Sorry, guys. Busy Saturday night and Sunday morning, so I'm just getting to post my thoughts on yesterday's scrimmage. I'll try not to repeat what others have said. I'm blessed to get to go to this second scrimmage each fall, and I always come away learning things.
1. 30,000 ft. view
When we say "This place for everybody," we mean it. It ain't for everybody. We coach hard. Well, Kirby coaches hard. He demands excellence from the managers to the trainers to the coaches we may a million dollars to the refs we pay to be at practice to the players. We are blessed, and we are the alpha dawg program with THE Alpha Dawg coach.
The other thing that's of note (especially considering the additional insight from the Clemson site in another post), is that comparing teams at this point is just not apples and apples. When we say, "Practice is harder than games" -- it's not lip service. I listened to Dabo's presser on Thursday after their last scrimmage. He admitted the 1s did what they should have because they went 1v2 and 2v1. Guys, we went good on good all day. We're running goal line yesterday and it's 1v1, 3rd and 6 and we run a twist and Damon Wilson comes untouched up the middle, right in Carson's face. I'm not sure other teams are practicing that way. As far as WRs not getting open...guys, not many people get open on our defense. Think about games against us. How many teams have a guy running free, even after millionaire coaches have a week to try an expose any weakness we might have. So, our guys running our base stuff...I mean, our D is just really good, man. The best way I can explain it is that when we scrimmage like that, it looks like when we play Saban's Bama. All those games are just slugfests. For the most part, nobody comes out ripping through the other. That's what a scrimmage between our 1v1s looks like -- a slugfest. And it was hot. Thought the guys fought through the heat pretty good. I was glad to be in the stands.
2. Freshmen
You're gonna like Nate Frazier -- a lot. He's gonna be awesome. I really liked what I saw from the young DL. I think Nitro and Sacovie might need to help us at some point, and they've got potential. Nitro had a tough day early, but flashed some later. KJ is really good, and LBU isn't going anywhere for a while. I think Cole and Williams might be the best 2 freshmen LBs we've ever had together. Ellis is good, good. I thought Julio played pretty good, but man Ellis is going to be hard to keep off the field. His instincts are next level. I like what I see from Pugs and Rashada. They throw well, but we'd be in trouble (anyone would) having to play a freshman.
3. Offense
Beck is fine. He'll ball out. I saw him play against the best defense he'll face yesterday. Hit a few to Dom and Dillon. Branson looked healthy. Etienne and Frazier are explosive. Cash will still help us. I think we've got 7-8 OL that can play winning football. Yurosek is smaller than I imagined, but it could just be the Delp is huge. Feels like we'll see Luckie in more of that Brock, split out, TE. Thought Arian looked like a real WR, of which I was pleased. I think Cole Speer is going to help us at some point. Two one handed catches.
4. Defense
I think this is going to be a better D than last year. I like the disruption I saw out of the DL. Now, don't misunderstand me, but I felt a 'little' like I did watching the 2021 spring game, when we couldn't block our DL. I knew we had a bunch of 5-star OL, and if we couldn't block them, that was good for us. We did all that without Brinson yesterday. Love what what I saw from Damon, M'Pemba and Mykel. I like our secondary. Everette is good, and I expect a huge step up for him. As I mentioned, it's just hard to get open on those guys. Every catch seems contested.
5. Special Teams
Thorson was awesome. Will love to see what Ant can do full speed. That's a hard thing to see in a scrimmage. Woodring was a little up and down, but boomed a few. Hit one from 52 that was probably good from 58.
6. Depth
I honestly can't figure out what Kirby is talking about in depth. I like the OL and DL depth. The 2s on the DL are young, but I think they're really talented. We're loaded at ILB and OLB. I feel like we have 4 corners that can play. We're a little thin at safety and star, and he may just be looking there. We're waaaaay deeper at RB than last year. WR is about the same, but I think overall this is a little deeper group. Need to stay healthy, but every team in America would say that. TE seems to have 3 guys that can go, and Reddell will probably help us at some point. He's gonna be a good one. I know in the NIL era, we're never going to have as much as we want, but if Kirby feels that way, how do you think Dabo, Heupel and Sark feel about their teams?
Overall, pretty pumped. Can't wait till Aug. 31. If you have a question, I'll try to answer, but I'm not @cassiegracesdad. He's an insider; I just get to go to a few practices.
Go Dawgs!
1. 30,000 ft. view
When we say "This place for everybody," we mean it. It ain't for everybody. We coach hard. Well, Kirby coaches hard. He demands excellence from the managers to the trainers to the coaches we may a million dollars to the refs we pay to be at practice to the players. We are blessed, and we are the alpha dawg program with THE Alpha Dawg coach.
The other thing that's of note (especially considering the additional insight from the Clemson site in another post), is that comparing teams at this point is just not apples and apples. When we say, "Practice is harder than games" -- it's not lip service. I listened to Dabo's presser on Thursday after their last scrimmage. He admitted the 1s did what they should have because they went 1v2 and 2v1. Guys, we went good on good all day. We're running goal line yesterday and it's 1v1, 3rd and 6 and we run a twist and Damon Wilson comes untouched up the middle, right in Carson's face. I'm not sure other teams are practicing that way. As far as WRs not getting open...guys, not many people get open on our defense. Think about games against us. How many teams have a guy running free, even after millionaire coaches have a week to try an expose any weakness we might have. So, our guys running our base stuff...I mean, our D is just really good, man. The best way I can explain it is that when we scrimmage like that, it looks like when we play Saban's Bama. All those games are just slugfests. For the most part, nobody comes out ripping through the other. That's what a scrimmage between our 1v1s looks like -- a slugfest. And it was hot. Thought the guys fought through the heat pretty good. I was glad to be in the stands.
2. Freshmen
You're gonna like Nate Frazier -- a lot. He's gonna be awesome. I really liked what I saw from the young DL. I think Nitro and Sacovie might need to help us at some point, and they've got potential. Nitro had a tough day early, but flashed some later. KJ is really good, and LBU isn't going anywhere for a while. I think Cole and Williams might be the best 2 freshmen LBs we've ever had together. Ellis is good, good. I thought Julio played pretty good, but man Ellis is going to be hard to keep off the field. His instincts are next level. I like what I see from Pugs and Rashada. They throw well, but we'd be in trouble (anyone would) having to play a freshman.
3. Offense
Beck is fine. He'll ball out. I saw him play against the best defense he'll face yesterday. Hit a few to Dom and Dillon. Branson looked healthy. Etienne and Frazier are explosive. Cash will still help us. I think we've got 7-8 OL that can play winning football. Yurosek is smaller than I imagined, but it could just be the Delp is huge. Feels like we'll see Luckie in more of that Brock, split out, TE. Thought Arian looked like a real WR, of which I was pleased. I think Cole Speer is going to help us at some point. Two one handed catches.
4. Defense
I think this is going to be a better D than last year. I like the disruption I saw out of the DL. Now, don't misunderstand me, but I felt a 'little' like I did watching the 2021 spring game, when we couldn't block our DL. I knew we had a bunch of 5-star OL, and if we couldn't block them, that was good for us. We did all that without Brinson yesterday. Love what what I saw from Damon, M'Pemba and Mykel. I like our secondary. Everette is good, and I expect a huge step up for him. As I mentioned, it's just hard to get open on those guys. Every catch seems contested.
5. Special Teams
Thorson was awesome. Will love to see what Ant can do full speed. That's a hard thing to see in a scrimmage. Woodring was a little up and down, but boomed a few. Hit one from 52 that was probably good from 58.
6. Depth
I honestly can't figure out what Kirby is talking about in depth. I like the OL and DL depth. The 2s on the DL are young, but I think they're really talented. We're loaded at ILB and OLB. I feel like we have 4 corners that can play. We're a little thin at safety and star, and he may just be looking there. We're waaaaay deeper at RB than last year. WR is about the same, but I think overall this is a little deeper group. Need to stay healthy, but every team in America would say that. TE seems to have 3 guys that can go, and Reddell will probably help us at some point. He's gonna be a good one. I know in the NIL era, we're never going to have as much as we want, but if Kirby feels that way, how do you think Dabo, Heupel and Sark feel about their teams?
Overall, pretty pumped. Can't wait till Aug. 31. If you have a question, I'll try to answer, but I'm not @cassiegracesdad. He's an insider; I just get to go to a few practices.
Go Dawgs!
