Well, I decided to attend the practice tonight that was open to students and decided to post a few observations. Most of the part of practice that we were able to observe was a semi-scrimmage. They ran plays offense vs. defense, but there was no tackling allowed, quarterbacks or otherwise. So, I realize that these observations may be a little distorted because they weren't exactly game-like conditions, but take them for what they are worth.
First the quarterbacks. ZTay and almost all of his passes looked good. One totally ill-advised pass that was picked off and another that probably should have been. For the most part I was satisfied. Ganz looked quite good, actually, no big mistakes, his arm looked good, but with fewer reps that Taylor. I'm pretty happy with him as the backup for now. Beau Davis on the otherhand probably has no business at a division I school, based on this practice. I read the article he had in the paper a week ago like everyone else and was a bit optimistic, but all of it was rubbish as far as I could tell. He didn't throw any picks, but that was because he was busy throwing the ball out of bounds over his receivers' heads. I didn't see every throw he made today, but out of the few I did see, not one was good.
Running backs: I think we are in good hands. From what I saw tonight I would probably be comfortable with any of the big four lining up behind Taylor. I honestly don't know how they are going to choose who gets the nod here, but I imagine that it won't matter because they will probably all see reps. My chart, based on tonights performances would look like this: Wilson, Lucky, Glenn, Jackson. Bottom line, Wilson is the most explosive. Simply more acceleration and more speed. Lucky also looked impressive, but doesn't have quite the acceleration. Glenn is right on Lucky's heels, he will probably have a similar role to last year, only with more carries. I don't know what to think about Jackson. He looked quicker and faster than Lucky and Glenn to my suprise, only he lacks the size. I'm not doubting he could play a big role. I'm really not taking into account blocking skills because I was observing Taylor and his receivers at the time. I'm glad I don't have to be the one to decide, but like I said, we probably can't go wrong with any of the four.
I didn't see any dropped passes by receivers, which is a good sign. One of the backs dropped one in the flat that Beau Davis drilled off of his hands at about 70 mph, but that was all that I noticed. Herrian looked good with a couple of catches in the endzone with the ball set up in the red zone. The receiver that I thought stood out was Peterson. Man, he's tall.
The bad news: The secondary got absolutely torched. I'm hoping that is a result of an improved passing offense and the fact that they weren't allowed to tackle. I'm not sure how much the permission to tackle would have affected all of the open receivers streaking down the field, but I'm hoping it would have been a lot. Also, all the starters weren't playing every play.
The three captains came and said a few words to the students, but their speeches were short, uninspiring and, quite frankly, all the same. Zach even said, "We are going to be ready for Louisiana Tech on September 30." Prompting all of the players and students to correct him in unison. Ouch.
The stadium updates are great. Again, the screen is simply incredible. I can't describe my anticipation for the tunnel walk in two weeks. Speaking of which, we got a preview of the new video. I won't say what it included, but it wasn't bad and it wasn't great. After they showed it on the new screen, they filed the students through the route that the players usually take. At the outside of the tunnel the players were in two lines which the students walked through and gave out high-fives. I didn't partake.
