Today was a beautiful day for football, with sunny weather in the mid 60s. A couple of tidbits of news, Tim Patrick again participated in warmups and ran some routes. Also, Troy Williams (shoulder), and Butler-Byrd (ankle), will be held out for the rest of spring ball. The good news is that it sounds like neither injury is all that serious and both will be good to go for fall camp. Also, Kenric Young went down with a banged up knee, but seemed to be fine by the end of practice. Nick Carman also got a little banged up, but his injury didn't seem to be all that serious. The offense did much better today, and although the defense still looked good, the offense did win the day, IMO.
QBs
Both QBs split reps against the first and second team today. Williams did not participate at all.
Brandon Cox: 18-25, 223 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
Cox looked REALLY good today. He was poised, accurate, and had great touch downfield. He hit Caleb Repp for a 50 yard TD, Tyrone Smith for 25, and found Wallace Gonzalez twice for TDs in the red zone. Fortunately for the QB situation, if Williams does win the starting job and goes down, Cox has shown he can play very well against a good defense and is stating his case for the starting job.
Tyler Huntley: 7-19, 66 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs
Huntley struggled today, but did show some flashes. His highlight was a 36 yard ball he placed on a rope down the sideline to Caleb Repp, followed by a 5 yard strike to Wallace Gonzalez for a TD. He just had kind of an off day overall, as he struggled a bit with accuracy and missed a couple of wide open looks. He also had a couple of receivers drop some not-quite-perfect passes, but ones that were definitely catchable.
RBs
The passing game shone today, but the defense did a really nice job of holding the run game in check.
Joe Williams: 11 carries, 34 carries, 1 TD
Williams had the best day of the RBs again, scoring the lone TD of the day for the RBs which came on a 2 yard option play where he beat the DB around the edge. He also broke a nice 17 yard run through the defense.
Troy McCormick: 10 carries, 24 yards, 1 catch, 19 yards
McCormick struggled to get past the line, and was brought down for a loss several times. He did, however, have a nice 14 yard run and an impressive 19 yard catch on a wheel route.
Marcel Manalo: 8 carries, -3 yards, 1 catch, 12 yards
Manalo had a better day than his stats suggest. He had about 23 yards on his carries but had to jump on a snap that sailed over Huntley's head and took a loss of 26. He also had a nice catch and run on a swing pass where he made a few guys miss
WRs
The wide receivers looked really good today, and cleaned up their drop problems from the Tuesday practice. Several guys had big plays and they won a lot of individual battles against the DBs. The ball didn't get spread around quite as much, and noticeably quiet was Kyle Fulks, who didn't have a catch and dropped a couple of passes he should've caught, but a few guys are starting to separate themselves from the crowd.
Caleb Repp: 6 catches, 124 yards, 1 TD
Repp had the best day of the receivers, he was able to break loose over the top twice for big gains, one of which went for a TD. He also displayed great hands on some shorter grabs, securing the ball while fighting off a DB.
Tyrone Smith: 5 catches, 57 yards
Smith had a really nice day as well. His best catches of the day came on a 25 yard catch and run on a slant route, and a 14 yard sideline grab where he jumped over Brian Allen to go get the ball and landed with both feet in bounds before stepping out.
Wallace Gonzalez: 4 catches, 31 yards, 3 TDs
Gonzalez had the best day of the TEs, showing himself to be a real red zone threat. On top of his 3 touchdown catches, he also had a very impressive one handed grab for 16 yards down the middle. The pass was a little high so he really had to climb the ladder to come down with it. He's not the fastest guy, but he is big and can get separation on short routes.
Kenric Young: 2 catches, 18 yards
Young had a quiet day, although he did record a nice 16 yard grab. He almost had a highlight reel deep catch for 40+ yards but right as he touched the ball, he got absolutely blown up by Marcus Williams, who knocked the ball loose. Young had to stay down for a bit after that hit, but was able to walk it off.
Harrison Handley: 2 catches, 13 yards
Tyler Cooperwood: 1 catch, 7 yards
Cooperwood was quiet today as well, he almost had a TD grab but dropped it in the endzone.
Siaosi Wilson: 1 catch, 10 yards
Ken Hampel: 1 catch, 5 yards
Defense
Despite an improved effort from the passing offense, the defense continued to look stifling in the run game. The secondary got beat in individual matchups quite a bit, and didn't record an INT today, but did have several pass breakups, including the aforementioned Marcus Williams hit. Williams is impressive, he covers the whole field so well and has incredible closing speed. He also displays great leadership on the field, constantly callin out routes and instructing the other defenders on what to look out for. As for the linebackers, Cody Barton made some nice tackles at the line, he always seems to be where the ball carrier is. IMO, he is the best LB on campus right now. Sunia Tauteoli continues to improve as well, he recorded a sack today and contributed on several stops.
The line continues to look great, the defense recorded at least 7 sacks today that I saw, although on at least two of those, the QB probably could've scrambled away before getting taken down. Sacks were recorded by Taumoepenu (2), Hart, Tasini, Havili-Katoa (I think?), Tauteoli, and Fitts and Dimick also combined for one. Pita T continues to look unstoppable off the edge, and he had several nice plays in run defense. Don't be shocked if he is Nate Orchard 2.0 this year.
Overall I'm really happy with where the team is right now. The offense has steadily improved throughout spring, and is way ahead of where it was last year, the defense looks nasty, and will only get better once Kurtis Taufa and David Luafatasaga arrive to shore up the LB group. My gut still tells me Troy Williams will be the starter come game one, but Cox has looked good enough so far that I feel whoever winds up with the starting job will be an improvement from last year at the QB position, and if the starter goes down, the backup will be more than capable of moving the offense.
QBs
Both QBs split reps against the first and second team today. Williams did not participate at all.
Brandon Cox: 18-25, 223 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
Cox looked REALLY good today. He was poised, accurate, and had great touch downfield. He hit Caleb Repp for a 50 yard TD, Tyrone Smith for 25, and found Wallace Gonzalez twice for TDs in the red zone. Fortunately for the QB situation, if Williams does win the starting job and goes down, Cox has shown he can play very well against a good defense and is stating his case for the starting job.
Tyler Huntley: 7-19, 66 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs
Huntley struggled today, but did show some flashes. His highlight was a 36 yard ball he placed on a rope down the sideline to Caleb Repp, followed by a 5 yard strike to Wallace Gonzalez for a TD. He just had kind of an off day overall, as he struggled a bit with accuracy and missed a couple of wide open looks. He also had a couple of receivers drop some not-quite-perfect passes, but ones that were definitely catchable.
RBs
The passing game shone today, but the defense did a really nice job of holding the run game in check.
Joe Williams: 11 carries, 34 carries, 1 TD
Williams had the best day of the RBs again, scoring the lone TD of the day for the RBs which came on a 2 yard option play where he beat the DB around the edge. He also broke a nice 17 yard run through the defense.
Troy McCormick: 10 carries, 24 yards, 1 catch, 19 yards
McCormick struggled to get past the line, and was brought down for a loss several times. He did, however, have a nice 14 yard run and an impressive 19 yard catch on a wheel route.
Marcel Manalo: 8 carries, -3 yards, 1 catch, 12 yards
Manalo had a better day than his stats suggest. He had about 23 yards on his carries but had to jump on a snap that sailed over Huntley's head and took a loss of 26. He also had a nice catch and run on a swing pass where he made a few guys miss
WRs
The wide receivers looked really good today, and cleaned up their drop problems from the Tuesday practice. Several guys had big plays and they won a lot of individual battles against the DBs. The ball didn't get spread around quite as much, and noticeably quiet was Kyle Fulks, who didn't have a catch and dropped a couple of passes he should've caught, but a few guys are starting to separate themselves from the crowd.
Caleb Repp: 6 catches, 124 yards, 1 TD
Repp had the best day of the receivers, he was able to break loose over the top twice for big gains, one of which went for a TD. He also displayed great hands on some shorter grabs, securing the ball while fighting off a DB.
Tyrone Smith: 5 catches, 57 yards
Smith had a really nice day as well. His best catches of the day came on a 25 yard catch and run on a slant route, and a 14 yard sideline grab where he jumped over Brian Allen to go get the ball and landed with both feet in bounds before stepping out.
Wallace Gonzalez: 4 catches, 31 yards, 3 TDs
Gonzalez had the best day of the TEs, showing himself to be a real red zone threat. On top of his 3 touchdown catches, he also had a very impressive one handed grab for 16 yards down the middle. The pass was a little high so he really had to climb the ladder to come down with it. He's not the fastest guy, but he is big and can get separation on short routes.
Kenric Young: 2 catches, 18 yards
Young had a quiet day, although he did record a nice 16 yard grab. He almost had a highlight reel deep catch for 40+ yards but right as he touched the ball, he got absolutely blown up by Marcus Williams, who knocked the ball loose. Young had to stay down for a bit after that hit, but was able to walk it off.
Harrison Handley: 2 catches, 13 yards
Tyler Cooperwood: 1 catch, 7 yards
Cooperwood was quiet today as well, he almost had a TD grab but dropped it in the endzone.
Siaosi Wilson: 1 catch, 10 yards
Ken Hampel: 1 catch, 5 yards
Defense
Despite an improved effort from the passing offense, the defense continued to look stifling in the run game. The secondary got beat in individual matchups quite a bit, and didn't record an INT today, but did have several pass breakups, including the aforementioned Marcus Williams hit. Williams is impressive, he covers the whole field so well and has incredible closing speed. He also displays great leadership on the field, constantly callin out routes and instructing the other defenders on what to look out for. As for the linebackers, Cody Barton made some nice tackles at the line, he always seems to be where the ball carrier is. IMO, he is the best LB on campus right now. Sunia Tauteoli continues to improve as well, he recorded a sack today and contributed on several stops.
The line continues to look great, the defense recorded at least 7 sacks today that I saw, although on at least two of those, the QB probably could've scrambled away before getting taken down. Sacks were recorded by Taumoepenu (2), Hart, Tasini, Havili-Katoa (I think?), Tauteoli, and Fitts and Dimick also combined for one. Pita T continues to look unstoppable off the edge, and he had several nice plays in run defense. Don't be shocked if he is Nate Orchard 2.0 this year.
Overall I'm really happy with where the team is right now. The offense has steadily improved throughout spring, and is way ahead of where it was last year, the defense looks nasty, and will only get better once Kurtis Taufa and David Luafatasaga arrive to shore up the LB group. My gut still tells me Troy Williams will be the starter come game one, but Cox has looked good enough so far that I feel whoever winds up with the starting job will be an improvement from last year at the QB position, and if the starter goes down, the backup will be more than capable of moving the offense.
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