle sprain and probably a loss of a game or two. The worst injury appeared to be where Tyler Johnston III slid after escaping the pocket and suffered a non-contact injury. Not going to guess on what it was or how bad, but you get the picture.

I actually thought TJ looked the best I've seen him and was throwing some quick strikes as they were running a lot of situational stuff mainly with 1s going against 2s on both sides. It's a real shame if that injury was serious.

Fortunately, Scott Smith has put his name in the QB race. I really think we could be fine if he started, but the lack of experience is a concern. When given the time, he's as sharp a passer that I've seen possibly since Sean Schaefer, but a taller and more athletic QB with a better arm. However, on his second drive, his pitch to Bangda on a simple running play was so bad they lost about 10 yards on the play and they were putting together a good drive. He also had trouble with a center-exchange. Those are really the only two plays I've seen him mess up since the spring. If you read the comments from RA, you'll see that he hasn't named a QB yet, but could play two.

I also like Zach Jackson, who is kind of like a younger Piggy, though not as fast, but throws it well on the run. He and Smith are going to battle it out next spring probably with Nathan Kent. I don't know if Rishon Holmes is going to be in the QB room or the DB room by then. He has a long ways to go as a passer.

I think Jo Banga and Matthews will be a very good combo. I'd like another speed back and maybe that will end up being Curtis Matthews. The Maine transfer has some nice shiftiness. Not sure if Hunter plays the first game due to an injury. I'm more worried about the return game though Londono is solid. They had Juwan Burgess back there, who is an excellent safety and can also cover receivers in the slot. What I didn't realize about the former USC commit is that he is blazing speed. Now I wouldn't want to see him on kick returns due to the risk of injury, but he can fly.

It was impossible to tell who is starting on the Oline from this scrimmage. Dr. RA was experimenting with RG Julian Sing at left tackle. Warheit was hurt, but I saw Josh Roberts play a lot of right tackle again. Didn't see much of freshman Dan Volpe play left tackle. I still assume Roberts starts at left tackle. I think they want to establish if guys can play a number of different positions. That's another reason why DT/OL Mason Cholewa has been moving around a lot. My concern with him is that he was so banged up last season, not sure why you would want him to play two tough positions. But he's not playing OL unless somebody gets hurt. He was starting at D-ilne tonight. I think the O-line gets a lot better when RG Jean Germain gets back on the field. At that point, when conference play starts, they can move Singh to his more naturally RT position.

At WR, I continue to just be amazed at how good Isaiah Perkins is. If they lose Jabari for a couple of games, he could start with Darian Street and probably Brady McElhany in the slot. Perkins caught a TD pass where he just beat Penn State transfer Makai Self pretty badly. He's big, has speed and explosion and good hands. Consistency might be a problem early on as he had a drop as did Matthew Akuchie, the FAU transfer. 

Corners I think will be Darian Davis and Sean Tucker, both big corners at around 6-0, 190. Charles Peoples was held out tonight. Appeared to have a minor injury. Safety looks like Burgess (6-1, 200) at strong and Robert Topps (6-3, 210) at free safety. All four are transfers and three are newcomers this season. Very athletic and talented, but as always, it comes to the pass rush. Gibbs has to stay healthy because he's basically unblockable. Vinnie Shaffer (5-11, 305) is one of the better nose guards in the CAA. After that? Cholewa is steady against the run at the other DE spot, but I'd like to see more of Shaheem Haltiwanger (6-3, 275) and Damir Fason (6-2, 265), who are more agile. I think Makye Smith and Tramar Reece should be good enough on the Edge. Linebackers will be interesting because sophomore Daniel Raymond has star potential with his speed. I love Mason Wood and Ryan Kearney is solid. Then they just added MJ Cunningham (6-2, 240), who played with the 2s tonight and was mainly on the inside. Though I wonder if they can play him on the Edge. Either way, he'll be ready to start somewhere by conference play and I think they'll bring him along slowly in the first couple of games.

More later with RA's comments 

 

[mat1992 2,231]

RA on how he feels after the final scrimmage:

"I'll feel better after I see the injury report, but not bad. You look at me after the first scrimmage and thinking 'oh my God, the defense is great and the offense it terrible.'Now, it's the offense is awesome and the defense is terrible.' It's a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Getting the right guy in the right spot. We're not there yet, We're just not. I'm pleased with some of the things that went on today, but we have to better if we're going to win a bunch of football games. We have to tackle better."

This scrimmage was a process scrimmage. It's a procedure scrimmage. So teaching 50-some new guys our style in our facility with our schedule and I have a bunch of new coaches too. So, we're subbing, constantly working on substitutions. Changing groups on purpose. Scrimmages have always been 1s vs. 2s. So we can see how sharp we are and find out what we're not good at. It's glaring when you're not good at something when it's 1s vs. 2s. That's what we're working on this week.

On Mason Cholewa

Played both lines and probably will as of right now.

On starters

"I don't want to do that yet. I promise that the 2-deep that I give (SID) Dave (Vatz) tomorrow will be legit. We have to see more film. There are too many competitions where it doesn't matter, because both guys will play. It will be tomorrow."

Juwan Burgess at safety

"If he's not (starting), there will be some coaches I won't be happy with. I've seen stuff out of this crew that I've never seen before. There's speed and hands on offense that I don't think we've had since 2018 and a bunch of guys that can get them the ball. And on defense, we're as fast as I've ever seen. We have to put it all together, but I like where we're going."

On receivers

"Let's put it this way, I want it to be perfect, but that's impossible. If any one side of the ball is great, then the other side is not. It has to be give and take if we're going to be any good. There are guys that didn't drop the ball and you'll see them play more than the guys that did."

On Isaiah Perkins

"He had a couple of awesome plays. He'll probably be in the running for freshman of the year, if we do it right. Not as strong at his age, he has Jabari-esque strength when he's competing for a ball and he's not 24-years old. He's 19. He's going to be very good."

On Jabari Allen's injury

"I told him that I don't want to hear about an ankle. I don't have any sympathy for you. An ankle means you still get to play. Try a hip (RA had it). That keeps you from playing your senior year. You'll be playing."

On offensive line

"We're almost there. We did rotate a bunch of guys and we're still experimenting for purposeful reason and how that grades out will determine who the starters are."

Julian Singh

"He played everywhere. Cole (Cheripko) is probably the most versatile Ralph (Paige, injured Merrimack transfer) is probably second. Julian would be the third. He's going to play."

On defensive line and Jesus Gibbs

"Better be good all that hype. We've had Vinnie (Schafter) and Mason will be in the mix. Faison had a hell of a camp. There are some young guys that can rush the passer. We have to be more consistent tackling. I'm impressed at what we could be defensively."

On Oregon transfer LB MJ Cunningham

"Has looked great, but has only been there a few days. You talk about a West Coast kid and national kid. As a recruit, it was between him and Oregon. Played in bowl games. He couldn't be more humble and happy to be a part of us. Having him fit in within a week says a lot about his personality."

On kicking game

"The punting game is better. It's competitive. Riley (Williams) was ok for the first few days and jet lag was bothering him, but he's been booming punts. Keeagu (Vaughn) had a slow start, but he's gotten more impressive. People are fighting for the kickoff game."

On QB play

"Much better. Improvements from the first scrimmage has been much better. Leaps and bounds. We still have a lot of work to do. I like where we're going. I won't be surprised if we play more than one of them. Outside chance we play two of them. TJ had a great summer and slow start to camp and this was his best night. I'm crushed for him (due to the injury). He's a leader."

On Scott Smith

"The ballwork on that one pitch play might have been the worst I've seen since Little League. Minus -15 yards. What the hell are you doing son? He was red-faced about it. But he keeps getting better. It makes more challenging to find the guy. He's one of those guys that has the gift when you go back in our history and look at the passing quarterbacks."

[omniland 31]

Start Smith, especially against Bucknell.  Should be able to do more against Buckenll and Morgan than the rest of the schedule.  Start Smith all 4 quarters both games and get him some experience going into conference play.  You can work things out against bad opponents.  Stop gimmicks and just the stupid playing of 2 QB's.  You have to commit to 1 QB.   We have been through this before.  Who doesn't like a QB that can pass.  Imagine that.  Regardless of the Schaefer teams records, it was exciting to watch.  A great offensive product.  You could not just blitz every play.  You had to play pass defense or there was a real chance you would get burned.  You can't do that if you don't have someone that can get the ball down field accurately.   This in combination with the best potential running game we have had in a while.  I know Matthews is a tough back that will play hard and has moves.  Banga looks legit and has the body.  The CAA, to me, has always been outscoring your opponent.  There are no dominate defenses. 

[mat1992 2,231]

6 hours ago, omniland said:

Start Smith, especially against Bucknell.  Should be able to do more against Buckenll and Morgan than the rest of the schedule.  Start Smith all 4 quarters both games and get him some experience going into conference play.  You can work things out against bad opponents.  Stop gimmicks and just the stupid playing of 2 QB's.  You have to commit to 1 QB.   We have been through this before.  Who doesn't like a QB that can pass.  Imagine that.  Regardless of the Schaefer teams records, it was exciting to watch.  A great offensive product.  You could not just blitz every play.  You had to play pass defense or there was a real chance you would get burned.  You can't do that if you don't have someone that can get the ball down field accurately.   This in combination with the best potential running game we have had in a while.  I know Matthews is a tough back that will play hard and has moves.  Banga looks legit and has the body.  The CAA, to me, has always been outscoring your opponent.  There are no dominate defenses. 

I don't see that happening and only see the going with Smith in the first two games if they are up three or more scores. The mistakes he made yesterday were very correctable, but they can't afford to have those at this point, in non-conference or conference play. I think that's why you play him. Not for the future, but just in case they need him this season.

[Blounge 520]

Flacco and Leatherbury had a day against bucknell a few years ago! Hopefully our wide receivers burn them all day again so we can afford to play a few quarterbacks to further evaluate what we got. Put up a 50 burger ferda boys!

Anyone got the inside scoop about this years bucknell squad?

[mat1992 2,231]

 

[Blounge 520]

@TuTigers2012 mama there goes that man again saying “we’re just grateful to be playing” 

which could also be phrased as

like a fat girl at prom, I’m just happy to be here!

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

22 minutes ago, Blounge said:

@TuTigers2012”we’re just grateful to be playing” 

Who said that?

[Blounge 520]

RA around the :55 second mark of the video 

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

13 minutes ago, Blounge said:

RA around the :55 second mark of the video 

Lmfao 🤣