It was a day where the defense dominated the offense for 75% of practice, then came the live drills where the offense came to life and despite some huge plays from the defense, the men in red won the battle.
1) In a game decided by turnovers, that's where I'll begin with the highlights. Jared Norris found himself lined up opposite of Siale Fakailoatonga. As Siale cut across the middle of the field in 7 on 7's, Chase Hansen threw a pass week ahead of Siale. Norris pulled his best Ozzie Smith impersonation and laid out vertically for the ball. He managed to get his left paw on it, typing it in the air, and he was able to fall under the ball and grab it for the interception before it hit the ground.
2) second turnover came when Hansen and Andrew Fletcher bobbled an exchanged hand off. The ball came loose and Stevie T was the one to dive on it. The whole defense practiced getting live footballs of the ground to begin practice. It paid off.
3) Next big play was in live action. Whittingham put the offense on their own 2 yard line. On first down the defensive line made a complete shift to the right before the snap. Pita Taomoepenu lined up in the middle, something that they did a lot of today, and he immediately GIT through the line to get Fletcher in the endzone for a safety.
4) As both lines paired up for 1 on 1's, Seni Faunuku took on various double teams. The man was a beast and was able to take on and beat most doubles. He mainly went up against a combo of Falemaka, Albers, Nowakowski and Lutui. His strength and footwork gives him great leverage.
5) The defense was very spirited today. That was nice to see. The coaches started things off by being very vocal. Every drill they are getting on the guys about being too quiet and not communicating a lot. So it was great to see them back and forth at each other, having fun, and getting animated. Today had a good feel to it. The best I have witnessed this year, at least on the defensive side.
1) In a game decided by turnovers, that's where I'll begin with the highlights. Jared Norris found himself lined up opposite of Siale Fakailoatonga. As Siale cut across the middle of the field in 7 on 7's, Chase Hansen threw a pass week ahead of Siale. Norris pulled his best Ozzie Smith impersonation and laid out vertically for the ball. He managed to get his left paw on it, typing it in the air, and he was able to fall under the ball and grab it for the interception before it hit the ground.
2) second turnover came when Hansen and Andrew Fletcher bobbled an exchanged hand off. The ball came loose and Stevie T was the one to dive on it. The whole defense practiced getting live footballs of the ground to begin practice. It paid off.
3) Next big play was in live action. Whittingham put the offense on their own 2 yard line. On first down the defensive line made a complete shift to the right before the snap. Pita Taomoepenu lined up in the middle, something that they did a lot of today, and he immediately GIT through the line to get Fletcher in the endzone for a safety.
4) As both lines paired up for 1 on 1's, Seni Faunuku took on various double teams. The man was a beast and was able to take on and beat most doubles. He mainly went up against a combo of Falemaka, Albers, Nowakowski and Lutui. His strength and footwork gives him great leverage.
5) The defense was very spirited today. That was nice to see. The coaches started things off by being very vocal. Every drill they are getting on the guys about being too quiet and not communicating a lot. So it was great to see them back and forth at each other, having fun, and getting animated. Today had a good feel to it. The best I have witnessed this year, at least on the defensive side.